Birthday Music #10: Teri

Name: Teri

Girls Rock Camp Donation Tally: $60

Relationship: Teri and I worked together for a very brief period and are Facebook friends, but we've never hung out. Unless I've terrified her with a post I may or may not have made to her Facebook page suggesting we get a drink, that may change soon.

How Did We Meet: Teri was a super star media planner/buyer at OMD before she left to become a super star media planner/buyer at Merlino Bauer Media. In other words, we were both corporate slaves (my take, not necessarily hers) — sharing office space in downtown Seattle — until we decided to strike out on our own. She did it first, one of the folks on the list of those I followed who made me think I could do it too.

Something about Teri: She has pretty red hair and her kids do too. And, judging by her Facebook page, she spends an inordinate amount of time attending their sporting events.

Teri's Playlist: Teri described it as a collection of songs that make her happy: jazz, boys with guitars, girls with louder guitars, hip hop, R&B, smoldering ladies and my very first SpongeBob song.

Delivery: Teri mailed her CD to Oliver's Twist. This is Robert opening it. We were anxious. Well, I was; I think Robert just wanted to cut something.

Favorite (Nostalgic) Tracks: "Tell Me Something Good," Chaka Khan and Rufus, and "Monkey Man," Rolling Stones (Why does this song make me think of David Duchovny?)

Favorite (New to Me) Tracks: "A Change is Gonna Come," Leela James and "Shit List," L7

Time's running out, but here's the address if you want to send me music too:

Alison's Birthday Music

c/o Oliver's Twist

6822 Greenwood Avenue

Seattle WA 98103

Remember, for every playlist I receive this month, I am making a $5 donation to Girls Rock Camp.

More Birthday Music posts to come…

Birthday Music #9: Tim

Name: Tim (aka @tfrommer)

Girls Rock Camp Donation Tally: $55

Relationship: Tim is a friend of mine who lives in Seattle. We've known each other for a few years now — four?

How Did We Meet: Tim worked at DDB, but left before I joined the staff. We met online first — through friends we have in common — but the first time we hung out was at Collins Pub near Pioneer Square.

Something about Tim: Tim and I went to see a show together at the Seattle Museum of Art one weekend when I was stuck in Seattle — before I moved here and was, foolishly, flying back to D.C. to live in my shitty apartment, where my view was the sad girl who lived across the courtyard and not the Olympic Mountains and the Ballard Bridge. But that's about me, huh? And I can't even remember the show we saw. But I do remember being more interested in talking to Tim than the art. LOOKING AT the art, not talking to it. That would have been weird.

Tim's Playlist: Five songs each: 1) Boys, 2) Girls and 3) Boys and Girls. Tempted to give up on the idea that I'm going to be able to pick my favorites and just share the whole damn playlist with you. Lots of singing along and seat dancing — while speeding down the highway. Consider avoiding the Seattle streets for a while.

Delivery: Tim dropped off his CD at Oliver's Twist on a Saturday before they opened; slid it through the door and then followed up to make sure I got it. I'm thinking of getting a tattoo of the Jenny Toomey/Tsunami lyric featured on the front of the CD: "It's a man's luck to get to play strong but be weak; it's a woman's lot, I've got to play weak but be stronger."

Favorite Boys: "Who Taught You to Live Like That?," Sloan and "Beautiful Night," Casey Neill

Favorite Girls: "Stolen Car," Beth Orton and "Red Orange Green," Emma Pollock

Here's the address if you want to send me music too:

Alison's Birthday Music

c/o Oliver's Twist

6822 Greenwood Avenue

Seattle WA 98103

Remember, for every playlist I receive this month, I am making a $5 donation to Girls Rock Camp.

Birthday Music #8: Amy

Name: Amy (aka @AmyLKunz)

Girls Rock Camp Donation Tally: $50

Relationship: Amy and I do not know each other; she says she reads this blog. I went to LinkedIn to see if we had any friends or colleagues in common because she works in the nonprofit sector in D.C.; we have a 3rd degree connection (her connections know my connections.)

How Did We Meet: We haven't yet; but Amy was kind enough to introduce herself with this playlist, so perhaps we will.

Something about Amy: Amy works for the Latin American Youth Center as their Senior Grants Manager. The organization's mission is to support academic achievement, promote healthy behaviors, and guide youth toward successful adulthood.

Amy's Playlist: Amy says the playlist got her through college and grad school. She apparently comes from the Alison school of mixed CDs, which is to start off with a bang; I started dancing as soon as I heard the first song.

Delivery: Amy mailed her CD to Oliver's Twist, including a Post-It (with a picture of a small dog dressed like a leprechaun or the marshall of the St. Patrick's Day Parade) and a business card to introduce herself.

