Blatant emotional manipulation
Mike made a Road Trip Mix full of songs that we both like, or that he thinks we both like, and we listened to it on the way to and from Wilmington. Here are a few of the actual songs and our actual conversation based on them. See if you can find a theme.
“What Susan Said” by Rich Mullins
MIKE: Do you like this song?
KARI: Not really, because it reminds me that Susan is probably going to move away, and that makes me sad.
MIKE: Susan’s moving away?
KARI: Well, she might be. And it makes me sad. I want her to stay here.
MIKE: Me, too.
“Yellow” by Coldplay
KARI: Remember that time we were in Target with Susan and we were singing my made-up lyrics to “Yellow” and giggling? And then we went to see Coldplay and they played this song. Those were fun times. We won’t do that if she moves away.
“Killing Me Softly” by The Fugees
KARI: This song makes me sad, because it says, “Strumming my pain with his fingers,” which makes me think of hands, and we all know doctors have amazing hands, which makes me think of Susan, which reminds me that she’s moving away.
“100 Miles to Charleston” by Martha’s Trouble
KARI: Susan’s staying in Charleston right now.
MIKE: Why is she in Charleston?
KARI: Some rotation.
MIKE: I bet this song makes you sad. Charleston is more than 100 miles from where we live.
KARI: And it reminds me that she’s moving away forever.
“Lightning Crashes” by Live
KARI: This song makes me think of Susan because it mentions a doctor, and Susan is going to be a doctor. And she’s moving away.
“Lead of Love” by Caedmon’s Call
KARI: This song makes me think of Susan because we met on caedmonscall.net.
MIKE: And she’s moving away. That’s sad.
“Mr. Jones” by Counting Crows
MIKE: This song makes me think of Susan because her last name is not Jones.
KARI: And her first name is not Maria. But she has been to Spain, so she probably does know Spanish dances.
MIKE: She gave me a bottle of wine for my birthday.
KARI: “I wish I was beautiful.” Susan is beautiful.
MIKE: Too bad she’s moving away.
“Amish Paradise” by Weird Al
KARI: I bet Susan would laugh at this song.
MIKE: Fool.
“Reflecting Light” by Sam Phillips
MIKE: This is your Gilmore Girls song.
KARI: Yeah, and Susan likes Gilmore Girls. When she moves away, we won’t be able to watch it together anymore.
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It” by REM
KARI: I wish I knew all the words to this song.
MIKE: I bet Susan knows them. If she wasn’t moving away, she could teach them to you.
“Every Breath You Take” by The Police
MIKE: When Susan moves away, we can stalk her.
“Graceland” by Paul Simon and “Walking in Memphis” by Marc Cohn
KARI: Susan’s interviewing in Memphis. Or she’s going there in between interviews or something.
MIKE: She should interview in North Carolina. And, uh, why do you know so much about her schedule? Are you already stalking her?
KARI: Possibly. Who wants to know?
“Hypothetically” by Lyfe Jennings
KARI: I can’t believe you put this on here. I am going to kill Brandon.
MIKE: “Technically you’re the baby’s daddy anyway.”
KARI: This song doesn’t really make me think of Susan at all. But I do like that “confessed it/you get tested” rhyme. Nicely done.
“Florida” by Patty Griffin
KARI: We went to see Patty Griffin with Susan.
MIKE: We won’t be able to do anything like that after she moves. Is she interviewing in Florida?
KARI: I don’t think so.
MIKE: You really know a lot about her schedule.
KARI: I pay attention. Good friends pay attention. They don’t move away.
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland
KARI: This one’s easy: Susan loves Wicked.
MIKE: If she moves away, you’ll probably be unable to watch The Wizard of Oz.
KARI: I’ll be too sad.
“Fix You” by Coldplay
MIKE: This was the last song they played at the concert.
KARI: We were there with Susan. This could be the last song we listened to together before she leaves.
MIKE: That might be stretching it a bit.
KARI: Doctors fix people?
MIKE: There you go.
October 30th, 2005 at
Laughing so hard I am LITERALLY CRYING.
And FIND ME A HUSBAND already!
October 30th, 2005 at
Hey, we made plans to set you up with one of Scott and Kelly’s friends this weekend. He’s tall, has a good job, is conservative, likes to travel . . . BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO STAY HERE.
October 30th, 2005 at
Well, you have 5 months to set us up and make us fall in love. I will be in town for about 4 weeks of those 4 monhts. GO.
October 31st, 2005 at
I feel so much love for Susan it makes me so happy. Susan must not move, clearly, I mean WHY ELSE would Mike make a mix like this without knowing what it would do to Kari? I mean really Susan, its SUCH a sign from God.
October 31st, 2005 at
Haha. That’s hilarious.
October 31st, 2005 at
Wonderiffic, Kari.
October 31st, 2005 at
What about “Wish You Were Here?” I had to laugh in spite of myself. This blog entry is pure genius (and yes, I always use this term loosely). But I really found it funny and curiously enigmatic. I have no idea who Susan is. I have no concept of where’s she’s going. Somehow, though, (given the clever musical choices) I’m gonna miss her too.
Doesn’t everyone miss a Susan sometimes?
October 31st, 2005 at
Alisa, you know I am ALWAYS looking for signs from God. ALWAYS.
October 31st, 2005 at
I don’t know Susan from Eve and this post still make me giggle audibly :0)
November 1st, 2005 at
Hi, I’m Susan.
Make Kari happy and find me a husband in NC.
November 1st, 2005 at
if I move to NC, does that count as a sign from God?
November 2nd, 2005 at
hey. you didn’t HAVE to share the greatness of that song with your husband. so don’t blame me! plus, i really don’t see what your problem with it is. i mean you freely acknowledged the brilliant and beautiful poetry in it, so i think that you really, deep down, love and cherish the song. so stop bein a hata!