Something about Johnny Cash makes anything he does sound incredibly urgent. Over the ten year period before his death, he recorded several albums covering songs by bands like Nine Inch Nails and The Beatles and U2.
And without effort he tops every single one of them, just by strumming a guitar and lazily mumbling the vocals in that distinctively deep voice of his.
Two of the highlights from the series of six albums are "Wayfaring Stranger" and "One", the latter by U2. Let's just say this eighty year old man had a knack for making you cry - every song sounds like he died right after he recorded it and every song makes a pretty convincing epitaph. Guy's got like fifty epitaphs. Some look back on life satisfied and accomplished, some look back dejected and alone. Even though the songs weren't originally written about death, Cash makes them about death.
It's terrifyingly affecting, and it puts everything in perspective. Johnny Cash is gone forever, and someday I will be too - just without any kind of legacy.
In Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt", Cash wallows in his sense of the meaninglessness of all his accomplishment. "You can have it all," he promises. "My empire of dirt."
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Applying to college
I am not good at applying to college. The hardest part is writing the essay, obviously. Namely, I don't know what to write. The common application has one essay on it, and i get to choose from six questions. I guess I just need to brainstorm. Maybe typing my thought process out will give me ideas.
First: Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
Significant experiences? Um, I've been to some cool concerts - not too deep of an impact there though. My crowning achievement is being elected president of FPD's do-nothing Mu Alpha Theta club. Risks I've taken? Climbing trees...umm...maybe once I burned a pinecone? Ethical dilemmas, I've got to have some stuff there! Racism, sexism, murder...I don't think I have any stories about me taking the high ground. I cheated for money in eighth grade and I learned that that was a stupid thing to do...
Oh well, I've still got five questions to go. I'm sure something will work for me.
Second: Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
First: Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
Significant experiences? Um, I've been to some cool concerts - not too deep of an impact there though. My crowning achievement is being elected president of FPD's do-nothing Mu Alpha Theta club. Risks I've taken? Climbing trees...umm...maybe once I burned a pinecone? Ethical dilemmas, I've got to have some stuff there! Racism, sexism, murder...I don't think I have any stories about me taking the high ground. I cheated for money in eighth grade and I learned that that was a stupid thing to do...
Oh well, I've still got five questions to go. I'm sure something will work for me.
Second: Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
Well. Unfortunately, I'm not really all about the issues. I'm of the viewpoint that one person can't change anything unless they go into politics - and i haven't done that and I don't plan on it. So, I just can't put my heart into writing about rights for animals or unborn children. This question is out.
Third: Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
My dad. My mom. Mr. Powell. Jesus. Hint: writing about Jesus is a surefire way not to get accepted anywhere, and the same probably goes for Mr. Powell. Also, writing about your parents is cliché. This entire question is cliché, actually. Definitely not doing this one.
Fourth: Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
I'm going to slap this one with a maybe. Fictional characters that have influenced me? Willy Wonka. Jay Gatsby. I mean, they kind of influenced me. Historical figures like Napoleon maybe? I'm sure I could stretch it or something. Maybe a song that changed the way I am? Casimir Pulaski Day. Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da. Umbrella by Rihanna. Once again: I could stretch it or something. Why do they have to make the topics so vague? Maybe I could choose a creative work of science that has influenced me...except for the fact that I'm having trouble imagining a creative work of science.
Fifth: A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
Yeah, I would have to lie to answer this question because I think “diversity” is overrated. I mean, yeah, obviously it'd be better to have a doctor and a soldier instead of two doctors or two soldiers, but in my life? I could write some corny story about how me and my friends are different from each other, I guess.
Sixth: Topic of your choice.
Okay, now you're just messing with me.
In conclusion, I only have one word for you, cool colleges off in the distance: forget it. Because I don't think you'll accept an essay-less applicant. UGA early action here I come.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Nostalgia for '05
Don't read this post if you've never liked pop music or you are older than twenty-three.
The year that I got into music is the year 2005. My favorite bands at that point were Green Day and The Black Eyed Peas, not necessarily in that order. I really liked the song "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson, but not as much as the much grittier "Behind These Hazel Eyes". The only cd I owned was TobyMac's Welcome to Diverse City, and I spun that junk on repeat. I had Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" and "Dance, Dance" memorized, but I felt guilty for listening to them because I thought they were very inappropriate. The only rap songs I had ever heard were "Yeah" by Usher and the rap half of Welcome to Diverse City. A year later I heard "Soul Survivor" (edited, obviously) by Young Jeezy and memorized that. If you asked me what my favorite song was, I would've said either "Holiday" or "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day.
Fact is, I listen to pop music extremely sporadically. I know almost every pop song released from 2004-2006, but I could hardly name any song from 2007-2009. This thing called Lady Gaga happened somewhere around '09 and I dug it, but that's about it for those years. I tried to return to my roots this year, though, by downloading a bunch of what is on the top pop lists, so I can tell you what is good and what is not (Good: "Break Your Heart" and Drake. Bad: "California Gurls", "OMG", and Kesha).
