Jewelry

If you've been around, you'll have seen the last post I made about my beadwork.  I posted pictures and all that mumbo jumbo.  It's great fun, beading, though it's getting kind of... or, well, very? expensive.  We'll just go with an adverb-less 'expensive.'  Beads are expensive, wire is expensive, findings are expensive, tools are expensive. Well, crochet hooks aren't that expensive, but nevertheless.  It's not a cheap hobby.  (Are they ever?)

Anyway.  I've been making a whole buncha stuff for Christmas gifts.  And I just feel like displaying them.  Because they really are really cool.  And I'm sorta kinda considering making it a little side-business/project.  Selling them and all that.  The only thing is that it ends up being really time consuming and I'm not 100% sure how much I'd have to actually charge for them... I mean, I have an idea, I guess, but... shrug.  And I fear the potential level of demand.  I gave one to my cousin for her birthday and sold one to her best friend and they already have a huge group of people that want one.  It's a lot to attempt to keep up with.  Plus, sometimes I feel like there's a cap on my creativity.  Whatever.

Anyway.  So this is what I've got for you today. (=

I inset an image of the beadwork/weave/whatever-you-wanna-call-it in the middle, just so you can get kind of a concept of what it looks like. (=

It's pretty cool.  I'm really a fan.  I'm going to make more for me, too, but right now I'm a bit preoccupied making gifts.

Oh! And then the lady that works with the Minot Council of the Arts, Terri Aldrich, decided that she liked my necklaces and wants me to set up a booth at Arts in the Parks this summer.  I kind of want to do it, I think, but I don't know if I'll be able to make that dang many pieces!  Though... yeah, I probably can, I guess. hahaha.  It's just a lot of expense for potential profit quite a ways out.

Look at me, thinking like a businesswoman.  Jeez. hahahaha.

Moving along.

I put an inset of the one side of the center bead as well, just cause it looks cool and is kinda sorta intricate.
I'm just playin' with picnik--leave me alone!

A) I didn't do a spectacular job on the inset on this one. Sorry. My bad.
B) If you think it looks thicker than the others, you're right.  It is.  I used 4 strands on this one instead of the usual 3.  And I kind of like it.  Even though it was such a pain in the ass I very much doubt I'll do it much. hahaha

This last one I think I'm keeping.  I MIGHT give it to my sister-in-law, but it's hard to say right now.  I have yet to decide.  Hell, I don't even know if she'd actually like it.  But we'll see.  I like it, and that's enough motivation just to keep it.
I wanted to keep most of the ones that I've been making lately. hahaha.  My grandma just told me she wants me to do commission work, hahahaha.  Which I can handle.  If she's going to pay me to make something she wants, hellz yes.

Anyway.  That's what I have for you today. (=

Ta ta!
--Emily Renae

P.S.--Merry Christmas.  Since that's like, tomorrow/Sunday and all. (=

Paper Towns

The title of this post is pretty indicative of the intended content, I think.  It's 3:04 in the morning and I should really be sleeping because my boyfriend is coming out tomorrow--today, I guess--oh yeah, you guys, I have a boyfriend; kinda forgot to mention that, as though it really mattered--and I should really be sleeping because I have shit to do before he gets here and I'm so exhausted lately I just want to sleep all the damn time and I don't have time to sleep because I have too many things to do and SO not enough time to do them in because I have a job that I have to drive back and forth to Minot for and that takes a SHIT TON of time, if you didn't know that already.
That was... like... one sentence, guys.  One really big, run-on sentence.  My English teachers would be ashamed.
Fortunately for me, this isn't a graded assignment!  So screw them.  (And I don't think I'm actually taking an English course this semester.  Whoops.)  Anyway. Moving along.

I just finished reading Paper Towns by John Green today.  Queue book cover:

There are two different covers for this book, and I haven't decided which one I like better.  This is the one I have, which is the main reason I'm using it right now.  Depending on how freaking long I talk about it, I may through the other one in as well.  I'm really hoping to not keep myself up til, like, 5 in the morning.  Not even 4 if I can help it.  But I'm sitting up. And my back is cold. What is this place coming to??

Anyway. Sorry.  Somehow I'm also vaguely hyper-active and I really need to get back on topic.  *cough*
The more accurate asterisk-action would be *sniffle* but let's leave my cold out of this.

I'm going to need both frickin covers just to get into the book.
And it seems my swearing increases the longer I've been awake.  Sorry.  Trying to calm down.  And I have band music stuck in my head because I was practicing my flute last night.  I half-wonder how long I might allow myself to ramble like this before I say what I mean to...

ANYWAY!  The book, the book.  I'm serious now.

Quentin Jacobsen is a mild-mannered guy.  His parents are both psychiatrists.  What the hell do you expect?  And he's a senior in high school.  A bit of a nerd, but not overwhelmingly so.  Actually, all in all, he's relatively boring.  At least at the start of the novel.  He's just a boy.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I imagine him to be a sorta kinda cute-ish boy, but just a boy nonetheless.
And he's practically in love with his neighbor: Margo Roth Speigelman.  (I like the name Margo, just for the record.  At first I thought it was sort of odd, but I grew to rather like it.)  Except that as the novel proceeds, Quentin finds that it's not really Margo he's in love with, it's the idea of Margo.  Because he realizes that he actually really doesn't know Margo--none of them do.
Margo involves him in a night of adventures and then suddenly disappears.  Apparently it's nothing new, as she's run away to do things in the past.  Only this time, she isn't coming back.  Much turmoil takes its place in the pages following Margo's disappearance, and I can't help but sympathize with Quentin.  Simultaneously, knowing what I know, I sympathize with her as well.

