What What, that's music?

So today in my Heavy Metal class we covered the genre everyone thinks they know, but they don't; Punk. He starts us out with "hardcore punk." It wasn't too bad, after Tuesday's tour of Glam Metal, and closer to the Classic kinds of heavy metal we had been at before, but it was obviously different. maybe 3 chords per song played fast to hide the lack of skill and insane double pedal to hide the fact he was pretty much only hitting the bass and snare. Then Dr. Kirk gets us into where punk went. There was nothing any of us could do but laugh. It was seriously hilarious.

So for those of you who probably haven't heard it 80s punk, here's how it sounds. You have 3,4 guys in a band. One singer a bass drums and guitar. Now you talk to people about how oppressed you are. You build up how you're musics this torch for the slums and back side of society. You talk and talk, then you all get together ready to play your music. You take a huge breath, hit together, and stop playing. That's it. That's your entire song. ENTIRE SONG. No longer than 2 seconds long. AND THE CROWDS CHEERED FOR IT. WHY?!?

To be accurate not every punk song was like this, but there is a huuuuge amount of punk that is. It's a famous thing with them. That and the growling singing. As an experiment we looked up the lyrics to the songs and yes there is some. The one band, having the lyrics in front of us, made it so we could hear it in his growling. (Seriously, what is up with the throat screaming and growling? Why do people like this so much in their music?? What about hearing a guy clear his throat and hock up a lung is so entertaining to people? ) but it is possible to hear and understand them. Then came the song Dr. k looked up for fun. There was lyrics. They were "You suffer but why?" The song is called you suffer, by Napalm Death. He plays it for us. We here a lot of growling but not that. So he looks it up on youtube. We find the live version. It's 25 seconds. 23 of the seconds are him talking about something. The song is him going "GRAAAAAA" done. WHAT THE HECK. There's not even a break in the sound for him to change words. I think the lyrics lie.

I can't even explain how stupefied I am by this. I don't think that can even be considered a song, but apparently record labels and people do. It can't be considered good, yet people do. I just don't even know.

A new way to die. (or live!)

So today I did something that I have not done in a long long time, because I was sure it would be the death of me; I exercised. Not only just exercised. I went to the rec center with a good friend, and used an elliptical for about 45 minutes straight. according to the display I burned about 200 some calories as well as did a heck of a workout on my glutes. And I feel AMAZING! I'm alert and upbeat and even did some sprinting on the way home. And it's 11 at night and I need sleep more than I need energy at this point. big downside already found.

So in our journey to the rec center, my friend had already misplaced her mp3 player and was moody since she didn't want to run without it. I had my ipod and wasn't planning on running (ok side note about me and running. It doesn't happen. I can't just run. Nothing good comes from it. Never has, never will. I can make it maybe 30 seconds before my movement can be classified as a waddle. Not even a jog. I'm incapable of running. Unless it's from something like a snake. Then I flip to Olympic runner and get the heck out of there.) I was planning on using the only machine I really had a name for; an elliptical. Michelle has talked about it many a time and so I figured I could use that and be good. So we get there and the place is mostly filled and Jenna isn't sure what she wants to do. She doesn't want to run without her mp3 so she decides to do the elliptical with me. We manage to get a set that's beside each other in between all these other girls. Apparently elliptical's are the womens workout. Men don't apparently come near them. They're too busy running on treadmills and lifting weights together.

So we get on and it's my first time, so i have no idea what to do besides just start moving my feet, making the apparatus move. After a while, i notice Jenna has her moderating things and stuff and I'm like 'WHOA HOW DO YOU DO THAT??" She has to show me how to push the buttons to make it all work, without stopping hers cause it will restart everything. I'm all giddy and just bouncing around by this time, I'm so excited. My kept watching my heart rate fly around from 160s to 170s to 180s and back to 160s then to 170s again. I'm so excited I start singing along to my ipod. Jenna loves this as it helps her since she doesn't have music. It helped that my ipod was kind enough to start me off with I'll Make A Man Out Of You from Mulan. Who can't be happy with that? I was even going for voices, I was having that much fun. About 45 minutes or so later we finally called it quits cause Jenna's hungry and has been going hard. I had just stayed at a pace and kept singing so I felt great. I got a nice workout in, did a little over 2 miles (thats horrible time isn't it? 2 miles in 45 minutes...) We then went to Shiver Center and got food. and jogged/raced a bus (I rode on the bus an the driver raced her while she ran) home.