Favorite (Nostalgic) Tracks: "Mandinka," Sinead O'Connor and "September," by Earth Wind and Fire: I danced to the latter in a recital when I was in sixth grade, wearing a pedophile's fantasy version of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders costume. Despite the weird sense that I should be shaking my white tassels whenever I hear it, I love this song. As soon as I heard it I started dancing, trying to recreate those jetes from all those years ago.

Favorite (New to Me) Tracks: "Cornflake Girl," Tori Amos and "See a Little Light," Bob Mould

Time's running out, but here's the address if you want to send me music too:

Alison's Birthday Music

c/o Oliver's Twist

6822 Greenwood Avenue

Seattle WA 98103

Remember, for every playlist I receive this month, I am making a $5 donation to Girls Rock Camp.

More Birthday Music posts to come…

Birthday Music #8: Amy

Name: Amy (aka @AmyLKunz)

Girls Rock Camp Donation Tally: $50

Relationship: Amy and I do not know each other; she says she reads this blog. I went to LinkedIn to see if we had any friends or colleagues in common because she works in the nonprofit sector in D.C.; we have a 3rd degree connection (her connections know my connections.)

How Did We Meet: We haven't yet; but Amy was kind enough to introduce herself with this playlist, so perhaps we will.

Something about Amy: Amy works for the Latin American Youth Center as their Senior Grants Manager. The organization's mission is to support academic achievement, promote healthy behaviors, and guide youth toward successful adulthood.

Amy's Playlist: Amy says the playlist got her through college and grad school. She apparently comes from the Alison school of mixed CDs, which is to start off with a bang; I started dancing as soon as I heard the first song.

Delivery: Amy mailed her CD to Oliver's Twist, including a Post-It (with a picture of a small doug dressed like a leprechaun or the marshall of the St. Patrick's Day Parade) and a business card to introduce herself.

Favorite (Nostalgic) Tracks: "Mandinka," Sinead O'Connor and "September," by Earth Wind and Fire: I danced to the latter in a recital when I was in sixth grade, wearing a pedophile's fantasy version of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders costume. Despite the weird sense that I should be wearing something with white tassels whenever I hear it, I love this song. As soon as I heard it I started dancing, trying to recreate those jetes from all those years ago.

Favorite (New to Me) Tracks: "Cornflake Girl," Tori Amos and "See a Little Light," Bob Mould

Time's running out, but here's the address if you want to send me music too:

Alison's Birthday Music

c/o Oliver's Twist

6822 Greenwood Avenue

Seattle WA 98103

Remember, for every playlist I receive this month, I am making a $5 donation to Girls Rock Camp.

More Birthday Music posts to come…

Birthday Music #7: Chris

Name: Chris (aka @chrissandoval)

Girls Rock Camp Donation Tally: $45 - Just like Jeff, Chris decided to match my $5 and send along $5 of his own. Hero.

Relationship: Chris and I are friends on Twitter but we hung out one night a couple of years ago in a bar in San Antonio when I was in town for a conference. Chris says I am the most famous person he knows.

How Did We Meet: I think we must have connected through Spike Jones; the pain in the ass, not the filmmaker.

Something about Chris: Chris has curlier hair than I do. And if he's your neighbor, don't cut down his tree.

Chris' Playlist: Okay, here's the thing; Chris sent me a 55 SONG playlist (apparently that's how they do things in Texas), so Chris wins the award for endurance. Do you really expect me to summarize 55 songs? You have more faith in me than I deserve.

Delivery: Chris mailed his CD to Oliver's Twist. The CD has a map of the state of Texas on it. It's smaller than I would have imagined, cause I hear things are big in Texas.

Favorite (Nostalgic) Tracks: "By the Time I Get to Arizona," Public Enemy and "I'm Waiting for the Man," Velvet Underground

Favorite (New to Me) Tracks: "Cowgirl," Underworld and "The Golden Path," Chemical Brothers

As a reminder, here's the address so you can send me music too:

Alison's Birthday Music

c/o Oliver's Twist

6822 Greenwood Avenue

Seattle WA 98103

Remember, for every playlist I receive by the end of the month, I am making a $5 donation to Girls Rock Camp.

More Birthday Music posts to come…

Birthday Music #6: Dawn

Name: Dawn

Girls Rock Camp Donation Tally: $35

Relationship: Dawn and I attended Hampshire College together and reconnected recently via Facebook. ("I do enjoy our interweb friendship," said Dawn in her note. Me too, Dawn.)

How Did We Meet: If I recall correctly, Dawn was the TA in the first video production course I took; the great Joan Braderman was the professor.

