21

To add a little to my previous post concerning the drinking age, an issue that I tend to get a bit heated over:

At the age of 18, one is considered an adult. They can be tried in court as an adult, punished as an adult, face adult consequences. Anything negative that can happen to adult, can now happen to this 18-year-old.

Yet, said 18-year-old does not have all the rights as other adults in the nation. They are withheld the right to drink alcohol.

Unconstitutional? I think so.

Coming out of the Country Music Closet

(I might lose friendships for this... or at least, weaken a few.)

In my life, I've spent quite a bit of time making fun of country music... and I've spent an equal or greater amount of time singing it.

It's the genre I grew up on, but it was incredibly uncool during my adolescent years (and, arguably, now). While, in some ways, it can't compare at all to my other, superior, more intelligent music - indie rock, experimental, prog rock, whatever - country music has something going for it. It has a huge following, and an exceptionally large closet-fan base. I'm among them - don't often broadcast my love of country music. I'd rather be seen as a girl who likes the Dropkick Murphys, or Feist, or something. Truthfully, I would choose a Garth Brooks concert over ANY of those artists. Hands down.

I always thought country music was supposed to be only for southerners and Western New York tried to steal it. The truth is, as I wrote below, that simple way of life talked about in this genre doesn't only apply to the south. It exists anywhere there are wide open spaces, hard working people, and an appreciation for the more genuine things in life.

The first video goes along with what I just said extremely well. It's about enjoying the good things in life: a little bit of chicken fried, cold beer on a friday night. The second one, if you actually enjoyed the first any, is an incredible video of my man, Garth Brooks, performing one of my favorite songs EVER, Callin' Baton Rouge.

Wide Open Spaces

This weekend I took a camping trip with some of my buddies as our last time together before we all leave for our respective colleges. Some of my peers from the city might have been out clubbing with their friends, or at a crazy party on the beach, but I think I'm the luckiest. I got to grill my own corn in a fire pit for dinner, sizzle some bacon for breakfast, snack on peaches that came from my backyard. We all sat around the fire all night, sometimes adventuring out into the wilderness (or the next site over), or just chatting while making s'mores and smoking some strawberry cigars. We finally all passed out next to each other, in a row, under the stars in the clearest sky we'd ever seen. While others my age might have been glamorous in their dress jeans and silky tops, their glitzy jewelry and manolos, I wore the same jeans for about three days and broke my four year old flip flops. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

On the way there, I glanced out the window to see a fairly common scene: a field, some trees, the sky. Knowing that I'm not going to be around open spaces like that in a week, though, made me see it a little differently. At first it didn't seem like anything worthy of a picture.

After I impulsively took it, my mind was changed.

Justice

This entry really isn't political at all. With all this talk about our new Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, I thought I might share another kind of Justice that I've been into lately.

Try to figure out who this song is a tribute for, I'll give you a hint: you've seen a gross amount of tributes for him lately, and like four of his songs are mentioned. It's a tough one, I know.

Up and Coming

This week, two blogs have been born which will surely be worth reading. I would like to take some bit of credit for encouraging, inspiring or suggesting the creation of these soon to be masterpieces.

You may have seen Andrew "Beans" Stebbins leaving ridiculously lengthy comments on my blogs (the last two). He is both very knowledgeable and opinionated, so this blog should be interesting. I, and I'm sure many others, would agree that Beans needs an outlet for his thoughts and opinions of current events and issues. I would be willing to bet that most of his blogs will be based on politics and baseball.

Different things can be expected from Sam Bortle's blog, as, while she's also very knoweldgeable on the world of politics as well as passionate for her beliefs, she's quite interested in pop culture and such things. I could be wrong, but I would expect book, movie and music reviews as well as political and social ideas (something like Damanta Maith)... all of which are bound to be written in her own entertaining, often humorous voice. While she's been a fellow writer of mine for quite some time (she was editor of our leroy best seller, The Word), she's definitely been someone to look up to! I would expect great things from Sam.

I have several other talented blogger friends, and all of them can be seen on this page. Some update frequently, while some tend to go portions of years without posting more than school essays (coughjamescough). Check them out! Most people reading this are probably on that list, actually, but if you aren't... you should be! Get a blog! Talk about things and pretend people are reading it! :]

Republicans: Please Get Shit Done.

Republicans...
Once again, your party and I are put in an awkward situation.
I agree with your feelings towards public health care. It's no good. I don't like the idea. Bad move. We agree on this.

However, once again, you don't know how to get shit done. You say, "No public health care!" That's all fine and good... Until Democrats say, "Ok, what's your plan?"

"...huh. Umm... yeah... no public health care!"

That's not a plan!
Make a plan! An ALTERNATIVE.
Because I think it's clear that if Democrats have a plan that they like, it's going to pass eventually.
It shouldn't pass without a decent amount of debate and speculation... but it will pass.
So you're doing a good job of slowing it down, and talking it over... except, you're not really talking it over.
You're just saying no.
But "no" isn't going to keep us away from public health care.
Another idea of how to reform problems in the health care industry is what we need.
So come on, let's go. You're embarrassing conservatives and people who agree with you.

The Sound of Republican Orchestration

Damn Republicans, "orchestrating" this movement against a bill they don't agree with! How dare they educate the public on their side of the issue, encourage their supporters to become active in the debate, and ask them to make their voices heard! It's outrageous. People are protesting and it's all the GOP's fault. Democrats would NEVER provide information that is favorable towards their side, advertise their ideas, or encourage their members or supporters to act upon their opinions.

I mean, this is a democracy. Why would a party encourage ANYONE to voice their opinions?!

Overcoming Melophobia: The Arcade Fire

I'll admit, I'm a stubborn person and sometimes that leads me to miss out. I spent a long time declaring my hatred for The Arcade Fire, and now I'm ready to say I've turned 360 into a fan. This trailer is one reason why!