All You Need is Love

The Greeks have four words for "love". Why would you need this many? Isn't love just that - love?

I think there are as many ways to love someone as there are relationships. For every two people that know each other, and have some type of relationship - be it friendly, family, or romantic - there's a new, separate way to love someone. It's something that can only happen after sharing experiences together, and every two people share completely different experiences than others do. For example, my friend Will. We have been neighbors since I was 7, enemies until I was 13 (1) , schoolmates until I was 16, and close friends until now. We've been in marching band together, indoor track together, and a gang together (2). No two other people on earth have shared exactly what we've shared. This friend-love is different than anyone else's. It's completely unique and no one else has the same friendship that we have. No one else loves anyone else the way I love Will.

So often do we, especially young people, tell our friends that we love them. I tell my girls team all the time, "I love you guys!" or I'll tell Ciera's family, "Love you Connie/Kev/Sutt/Rye!"(3). "Love" comes out of our mouths countless times a day. So here comes the dilemma I am seeing in our society, especially with young people. How do you, verbally, make the transition from friendship-love to romantic love? Maybe I'm the only one who is bothered by this... But if you're good friends with someone, and it starts to turn into something more, it gets a bit awkward. Here's someone that you've always been able to say "I love you!" to, without thinking twice, and now those words mean a bit more. Of course you still love them as a friend, you never stopped loving them in that way, but maybe you're not sure if you're "in love". However, you continue to say it, because randomly stopping would be strange. Maybe one day, when you finally feel you are actually "in love", you can say, "Hey! I actually love you now. Before I was just saying that as a friend. and now I love you! Even though I already did." That is just wierd.

Had the creators of our language realized that there are more ways to love someone than one, maybe they would have added a few others to make this easier on us. Or, maybe we should just better utilize the words we have. Maybe you should tell your friends, "I care for you greatly!" or "I love you, as a sister/brother!"(4). Or maybe not. Maybe once you get into that awkward post-friendship-pre-love period, you should just say, "I like you intensely" or "I fancy you" or "I think you are pretty bomb-ass". Or you could make a pact to not say "I love you" until you feel you actually do.

Honestly, I don't really see a solution to this problem in the near future, because everyone is going to keep saying it, and no new words are going to be invented to solve this dilemma. We are pretty much screwed... unless we start speaking Greek.

1. He used to literally force me into playing kickball or football or something with him. It was horrible.
2. Fat Cobras!
3. Actually, I am totally in love with Sutton.
4. Some of you may recall using "lylas/lylab" to express this in grade school. It was all the rage.

To Every Season, There is a Playlist

Today I was watching this YouTube video (1) and it made me wish two things: that I was in Ireland, and that it was Christmastime. I realized my desire for Christmastime was not just because of the beautiful white snow, or the cookies or hot chocolate, or family or presents, but because I missed listening to "winter music" - which among other things, features that very Pogues song.

Throughout the year, my music tastes tend to change according to the season. This should make some sort of sense to most people - you listen to Christmas music at Christmas time, maybe Jimmy Buffet during the summer, and perhaps drinking songs on St. Paddy's day (2). For me, there are certain bands that sound better at certain times of the year - I think the Goo Goo Dolls sound best when the earth is covered in snow, and Oasis is best when that snow begins to melt. O.A.R. is best on those exceptionally hot days of spring, and Pearl Jam is great when the leaves begin to change. These particular tastes may not be as understandable to everyone. I think it may have to do with what season it was when I was first introduced to these bands, or maybe a great moment I had listening to them at a certain point in the year.

This would be a very long blog if I told you the exact times of the year to listen to each band I enjoy. Here's a brief music calendar.

Summer, as you may expect, is all about taking it easy. Dave Matthews Band is the boss of summer music. O.A.R., Bob Marley, Allman Brothers Band, Phish, the Grateful Dead, and various country music are all good options for summer.

Fall mellows down a bit, at least for me. I have so much going on, that I need to just get lost in something. Pearl Jam is a fall favorite, as well as Explosions in the Sky, James, Travis, Wilco, Oasis, and Band of Horses. As well as whatever random songs my girls XC team decides to relentlessly chant allllllllll season long.

