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 |   My 2nd blog. My spot for sharing my life, music, and writing with my friends. |
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Hello, Hello. Fancy seeing you here. I'll work on making this nice and pretty later. *  I also have a poetry blog, for those who dig poetry:
AND I have a mental health group with a monthly challenge:
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Lay my hands on Heaven and the sun and the moon and the stars While the devil wants to fuck me in the back of his car ♡ * I will never make this pretty. |
Artist: Fences Album: Lesser Oceans Song: Arrows [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Lyrics  30DBC: The Sunday News!: Pick a random article from the headlines and talk about it. Share your opinions and feelings about it. Encourage a conversation. I'm legit having the hardest fucking time with this prompt today. I can't find anything I want to write about, but it's getting late and I want to get it finished, so I'm just gonna go write about whatever the top news story is on Yahoo right now. Wish me luck. Dammit.  I'm so over the Ferguson thing.. am I the only one? I totally understand where everyone is coming from and why they're doing demonstrations and all that, but there's such a thing as working smart instead of working hard. I feel like they've been working hard since August. They need to regroup and see what they can do to actually make a change. Being loud isn't enough, clearly. Then when something like this shooting happens, it just totally sucks. It makes me feel bad for the people who are just there practicing their freedom of assembly as stated by the First Amendment. I keep hearing these wild accusations being thrown out on both sides and I'm just so done hearing about it now.  All the people assembling are not ghetto, violent people and all the of the police officers are not maniacal, racist fools. Shooting the cops is just such a bad idea, and what are you even proving, really? This was a one off incident, but it really irritated me when the person in the video yelled that if they had acknowledged them 9 months ago, they wouldn't be getting shot at by protesters. I know that's not everyone's view, but it seemed like a particularly sick thing to say the instant the police were shot because those cops had nothing to do with the Michael Brown case or anything. They probably have families who care about them and he didn't know whether they were dead or not. His first instinct was to show a complete lack of empathy for other humans' lives and that's why people scare me. Here's the video, in case you haven't seen it: [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Anyway, regarding the news article, I'm glad they have someone in custody now because we obviously don't need trigger happy people running around on the streets. I know the suspect claimed he was shooting at other protesters, not the police, but that literally makes it no better at all. I don't even know why he would say that as a defense. He must've not been lawyered up when he said that. I'm just glad that no one died this time and I really wish we could start making improvements on the tension between citizen and police officers. Tom Petty in this motherfucker All I wanna do is free fall |
Artist: Ride Album: Nowhere Song: Vapour Trail [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Lyrics 30DBC: Make a "Top 10" list...on any topic of your choosing. Why is #1 your #1? Top Ten Songs of Spring Break 2015 10. The Samples - Could It Be Another Change 9. Blitzen Trapper - Furr 8. Modest Mouse - Lampshades On Fire 7. Glass Animals - Psylla 6. Atmosphere - Sunshine 5. XTC - Dear God 4. Babyshambles - Delivery 3. Catfish and the Bottlemen - Hourglass 2. Fleetwood Mac - The Chain 1. Fences - Songs About Angels This is what I've been listening to this week. It's a complete mishmash of stuff, just the way I like it. The Fences song is number one because I just got their new record this week, the day it came out.  If you haven't heard this band, you should give them a listen. They're super catchy and fun. They had an album out in 2010 that had a totally different sound and I love when a band grows into something else. Seriously, this album is catchy from the first track to the last. The first song I heard off of it was The Lake and I was totally hooked on it. Any time I can make a top ten list, it's probably gonna be songs.  WTMR 6. Everyone needs to show off sometimes. Share something you're proud of. Ah this week has been fucked. Let's see, I did write a poem yesterday and I'm proud of it, not because I think it's great, but because it's how I feel and it felt good to get it out. I guess I'll post it to my port so I can link it here. I know I still have some work to do on it, but I am still happy with certain parts of it.