As with Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns has a lot of philosophy running throughout its pages.  Concepts that I think more people need to be introduced/exposed to and made to think about.  Not just because they're big, deep concepts, but because they are important ones that help to allow us to grow as individuals.  At this point in my life, I have actually come to address most of the things discussed in this book already, but John Green has this beautiful knack for addressing it differently than I do.  Obviously, because he's a different person.

For example, one of the themes is that we, as individuals, have a tendency to look at others not as people, but as ideas, as concepts.  We see in others what we see in ourselves, so it's sort of like looking into a mirror.  We need to act more as windows instead of mirrors, so that we look into people, not at reflections of what we want to see.
This is kind of difficult to discuss the way I'd really like to.  I'm not entirely sure how to break it down decently.  Or really at all.

When we look at people, we see what we want to see, not necessarily what's there.  We see outward appearance and make psychological judgments based on these appearances.  We look at a person's behavior and start creating this image of who and what we think this person is, and then it doesn't really matter what this person does, the image of them we have created is who they are in our minds.  And every person will come up with a different image of this person of discussion--that's the trick of it.  None of us are going to see exactly the same person because we all have our own internal prejudices and hang ups and baggage that alters how we see everything--even if/when we don't realize it.
In this way we sort of act as mirrors.  Because we are projecting onto others the things we see--or don't see but hold--inside of ourselves.  This kind of blocks our ability to actually consider others to be people--individuals--instead of ideas.  We become so entranced with the idea of someone that when we actually start to get to know them and begin to discover that they aren't some mystical, entrancing enigma, they're just a person, we become disappointed.  I don't understand why.
I like to think I have escaped all of this that I've just mentioned.  I'm fully aware of it, and I like to think that I see people, not ideas.  But even still, I find myself realizing that this person I'm talking to isn't who I thought they were.  Sometimes I like the idea better than the person.  Sometimes it's the other way around.  I don't think any of us can truly escape it forever; I think it's a war in which we win and lose certain battles.

This can actually kind of tie into the themes of Looking For Alaska, namely the question of Simon Bolivar's labyrinth.  What if, instead of suffering, the labyrinth was our habit to see ideas instead of people?  Maybe Bolivar's labyrinth is actually the convoluted confines of seeing two-dimensional people in a three-dimensional world.  People are more than just an idea, a concept, a vision or an enigma, and sometimes, it takes a lot of work to see that.

(I went to bed and am writing now Tuesday evening, just for the record):
Paper Towns is much more light-hearted than LFA was, all the way to the end, but even still it gets a bit heavy.  Quite frankly, I'd have been disappointed if it hadn't.  The ending is as equally unfulfilling as Alaska, but kind of in a different manner.  I sent this text to a friend last night:
"Are all of the endings of John Green's novels so painfully unfulfilling?

I suppose that's ultimately the purpose of his writing, to be both perfectly and beautifully philosophical and yet so endlessly and sadly unfulfilling, since thus is the unalterable nature of life: to ignore what we want and make its own twists and turns and decisions without our pior approval or satisfaction.
In that way, Green's become one of my very favorite authors--for being so philosophical and idealistic while remaining almost brutally realistic."
The rest doesn't matter. lol.
To which she replies:
"[...]  I think the main thing with his books is that they masquerade as simple YA literature, but have many of the elements of the classics--namely, that the theme and message take precedence over the plot.  While other endings might be more satisfying from a more simplistic storytelling standpoint, John Green writes the ending that drives his point home and makes his audience think."

One of the things that I noticed while reading this book is that I'd actually already gone through most of the things that Quentin was going through, so I'd already come to the realizations that he had and so I kind of spent the duration of the novel biding my time until Quentin made the necessary revelations.  Like the fact that he had to accept who Ben was and stop wishing he was somebody else and just like him as Ben because that was all he was ever going to get.  Et cetera.

Also... another thing I kind of noticed is how remarkably similar it is to Looking for Alaska by way of characterization.  Miles and Quentin are nigh identical in numerous ways--all the important ones--while worlds different in others.  Alaska and Margo are the same enigmatic, frustrating, crazy, beautiful girl in different circumstances with different plights.  But... they're kind of the same.
And I can't really fault Green for that, because I've noticed that I have a bit of a tendency to do that as well.  The main characters are all relatively similar and it's because they are based, most often, on a part of me.  Not me entirely, but a part of me.  And it's quite apparent--if you know anything at all about John Green--that his protagonists are based broadly upon himself.  Which isn't a bad thing; in fact it's often a very good idea, because it's easier to write believable actions/reactions/thought processes.  Just saying.

So that's that.  Paper Towns.  One less book I need to take back to campus in January.  I'm about halfway through Narcissus in Chains, book 10 in the Anita Blake series, and I guarantee I'll be done by Christmas, so that knocks another one down.  I'm kind of trying to catch up on my reading over break.  I have so many other things I need to be doing instead, but I need to read for the well-being of my psyche.  I miss books.  And I feel like my writing is kind of shitty lately.  So I definitely need to do some reading, because that always improves it.  It's kind of like research, in a way.
I've started using GoodReads, which is kind of like an internet library.  It allows you to list and rate books that you have read, are currently reading, and want to read.  I really like it.  Plus, when you finish a book, it allows you to write a review of it if you want.  I do, of course--imagine: Emily has something to say about a book. hahaha.


Oh.  And I have a couple of albums to review, but I'm not gonna do it today.  Maybe tomorrow.  Unlikely, considering I have to drive an hour to work 8, go on a date and then drive the hour back home.  Not like it's THAT big of a deal, but I doubt I'll be much in the mood to blog by the time I'm done.

So that's that.  And I'm out.

