The Pacific Northwest was hit by a huge snowstorm last week that dumped more than 14 inches of snow on my place of residence, Olympia, Washington. The day after the snowfall, freezing rain placed a thick layer of ice over the newly fallen snow, making everything shiny and slick. It was quite pretty; however, the trees in western Washington aren’t quite used to such harsh treatment, but rather a mild routine of gray skies and light rain. The coating of ice and snow crushed the poor things, snapping them in pieces and leaving wreckage that looked more like the aftermath of a tornado than a snowstorm.

This “snowpocalypse” left around 300,000 people without power, and I was one of them. The power at my apartment was out for six days.

Many nights were too cold to sleep. My partner and I survived by standing on opposite sides of the kitchen counter, surrounded by candles, playing highly competitive games of Hello Kitty Uno. For warmth, we boiled water for hot tea on the porch using our camping stove, and drank cheap red wine. For musical entertainment, we dug our beat-up boom box out of the closet, attached some tin foil to the antenna, inserted some D batteries, and took a journey through modern radio.

When I was young, I deified radio DJs, sitting on my floor all night moving the dial from station to station, occasionally calling in to win prizes, even using blank tapes to make mixes of my favorite songs.

Nowadays, like most people, I simply don’t listen to the radio as much as I used to. I’m preoccupied with surfing the internet, streaming Netflix, playing XBox, and listening to my MP3 player. When I’m in the car I plug in my iPod or I listen to the local jazz station. It’s just the way things have progressed. I hardly even know what radio stations exist, let alone which one I should be listening to.

Sitting there, playing cards in the candlelight night after night, I took an extremely random — yet delightfully fun — journey through Seattle/Olympia radio. I spent a lot of time listening to the shows on 89.3 KAOS, The Evergreen State College’s radio station. I especially enjoyed “Excuse All the Blood” with Seamus O’Reilly, “Campfire Island” with Frank Barber, and “One Chord to Another,” in which a gal named Melissa was filling in for Johnny Koch. I didn’t stop there, though. I bounced around to the classic rock, light music, cheesy pop, classical, and hip-hop stations as well. I even listened to some monastic chants and opera.

Here’s a big list of the songs that made me dance, smile, laugh, cringe, and reminisce in the darkness. If it was legal I’d make you a set of mixtapes. It’s not, so I’ll just share a list.

Prince – “Purple Rain”
Des Ark – “It’s Only A Bargain If You Want It”
Cyndi Lauper – “True Colors”
George Michael – “Faith”
Meat Loaf – “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)”
Fugazi – “Epic Problem”
Nicki Minaj – “Super Bass”
Sleater-Kinney – “Taking Me Home”
Simple Minds – “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”
Two hours of awesome metal and thrash on “Excuse All the Blood”
Elton John – “I’m Still Standing”
Unrest – “Foxy Playground”
The Little Willies – “Lovesick Blues”
Kelly Clarkson – “Stronger”
Thao & Mirah – “Squareneck”
Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo – “Tonight”
New Order – “True Faith”
fIREHOSE – “Things Could Turn Around”
Peter Gabriel – “In Your Eyes”
Free – “All Right Now”
LAKE – “Sing 99 & 90”
Katy Perry – “The One that Got Away”
Smoking Popes – “Writing A Letter”
KT Tunstall – “Suddenly I See”
Kool & the Gang – “Fresh”
J. Geils Band – “Love Stinks”
The Eagles – “Already Gone”
Semisonic – “Closing Time”
The Raincoats – “Lola”
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – “Come On Eileen”
Led Zeppelin – “Kashmir”
The Ritchie Family – “The Best Disco in Town”
Kool & the Gang – “Let’s Groove”
Gloria Estefan & The Miami Sound Machine – “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You”
Madonna – “Vogue”
Soul City Symphony – “The Hustle”
Lady Gaga – “Poker Face”
Alice in Chains – “A Looking in View”
Rhianna – “We Found Love”
Gym Class Heroes – “Stereo Hearts”
Mecca Normal – “Man Thinks Woman”
Cyndi Lauper – “Time After Time”
Dr. Hook – “Sexy Eyes”
Etta James – “At Last”
Adele – “Set Fire To The Rain”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Today”
Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa – “Young, Wild & Free”
Ani DiFranco – “Which Side Are You On?”
Guided By Voices – “Doughnut For a Snowman”
The Cure – “Let’s Go To Bed (Live)”
Haddaway – “What Is Love”
Vivian Girls – “Dance If You Wanna”
Lionel Richie – “Dancing on the Ceiling”
The Black Keys – “Lonely Boy”
Madonna – “Like a Prayer“