In conclusion, pop music peaked in 2006 with "Every Time We Touch" by Cascada.
mp3: Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes
The year that I got into music is the year 2005. My favorite bands at that point were Green Day and The Black Eyed Peas, not necessarily in that order. I really liked the song "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson, but not as much as the much grittier "Behind These Hazel Eyes". The only cd I owned was TobyMac's Welcome to Diverse City, and I spun that junk on repeat. I had Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" and "Dance, Dance" memorized, but I felt guilty for listening to them because I thought they were very inappropriate. The only rap songs I had ever heard were "Yeah" by Usher and the rap half of Welcome to Diverse City. A year later I heard "Soul Survivor" (edited, obviously) by Young Jeezy and memorized that. If you asked me what my favorite song was, I would've said either "Holiday" or "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day.
Fact is, I listen to pop music extremely sporadically. I know almost every pop song released from 2004-2006, but I could hardly name any song from 2007-2009. This thing called Lady Gaga happened somewhere around '09 and I dug it, but that's about it for those years. I tried to return to my roots this year, though, by downloading a bunch of what is on the top pop lists, so I can tell you what is good and what is not (Good: "Break Your Heart" and Drake. Bad: "California Gurls", "OMG", and Kesha).
In conclusion, pop music peaked in 2006 with "Every Time We Touch" by Cascada.
mp3: Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes
Monday, August 16, 2010
Trying to post a comment on Molly McCoy's blog
I am a little bit of a nerd.
This summer we had to read a book called "The Road", by Cormac McCarthy. It was excellent, but that's not the point. Mrs. Weems decided to start up an online discussion group over the summer on the group, which got me excited for some reason. As soon as I got done reading the book I logged onto Yahoo! Groups and joined the group, ready to get to discussing. To my dismay, I had to wait for Mrs. Weems to verify me. So I waited and checked the site the next day. That lady promised she'd check every day in the summer, you see. BUT NO. In a ridiculous turn of events, I still wasn't verified. Pah. So I checked the next day and I was verified. Phew. She was probably just away on a day hike or something.
Anyways, I hastily posted my "first impression" of the novel (which ended up being about as long as this blog post). Then I realized I was supposed to put my name at the top of my post, so I deleted my post and tried again. After forgetting my name once more, I finally remembered it and got my post to post. But then it didn't come up! It took like thirty seconds for my post to come up. In that thirty seconds I was gearing up to type my thoughts all over again.
After my post was finally up (after an hour or so of work) I checked the messages to see what others of my classmates had posted. So far there had been a lot: right around zero is just an eyeballed estimate. I figured "dang, that makes me look good being first and everything." I checked the members and there were only three: zachals, candace.weems, and stephensnyderpooh, who had not yet posted. The rest of the summer I sporadically checked the page to see what was going on, and it never amounted to much.
ANYWAYS, all of this is to show you what a nerd I am, and to draw a parallel to something else I follow ravenously*: our journalism class' blogs. The weekend was the first time of the year we were assigned to write a blog, so I checked the site all weekend to see what my fellow staff members were posting (I posted mine like right after I got out of school on Friday). Unfortunately, all of theirs came up either after I went to bed Sunday night or Monday morning so I didn't see them until a few minutes ago. Let me just say: good stuff, friends. Victoria posted something about some garbage-sounding tv show, Adriana talked about being a senior, Morgan tried to woo the ladies, Colby recounted her incredibly exciting summer. Molly's was my favorite, though. She went into a stream-of-consciousness about eating barbeque and folding clothes and blogging and being crazy. One line stuck out to me, though. She said (while talking about looking for a restaurant) "I was in the mood for pizza, my sister, burgers, my mom, Chinese, and my dad, barbeque." I was like, whoa! You want to eat your sister and burgers and all that!? (See what I did there?) So I cleverly posted a comment.
Now, the moment this blog's been leading towards: my comment didn't show up. Pah. Ridiculous. What's the problem? I looked closely and noticed I needed to type in the colorful letters. It was like "tra vine" or something. So I typed 'em in. BUT NO, it didn't work. It was like "The characters do not match, try again". So I did, but then I got the same message again. On my third try I went very slowly and tried to match the letters exactly, but no such luck. After several more tries, I gave up.
Sometimes being a nerd just isn't worth it.
*Yes, I use this word literally.
This summer we had to read a book called "The Road", by Cormac McCarthy. It was excellent, but that's not the point. Mrs. Weems decided to start up an online discussion group over the summer on the group, which got me excited for some reason. As soon as I got done reading the book I logged onto Yahoo! Groups and joined the group, ready to get to discussing. To my dismay, I had to wait for Mrs. Weems to verify me. So I waited and checked the site the next day. That lady promised she'd check every day in the summer, you see. BUT NO. In a ridiculous turn of events, I still wasn't verified. Pah. So I checked the next day and I was verified. Phew. She was probably just away on a day hike or something.