This is probably the first poem I've written with that rambling style where I just had things I needed to say. If you do read it, let me know what you think. I'm not very good at the editing process, but sometimes you have to leave something alone for a while and then come back to it later and see it through different eyes. Anyway, I'm just happy to have written something that is so undeniably me, so that's why I chose to share it for this prompt. Blog City: Let's have some fun and write a skit... "Tonight, on the news was a story about a man clearly identified on the video footage of buying the winning lottery ticket. The problem is, he lost the ticket and cannot claim the money." Prompt: Write keep this skit lively and funny with dialogue that has the cadence of real-life speech. I can't wait to see what tale you weave! Man: Yes, we looked everywhere. My wife, Martha, and I spent a good six hours going through every room in the house, systematically searching for the damn thing. Clerk: Sorry for the bad break, man. Man: Yes, I am too, but I am the winning lottery ticket holder. You can see me on the camera footage buying the ticket. Clerk: I dunno, you look pretty normal to me. Could be anyone. Man: Are you kidding me?! I AM the one on the video tape. You can even see my receding hairline and the weird mole on the side of my face. Clerk: Like I said, bad luck, dude. Well, good luck, and then it was bad luck. Man: I can't believe this! Please just pull up the video! Clerk: Yeah, I saw it already, ha. Tough one. Man: HA? Like this is funny or something?! I need to speak to your manager. Clerk: I am the manager. Man: What? You're like fifteen! Manager/Clerk: There's a line, so could you, like, move? Man: I'm going to call my lawyer! This isn't the last you'll see of me, I can guarantee that. Manager/Clerk: Sure, man. Hey, maybe you'll win again! Can I interest you in a lottery ticket?  First you look so strong then you fade away The sun will blind my eyes, I love you anyway |
Artist: The Samples Album: The Samples Song: Could It Be Another Change [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Lyrics 30DBC: In honor of Friday The 13th, tell us about a time when something went so horribly wrong that all you could do about it was laugh. It's Friday the 13th again. I remember it was just Friday the 13th before. I thought I answered a prompt about it, but I can't find it now except in June of last year, but it was more recent than that. I wish I could make people laugh today, but I'm not in a funny mood.. or maybe I am in a funny mood and I wish I wasn't so I could tell a story that would make people laugh. Everything is going horribly wrong, but it doesn't seem funny. Maybe it will in the future. What's that equation? Tradegy + Time = Comedy I did tell the story though.. I specifically remember telling a story about a time when everything went wrong and it was funny because it was so bad.. about my brother and the car accident where the tire flew out and it hit the woman who was working? Oh, I found the story, but the prompts weren't that similar. I guess I connected the dots in my head. I know it's such a copout, but I'm just going to like to that entry, "Invalid Entry" . If you want to read it though, I swear it's funny, or I think it is. It starts at the third paragraph with the purple font color. I swear, if I could thing of something new to say, I would."Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents and everyone is writing a book." Cicero 43 BCE BCOF: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Do you agree or disagree? Do you think everyone is writing these days- a book, short stories, poetry or memoirs as Cicero indicates. Does this impact us as writers ourselves? Are we one of Cicero's everyone's? What's make us different? Blog City: In this time with the internet so easily accessible, how do you determine what is worth reading when it is so easy for people to publish whatever? What criteria is important to you when you read online articles, stories? I don't think that everyone is writing these days, as far as I know. My friends don't write, but if they did, I would read it because they might have good stories to tell. People do blog a lot now though and it's easy to make a blog that just lists things or talks about movies or something. I think about that before I read something, like how much experience the writer has or whatever. Not experience with writing, but life experience or experience about the topic that they're writing on. The less experience with the topic, the more research they need to do for it to be good, and if they don't do that research, it's usually pretty obvious. I also think about how someone might be biased before I read their article or blog. I don't like it when someone has an agenda hidden just beneath the surface, do you? I don't quite know for sure what "The more things change, the more they stay the same" means. I think it might mean something like things are always changing, but at the root, they're still recognizable as the same old thing. Also, the more things are changing the less you'll notice the changes so it all seems the same. I feel like online articles and stories are like that sometimes. People talk about the same things over and over, but they never change the topic that they're talking about on a deep or meaningful level. I guess that's what I look for when I read something online. I want to see something that is different than all the other generic things I can read anywhere. I want something that makes me feel something on a deeper level. The only time I feel good falling Is when I'm falling fast and hard for you The last two digits when I'm calling Fade away but somehow I'll get through |