Now I'm still bouncy a few hours later. Who knew exercise would be this fun to me? I hate exercise. I hate climbing the 3 flights of stairs to my dorm. the only thing I can deal with is walking around campus and listening to my ipod. And bike rides with Nate. He's probably the only person that can get me to exercise and kind of enjoy it normally. Wednesday nights on an elliptical I can do.

Here's to fitness. (hopefully)

I nearly freeze to death but homework saves me.

So tonight I had to work for 4 hours, like I do every Monday, and by time I get off it's dark outside. I usually don't care because that's when I have my ipod in and sing out loud without having to worry about looks from other college students (that might be more for the dancing I tend to do sometimes too) but today of course was different or I probably wouldn't be noting it in a blog. On a day I already wrote a blog no less.

I usually don't have a flashlight since I usually take the main roads home, which are fully lit. I usually have more energy than I did today as well though. I got off work at 8:30ish. As in, really close to it. From about the last hour I had already noticed why tonight was different than other Monday nights. I was extremely tired. I slugged through clean up. I yawned to death. I was slow and dragging.

Now I just want to point out that its about a 15-20 minute walk home from the place I work at on Monday nights. Keep this in mind.

So, after clean up, I leave and put in my ipod as usual. I know I'm tired so I refrain from singing to conserve energy. I start my journey on a main road but today I think "why don't I take the shorter route since I'm so tired?" My tired body thinks "yes! yes! shorter means to bed sooner!" So it takes me in this route. Now the shorter route consists of a walk of about maybe 2-5 minutes through the Botany Woods. Now the Botany Wood's have a little trail system through them and aren't that large. It's just a random pack of trees in the forest. But they are big enough that in the heart, the lights from the surrounding roads and buildings barely shine, while the trees themselves are thin enough for the moon to shine down.

So during the walk to this place, I already had noted that my walking pace was a little slow. Just in case I started texting Nathan during this time (not like he could help me being and hour and a half away from me) but I started sending him situational updates, in case I die, then there's a record leading up to it. Though I guess, it would have gone better if he was responding to my texts. After I went through deciding that my average weight is just a bit high for any potential rapers to target and the possibility of survival if I sleep outside in the woods, he finally responds and begins a long night for him of telling me I can do it.

It's also important to note that at this time, the temperatures decent, and I'm pretty comfortable.

So I make it to about the heart of the woods where it's darkest and get captivated in how pretty the moon looks. I'm walking innocently enough and have noticed a few other guys on the trail. So I'm not too worried that I have made a bad choice in walking this way. My pace is still a bit slow but I'm making progress. But after a little bit passed the heart, I get a wave of exhaustion and lose my upright position. I inform Nate of this new development and he seems slightly concerned of my prone position. My only fear is, the sinking feeling that snakes are nocturnal and coming for me now. But I'm tired enough to not get up. His concern also stems from his noting that at home, it's raining and freezing. It's only slightly cold where I am, but that means rain is probably on its way. There's some pondering of what I'd do if it rains and I'm still laying on the path in the forest where no one but a guy an hour and a half away knows where I am in the middle of the night. While pondering this I hear an explosion by my ear. A squirrel has dropped an acorn right beside my head. The impact was deadly it seemed, and near enough to make me wonder if the mean squirrels of Miami were now depressed for a missed opportunity to remove the human scourge.

The involvement of attack squirrels compels me to get up and move on some more. I hadn't made it out of the woods but I was now close, I could see the roads and the bell tower and hear the boys soccer team practicing. my tiredness overcomes my burst of adrenaline and down I go. This time I'm snuggled against a tree and nestled in some leaves, that I did test for snakes first. Nate has suggested I get a move on and move inside at the least. I try to explain how tired I am, and how moving right now feels too much like a chore. We both agree that at the least, if I stay there all night, it's fortunate that I'm halfway to my first class tomorrow. I doze in and out between texts during this time and have also added on, instant messaging Nate's mom, keeping her updated as well.

