This was the first Annual Mix Album I put together—though I didn’t think of it that way at the time. About once a year previously, I had made some sort of carefully thought out compilation. These mixtapes (they were usually tapes) had parameters and rules which helped me keep the song selections focused and manageable. 2004 was a pretty pivotal year for me. I turned 25 while living in my parents’ basement and headed for a divorce. A lot of the songs included were not on albums I thought I would listen to much and I wanted to have a place to hear them more regularly, and there was definitely an autobiographical approach. I didn’t make it with a mind to share it, but I was really happy with the way it came out and ended up including it in the “orders” I sent out for the Dreaming Out Loud Christmas 2004 catalog.