Ta ta!
--Emily Renae <3

I Haven't Slept Yet, It's Still Monday

So it’s totally time for more album reviews because GUESS WHAT!! You’ll never guess. I’m just WAY too unpredictable for this game.
I bought new CDs. You didn’t call it, did you? I know. I’m just WAY too sneaky for this. Hahaha.
I’m also completely full of shit. Have you noticed? I’m sure you have. You HAVE to have.
Anyway, I only have 4 albums today. (I behaved myself! (If you can call buying 4 CDs at once ‘behaving’ anyway)) So let’s just jump right in, shall we?
Hot Chelle Rae: Whatever

Dear God, I love this album. It might very well be my new favorite. If you’ve been with me for awhile, you know this says quite a bit; if you’re new, 1) welcome! I’m glad to have you “) , 2) for an album to immediately jump to my favorites list says quite a bit. These newest 4 albums bring me to a total of—wait for it—354. Crazy, right? I know. It’s a little obscene, probably, but it’s a passion. Obsession. Same difference?

Hot Chelle Rae is infamous for “Tonight Tonight” off of their first album, which is great… but they put it on the new one, too. I mean, I guess I kind of understand why they’d do it, considering that everyone that likes “Tonight Tonight” is gonna buy this album, so it would make sense to put it on their next album, right? But having already been a fan of Hot Chelle Rae, it’s kind of annoying. Like, I don’t need this song twice, guys. I liked it once.

But anyway.

This is an alternative pop album, and a lot of people are gonna scoff and go “Dude, they’re on the radio; clearly they’re pop” but I very much beg to differ. The radio stations—at least around here—are making a migration toward alternative-pop, which is both cool and infuriating at the same time. Cool because it means a shift in culture. Infuriating because now my selection of upbeat music is being played for the masses on the radio and all the people I don’t like are listening to my music and singing it on karaoke and murdering it ruthlessly. Which… is miserable. That’s why I strayed from the pop scene to begin with. (I hate our radio stations.)

Anyway (again). This is an alternative pop album featuring love songs (Queue track 11: “The Only One” which is, go figure, absolutely adorable, and I rather adore it), dance anthems (Queue tracks 1, 6 and 10: “I Like it Like That”, “Whatever”, and “Beautiful Freaks”), and even a softer, slightly sad song (Track 8: “Why Don’t You Love Me”).

Also, Why Don’t You Love Me has female vocals in it, but I don’t know who it is. I don’t recognize her voice, so it’s probably not anybody I know. She has a very nice voice, though. It’s a beautiful addition.

Whatever is a fun, upbeat, yet powerful album that within just a few tracks made its way into my very favorites, and I foresee myself listening to this one for a very long time.

“I should say that I need you here, but I’m gonna party tonight cause Honestly, I just don’t care.” –Honestly


Punk Goes Pop; Volume IV

These albums are hilarious. I love them to pieces. This new one isn’t as good as some of the past ones have been, but it’s good nonetheless. Hardcore covers of pop songs. Fuck you (Cee Lo Green), Last Friday Night TGIF (Katy Perry), Rolling in the Deep (Adele), and Love the Way You Lie (Eminem ft Rihanna) are just a few that make the collection this time. Par for the course, I’m not familiar with some of the songs. Hahaha. I thought I’d gotten past this. I’m usually pretty good at keeping up with the Top 40, even though I don’t listen to the radio. (Don’t struggle to put 2 and 2 together, because I’m pretty sure they don’t.)

Also par for the course, I like some of the covers better than the original songs. One of my new friends, who goes by the name of Quincy, is on the same page as I am about it. We were listening to it last night and we got out of the car at Wal Mart and he goes “Is it pathetic that I’d rather listen to these punk bands than the actual songs?” Which actually made me really laugh because how many times have I asked that question?

My brother used to hate these albums. He actually really liked the original songs and it pissed him off when these bands covered them. I used that as an excuse to play the CDs more often. Which was probably really bitchy, especially considering that he used to change the music for me when I asked him to. The older I get, and the more I think about it, the bigger a bitch I realize I really was to my poor baby brother. I mean, we were really close and we got along beautifully when we weren’t fighting tooth and nail, which was probably about 50-5o, which is kind of sad. But… Fuck, I just never thought twice about it. I mean, it didn’t seem that damn bad at the time. And… now I feel awful.

I have so many regrets, you guys. So, so many regrets. About things I did, things I said, things I didn’t do or say, things I always meant to do/say but never got around to. I have so many regrets about things that probably didn’t matter in the long run. It still doesn’t feel real sometimes. Does that sound as depressing to you as it does to me? I had a dream last night that he was still here, but it was fucked up because I remembered what happened. That he shouldn’t be here. And I was so confused. But I wanted to embrace the whirlwind of confused moment I had with him. What’s really fucked up is that I can still feel a whisper of his arms around me and the echo of his voice in my head. It haunts me. I hate myself for having only a distant memory of his voice, for having to work to remember his face in entirety. For… well, just for everything, I guess.

I’m having a rough night, that’s all. I didn’t really mean to totally interrupt my post for that, but I guess… it just sort of happens sometimes. If I were smarter I would edit it out and keep it to myself, but somehow, I feel as though somebody is going to read that and it’s going to mean something to them, or change something, or maybe… I don’t even know. But I feel like it needs to be here so that even a world of strangers can understand that suicide isn’t just about someone being victimized. It’s a victim victimizing those who care about them, those they care about. I have been victimized by a victim of prejudice, of unfairness, of… myself, as much as it pains to say it. I know he loved me. But… I still feel like a horrible person.

