The old T-shirt and the new blue hat

You know, every year before I pack my bags for the summer holidays I have the same damn problem. I can't make up my mind on two subjects: the clothes that I plan to take with me and the songs that I'm going to stick on my mp3 player. Given that the existing space both in my suitcase and on my mp3player is quite limited and that I'm going to be stuck with these clothes/songs for the next 30 days this is a major issue every time. I naturally start the selection by sorting through the new stuff (front of the closet/recently added on media library), where I'm much more likely to find things that I'm not yet bored of. Summer dresses I bought on sale in February and waited all this time to wear, jeans I recently turned into shorts in preparation for the July heat, the top I just borrowed from my best friend and everything I got at H&M the previous week especially for this trip. The latest CDs by bands I love, some Yelle and Why? to get me in the mood for Benicassim, that band you always talked about and I never had the time to listen to, something from Pitchfork's "best new music" section. Songs and clothes that haven't yet worn out. Except sometimes when you look for your new blue hat you come upon a T-shirt with no-longer-visible writing on it instead (in the back of the closet). A T-shirt you'd forgotten about - that has shrunk in the wash, that you had worn for weeks on end the previous year and that last summer's sun had bleached; yet one that you love more than all the new clothes you bought. Sometimes you look for a song from Soda Fountain Rag's new album and you find Red Tape instead. A song you'd forgotten about, that you'd listened to throughout the summer of 2007, every day, all summer, until September came and you let it go. A song that's sooo last year and yet so fun and summertime-ish you love it more than all the new songs you were thinking of taking with you. So what can you do? You have to pack the old T-shirt too.

Red Tape - The old T-shirt

Oh Brother - The new blue hat you can buy here)