Winter is tricky. You've got Christmas music (3), and you've got the music you listen to when you get sick of Christmas music. I think the Goo Goo Dolls are always enhanced by snow. I'm not sure why, but sometime this winter, on a bright, snowy morning, play Black Balloon and see what you think. I think winter is the time when I start listening to new stuff the most. I listen to a lot of celtic music around now, but I tend to listen to girly music often too - Ingrid Michaelson, Michelle Branch, Dido, Fiona Apple, Feist, Sarah McLachlan. Winter track often requires something to entertain me during long, 8-hour meets (4); Dropkick Murphys and Green Day are usually a good choice.

Spring is my time to run by myself, on my own schedule, and I usually opt for long, slow runs. These are usually fueled by The Who, The Shins, Oasis, Spoon, Beck, Carbon Leaf, and Zeppelin. There's something about Oasis when it's starting to warm up outside - I think it's Oasis's mix of energetic, dance-worthy pop and their fuzzy, lazy, wintery sound. They're laid-back and chill, but they're kind of excited too.

Of course this varies year to year, as new music comes out and I discover new tastes. If you're wondering, no, there is not an ideal time to listen to Celtic music - that takes place all year long. If you made me put it on a calendar though, I'd obviously put it in March - St. Paddy's Month, as I like to think of it.

So, soon I'll be putting my Allman Bros away and bustin' out the Pearl Jam. I'll have to load my Sansa up with Explosions in the Sky for those long XC and Marching Band bus rides. I'll have to put "New Slang" (5) and "Hey There Delilah" (6) on a playlist for the girl's team to belt along to. Then I'll be waiting three or so more months until I can righteously listen to "Fairytale of New York" every single day.

1. This is "Fairytale of New York" by 80's celt-rock band the Pogues. You may have seen it in the best movie ever made, P.S. I Love You.
2. An everyday occurance in my household.
3. I like Christmas music too much - I love listening to the 646843871126458 different covers of War is Over.
4. During which the RENT soundtrack is often sung in its entirety.
5. Usually sung to Alexandra when her SHINS are causing her pain.
6. Usually sung to L. "Two more years and I'll be done with school, and you'll be teaching history like you do!"

It Turned Cold, That's Where It Ends...

Summer 08 sure knows how to go out with a bang.

First of all, my favorite band lost a gifted musician - LeRoi Moore passed away. If a member of DMB dying does not put an immediate damper on everything, I don't know what would.

The Allman Brothers Band was at CMAC friday night. My dad and I have been going to see them every summer for the past four years - usually at the end of August. Paired up with them was Bob Wier and Ratdog for the second year in a row. You may know Bob Weir as the former rhythm guitarist for the Grateful Dead, and his band Ratdog pretty much just covers Dead songs. Basically, this is the ultimate summer show. You've got college kids, aged hippies, Dead Heads of all sorts, and even high-class older folks with their grandkids. It's quite the event. I kind of think of it as a goodbye party for summer every year. It's like the climax, the "hm, what have I learned this summer?" moment.

Among other things, the pool closed, XC started, and Chelsea leaves for Italy on Wednesday.

Lastly, a certain relationship came to an abrupt end last week, and it wasn't pretty. I sort of lost a best friend. Everything I knew this summer has now changed. I don't even want to be an archaeologist anymore. (1)

With everything ending, it can't be overlooked that all sorts of new things are starting. Obviously school, xc, marching band are starting, but other things are in the works too. Now I'm going to be seeing my friends everyday - some of whom I have not seen all summer. Friendships are forming and evolving. Ciera is leaving, but she's starting a whole new college life, that hopefully I will find some sort of niche in. Let's not get too bummed out about summer ending; fall is my favorite season.

So here we go, about to enter my senior year, a bit more grown up and a bit more corrupted. I'm not really worried about school this year - I'm going to have 2-4 study halls a day. (2) Hopefully I'll pass my road test (3) and be able to drive to Fisher/Naz often. I don't really want to make a huge, cheesy, emotional deal out of this year. Yes, it's the last of everything in high school for me. Sure, I'm going to miss it. Can we please just get this over with, and not cry at every "last rehearsal" or "last show" or "last meet"? That would be spectacular.

1. Now, I want to major in communications. Maybe do PR, like Samantha Jones
2. Which will probably be spent playing my fiddle in the band room.
3. My mother has finally found out about this.