Anyway. Getting back on with life…

Fearless Records Sampler (Punk Goes Pop Disc 2)

Fearless has taken to including sampler CDs with their compilation albums, which I rather enjoy. Because most of the time they’re pretty legit. I already have half the songs on the album this time (hahaha) but that’s beside the point. It’s a good sampler. I’m a fan. Breathe Carolina has been on the last few, which is perfectly acceptable, because they’re great. (=

I’m so distracted right now because I’m texting my daddy (at 2.17 am—yes, really, haha) and listening to my HCR album and sporting a stomach ache all at once. But I’m trying.


Family Force 5: III

Uhm… I’m really not sure why they named their album “III”. Like, yes, it’s your third album and all, but you guys can do better.

Quite frankly, I’m not even 100% positive why I even bought this. I haven’t listened to FF5 in ages because they got kind of annoying. And… though this album is better than the last one, it’s still slightly… meh. I don’t know. Like, I do like this band, but there’s something just slightly… off. And I don’t know what it is. Like, there’s too much computer in their music, or auto-tune, orrrr something. I don’t really know what.

I’m told they’re a Christian band, but as far as I can tell, there are no Christian themes in their music. It’s just… Christian-friendly. AS in there’s no cursing or drugs or sex. Or… whatever the fuck else is in secular music that makes it offensive. Don’t ask me. I clearly listen to it all.

Angels & Airwaves: The Love Album Parts One and Two
(The cover shown here is just for part one, but I could make any of the right links work. So. That's what you get.)

A&A is a side project of Blink 182’s vocalist, so a lot of their music carries strains of Blink. Also, there’s a portion of Blink music that’s borderline styles, which is really to be expected when 2/3 of your band is in a side-project that isn’t three worlds off from the original band. You know? (Like, there aren’t much for strains of AFI in Blaqk Audio because they’re different enough; A&A and Blink don’t have that distinction.)

As far as A&A albums go, this one is actually kind of soft. At least it starts out that way. Truth be told, I haven't listened to it all the way through yet. Oops. Too caught up in my HCR album! hahaha

Anyway. Even though I like Blink 182, I kind of feel like Tom DeLonge's voice is kinda better suited to Angels and Airwaves. Not like it isn't suited to Blink, because it obviously is. But I really really like it in A&A, and it has a tendency to be slightly annoying in Blink. Maybe Blink just annoys me? Dunno.

So I totally just learned that Matt Wachter is in A&A, which is significant because he used to be in 30 Seconds to Mars and I could've SWORN he still was... Because I was certain that Tomo Milicevic left, not Matt, but I guess not. Oh well. Interesting, anyway. Now that I know he's there, I can kind of hear his influence. (I was very, very into 30 StM for quite awhile. So I just hear these things.)

It's a good album. It's actually a double-disc album, with Parts One and Two on separate discs. I like them both. They're very A&A, and a few of the songs are borderline Blink-ish. Though, due to the nature of the vocals, you could probably make the argument that it's all borderline Blink-ish. But if vocals were all it took, then we'd all be in trouble.
I don't know why. Forget I said that. hahahaha.

Anyway, it's like, finals week for University, and I have WAY too much to accomplish in not enough time to validate blogging for you all. Procrastination at its finest, lemme tell you. Uff dah. Oh well. I'll get accomplished what I have to. I will probably be operating on single-digit hours of sleep by the end of the week, but that's beside the point.

So I'm out!

Ta ta!
--Emily Renae

Another Post!?

What's the world coming to??
Just kidding.  It's not that epic.

I had decided that I was going to wait until later to write the next post... but then I decided that since I was already in the writing mood, I may as well just start it.  So we'll see what happens.

I'm going to talk about one of the things I've started doing before I start doing more reviews or anything, just to break it up a bit.  I've probably mentioned this before, but we're going to do it again.  So there. (=
I make jewelry.  I like beading.  Lately I've taken to using wire. I crochet!  Wire, yes.  It's very interesting.  It's kind of complicated, but it's not very hard and it's kind of fun--except for when the wire starts rubbing my fingers raw; that's not so very fun--and the results are very cool.  For example:

Picture quality is NOT the best because I took it on my webcam, but you get the idea.

This one is done with regular sized glass beads and dark purple wire.  I would take a new picture of it, but I sold it!  Actually, all of the pieces that I'm going to display here were sold this weekend.  Which was cool. (=

I lied, because this one is mine.  And I'm wearing it right now. (=  I love it.

So that's that!  It's kind of fun.  I've started getting a bit more adventurous about it now that I'm more comfortable with it.  I am considering taking orders... Will get back to you on that.  (I'm so busy I'm not sure I have time to do that much extra work!)

So... yeah... This has been mostly pictures, I know, but I have 40 minutes before I have to go to work and I do have a few things I should prooooobably accomplish beforehand.  I don't really want to do anything though.  I got a cold yesterday and the sinus pressure is just killing me.  Last night I felt like someone stomped on my face a few times.  It's not so bad today, but I'm also kind of living on Dayquil.

Oh. So I got a job.  At Journey's in the mall.  It's a shoe store, if you're unfamiliar.  And I really like it, but I'll have worked a grand total of like, 11 hours? of retail before Black Friday.  I might very well die, you guys.  If you don't hear from me for awhile, you might have to start worrying. hahahaha.
Just kidding, I'm sure I'll be fine.  But I won't lie that the prospect kind of scares me.  I don't even know what Black Friday looks like!! D=  Uh oh.  This could be one hell of a shift!  I'm both excited and nervous.

On that note, I'm out.  Because i just wasted another 10 minutes hahaha.

Ta ta!

--Emily Renae <3

Moooooorrrrrrre Music!