Anyways, I hastily posted my "first impression" of the novel (which ended up being about as long as this blog post). Then I realized I was supposed to put my name at the top of my post, so I deleted my post and tried again. After forgetting my name once more, I finally remembered it and got my post to post. But then it didn't come up! It took like thirty seconds for my post to come up. In that thirty seconds I was gearing up to type my thoughts all over again.
After my post was finally up (after an hour or so of work) I checked the messages to see what others of my classmates had posted. So far there had been a lot: right around zero is just an eyeballed estimate. I figured "dang, that makes me look good being first and everything." I checked the members and there were only three: zachals, candace.weems, and stephensnyderpooh, who had not yet posted. The rest of the summer I sporadically checked the page to see what was going on, and it never amounted to much.
ANYWAYS, all of this is to show you what a nerd I am, and to draw a parallel to something else I follow ravenously*: our journalism class' blogs. The weekend was the first time of the year we were assigned to write a blog, so I checked the site all weekend to see what my fellow staff members were posting (I posted mine like right after I got out of school on Friday). Unfortunately, all of theirs came up either after I went to bed Sunday night or Monday morning so I didn't see them until a few minutes ago. Let me just say: good stuff, friends. Victoria posted something about some garbage-sounding tv show, Adriana talked about being a senior, Morgan tried to woo the ladies, Colby recounted her incredibly exciting summer. Molly's was my favorite, though. She went into a stream-of-consciousness about eating barbeque and folding clothes and blogging and being crazy. One line stuck out to me, though. She said (while talking about looking for a restaurant) "I was in the mood for pizza, my sister, burgers, my mom, Chinese, and my dad, barbeque." I was like, whoa! You want to eat your sister and burgers and all that!? (See what I did there?) So I cleverly posted a comment.
Now, the moment this blog's been leading towards: my comment didn't show up. Pah. Ridiculous. What's the problem? I looked closely and noticed I needed to type in the colorful letters. It was like "tra vine" or something. So I typed 'em in. BUT NO, it didn't work. It was like "The characters do not match, try again". So I did, but then I got the same message again. On my third try I went very slowly and tried to match the letters exactly, but no such luck. After several more tries, I gave up.
Sometimes being a nerd just isn't worth it.
*Yes, I use this word literally.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Highlights from my upcoming Weights paper
This semester I am finally fulfilling my weightlifting requirement for graduating. Now, me not really being the weightlifting type, I was intrigued by our first assignment, which was to write a five page paper on various muscles in the body and how to specifically work them out. After some deliberation, I decided to discuss the biceps, triceps, trapezius, pectoralis major, and quadriceps. For interest's sake, I am now going to examine each of these five muscles on myself and write down my observations. First, the biceps and triceps.
For those of you not trained in the art of physical improvement, the bicep is the inner part of the upper arm, while the tricep is the outer part. Experts have warnings about working out the bicep more than the tricep to avoid achieving the "bat-wing" effect. Frankly, "bat-wings" sound kinda cool so I'm probably going to subtly not do my tricep workouts. (Biceps are best when large, in case you recently immigrated here and aren't yet established into our culture.) To work out your biceps, curl large weights with one arm at a time, and then do chin ups. For those unfamiliar with the term "chin up", or those incapable of performing them, you're probably better off sticking to the triceps or becoming an academic or something.
Next, we move on to the trapezius, which is between your neck and shoulder. If you want a big one, it's okay, and I'm cool with that, but I don't really want a muscular area between my neck and shoulder, so I'm gonna let you research this one on your own.
Lastly, we've got the quadriceps, which are your legs. Sprints, jogs, whatever, just keep these babies movin'! Since I walk to class and such, I figure I've got these down. I also saw something about "squats" or some craziness, but, frankly, that sounds unhealthy to me.
And there you've got it: my five step plan to a finely toned body. I will be discussing my results and reminiscing on the good times in the near future.
For those of you not trained in the art of physical improvement, the bicep is the inner part of the upper arm, while the tricep is the outer part. Experts have warnings about working out the bicep more than the tricep to avoid achieving the "bat-wing" effect. Frankly, "bat-wings" sound kinda cool so I'm probably going to subtly not do my tricep workouts. (Biceps are best when large, in case you recently immigrated here and aren't yet established into our culture.) To work out your biceps, curl large weights with one arm at a time, and then do chin ups. For those unfamiliar with the term "chin up", or those incapable of performing them, you're probably better off sticking to the triceps or becoming an academic or something.
Next, we move on to the trapezius, which is between your neck and shoulder. If you want a big one, it's okay, and I'm cool with that, but I don't really want a muscular area between my neck and shoulder, so I'm gonna let you research this one on your own.
Lastly, we've got the quadriceps, which are your legs. Sprints, jogs, whatever, just keep these babies movin'! Since I walk to class and such, I figure I've got these down. I also saw something about "squats" or some craziness, but, frankly, that sounds unhealthy to me.
And there you've got it: my five step plan to a finely toned body. I will be discussing my results and reminiscing on the good times in the near future.
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