Cassette From My Ex: Submitting a Story

December 31, 2008

Last May, I stumbled across a site called Cassette From My Ex – a site where people post the mix tapes that ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends gave them, back in the days when cassettes were still in use. Along with the songs from each tape, the participants also wrote up a little summary of the relationships that brought the tapes about.

In looking over the site credits, I was surprised to find that Jason Bitner (co-founder of Found Magazine) created the concept and the site. Small world.

In talking with him about the project, Jason asked if I’d be interested in submitting a mix tape of mine. I dug feverishly in all my old storage bins, but was only able to find the J-Card (the insert), and not the cassette itself. I kept the song list around for a while, but never did anything with it.

A few months ago, I got another email from Jason asking if I’d be interested in submitting a story, for possible inclusion in the book version of the site. At the time, I was deep into building out my Colourful Echo project, and didn’t think I could make his deadlines. After many delays, I finally agreed and committed to hitting his final of final deadlines: December 28th.

Though I lost the tape, I ended up re-creating the entire playlist via iTunes. I ended up listening to the playlist repeatedly, as I was writing up the first few drafts.

This is a pic that Liz took of me, sitting at my sister’s dining room table in Indianapolis, scrambling to revise my submission the day things are due. It felt good to write again, as the only real writing I’ve done of late has been blog-related. I was a bit stiff, but it felt like stretching after being still for an incredibly long time.

Though I was asked to submit, there’s no guarantee my story will get selected/included. But now that it’s all said and done, I’m really hoping I make the cut.