Because I have this really terrible habit of going out and buying CDs, I have another like, 12 albums to review with you!  I didn't buy all 12 I promise.  Two of them I borrowed from a friend.  (A very cute friend, I might add. lol)  And I very much doubt that I'm going to put them all in this post because that would take far too long and I really want to get this post out ASAP just simply because there's a lot of stuff going on in my life and it's a pain in the arse (not too sure how I really feel about that word, really... on some levels it irritates me, but I'm trying to use it here and there to get used to it and see what happens.  I still don't think I'm going to like it though) to keep up with it all and this.  Which is why, up until I posted my comp paper, I hadn't posted in over a month.  Whoops.  Sorry!

So.  Let's begin, shall we?

Hold On Til the Night: Greyson Chance

Okay. Do not judge me.  I love Greyson.  He's such a cutie and he has a lot of talent.  Way more than Bieber, if you ask me.

He's like, 13!  Absolutely adorable small child. haha.  He makes my day.  I'm practically obsessed with "Unfriend You" right now, which is probs silly but I love it anyway.
He has a really good voice, and he's very good on the piano.  If you haven't seen it, you ought to YouTube his cover of "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga.  I almost like him better. hahaha Almost.
It's relatively poppy, but go figure, you know?  I still enjoy it.  He's kind of my hero.
Okay, so maybe not really.  But even still, I listen to him a lot. 
I quoted one of his songs online one time and some guy told me to get a life.  No shame, y'all.  No shame. hahaha

I have a habit of bringing up an album and then not actually talking about it, don't I?  My bad.  It's a pop album.  What do you expect?  Mostly love songs, but they aren't like, totally serious.  They're just a lot of fun.    They aren't hardcore "I need you to live" "My life belongs to you" "I can't go on without you" kind of love songs.  They're just... They're the kinds of songs a 13-year-old would write.  Not to say they're 'typical,' exactly, but in a way, yes.  He's exceptionally talented; that's all I can really say.

Who You Are: Jessie J

British hip-hop/pop/R&B/rock artist and I totally love her.  She had a song that was all over the radio for awhile a few months ago--"Pricetag" featuring B.O.B.--and I really liked it.  My roommate played "Do It Like a Dude" in the car a few weeks ago and I was instantly all over this.  It's a really great album.  She's super gorgeous and has a bomb voice.  Plus I love her accent, hahaha.

Her music has a lot of attitude.  But not in a way that makes her seem/sound bitchy, just strong-willed.  It's not all that way, of course, but the majority of it is fast, fun, and spunky, for lack of a better term.

She has a gold pattern in her lipstick there.  I love it.  I would like to know how precisely they do that stuff.  I almost feel like that was a design they pressed on, though... Hard to say.

NEEEEEXT!

Future History: Jason Derulo

It really bothered me that he stole the chorus of Africa by Toto.  Like, for real, write your own damn songs.

Aside from that, it's a pretty decent album.  More Jason Derulo. hahaha.  He's one of those guys that established a sound and does well to stick with it.  He's established himself a niche with his sound, and he would be very smart to stay there. haha.
So it's a good album if you like the guy. I do.  Aside from the fact that he seems to need to put his name into every single song at least once. That's getting old.  Oh wellz, I guess.

Moving along.

 Grace Potter & The Nocturnals: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Self-titled album (no shit, Sherlock).  Band with a crazy long name.  Why would you do that?  Whatever. haha.

Grace Potter is kind of an alternative-folk band, really.  That's the best categorization I have to give it.  alt-folk/pop-rock.  They've got some spunk to 'em.  I like this album, even though it's not what I was expecting, nor is it the kind of music I listen to on a very regular basis.  I review all kinds of weird random music, but I don't do much for folk music, and there's a reason for that. hahaha.  It's not that I don't like it, because I do, but it's the kind of stuff that I will generally skip past, I guess.  Oh well.

Paris (Ooh La La) is actually really... unlike the rest of the album, and that's part of why I wasn't expecting what I heard when I listened to it.  (For anyone that read that and has no idea what it meant, the song was played on the radio constantly for awhile. It's probably still played periodically, but I don't listen to the radio so I wouldn't really know.)

Sanctus Real: Pieces of a Real Heart

This is a Christian soft-rock/alt-pop band.  And I rather like them, in the way that I like most Christian music.  Their lyrics are nice and inoffensive, relatively soft.

I don't know.  They're a Christian band.  They came up on one of my Pandora stations. And I like them.  I don't think I really have anything to say about this album.

Half the time I feel like I just put albums in this blog "to review" as in to inform you that I have it.  Which is stupid, I know, but I can't really figure out why the heck else I might do it.

Sum 41: Screaming Bloody Murder

How many ways can you spell angst?

This is a very unhappy album.  The vocalist and Avril Lavigne were married briefly and then got divorced and it really wasn't like, the 'celebrity divorce of the century' like Kim Kardashian's pathetic publicity stunt, but nevertheless.  The question really was who divorced who.  I'm sure they'd say it was mutual, but music doesn't lie.

Avril has some pretty sad songs on her album. Considering her ex-husband did a lot of the production of it, I can imagine that being very awkward.
Sum 41's album is very dark, and very, very unhappy.  Once I listened to this album, it was relatively apparent that she divorced him.  (According to my roommate, he's a cheating skank who apparently deserved it, but I'm not going to get into it because I really don't know and it's not my or your business.  Plus it's somewhat irrelevant.)  But you can definitely tell in this album that he's not really okay with the break-up.  It's probably complicated.  When is it ever anything but?



Before this post gets obscenely long or something, I'ma stop.  I have like, 6 more albums to go through with you as well as at least 3 or 4 books, but we'll do that another day.  Hopefully this weekend, since I didn't get any out after my paper LAST weekend.  This is getting ridiculous.  I always have somethign else I need to be doing that isn't what I already AM doing.
Right now, for instance, I should be either napping, eating, packing, or cleaning.  But I am doing none of the above because I dubbed this more important.  Weird. lol.