Artist: Placebo Album: Black Market Music Song: Special K [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Lyrics 30DBC: According to this article (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/02/america-war-93-time-222-239-years-since-1...), the United States has been "at war" approximately 93% of its entire existence. Does war solve anything? I so hope this prompt starts a fight.. as long as I'm not involved in it. What can I say? I'm THE drama king.  In short, no, I don't think war solves anything. If war solved things, we wouldn't be engaged in it over 9 times out of 10. Things that work well don't have to be done continuously. The U.S. never just minds its own business and that confuses people. When I talk to citizens of other countries, that's one thing that comes up a lot. "Why does the U.S. constantly involve itself in other countries' business?"War is bad in almost all ways. Forget all the people dying for a second and let's look at some other ways that wars are bad because, really, we all know that people dying sucks. When I think of war, all I can see is a pile of burning money. Seriously, war totally fucks the economy and we feel the blowback from it as citizens. It affects us in our day-to-day lives. Another thing that bothers me with war is that the people calling the shots are never directly involved in it. I imagine it's easy to tell someone's 18-year-old son that the army's gonna fix him up real nice when you don't have to deal with the repercussions of that decision. The people in charge don't care if they send a fresh outta school kid overseas to get his legs blown off or worse. It's no bother to them. Along those lines, another huge issue is having all these people come back from war with PTSD, other mental illness, and physical disabilities as well. I don't like how they represent war as this cool, real life video game where you get to be the hero and go buck wild on some lesser people from some lesser country. When people in our military die, it's a horrifying murder of innocent people by the other guys. When we kill the other guys, it's a victory that had to be done in defense of our great country. My point is, I think they glorify war to get new recruits and then they televise it back to us in a way that makes it seem like we're the good guys and the other side is full of bad guys. No, that's not the way it works. People need to understand that we are the bad guys for the other side. We are the murderers of jnnocents. How hypocritical can we get? But, before you get too pissed at me and give me an earful (which you're welcome to do), I'm not against our military. I do have respect for the people who choose to join the military. I am thankful that there are people who are willing to do that job. I'm on your side. I'm against the rich assholes calling the shots. I'm against the government that ships you out as soon as you're legal and then gives very little support when you get home. It's obvious that they don't care about the frontline people in the military. I'd love to see how much funding goes into recruiting new people into the military versus the funding for mental/physical health support when they get back. I mean, I get it, war's not going anywhere and someone's gotta do it. Like I said, I'm thankful for the people who are willing to do it because I'd never last in the military. They'd have to kill me before I'd listen to some hulking dude screaming at me in a too-tight t-shirt. It's not my scene. I also do understand situations where war would be inevitable. My argument is that it's not inevitable 93% of the time. I don't see where it helps the situation most of the time. It seems to cripple our economy and cause further problems. That's all I've got, I swear. I'm hopping off my soapbox now. WTMR 7. Share a happy memory. I love this prompt because I have so many awesome memories that I don't spend enough time remembering. Most of my happy memories from childhood include nature and I'm almost inevitably alone in all of them. I used to spend a lot of time by myself outside, writing and reading mostly. My brothers are several years older than me and they're only a year apart so they were always closer to each other than I was to either one of them. They had and still do have a super protective older brother view of me whereas they see and always have seen each other as equals. That's not a complaint even though it sounds like it. I thought having older brothers was awesome growing up. I always had someone looking out for me. The happy memory I want to think about today happened a couple years ago when Kira and I lived in Texas. It's one of my favorite memories of us together. It was nice day. I'm talking 70 degrees, sunny, no humidity kind of nice. We were laying in bed and she had an idea to go do something, but she wouldn't tell me what, of course. So we left and she drove for 45 minutes or so and we came upon this lake with a park next to it. We got out and sat on the swings, which I hadn't done in a really long time, and she told me about how she used to go to that park with her family as a kid. She was pointing out specific things, like the bench where they'd have a picnic and the slide that I'd seen a picture of her on in the hallway of her parents' house. Then we walked around the bike path and she showed me the pothole she had hit while rollerskating and showed me the corresponding scar on her knee. We walked over to the dock where they would fish and showed me the fish food dispenser where you put a quarter in and fish food came out. We threw it into the water and watched the fish come up and eat it. We went into the woods a little bit and came across a bridge that went over a small creek and she told me about how her and her friends would go there when they snuck out as teenagers. She showed me some of the graffiti on it, where it had been painted over and written again. I have no idea why that stands out so much in my mind. It was like living in someone else's memory and I had this heavy feeling of nostalgia, even though I had never been there before. I felt homesick for a life I'd never had. I wanted to go back and know her when she was younger. I can't remember ever feeling a longing like that before or since. I just wanted to go back and I couldn't pinpoint what exactly I wanted to go back to. I still can't, actually. Blog City 1: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift from God which is why we call it the present. Bill Keane Do you agree with this? What does tomorrow mean to you? It's a cute little play on words, yeah, I get it. It's another way of saying, "live in the moment". You know, don't regret the past because you can't change it and don't worry about what's going to happen next because it's not here yet. Sometimes we spend so much time worrying about what has happened or what might happen that we forget to pay attention to what's happening right now. I know I personally have done it quite a bit myself. I try to live in the now, but that's not always practical when the past catches up to you and the future's looming overhead. Tomorrow, to me, is just a reference to the future. I don't really know what the future holds for me. The outlook changes every day like some crazy weather pattern where even the meteorologists are like, "I think this might happen." I don't know if my future is bright or bleak. I know that I feel good right now though, and that's what this quote is all about, right? No hesitation, no delay You come on just like special K Just like I swallowed half my stash I never ever want to crash |
