Spin Cycle: To all the boys I loved (or liked, or whatever) before...

This week's Spin Cycle topic is dating.

While I could talk about some creative dates I've been taken on, or David's and my official first date (Johnny Rockets, a good month after we started "dating", he serenaded me with a ketchup bottle, I was simeoutaneously charmed and disturbed but here we are 10 years later), I find myself busy making cupcakes for the second time in a week and I'm going to cheat and do my first ever re-post. Sorry to those of you who read it the first time around, some other time I'll attempt something new and fresh.

The following was posted on January 6th, and it pretty much covers my dating experience. I called it "Name That Boyfriend"

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"You know how you associate songs with certain old boyfriends (or girlfriends, of course)? I know some of you do. “Fields of Gold” anyone? Nudge, nudge. Yep, you know who you are... It doesn’t matter how you feel about a person now, whether it’s good, bad or indifferent, the right song can whisk you back into the past so fast your head spins.

So today I thought I’d give you my list.

Partly because I've been with David for more than 10 years which is more than one third of my life, which is weird all on its own, but also weird because if it weren't for the songs (and also my journals) I would have a hard time remembering what it felt like to be interested in anyone else.

And partly because my list is entertainingly eclectic. Except for all the songs by Cake, that's just a freakish coincidence. Hmmm. Perhaps this will be my next iPod play list.

Bear in mind that I wasn’t allowed to date until I was 16 so I’ll pretty much skip the soundtrack from before official dating (both the angst and the triumph), and I started dating my hubby when I was 19 so it was apparently a jam packed three years. But I assure you that, to a teenager, dating someone for 3 months feels like being married for 30 years, and there was only a wee bit of overlap in some of the cases, so um…yeah. I’m giving you a list of 10 guys and their songs, plus David. I’m skipping the crushes and the guys I dated that had very little impact on me either while or after we dated so they never got songs associated with them. Hmmm. I suspect my iPod playlist is going to be called "Top Ten Soundtrack".

So here they are starting with B…..

Ha ha! Just kidding. I’m not that stupid. I’m actually going to mix them way out of order. These are either songs that describe the relationship or had some sort of significance to it. Oh, and ummmm, if you happen to be ON the list and figure that out? Let’s never talk about this.

Behind Door Number One: "Till You Love Me" by Reba McIntyre, "You Don’t See Me" by Josie and the Pussycats, and "Dreams" by the Cranberries: This is my one exception to the dating thing. These are the songs that remind me of the great, unrequited love of my teenage years from the time I was around 14 and on. So of course “On My Own” from Les Miserables is on that list. Just like it's on the list of every girl who has been a teenager since the musical was written. I didn’t actually get over this guy until I was pretty darn sure that I was going to marry David which was about 3 weeks after we started dating. For those of you who know who this was (And you do, you may have forgotten, but if you think about it for two seconds you totally do), you may recall that while all other crushes and boyfriends came, distracted me for a while, and went, he was always in the background. Completely hopelessly backgroundy. Or at least so I assume. The most ironic part of the unrequited love thing is that generally you never get up the nerve to inquire if they know you’re alive. Of course, in this case we were friends, actually all the way through college. At least he was friends, I was not feeling the friend thing. *sigh* The bad thing about keeping journals through the most angsty period of any girl’s life is that you have a complete record of your stupidity. "Day 1: I love X, I love X. He’s so wonderful, blah blah blah, how is it that he is oblivious to the fact that I AM MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIM? Day 2: So I’m dating Y who is the best boyfriend EVER! He’s so cute and sweet and blah, blah, blah. Day 3: X SPOKE TO ME! (Heart, Heart, Heart) I love him!…." Yep, I’m an idiot. But at least I'm a recovered one.

*whew* let’s reel this back into a list instead of a novel.

"Peaches" by The Presidents of the United States. A very sweet guy, his extremely annoying favorite song that WOULDN'T GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

"Staring at the Sun" by U2. Because isn’t there at least one U2 song that reminds you of somebody? And also “She'll Come Back to Me” by Cake: An overheard quote. I did not. Go back that is.

"Stick Shifts and Safety Belts", also by Cake: For the cute-as-a-button guy that introduced me to the band. I reeeeeally like the band. I reeeeally liked the guy.

"A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley. Totally fits this one guy, but ratchet your mind out of the gutter. I was a sweet and innocent 16 year old at the time. I still couldn’t figure out what all the chatter was about though. The proportions of discussing kissing to actual kissing were way out of wack in my opinion.

"Let's End it on This" by No Doubt. Appropriate for one of the three major players (one of the two that are not my husband) on this list. In fact, I’m going to listen to it right now and nod emphatically at the right moments….

...ok, I'm back.

Additionally for Major Player #1, "Unseen" by Katie Armiger, "One and Only" by Teiture, "Can’t Behave" by Courtney Jaye, and "You're Driving Me Crazy" by the Squirrel Nut Zippers. In retrospect that last song will give me away to that person, so to you I say: Yeah, you DID drive me crazy. You also get "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps", either the Doris Day or Cake versions. Want to turn me into a crazy person fast? Keep me guessing. I’ll both love you and really, really want to hit you. Also, thank you for zestily stirring up every insecurity I had. I eventually got over them and I still manage to be shockingly fond of you. So you’re welcome.

For Major Player#2, "Eternal Flame" either by Atomic Kitten or the Bangles. Because for about 30 seconds I thought that (well, slightly longer than that). Then I woke up. But it sticks with you. Also "Marry the Man Today" from the Broadway version of Guys and Dolls. Because it's all about how you think "Oh sure, he'd be different if we got married." And I'm sure that's a lie.

A song I can’t tell you the title of because half of it is his name. Dagnabbit! And it is so fitting too. Grumble. He was super sweet and should be at the top of any DESERVES GOOD THINGS list.

"Baby's Got Sauce" by G. Love and Special Sauce: It was on his computer. I listened to it a lot. I have no idea why I loved it so much. It’s a pretty silly song, but it makes me happy to hear it. Another super sweet guy. Somehow I managed to not date any jerks. And I pat myself on the back for that

"Pretend to be Nice" by Josie and the Pussycats and "What's the Name of the Game" by Abba. Another guy who kept me guessing. It only rose above crush/eh?/wait, so do we like each other or not/huh? status briefly but went on for quite a while. The maybe, maybe not part that is. And I mean QUITE A WHILE. There’s also another song that should go in his list that is so appropriate that I just cannot express it, but actually I’m not going to because it’s another song that would give too much away. I know, I'm a tease.

Just about every love song ever written, including ridiculous ones like Shania Twain’s "You’re Still the One" and respectable ones like Leona Naess’ "Chosen Family", "Lucky" by Jason Mraz, and "Paradise" by Ana Serrano van der Laan" . These are David songs of course. And also "It's Your Life" by Lenny Kravitz. It was our Rebel Yell to several eyebrow-raising people about our impending nuptials.

So how did you like that? It’s really just a self-inflicted meme, but you know I like those. TMI? Fascinating insight? Do let me know… "

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So that was that in all its repeated glory. Check out the other dating-related Spins, quite possibly involving a healthy dose of teenage angst, over at Sprite's Keeper.