Ta ta!

--Emily Renae <3

P.S.--Happy Thanksgiving!
And don't call it "Turkey Day" because that's bloody stupid and gets on my nerves.  Thanksgiving isn't even a religious holiday; don't start making up dumb-ass names for it.

Here, Have My Paper

We wrote papers for my comp class.  I kinda like mine. It's interesting.  Worth considering.  And since I haven't posted in awhile, it's something. Right? Right?! hahaha.  It's not that great in all reality.  But whatever.

The Actions of Gender Roles in Modern Society

            The buzz about gender roles in culture right now is mainly negative in the sense that we simply should not have them.  The theory is that by impressing these gender roles upon the youth, they are confined to an ages-old set of expectations that should not need to be met in the era that we are in.  However, it is my opinion that these gender roles are highly important to the well-being of children.  I will be discussing first the necessity of gender roles on both small and large scales, the manipulations of those roles, and lastly the results of attempting to abolish them from society.

            To begin with, why on earth could something so defining as gender roles be necessary to individuals as well as to society as a whole?  Our culture is all about the freedom of expression right now, especially in regards to sexuality and the exploration of it.  In this way, the trend has been an attempt to make people stop forcing gender roles on their children when they’re young.  However, my judgment is that gender roles play a very important part in the psychological development of an individual, and that children need guidance to understand how to interact with their environment and their peers.

            “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy illustrates the expectations society places on females with the majority of her first stanza, “This girlchild was born as usual / and presented dolls that did pee-pee / and miniature GE stoves and irons / and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy” (Piercy 1-4).  Similarly, the societal expectations of boys are well-elucidated in “The Wussy Boy Manifesto” by Big Poppa E, who writes, “I tried to like hot rods and jet planes / and football and Budweiser poster girls, / but I never got the hang of it! / I don’t know what’s wrong with me…” (Poppa, 7-10).

            These put very negative lights on gender roles that seem highly confining and mold-like, but they are psychologically natural for us in part because that is how our brains are genetically hardwired and partly because it is the image that society projects for us as “how you are supposed to be.”  Simultaneously, a major part of our culture is trying to abolish these roles and tell children to choose their own gender without regard for familial or societal influence.  This seems irrational and ridiculous, though, because gender is a role vastly influenced by environmental stigma.

            Essentially, children are genetically hardwired from birth to have certain sex-based traits, but not in their gender.  For example, maternal instincts are female sex-based traits, but the desire for dresses, frills, and ribbons is a gender role based action.  But, because sex-based traits are internal, gender roles are necessary for the outward expression of those traits.  Without that outward expression, attracting a mate is difficult because men are not reassured that a woman is capable of the responsibility of a wife. 

            What happens when these roles are manipulated is a plethora of interrelationship difficulties because subconscious desires have been subverted.  For example, as described in further stanzas of the aforementioned Piercy poem, “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: / You have a great big nose and fat legs” (Piercy 5-6).  Following these lines, the girlchild of discussion, who was perfectly normal and fine, “…went to and fro apologizing. / Everybody saw a fat nose on thick legs” (Piercy 10-11).  Finally, she gave in and altered herself via plastic surgery to make herself ‘good enough’ for society.

            This is a manipulation of the female gender role given to us, because our role has shifted from being capable of home-making and –maintaining, child-bearing and mothering, being in need of—or at least in desire of male companionship and protection (a type of ownership that is ‘politically incorrect’ to label such due to the feminist movements in the country)—in the way that we are expected to look a relatively specific way, and if we do not fit that mold provided for our altered role, we are expected to use whatever means necessary (i.e. plastic surgery) to make ourselves into said mold.  This is a practice that toys with the variety of desirable phenotypes (the observable genetically-controlled traits of an organism) ; prospective mates are thrown off by the illusions our technology provides us, thereby providing couples unrealistic expectations of the physical attributes of their offspring.  Even though the physical attributes of an individual only influence gender very little (in the way that women with very masculine features have a higher frequency of masculine tendencies than women with very petite features).

            Furthermore, “What I Have Been” by Guy Peckham illuminates a male perspective on the inability to meet societal expectations with the following:

“From a solitary tower high above me

float the faint voices

of my parents,

drifting down like black snow.

‘He’s so timid.’

‘He’s so shy.’

‘He withdraws from others.’

‘We’re so embarrassed.

What shall we do?’

I would run from this house,

were it not for the chains of shame

anchoring me solidly to the bedpost.” (Peckham 6-18)

            What Peckham is saying here is that he was always expected to be exuberantly confident, or at the very least confident enough to initiate interactions, and because he was neither capable of the action or of the ability to outgrow his shyness, he was so ashamed of himself that he found he could not even run to hide.  Big Poppa E adds to this perspective, but with a different attitude:

“you may see 65 inches of wussy boy

standing in front of you,

but my steel-toed soul is

ten foot tall and bullet proof!

bring the pain, punk,

beat the shit out of me,

show all the people in this bar

what a real man can do

to a shit-talking wussy boy like me

but you’d better remember

my bruises will fade

my cuts will heal,

my scars will shrink and disappear,

but my poem

about the pitiful, small, helpless

cock-man oppressor you really are

will last

forever.” (Poppa 72-89)

            “The Wussy Boy Manifesto” really takes that same inability to meet expectations that Peckham faced but turns it around and uses it to stand on and fight back.  He dares those that would call him a ‘wussy boy’ to really ‘teach him a lesson’ and ‘prove their masculinity’ by beating up a guy that realistically poses them no threat.  Clearly he is not looking to start a fight, nor is he attempting to steal someone’s girlfriend, and he isn’t getting into the middle of anybody’s business; he just simply isn’t like them and dares people to use it as an excuse to oppress him.  Peckham chose to be ashamed of his inability to conform; Big Poppa E revels in it.