Artist: The Loved Ones Album: Keep Your Heart Song: Jane [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Lyrics 30DBC: Do you have a lucky number, and if so, why is it special to you? If you don't have a lucky number, is there a trinket or similar object that carries a special lucky significance for you? Suuup. I guess I have a lucky number- 17. I guess it's because I was born on the 17th? I think a lot of people get their favorite number from the day they were born, which is incredibly uncreative now that I think of it. "Oh, look, I was born on the 6th... guess that number's lucky now?" I actually haven't noticed anything good associated with the number 17, but when I'm watching Deal or No Deal, I'm always like, I bet case 17 has a bunch of money behind it. I know that 7 is supposed to be a lucky number. I google: Why is 7 lucky? And it came up with this response: For 'lucky 7' is the world's favourite number. There are seven days of the week, seven colours of the rainbow, seven notes on a musical scale, seven seas and seven continents. I was thinking of playing slot machines where three 7's across is the jackpot. The number 17 has 7 in it, but it's bigger, so obviously more lucky. This is how it works, right? I'm not a super.. ah, fuck, what's that word? Not supernatural.. not paranormal.. AH- superstitious, that's it! I'm not a superstitious person. I don't rely on lucky trinkets or specific numbers to create luck. I do believe in lucky things occurring, when the odds are mathematically against an outcome and the outcome happens anyway. I think that's more chance than luck though, and there is a difference. WTMR 3. Tell us something you have learned or a way your writing has improved since you joined Writing.com. I've learned a lot of WDC, but most of the things I've learned are about people, not writing. I mean, I've learned about blogging because I'd never really gotten into it before, although the way we blog on here isn't exactly like most of the blogs on the internet. This is a socially connected community, which I've never been a part of online. I don't have any social networking sites or anything like that. At first, the idea of actually making friends with people on here was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to write and review other people. I quickly realized how important community is to WDC though and I started making friends almost as soon as I joined the site. I was in a really rough place, just out of rehab and way too sober for my own sanity. There was a period of time where I wasn't sure how open I wanted to be. It's kind of a tricky balance, do I just be myself or keep it strictly business? What's best to share? Obviously, we all know at this point that I ended up being pretty open. There are still things I don't share here. Big things that would make me look bad. No one wants to look bad. What I've learned though, is that people are willing to keep an open mind for the most part. Whether they just do it to my face or if they're actually cool with me is a totally different question. The best part though, is that it doesn't really matter in the end. I think that's why people are so openminded too, because I mean, really, it doesn't matter what I do. No one knows me in person so it makes sense. Why get hyped up over something that doesn't affect your daily life? So, that's basically what I've learned. People are willing to keep an open mind more often than I thought they would. Blog City 1: You have just received a special Award. What is the Award for? Write your acceptance speech. I do smartass award speeches all the time, especially when someone says congratulations for a small feat. I did it with my brother the other day. He congratulated me for closing midterms with all A's and I did this phony acceptance speech, full of crocodile tears, that went something like this: Wow! I'd like to thank the Academy and my agent, Mikey (my brother's name), for always believing in me, even when I didn't believe in myself. I'd like to thank my professor and fellow students for their studious nature and God for granting me the superhero powers it took to get an A on my last math exam. That's about as far as I got before he told me to fuck off and we went out for drinks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Hear me out baby and dry your eyes I'd write it out but it would just seem trite I'm pulling out of here with holy spite Tonight, tonight, alright, alright |
Artist: The Head and the Heart Album: The Head and the Heart Song: Rivers and Roads [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Lyrics 30DBC: Share an item or blog entry from any of the eligible competitors this month. Include a review link for bonus points (if you choose to share an item). I will not rant about therapy. I will not rant about therapy. I will not rant about therapy. Okay, I'm good. Ah, Twofer Tuesday, son of Sunday News story. Today I reviewed Cobe  's 30DBC blog.
Review of "30 days of blogging"  Cobe's blog is a lot of fun. She always tells it like it is and she'll write about pretty much anything. There's not much else I can say on the topic. Love you, Cobe!  WTMR 2: Tell us about something that inspired you. I'm inspired by pretty much everything in life. It can be something as small as a lyric in a song or the way someone's moving their hands while talking in class. Nature inspires me a lot, but it doesn't really inspire me to write nature poems usually, which is kind of weird. It inspires me to draw parallels between the way nature reacts with itself and that way humans interact with each other. It really depends on my mood though. There are days where literally nothing could inspire me because I'm just not in the mood to be inspired. Then there are days when absolutely everything inspires me because I'm in a creative mood. Inspiration really has to be accepted in order to have an inspirational effect. My go-to for inspiration is definitely music though. I can relate to the ideas in a song, the feeling, or whatever. Music transports me back to a certain time, depending on the song of course. I attach my memories to music. Where someone might think about where they used to live and they would think