Yesterday, Rochelle Feil — humble family and faith reporter, food blogger and all-around fantastic human being (she’ll be reading this, so I have to say that) — began talking about how her sister wanted “The Wedding Singer” soundtrack to use for her wedding. My time to shine, I thought, as I told her that there are actually two soundtracks to that movie and I own them both. Though she already knew that, she was unable to get her hands on the second one, so I found myself in the position to be helpful by offerering her usage of my copy.

As I went through my old, forgotten CD collection, I was reminded of my dream career. As both a music lover and movie fanatic, I decided in junior high that I wanted to compile movie soundtracks. I wanted to be the person who decided exactly which song to play along with each scene from beginning to end. I bought a lot of movie soundtracks back in the day. Even if I already owned the songs that were on the soundtrack, I’d buy them either to honor my love of the movie or because of my appreciation for the music chosen.

When listening to a song, I frequently find myself picturing in my mind a scene to which it would most aptly be set. Likewise, when I’m watching a movie, I imagine which song I think would go best, either to properly depict what I’m watching, or to absurdly contradict it (have you ever pictured the Benny Hill theme being played during a funeral? I have).  With the vastness of the music I manage to keep stored in my head, I can usually come up with a song for just about anything.

It would be very difficult to describe the thrill I get when people enlist my help in putting together a mix of songs attached to a theme. I guess you could say it’s one of my happy places (right in line with The Hinterlands in World of Warcraft, my comfy futon bed, Disneyland, a roomful of kittens, the driver’s seat of a Cadillac … okay, my list of happy places goes on and on, but it doesn’t diminish the value of any particular happy place). It is also very thrilling for me when I’m watching a movie and the most perfect song is playing during a scene. The lobby scene in “The Matrix” as an example is a no-brainer. The backyard barbecue introduction in “King of California” (middle-aged swingers partying in slo-mo to “Summer Breeze” by Seals & Crofts) is one of my most recent favorites. There are many others, but it’d take a lot of memory jogging that I just don’t have the energy for right now.

Anyway, I’m short on thrills these days. Anybody want to suggest a good theme for a music compilation? Or even a bad theme? Or tell me your favorite movie soundtrack, or your pick for best music-in-a-movie moment.