            This leads me into my final point, regarding the detriment to society from the degradation of gender roles.  In a society that has broken down the roles of gender, it has inevitably broken down the roles of itself because it creates an entire faction of people that are dissatisfied with what they have, whatever that may be.  With neither males nor females raised in this new universe knowing what is expected of them, nor what to expect from others, obviously no expectations can actually be met from either end of a relationship.  Therefore, regardless of what happens, especially within a marriage, both spouses feel as if they are getting the ‘muddy end of the stick,’ so to speak, because both have been taught throughout life that it simply is not their job to take care of everything.

            Because society has blurred the roles of men and women, nobody is entirely sure what exactly their role is, so when they get into the age at which they enter marriages, they have lost both their, and their spouse’s role.  Because there is no clean-cut division of roles, now there is dissatisfaction because the responsibilities of marriage are difficult to divide.  Whose job is it to cook, clean, perform home and yard maintenance, or take care of the vehicles—especially if both own one?

            Individuals who have been raised with an understanding of their gender role have no problem shifting into it when that time comes; individuals that were not raised with a set role and with the concept that established roles are automatically treated as wrong have inaccessible expectations of what happens next when the age of marriage hits.

            The concept of “‘me’ versus ‘we’” brings into play the problems regarding instinctual activities.  For example, men instinctively leave the task of child-raising to women, who instinctively want to raise them—though this instinct has been highly challenged in the last few decades—but now, women don’t have the necessary time to do so because of their shifted role as a bread-winner.

            Thus, when individuals do not understand their roles within the unit of a marriage, it is even more difficult to understand their role in society.  What career does one pursue when you are not sure if you, or your spouse, has to make the most time for your children?  What type of laws do you support if you are not sure how exactly they might affect your relationship and its orb of effect?  Most importantly, how can society function when it requires an interaction of people who are raised to be so egocentric that the ability to view society as a single unit is lost?

            In conclusion, it is my honest and unalterable opinion that gender roles are very necessary to individuals as well as to society, that manipulating roles is unhealthy for one’s well-being, and that the degradation of gender roles is a major detriment to society in the way that it removes the ability to function as a single unit.  These notions are supported through the poems heretofore discussed and, at the very most basic of notions lies the sentiment quoted by Big Poppa E, “I am human and I need to be loved / just like everybody else does” (Poppa 47-48).

Works Cited

Peckham, Guy.“What I Have Been” (2003). 2011 Class Anthology.Print

Piercy, Marge.“Barbie Doll” (1999). 2011 Class Anthology.Print

E, Big Poppa.“wussy boy manifesto” (1999). 2011 Class Anthology.Print

Album Reviews

It's Tuesday. Which is technically literature day. But as I don't really have a whole lot to report on that end of things--college doesn't give you a lot of time to read your own material and it doesn't help that I'm always preoccupied writing my own--I'm going to do some discussion of the musical variety.  Because I have like, 9 or 10 albums to discuss with y'all, okay?  Okay.  We should probably just get started or this post is going to be a mile and a half long and who has time for that anymore? Honestly.
...I was just thinking that I could make way more--and much shorter--posts if I just separated each of the albums into their own posts.  But why on earth would I do that?  This isn't Tumblr or something.

Moving right along.  Album one:

 The Cascade Sun: A Scene a Sailor'd Give His Eyes For

The Cascade Sun is a local band, hailing from Minot, North Dakota.  They've actually been around awhile, but before they were Cascade Sun, they were In Defense of a Marionette, and with a slightly different lineup.
(They were the former title in 2007, which I know because I met two of them at Rock the Leaves without actually realizing it, but that's another story entirely.)

This album was self-produced in the concert hall on campus--if the pictures on Facebook are an accurate indication of that--and mixed by a guy in LA (whose name the drummer didn't give me, as if it actually genuinely mattered, eh?).

At least 3 of the 5 members of this band attend Minot State University.  I know definitively that 1 isn't attending college (Facebook creeping for the win) and I honestly have no idea about member number 5.  (In truth... I don't know anything at all about said member 5... Moving along.)
The band consists of Mat Charley on lead vocals and guitar, Tim Olson on drums and backing vocals, Casey Black on bass and backing vocals, Sam Buchholz on keyboard, electronics-programming and vocals, and Ben Carlson on guitars and vocals.  Normally I would shy away from placing names online, but considering that they're destined to be famous rock stars some day that the whole world knows and adores (because they're fabulous) I doubt it really matters.

Anyway. The album. Now that I've rambled about the band long enough... Hah. So. Onward.
A Scene a Sailor'd Give His Eyes For is a 6 tracked alternative/electric pop album available on iTunes, and... uhm... other places... I can't remember what Tim told me anymore. Sorry.  But look around on whatever program you use.  I know for sure it's on iTunes.  And you can order it straight through their Facebook page, too. (Facebook - The Cascade Sun)  So there's that.  And I think I'm gonna throw links to a few of their songs here, as well, because their music speaks best for itself.
I will say however that there are a few locations in this album where the vocal harmonies cause... well, I mean, the kind that give you chills, or that make you stop what you're doing and just listen because it's so... perfect.  I get rather moved by music, for anyone who hasn't yet noticed.
It feels really awkward for me to say stuff like that because I know them personally and it's like... weird.  You know what I mean?  Like... it's weird for me to think that people I know and am moderately familiar with have the kind of talent that... can really connect with me on an emotional basis.  Not like I don't connect with people, but it's a little different through music, you know?
Also, Mat has a really beautiful voice. Like, I don't often announce that men have beautiful voices because most of the time different adjectives are better suited, but this time the best term is just beautiful.  He has this perfectly clear and smooth falsetto that's within easy reach for him and he can switch in and out of it no problem--I've watched them perform enough to notice.
Last Chance to Relax  (<--I made this video... because I wanted this song to be on YouTube so I could show it to a friend. hahaha.)
Astronaut Arms
Sink (<--this one is one of my favorites)

Posting links to their songs is proooooobably a bit of a cop-out in reality, but you know what, just listen to at least two of those songs.  It's like, 7 minutes of your time.  What else are you going to do with those minutes?  I mean really.  Just watch it.