It's around this time that I begin to notice, that I'm feeling a little bit cold. and the wind's picking up, as well as I can see my breath. I'm also incredibly thirsty and have a lot of homework to study for exams coming up as well. Things were starting to look a little grim. I checked my phone for the first time and notice its 9:21. I had been off for almost an hour. I would have been home 45 minutes ago, had I been walking at normal pace. I had no idea where the time went and that I had been out there for that long. this also explains why it's getting so cold. I noticed that I couldn't see the moon anymore and clouds had started rolling in. Rain seems impending. After a little while of gathering energy, I finally get up and start trudging homeward. I have so much homework to do, I needed to get home. A little ways away I cross over a vent in the street. this vent is shooting warm air up. I huddle up. I'm still texting Nate who seems, oh so thrilled I'm moving and making progress towards home. At this point, I'm really noticing how cold I'm getting. I can barely text coherently anymore. Here's what my texts were beginning to look like;

Me:  I'm so thirstyuj nioy cool (im so thirsty not cool,)

"Pace decreasingg progress still apparent5" (pace decreasing, progress still apparent)

"Feel like hack in titanic nd have to keep tsalking to nto fr4eexe to death or was rios3e? too ubalert to rember" (Feel like Jack in Titanic, and have to keep talking to not freeze to death or was it Rose? Too unalert to remember)

"back to ggrundb again. Soclose tro doem" (back to ground again, so close to dorm.) At this point I had made it to the grassy area behind my dorm before passing out again. I was soo close to warmth and a bed.and I'm not sure why I was compelled to send this next text:

"grass snells weorsd" (grass smells weird) I'm just going to assume the cold and tiredness was finally over taking me.  Good old Nate is still with me though and of course just says "Stop sniffing the ground"

After about 5 minutes dozing here, Daft Punk came on my ipod and motivated me to get up and continue, where I found my roommate who thought I looked like I'd been crying. I knew my nose was running but I didnt think the dirt had gotten that mixed in.

I finally made it inside! Then I remembered. I live 3 flights up. No elevator. I was still so cold. As I texted it to Nate "Nafe it idnsidem. 3 flighgts of staiurs ubfoirguvinbg. Using banister"

followed by "hopws I get baniss ter trightqam" and

"wallsk are nivwe"

After that I finally made it into my room. To do all the homework that compelled me to come home. That I'm not doing to write this blog. Oh well, least I'm warm.

I want to write a blog.

So I haven't written a blog in a long time, and I really want to write one, but I have no idea what to write about. Not much has happened to me recently, worth noting in here and even though it's the afternoon, I can remember any funny stories from my past to tell you or something. because I'm too tired and just waiting for class. So I think instead I will write an observation I have made about my writing.

I notice that when I type on chat or anything really, I always space too soon. I cut words off at the end of them and add the last letter onto the next word, usually causing bad words or just completely confusing sentences for people to try and read. I mean, I don't know why I do it, I guess my right thumb gets a little space bar happy (I only use my right thumb to space, my left thumb just kind of hovers over the keyboard and follows the rest of my fingers for the ride. He's getting the better deal out of this typing thing, I think, since hes basically not used, but as I was typing this I realized I use him to type out my 'c's. How the heck did that happen. I trying hard to use every known letter of the alphabet to see if I use him for anything else, but its quite clear that I zanily use him only for c and WHOA, i used him for the 'z' too! How weird is that? while my right thumb is used only for the space bar.) Also I guess when I type my left hand moves around the keyboard a lot, doing most of the work while my right hand is just sitting there and barely moving. Considering I'm right handed this seems opposite what I would expect each hand to be imputing in this effort. You'd think it would be more of a team effort but I guess I'm a left handed typist and a right handed writer.

I think that's enough rambling for this post...

