Feel good music

I've gone through quite a transition with my music selections over the years.  It started out with whatever my brother listened to, so I could be like him.  Then, I went alternative rock...the darker the better (this may have been still following my brother's footsteps...don't really remember).  Then I went only Christian.  Smooth transition...ha... Anyway, after that (AKA now), I'm pretty open to any (although I don't really listen to Christian music anymore...and like 10 songs EVER of country).  All that to say that I may be shifting again to "feel good" music.  Positive or "no point" music is speaking to my soul.  I recently bought some headphones for work and they came with a "free $10 worth of downloaded songs" card, so I've been making a list of songs I want.  So far:

White Stripes "7 Nation Army"
Black Keys "Howlin' For You"
Black Keys "Gold on the Ceiling"
Katy Perry "Wide Awake"
Kelly Clarkson "Stronger"
AWOLnation "Sail"
Train "Hey Soul Sister"
Carly Rae Jepsen "Call Me Maybe"
Taio Cruz "Dynamite"

I'm pretty famous within my small circle of closest friends for making the most random mixes for CDs.  I did one once with Moby, America, Weezer, etc.  I think it freaks most listeners out, but they're all songs I like, so it makes sense to me!

Even with this variety, my husband has expanded my tastes even further...don't tell him, but I kinda like some Jason Mraz songs.  And They Might Be Giants is so silly they're fun.


And then my BFFs at Think Geek came up with this!

 Then there's Low Strung that does beautiful acoustic covers of famous songs using only cellos.  It's so rich and deep sounding.  It makes my inner band nerd squeal with glee.  Further ecclecticity.  I would ask if I'm normal, but seeing as I don't really have a big audience, that seems silly.  And it would make me sad if I asked and no one answered, you know?

So, with that, I'm gonna go listen to more feel good music.  Sorry if I work with you and you hear me singing.  ;-)

Open Carry/Abortion/Voting

I'm sure I have your attention now...controversy!  Yay!  I don't really like controversy, but I do like to have an opinion on things and I was raised to share - what can I say...so, right into it, shall we dive?:

*splash*

How will open carry law make guns more accessible? The latter part of that sentence seems to be an argument of people against open carry.  (BTW, we need catchy nicknames for both sides of this debate...)  If you're a criminal and you want a gun, you have one.  If you're a crazy and you want a gun, you have one. If you're a normal person who wants a gun for protection only, you have one.  It seems to me the only difference with open carry is that the "cards are on the table," if you so desire, but you can still conceal if you wish.

As I was writing this, I realized how similar this issue is to abortion.  Many Pro-Choicers say that a choice doesn't mean a decision.  Just because they want the option of an abortion, doesn't mean they will abort if they get pregnant.  Isn't this kind of the same logic as the open carry law?  Just because people have a choice to open carry, doesn't mean they will. 

You can even extend this into voting.  Every citizen of the US has the right to vote (except for felons and the like, as someone just pointed out to me)...but do they?  Of course not.  After a quick glance over some sites my ol' bud Google suggested, it doesn't seem federal voter participation has ever been over 70% (Tops out at 60-something, actually).  And lately it's been around 50%.  AND we're talking federal...state and local numbers are even more dismal.

Generally speaking, more Republicans/Conservatives favor open carry laws, more Democrats/Liberals favor Pro-Choice, and yet both support voting (duh).  Can each side just concede the logic in these small statements?  Just these statements, not the issues at hand...there are way more points to these issues that I clearly didn't bring up...and that was on purpose.  I'm just asking that you don't try to refute an issue with illogic.  Open carry will not make guns more readily available.  Pro-Choice does not mean you will abort all pregnancies.  And just because you have the right to vote, doesn't mean you will.

July 20th in my life

This started out as a FB status update, but got way too long pretty quickly, so it's going on here now!  Yay!

Jon and I have been dating for 5 years today. Sometimes it seems crazy that it's been that long and other times it seems crazy that it's "only" been that long. After realizing today is my 19th anniversary of pierced ears, 5 years doesn't seem that long...haha. Thank you for singing my praises and forgiving my shortcomings. I'd say I love you very much, but you hate that because love does not vary by degrees - you either love someone or you don't. So, I'll go ahead and state the obvious - I love you.  I'm pretty good at writing long, sappy, heart-warming letters, but after time they become white noise.  For this reason, I stop now.

Big hug.  Big kiss.

Stories

When I read other blogs, I like to read stories.  Honest, genuine glimpses into life as viewed by another.  I want to write more stories like that, but I feel like I have a few monumental posts, and a lot of tidbit posts that I feel are sloppy.  I don't want that.  I just finished reading a blog of someone I don't know and my face hurts from smiling the whole time.  I almost teared up at the heartfelt account of a loving moment in her life.  I want a stranger to be able to do that with my blog.  I don't want my friends to read it just to make sure they aren't missing something important in my life, I want to be inspirational. 

Inspirational to whom, you may ask (or maybe that's just me asking)...I don't know what word to use.  -Normal people?  What is normal, though?  -Everybody?  I really doubt a kid with gun in hand is gonna put it down after seeing pictures of flowers at my house. 

Perhaps my target audience is the mind-made-up person.  Is that stupid?  Is that too broad?  Is it too much to ask the wife that loves her husband to fall in love with him all over again by loving his faults as much as his accomplishments?  Is it too much to ask the person who loathes grammar to learn the difference between there/their/they're so their job application makes clear that they're looking for their next job at the company over there?  (By the way, if you loathe grammar, you should probably tread lightly around me...ha)  Is it too much to ask that you see my plants around the house and realize you could also do them? 

I want to blog about change and settlement because I feel that is what life is about.  Life is constantly changing and so are people.  Yet we as people are not built to change everything in the world every single day, so life is also about feeling settled.  These are the 2 things that govern my life, and I know I'm not the only one.  I guess I aspire to be the beacon of light to show some soul(s) what they are searching for, if the shoe fits.

Too much?  Too weird?  Now I'm feeling all awkward and stuff saying that I basically want to be a role model.  Who says stuff like that?  I guess this weirdo right here.

Snoring

Further solidifying my spot in utter weirdness, I like the sound of snoring.  It's soothing.  Just like the sound of trains (I lived one block away from the tracks growing up, so it was embrace it or go insane.) for me.  Further introduction to my sleeping habits: I cannot sleep in utter silence.  It is maddening to me.  I usually sleep with at least one fan on and as many as 3.  With that being said, I feel somewhat honored when I hear snoring.  To me it signifies a deep trust.  You wouldn't sleep around your enemies.  You wouldn't even take a moment to "rest your eyes" knowing the office snitch could stumble by at any time.  But, when you're at home/with those you trust, there are no emotional walls.  You are at your most vulnerable.  And that's why I like snoring.  To be trusted with someone's vulnerability for hours on end is quite a responsibility.  Now I feel silly for writing this, but I really feel this way, so I'm leaving it.