With those links firmly in place, I shall move onto the next album on the docket:

 Mayday Parade: Mayday Parade

It's their third album, and it's the one they self-title.  I know a lot of bands do that, but it still sorta confuses me.  Like, could they just not come up with a decent title this time?  Orrrr what's the deal?  I don't know.  I don't mind self-titled albums, obviously, but... Anyway.

Mayday has managed to evolve in their sound as well as in their lyrics since album one while managing to still be the same band they started as.  They're like The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus in that respect, except that the changes haven't been anywhere near as drastic for Mayday.  It's been moderately subtle while still being noticeable.
"Oh Well, Oh Well" I recognized as a sad song when I listened to it, but it wasn't until I watched the video that it really occurred to me how sad it was.  Embedding the videooooo now:

 

Album 3:

New Found Glory: Radiosurgery

NFG is a band that has been around for a very long time.  Obviously they aren't who they started out as.  I really like where they've come to, though.  I like their early music and their new music in two completely different ways; it's almost as though I consider them as two different bands, even though they are decidedly the same one.

This album has a fair amount of attitude and really moves, if you know what I mean.  Like, the paces of the songs are moving, like a heavy train going full speed--it has a lot of momentum.  I like that in an album, though.  I haven't really had a chance to pick it to pieces yet, as I just bought it last night.  But the amount that I have listened to it has said enough.
Amusingly... one of the tracks on the album is Trainwreck.  Anthem for the Unwanted is one of my current favorites, though.

We Are the In Crowd: Best Intentions

I love this band.  They're so much fun to listen to and really good.  Alternative pop band with a lot of punk influence.  Acceptable amounts of attitude without reaching bitchy.  And their lyrics actually mean something.
"This isn't me And I hate what we've become.  This isn't my life And I don't know where it went wrong.  Wait and see... We'll figure it out" are the opening lines to This Isn't Goodbye, It's BRB.  We Are the In Crowd is a band with something to say, and I am perfectly happy to listen.

Evanescence: Evanescence

7 years later, they finally put out a new album.  The band's lineup has changed, but Amy Lee is still at the forefront--if she wasn't, I don't think they could call themselves Evanescence, but that's off topic.
I really like this album.  The feel of their music has changed just a little, but I feel like it's in a good way.

I know I just crab-patched about Mayday Parade self-titling their album, but I kind of feel like self-titling this album was a good move.  Like, it's kind of re-establishing their identity as a band.  Almost as if to say We are Evanescence, and this is our sound.  Maybe I'm misreading it.  But that's the impression I get from this album.  The songs on it kind of... enforce that impression, too, depending on how you look/read into them.  I'll leave that up to you.  Do "What You Want". (hah. music pun. lolz)

Madina Lake: World War III

Not sure what's in the corner of this image, but it's the only one I could get to link right.  So whatever.

Madina Lake hasn't changed much since their sophomore album.  I really like it, though.  I feel like they have their own totally unique identity that shouldn't change.  (Not like I feel like other hands should change identities. Never mind.)
That isn't to say of course that they haven't grown at all, because that they definitely have.  I'm just saying that if you like early Madina Lake, you're still going to like their new material.  Basically.
Actually that's not really what I was saying, but we'll just say it was and go with it.  Kay. Sounds good.

Rock band. Thoughtful lyrics.  Hooks that get stuck in your head and keep your brain's radio tuned in for awhile.  It's totally worth it.

Black Veil Brides: Set the World on Fire

The picture was tiny, and thus is now blurry.  That's obnoxious, but I don't really care right now. haha.

Anyway. Metal album.  BVB.  It's... Well, it's just them.  I love them, don't get me wrong.  I just don't really have a whole lot to say.  It's typical metal, screaming included.

My album came with a poster.  And I was kind of excited until I realized it was just the one guy, and then I was vaguely confused.  I'm considering putting it up in my dorm room anyway, just because I think it'd be funny.  Random? Weird?  Both.  I know.  You really shouldn't be surprised by that by now.  Just saying.

Anyway.  that's what I've got for music today.  I could really go back and do a few more, but I need a nap and am running out of time to take one.  SO!  I'm out.

Ta ta!
--Emily Renae


Playlist! (Haven't had one of those in awhile, huh?):
This Isn't Goodbye, It's BRB--We Are the In Crowd
Sink--The Cascade Sun
Where are the Heroes--The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Anthem for the Unwanted--New Found Glory
Legacy--Black Veil Brides
Stay--Mayday Parade
Sick--Evanescence
Call Me Hopeless, Not Romantic--Mayday Parade
Priceless--Mayday Parade
Saviour--Black Veil Brides
I'm Not the One--New Found Glory
Sirclase--Joel Janikowski
Wake Me Up--The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
When You See My Friends--Mayday Parade
Don't Lose Hope--The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Angel in Disguise--The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Fallen Angels--Black Veil Brides
See You Around--We Are the In Crowd
Hey Superstar--Madina Lake
Exits and Entrances--We Are the In Crowd
Happy Endings are Stories that Haven't Ended Yet--Mayday Parade
The Other Side--Evanescence
Last Chance to Relax--The Cascade Sun