Accents

So everywhere has different accents in their speech, the most talked about being British accents of course.

The one people (my american friends) tend to be able to imitate the most is Indian.

One that's fun to attempt, and i can only do it if i say Good Eye, is obviously now, Australian. 

One that a certain friend of mine likes to do would be German. 

What hurts my ears, will always be French. 

Swedish is just fun

And of course accents from across America such as Boston

Then Southern.

New York has accents by boroughs. 

Of course there's many more accents in the world, popular ones I didn't hit on, such as Spanish, Canadian, Asian, Jamaican, African, Scottish, Irish, the list goes on.

My favorites are probably British and Scottish. 

That is all

The Elation of Recognization

So when watching Bones tonight, the father of the missing child comes on screen, and I recognize first the voice then the face. It takes me mere moments after that to place the guy, as one of the other detectives in Numbers. The sense of satisfaction is insane. I must tell someone, but it's 2 am and I've no one to tell....

We've all had that sense of knowing we've seen that actor or actress somewhere before, but isn't it the most annoying feeling when we can't place them? I've stopped what I was watching to IMDB it and find out. It's the most frustrating feeling in the world. I hate having to stare at the screen and try to figure out where I've seen that person before. I will miss entire movies just thinking about it, if I don't take action at the moment I ponder whether I've seen the person before, just trying to figure it out. If i can't IMDB it, I text Michelle.

The feeling of being right on such a mundane thing is so uplifting, that I've seen people (my mom) cheer and gloat when they get the answer right. People get so happy being right. It's like your brain just won an award for remembering a stranger on the TV. I've seen people (michelle and I) get in to contests to see who will get the right answer first. I've seen people (me) get mad when they're so sure of the correct answer and then get wrong.

Who knows why we get so excited when we recognize people correctly. Who knows why it's so important for us to know where we've seen an actor or actress before, for us to relax and enjoy our show. I think that's why so many teens multi task with the TV on while on the computer. I think it's so they can pull up IMDB or any website they need to pull up be it facebook, twitter, myspace, xanga or whatever, to keep from having to miss an entire show just wondering.  And in case you ever are just sitting there wondering without your phone, laptop, or anyone else, I hope for your sake that you have the remote beside you, because you know that if it's not, no matter how much it bothers you, you will not be getting up to check if the remotes not there to pause the show. For all our curiosity, laziness will always come first.

CONGRATULATIONS YOU'VE WON

So while navigating around the internet I realize one thing that really annoys me is the "interactive ads." you know the ads that have sound, are always really loud, and sometimes you can't even find where they are coming from. Those might be the ones that bother me the most, the ones I can't find.

I think we've all gone through that, you're sitting quietly at home, curled up with your computer, maybe even drinking something, hot chocolate, milk, juice, whatever you change pages when blasting in your face even when your speakers are on soft: "CONGRATULATIONS YOU'VE WON" The flashing seizure inducing light, the emoticon, the floating accept button, the annoying guys voice. 

If not that, how about the Interactive commercials. The ones always about cleaning or sickness. The mom's voice shouting out "KIDS."  The mucus men with their cold medicine. The ones you have to search for to turn off the sound, because even if you refresh the page, they just keep coming back, and back and back. They follow you everywhere, and sometimes you can't even turn off the sound. You click and click the speaker icon with ever increasing horror as you realize it's not turning off, the sounds still there. you can't stop the voices. 

Then the one I fear the most. The ones you can't find, only here. Oh the horror of those ads. You search all the pages you have open, you scroll and scroll, search and search but there's no sign of the ad. You can't stop it. You panic and finally just close everything. It's like the internet's a bully just pranking you while you're in your safe place. Slowly trying to turn you insane, until you decide to play kickboxing with the monitor. 

What's even worse is that they don't always start as soon as the page has loaded. Sometimes, if you've been there awhile, reading an article they suddenly tag team with the nice quiet ad that was there and start, surprising you and making you spill hot coco all over yourself. You're never safe. They're like little ninja ads, waiting until you're satisfied they aren't there to strike. Each blow deadlier than the last. No one is safe.