about the layout of the house or the stores they always went to nearby, like the old privately-owned gas station with the cheap fountain sodas and the big tree in the backyard that was perfect for a tire swing or whatever. I do the same thing, except mine is with a certain song or band. I'll think things like, Oh, Houston? Yes, that was the Smiths, the Cure, Placebo, At the Drive-In, Toadies... It goes on and on like that. On the road was Modest Mouse, Florida was Sublime and Everclear. Inspiration is a weird thing. Blog City 1: “Clouds are thoughts without words.” Mark Strand What do clouds mean to you? Blog City 2: Create 2 stanzas of a rhyming poem... that begins with Ode. Each stanza must be 4 lines, you choose if all lines rhyme or if you want create couplets. I hope you'll be able to make us experience your favorite food just the way you do... Ever since fifth grade science class, clouds have just been an indicator of weather for me. Science sort of took the creativity out of it, I guess. Cirrus, no rain. Altocumulus, it's probably gonna storm. Stratus, might rain, might not. Cumulus, the happy, puffy clouds like kids draw. No rain. Cumulonimbus and Mammatus though, severe weather probably. Oh, science, why kill my creativity like that?   Ode to food is kinda hard for a kid who never eats, pulling the not hungry card every chance he gets. Even worse, a forced rhyme for a free verse kind of dude who doesn't have the time to even think about food. Nothin' is as it has been And I miss your face like hell And I guess it's just as well But I miss your face like hell |
Artist: Atmosphere Album: Southsiders Song: January on Lake Street [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Lyrics 30DBC: Saturday night parts of the world had to set their clocks ahead one hour to account for Daylight Savings Time. Did you have to, and if so, did it affect you at all? According to this link (http://www.weather.com/health/news/daylight-saving-time-spring-forward-health-ef...) researchers think the switch to DST every year impacts our health. What do you think? Sup, ya'll. Well, I do have a headache today. Does that count for anything? Look, DST sucks. It's always sucked. I remember telling one of my teacher's that Daylight Savings Time fucked up my schedule and that's why I couldn't pay attention. I don't think I said the word 'fucked' though, 'messed' probably. She laughed about it like, "Oh, riiiight, that's why you keep falling asleep in class." But, that's a legit excuse. People are all, ah, it's only an hour, no biggie. But it's not just the hour you lose, it's that everything gets pushed forward an hour. So when it's 9 at night, it feels like eight. It always fucks with my sleep schedule because when I end up finally getting to sleep, it's like four in the morning instead of the usual three. Any insomniac will tell you how important that extra hour is. What is this in play for? To save energy? Come on, that's just silly. All the people like my parents and grandparents who wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning are just gonna have to use energy longer than normal. It doesn't matter either way. Even my parents don't go to bed until like 10 or 11, so they'll be using electricity past that time anyway. Then there's people like me who stay up until four in the morning using electricity. It's the circle of life. There's always gonna be people to fuck up your plan. Why am I ranting about this? I totally don't care as much as it seems like I do, I swear. It was actually funny because I was hella drunk Saturday night and it was one-something in the morning and then I looked at the clock again and it was like 3:15. I was like, what the hell? I totally lost an hour somewhere, and then it was like ohhh, right, that stupid DST thing. Of course that made me sleep in later on Sunday than I meant to and I had a bunch of homework to turn in before the midnight deadline. But it's all good because... WTMR: 1. What's on your Writing.com 'to do' list for this week? I'm actually on spring break this week. I have big plans that I'm probably not going to accomplish because most of it will be spent hanging out with Jordan. I definitely deserve a break from school, but I'm happy I'm at midterm with all A's. Say what! There are some things I want to do on WDC this week though. First of all, I've done so few reviews since school started that it's actually embarrassing. I think I've done... yep, I've done 14 reviews in the last two months. Ouch. I've been keeping up with everything else pretty well though, so I'll make that priority one. Oh, and I need to do the Wodehouse challenge that I totally forgot I signed up to until just now.Other than that, it's gonna be a pretty chill week. I'll try to catch up with work and I'll probably work ahead in some of my classes for next week. Mostly, I just want to enjoy my time off so I can go into the next eight weeks with some motivation. I've totally lost my motivation in the last week, which has resulted in many hours of staring at textbooks, completely spaced out. I've been unproductive to say the least. That's one of my biggest pet peeves, too. I hate when I put time into something and the return on time investment is shit. Oh, and I want to write a poem this week too. I know, dream big.   Blog City 1: J. G. Ballard, the author of Empire of the Sun, said: “I quite consciously rely on my obsessions. In all my work I deliberately set up an obsessional frame of mind. In a paradoxical way, this leaves one free of the subject of the obsession.” What do you think about this? Do you use your or another person’s obsessions in your writing? Blog City 2: What would you put in this year's time capsule to channel the essence of our current moment for future generations? It's very possible that I'm having a moment of stupidity (all the time), but, I have no idea what the first prompt is about for some reason. Obsessions... I don't know, that's such a strong word and I feel like the quote is super vague. I almost need an example of obsessions. Like, he's obsessed with the characters or the process of writing? I went and looked up the interview where the quote was said. I think he was talking about little things that show up over and over in his writing. Correct me if I'm wrong, Joy, I have no idea what I'm talking about. If that's the case though, I can definitely relate. It seems a lot of the same words or themes show up over and over in my poetry and writing in general. It must be something that's just