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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

The last break

Chapter 2: The Mixes of Life

Well, this seems like it would be the same," Toby said as the two-car caravan sped onto I-64 headed southwest into Illinois en route to Memphis, Tennessee.\nThe eight travelers in two cars starting their spring break ended up not being lost at all. \nThe stop in the middle of southern Indiana was because the passenger window was stuck open.\n"No one's to touch that window ever again," said Jarrett Burton, looking like a crow ready to peck at a scarecrow. It's Jarrett's black Pontiac Grand Am that led the trip to Memphis.\nWhile he drove, Toby and Luke did some pecking of their own in the car behind.\n"He drives like an old lady," Toby said.\n"Ten-and-two Burton. Ten-and-two Burton," Luke said.\nJarrett and Toby lived on my floor freshman year. Luke spent his freshman year with Dave Giba. We met through mutual friends working on a cheesy horror film at the end of the year. It's called "Pick," and you might see it on Bloomington's cable access channel. I met Amy Orringer and Stacey Palevsky through the IDS. Those two already knew Jamie Honigman before IU. That's how we existed.\nThrough four semesters abroad, one semester away and 10 summer sessions collectively, we have stayed closest to the people we always knew.\nAnd though we're as colloquial as any eight people from six different states can be, we each have our own soundtrack.\n"Let's listen to a mix guys," said Jamie from Toby's back seat halfway to Memphis. \nJamie and Stacey had spent the night before creating six mixes from some of their favorite traveling songs. It was hard for both of them to narrow down their volumes of music into only one small case. They like all kinds of music though they'll always bring a Phish album along.\nPhish and the guys on this trip don't mix. They like their songs to end -- at some point.\n"Who sings this song?" asked Jamie, hoping she'd catch the boys, specifically me, in a sinful realization. It was obviously Phish. And it wasn't going over well.\n"What album is this from?" I asked Toby.\n"Like I know."\nMakes sense. Toby's car is littered with CDs of his own. They're hidden in crevices and every other empty space in his car arranged in a system that only Toby can decipher. When he wants to hear a song, whatever the band, he usually knows which pile to rifle through. It's organized chaos.\nLuke's CDs are completely different. Tucked away inside a black case inside a retro-green briefcase, Luke's music is always a tidy collection that coincides with current taste. He hand-selected them from his milk crates of music back home.\nHe remembered all of his favorites -- The Dismemberment Plan, Sparta and The Ramones.\nBut there was one CD missing -- the one that means the most. \nRead Chapter 3, All The Action, Monday

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