Something about Dawn: I don't know if it's still the case, but back in the day Hampshire was famous for its annual campus-wide Halloween party. Some of it was myth, but essentially, every year on the night of the party, the campus was shut down to outsiders and students from the other four colleges in the area (Amherst, Smith, Mount Holyoke and UMASS) clamored to get on. One of the supposed reasons for the lockdown was the acknowledgement that a fair amount of drugs were to be taken that evening. So…in my first year, I decided to partake and took acid with a few friends (let's just acknowledge here that I will never be elected President) only to remember when I was in the full throes of it that I have a pretty intense phobia of people dressed up in costume. Not good. So, one of my most intense memories of Dawn was her standing in front of me — dressed in a furry costume, if I recall — chatting away and me being absolutely scared shitless. I don't think I've ever told Dawn that story…

Dawn's Playlist: Dawn sent me a playlist that she herself listens to on a regular basis. (I love that.) "What it may lack in hipness, it makes up for in sentiment." It's a Joni Mitchell to Joan Jett, with a few steps in between.

Delivery: Dawn mailed her CD to Oliver's Twist. It came with a handmade (by Dawn?) card featuring a lightning bolt striking a heart.

Favorite (Nostalgic) Tracks: Tough, because the CD is pretty nostalgic overall. But I'll go with "Crimson and Clover," Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; "Pretty in Pink," Psychedelic Furs and "Across the Universe," Rufus Wainright.

Favorite (New to Me) Tracks: "Sister," Sufjan Stevens

As a reminder, here's the address so you can send me music too:

Alison's Birthday Music

c/o Oliver's Twist

6822 Greenwood Avenue

Seattle WA 98103

Remember, for every playlist I receive by the end of the month, I am making a $5 donation to Girls Rock Camp.

More Birthday Music posts to come…

Birthday Music #5: Dan

Name: Dan (aka @DanGoldgeier)

Girls Rock Camp Donation Tally: $30

Relationship: Dan and I are friends on Twitter. We've had drinks a couple of times and he was kind enough to write a post about Aggregate on AdPulp when we first launched.

How Did We Meet: Dan said he started following me on Twitter after he read the John Hughes post. I believe him. But we didn't meet in person until he moved to Seattle this past year. We had a drink at Spur, which is another great bar in Seattle, but certainly not as fabulous as Oliver's Twist.

Something about Dan: He wrote an ebook called View from the Cheap Seats about the advertising business that is available on Amazon and I'm pretty confident he would be pleased if you were to check it out.

Dan's Playlist: Country-tinged pop

Delivery: Dan brought his CD to Oliver's Twist in person and I happened to be sitting there at the end of the bar when he did, so I got a free drink out of it. In fact, I got TWO free drinks out of the night, because Brady the bartender bought me a drink too. Score.

Favorite (Nostalgic) Track: "The Kid is Hot Tonight," Loverboy

Favorite (New to Me) Track: "My Handy Man," Alberta Hunter

As a reminder, here's the address so you can send me music too:

Alison's Birthday Music

c/o Oliver's Twist

6822 Greenwood Avenue

Seattle WA 98103

Remember, for every playlist I receive by the end of the month, I am making a $5 donation to Girls Rock Camp.

Birthday Music #4: Jeff

Name: Jeff

Girls Rock Camp Donation Tally: $25 (Jeff matched my $5 donation, bumping up our total $10. A good man, that Jeff.)

Relationship: Jeff went to the all boy's Catholic high school down the street from my all girl's Catholic high school in Connecticut. We recently reconnected (within the past couple of years) via Facebook (of course.) He's coming to Seattle in March for work and we'll reunite when he does.

How Did We Meet: I don't remember the specifics, but I think Jeff and I met at a hotel room party that became a common occurrence in our senior year. (Think Super 8 Motel and the potential that someone may have died in one of the beds and they didn't change the bedspread.) Jeff was friends with Chris, who remains my best friend to this day.

Something about Jeff: Jeff shares tales of his children on Facebook and they don't make me want to puke. In fact, they make me think his kids are pretty cool and that they, in turn, think he's cool too.

Jeff's Playlist: Every song on Jeff's playlist makes reference to a geographical location and manages to get both Neils (Diamond and Young) in there.

Delivery: Jeff mailed a CD, titled "The Evening Star Must Be Drooping and Shedding Her Sparkler Dims on the Prairie" (a quote from Kerouac's "On the Road,") to Oliver's Twist.

Favorite (Nostalgic) Track: "Kentucky Woman," Neil Diamond

Favorite (New to Me) Track(s): "Bloodbuzz Ohio," The National; "Hello Seattle," Owl City

As a reminder, here's the address so you can send me music too:

Alison's Birthday Music

c/o Oliver's Twist

6822 Greenwood Avenue

Seattle WA 98103

Remember, for every playlist I receive by the end of the month, I am making a $5 donation to Girls Rock Camp.

More Birthday Music posts to come…