subconsciously stuck in my mind for some unknown reason. I definitely wouldn't say that I intentionally obsess about certain things in my writing, more that the obsessions just happen to come about while I'm writing. Well, I guess 50 Shades of Grey, right? Oh, this is for kids? Okay. I'd put all the popular things in there. What is popular nowadays? Katy Perry? Thick-rimmed glasses? Fake mustaches? Definitely something about cops shooting people, because that's a super hot topic right now. I would think a current newspaper should always be included in a time capsule so that people can see what's going on in the world and see the changes in newspaper formatting over the years. Who knows if they'd even have newspapers in the future. It might all be on the internet by then. Of course, I would include an iPod (with charger) full of all my favorite music that's out right now. I don't know if the bands I listen to now will be well known in the future or not. Most of them aren't even well known right now, so it would be the perfect piece of history, in my opinion. Plus, I could include so much music on an iPod. It's not like I'd have to pick one CD to put in the time capsule. An iPod is smaller and holds so much more.  Too late to erase me With the windows down, January on Lake Street Poppa got a brand new can of paint Put your hands in the air like you work at the bank |
Artist: Fences Album: Lesser Oceans Song: The Lake [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] 30DBC: The Sunday News!: Pick a random article from the headlines and talk about it. Share your opinions and feelings about it. Encourage a conversation. I can't find a news story I feel like talking about today. I hate adjusting to antidepressants. There's always a period of time where I'm significantly more depressed than I was to begin with.. and, that's today. Let me see if I can find something worth talking about. I guess I'll talk about the Hillary Clinton thing because that's all the rage this week.All government things like this are a total joke. Are we really expected to believe that any negative emails will ever come out? I mean, really? Surely U.S. citizens are a little smarter than that at this point. The government email service is in place for transparency reasons. If there wasn't anything that Clinton was worried about, she would not have used a personal email from a private server. Of course, we have 55,000 pages of emails and nothing bad is going to turn up, but seriously, we know what's up. All they're going to do is put the release of information off until everyone has forgotten about it because they're focused on some other issue. They'll probably wait until there's a celebrity scandal and put the information out on a low scale so that no one can find it without specifically thinking about and researching it. I can't stand the media and the way our crooked government works. The media will literally only report on one thing for weeks or months at a time, like Ferguson, and then they move on and never mention it again. It has happened time and time again. We're a society of NOW people and if we have to wait for information to come out, it's off in space. No one cares. So, what ever crooked bullshit is in those emails, (and there absolutely is crooked bullshit in them), it'll never see the light of day. That won't stop the media from reporting on it 24/7 with the aspect of 2016 elections coming up and the possibility of Clinton being a candidate. "Can we really trust Hillary Clinton after her email scandal?" "Well, fuck, Billy Jo, I never thought about it like that!" Cycle in, cycle out. It's not like we really care anyway. It's just fun to act perturbed. I'll call you when the lake is thawing Cause we're not swimming clawing at the clouds And if we're talking then let's use our mouths, our mouths, our mouths Speak using patterns amplified by sound |
Artist: The Smiths Album: The Smiths Song: Miserable Lie [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Lyrics 30DBC: Where is Waldo? Ahh, I'm in recovery mode right now. Not sure how much I can do with any of the prompts today, but let me give it a go anyway. Yeah, I remember Where's Waldo books. Those were the kind you look at while you're in the library because once you find him, you can't unfind him. There's really no purpose in renting the book out at that point. Moreso than the Where's Waldo books, I remember the I Spy books. They had a bunch of different things that you had to find, so it wasn't just like, one dude in a striped sweater. It'd be like fifteen different things on a page. My grandmother used to watch me a lot when I was five or six and we'd always play I Spy. You can just play it verbally too, like, "I spy something red" and then the other person looks around the room for something red and they make guesses. You can't do that with Where's Waldo. No one ever sat in their living room and tried to get a five year old to find Waldo. I remember a Where's Waldo where he was on a beach and there were a ton of people. Like, this was legit the most overcrowded beach I've ever seen. And of course, everyone was wearing red and white. There were red and white striped umbrellas and beach towels. I couldn't find that little bastard so I had to rage-quit the book. I think that was the last time I tried to find Waldo. Stupid peppermint prick.. WTMR 4: What is your favourite memory from your school days (grade school, middle school, high school, College/University)? My favorite memories of school would be like pre-fourth or fifth grade. Dude, the playground was the funnest place then. I drive by a school now and I'm like, "Psh, look at the shitty jungle gym" but when you're eight years old, that's the coolest fucking thing ever! Kindergarten is the bomb. All you have to do is color and drink juice boxes. What the hell? College isn't like that at all. I can't even remember the last time I had a juice box. See, I think that would be a good motivator. Like, maybe my prof should hand out juice boxes before exams, and then halfway through we could all take a nap. Field trips were a lot of fun in school. We could go to the most lame ass place and it would be fun just because we weren't sitting in a classroom all day. I remember we went to a haunted house thing one time. I have no idea what educational value that held. I think it was some old house that had historical exhibits and stuff inside. But we went around the end of October, so they had it set up as a haunted house tour. That's another thing we should do as adults: field trips. Blog City 1: Every media source has covered this but us... Let's talk about E.L James and 50 Shades of Grey. Do you think it is erotic romance or pornography? Do you think this will encourage more openness about sex? I wasn't surprised to see the influx of copy cat books. What about you? Keep in mind, we have a variety of age levels among us. Blog City 2: Reading old texts like the Greek and Roman literature and works up to a century ago versus the present-day works: Which one do you think is better for the improvement of a writer's craft? Well, this is a GC-rated blog, so I guess I can ignore that last sentence. I actually haven't read 50 Shades of Grey. I know Kira read them, but she never talked about them as far as whether or not they were good. She didn't make me go see it in theater, so I guess that just about says it all. I heard the writing was really awful from some other friends. I hope it encourages openness about sex, but I kind of doubt it will. I mean, let's be real here, this is a fantasy. Let me see if I can get this wording right... It's a fantasy for women who have never experienced a BDSM relationship and never will. It's quasi-rebellion in the middle-age range. The same people who are into 50 Shades of Grade are the soccer moms who wouldn't allow their daughter to go on birth control because they "didn't raise a slut" or whatever. This is really a topic a probably shouldn't take on while nursing a headache from an all-nighter. I'm sure you guys get what I'm saying, or maybe you don't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Greek and Roman literature is great for the inspiration, but so are other things. I think different things would improve different people's craft. It all depends what kind of writing someone does. It's probably best to read a combination of things, modern and traditional. Then you can get a feel of different styles and all that. I can see the benefit in present-day works, but a lot of them are influenced by traditional writing, so it's kind of funny like that. Is it ever just purely a present-day work or is it a new twist on an old idea? I have no clue. I don't read as much as I should. I know I need hardly say How much I love your casual way Oh, but please put your tongue away A little higher and we're well away |
Artist: Kid Cudi Album: Indicud Song: Just What I Am [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] Lyrics 30DBC: The "How To" article is a staple of popular magazines. We don't always need informative-yet-boring "How To" articles...what we sometimes need is "How NOT To" advice. Try to make us laugh and tell us a good way of not doing something. How Not To Tell A Joke  Step 1: Find a group of people who are already engaged in conversation at work or school Step 2: Go up to them and throw your arms around the shoulders of two unwilling participants Step 3: Interrupt whoever's talking and tell them you have a joke Step 4: Watch everyone tense up and look around uncomfortably Step 5: Begin your joke and fuck it up Step 6: Say "Wait, wait a second" about ten times Step 7: Restart your joke with an entirely different beginning (This step is important) Step 8: Stutter a lot so everyone feels embarrassed for you Step 9: Maintain eye contact with one person who looks the most embarrassed Step 10: Have an optimistic tone and smile on your face the closer you get to the punchline Step 11: Tell them you forgot the punchline and start to walk away in humiliation Step 12: As soon as people start looking relieved that you're gone, spin around and run back excitedly shouting that you just remembered it Step 13: Restart the joke with a third beginning (Also important) Step 14: Get to the punchline and say something like, "You guys are gonna love this" so that they are pressured into laughing no matter what Step 15: Finish the joke and stare at them all with nail-biting anticipation Step 16: Watch them all try to register how unfunny the joke was Step 17: Point at the first person who fake laughs and say, "Right? Right? This guy gets it!" Step 18: Watch them all fake laugh uncomfortably Step 19: Interrupt the laughter and tell them to get back to work (especially if you aren't the boss) Step 20: Shake your head and walk away like you're pissed that they are all standing aroundWTMR: 6. When was the last time you learned something new, did you enjoy it? have you done it again since? would you recommend it? Why or why not? The thing that I learn the most right now is math, and that's totally by choice. I take five classes, but I give math the most attention because it's the most important for my degree. I'll put assignments off to the last minute if it means understanding the math more. This week, for example, I had a math exam on Wednesday, so I literally have all four of my other classes to do this weekend because I studied for my math test at the beginning of the week. Math's not something you fuck around with either. You've gotta grind that shit until it clicks. Sometimes it happens straight away, sometimes it takes several weeks, but it always happens eventually. Math is weird too because if you've been out of school for several years, the other stuff is like riding a bike. It's rough at first and then you get the hang of it. Math isn't like riding a bike. It's not like you do Algebra when you're 14 and then you pick it back up ten years later like, "Hell yeah, gonna do some Algebra." You use other things on a daily basis. The average person doesn't use math daily, especially not Algebra+ level math. I sort of picked a bad topic to go with for this one because math isn't really something you recommend or don't recommend to people. It's not like, "Hey, I learned this lovely maths lesson. I recommend it to anyone who needs to find the domain and range of a function." I will say that doing math makes me feel more accomplished than the rest of my classes. I think it takes more effort than a business or English class, but that's me. I know a lot of people hate math and I totally respect that. BCOF: My early memories of my faith are... Depending on your nature and your current relationship with faith this answer can go in many directions. If you are more cynical natured you might want to find humor in your early memories and how they have shaped the adult you. I have a lot of early memories about my faith and they're almost all traumatizing. Seriously though, I'm almost jealous of people who were given free will to learn about different religions at their own pace instead of being told, "This is what you are and this is what you're going to do based on that." I think religious studies would be an interesting adventure to take once you're old enough to understand life and death and everything in between. When you're five and you're told to act a certain way or face an eternity in Hell, eh, it doesn't settle as well.I was always curious as a kid, like, curious to a fault. Anyone who's been tangled up in organized religion knows that questions aren't taken to kindly. I shouldn't say that. Let me rephrase. In my experience, the Sunday school leaders didn't want me asking certain questions in front of other kids because it might taint their minds. When you're five, you don't get that you shouldn't be saying, "Wait, this makes no sense. How could one person gather up two of every animal in the whole world? Did he travel to different countries? How did he tell if the flies were boys or girls? How did he keep the flies inside the ark? Why would God kill everyone like that? What if he decides to kill everyone again? Now I'm scared." I had a million questions about every single thing we were taught. "How did Jonah live inside a whale for three days?" "Why was Eve made from Adam's rib if God could just make another person from dirt?" I think I was picturing some huge medical procedure with that last one. Anyway, to say the least, a lot of the people from the churches I was raised in were not well-equipped to handle a kid who asked questions about everything. It wasn't just about religion. I mean, I drove my parents crazy asking them questions. Why, why, why. As people often do when you question them, I was pushed to the side or told to stop being a troublemaker. I specifically remember being told to 'stop talking back' to adults. To me, that sums up my experience with religion. "Listen to what I tell you. Keep your head down. Keep your mouth shut." I don't like that. I don't like feeling like I'm being forced to obey something I don't understand. If you've had better experiences with organized religion, that's awesome. I don't doubt it and I'm happy for you, but this is about my experience, not yours. Blog City 1: Have you ever been attracted to someone ... I mean seriously attracted to someone that you don't even like or admire but secretly it is their less than ideal side that excites you. Blog City 2: Do you feel that a book that was signed by the author has more value and meaning or do you love the book for the story itself? Oh yes, is this even a question? I would venture to say that the majority of people I've been attracted to has primarily been because I found some sort of solace in their 'bad' qualities. You know a kindred soul when you meet one. I've met some even on WDC and it's like finding a missing puzzle piece. I'm extremely attracted to people who speak to my less than ideal side. Being attractive is great and all that, but if someone doesn't have that dark side that I relate to so well, I can't make anything happen with it. I'll convince myself that they're too good for me or that I don't deserve them and off I am to find someone who's as temperamental as me. I want the people who you don't take home to your parents because you're too afraid of what they'll say at the dinner table. This also explains why my relationships have been a crazy ass roller coaster ride since I was like fourteen. I can only think of one 'normal' relationship I was ever in. Normal meaning, I don't know, traditional. One where everyone's on the same page about the limitations of the relationship and there were designated guidelines about what was acceptable and what wouldn't be tolerated. Because, really, that's what someone like me needs. I need specific rules laid out in front of me and then I'll decide if I want to continue the relationship based on those rules. Of course, that relationship didn't last very long, almost entirely because I was still wrapped around my ex's finger and ran back to her the second she showed up. My bad. But, to answer the question, yes I can relate.  I think a book signed by the author is more valuable in every meaning of the word. I mean, if you go to a book signing and get to meet the author, you'll probably put more sentimental value on the book because you know s/he held the book and signed it. Every time you see it, you'll remember that time it was signed by the author. Monetary-wise, I think the book would be worth more with an author signature that could be validated, especially if it's a rare copy. Just for example, The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King sold for $8 on Ebay a couple days ago. On the same day, a signed copy of the same book sold for $665, so the value of a signature is evident in that case. That doesn't mean that an unsigned version of the book isn't just as good. I mean, I enjoy reading books for the content, not because of a signature. But, if there are two free books in front of me, one signed by the author and one not, I'd pick the author-signed one every time. I’m what you made God, fuck yes I’m so odd Thinking 'bout all my old friends who weren’t my friends all along Hm, when it rains it pours, whiskey bottles on the sinks and floors Everyday to find sane’s a chore, amidst a dream with no exit doors |
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I'm still so confused. How did they get to senior-level finance with so little know-how. I don't get it. 
It's great to see you back around. I'm sorry you've been having life issues. I hope you're doing much better now? You know I have a foul mouth. 
Just why. It's so gross. We need to get you some personal finance help! This is only tangentially related and not a statement on you, but one of the nonprofits I work with consists of me making budget plans for people who were recently homeless and have just gotten back on their feet. A lot of the people I work with have only been at their job for less than a month or been in an apartment for a week or two. My role is to gather all of their financial information and then consult with them on their bills, disposable income, purchases, and stuff like that. It's shocking to see the financial decisions people make after just being homeless. I'm like, dude, you were just homeless 2 weeks ago. 
I have seen so much of the disasters it has caused with some people. I have in the past been unconsciously roped into financial situations that were most unpleasant and having to make sensible plans to unravel them.