Children of the revolution

Why is it that society, in general, feels the need to compartmentalize everyone into sub-genres of cliques or groups or whatever else they can come up with? I've categorized myself as a lot of things, but if I had to, I don't think I could choose just 'one'.

Using music as an example, sometimes I feel like people make up ways to describe music so they can sound smarter, and thus inflate their position in society. For example, some of the "sub-genres" of "indie rock" are: garage punk, emo, post-punk revival, noise pop, dance-punk, baroque pop, garage rock revival, indie pop, indie dance, indie folk, lo-fi, dream pop, electronic, electronica, electropop, ad nauseam.

Now, I am probably guilty of this, but I am a music snob. I love music, I always have, and without it I would probably die (seriously). I admit that I like 95% of the music genres out there, minus some of the crappy mainstream music and some classical (I like it but I just can't listen to it for long). So where does this leave me?

Country

I admit it, along with old 'real' country, I like some of the mainstream stuff, too. I like to wear cowboy boots, drive trucks and work on farms. 

• Hank Williams, Eddie Cochran, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Johnny Paycheck, and Patsy Cline right next to my Brad Paisley, Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney.

Classic Rock/Oldies

Ah, my roots. My dad raised his daughter right, and exposed me to everything he ever had on vinyl that would still play. He used to play 'House of the Rising Sun' on his guitar for me, even though I had no idea what the song really meant at the time.  

• Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Doors, The Ramones, Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Velvet Underground, The Who, ZZ Top, and this list goes on for far too long.

Indie Rock/electronica/indie folk/dance pop

Yes, I still have days where I let my tattoos hang out, wear cut off shorts with converse and indie-fy myself to run with the masses of hipsters that plague this town. This list is probably even longer than the rest put together, since there are so many new bands playing various types of music that are influenced by each other, like some sort of incestuous orgy that results in multiple eargasms (in some cases). 

• Lykke Li, Blitzen Trapper, American Analog Set, Chris Thile, Iron Horse, Broken Bells, The XX, Sea Wolf, Grizzly Bear, The Knife, Metric, Rogue Wave, The Shins, Handsome Furs, etc etc.

Blues/Jazz/Motown

This genre is why I feel like I was born in the wrong generation sometimes. I probably would have been the skinny white girl getting into trouble for hanging out with these people before the civil rights movement.

• B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Robert Johnson, Eric Clapton, Al Green, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane.

Hip-hop/rap

I can actually rap pretty well for being a girl-no free styling, mind you. I love the passion and feeling that emanates from some of the songs from these artists. Lots of people write off this genre because they think it's all ballers with chains and huge bling and 22's with no talent rapping about homeboys, hoes and chicken. It's not. Some of it is, but some of it is actually good.

• Beastie Boys,  Kid Cudi, Rahzel, Kanye West, Eminem, Afroman, Danger Mouse, Geto Boyz, Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dog, Mannie Fresh, B.I.G., A Tribe Called Quest, Wu Tang Clan, 2Pac.

So I guess this makes me a hipster-pimpin'-jazzy-dead head-redneck that loves all music equally. Where this leaves me in society's eyes, I don't know, and I really don't care.

For a semi-complete listing of my music tastes, please visit my last.fm page. I have over 1700 artists on my iTunes, so some of it isn't on there, but you get the idea.

And I turned around and there you go

I had such a good day! Breakfast, then to Orlando to see Sara. She gave me the sweetest card and two awesome movies that I'm sure I'll watch before the weekend is over.
Quote of the day: "I'll excuse the hat and just assume she has cancer." - I love her, she always makes me laugh.

My cat is giving me some serious love as I type this. I think it's funny to watch how animals' personalities change as they get older. Diesel has turned into a sometimes-lap-kitty, calm but still playful, and much more loving. He licks me to give me kisses, it's cute. Micio, thankfully, hasn't gotten any dumber, but he has sure gotten sweeter. Sometimes he gets on the bed and just flops down on my chest like a sausage, with front paws over one side and back paws over the other. He just sleeps there. Or he'll sleep in my arms. I love them.

I realized today that, for once in my life, I don't feel like the world is going to come crashing down at any moment. Things aren't terribly exciting, but I have a great life and I finally feel like I'm finding a niche that I won't get tired of. I didn't even realize that this had happened, which is kind of amusing to me.

I am pining for some serious camera time. I miss having some film in my hands, but it just gets so expensive. Why do I always choose the expensive, time consuming hobbies? I guess because the cheap ones seem boring.

I should really be working on my thesis presentation right now.

Come on baby, and rescue me

BAH. I am sick enough to be congested and have a terrible headache, but not sick enough to skip out on my everyday duties. I got up early, worked in the office, worked on/finished my thesis proposal, went to physical therapy, and went back to school to finish homework.

Then I promptly stuffed myself to the brim with awesome Mexican food with my honey.

School is stressing me out way too much. It's not the work load, or even the material. It's just that all the deadlines have passed, my advisor is really slow getting back to me, and I just want to get everything submitted and over with. All of the paperwork is a royal pain in my ass. I'm already half way done with my research, do I really still have to do all of this stuff? I wish someone would just make it happen, already.

In other news, I've been trying to restructure all of the bad habits that my brain engages in. Let's refer to it as the 'committee'. The committee decides, often for no apparent or good reason, to turn positive into negative, rational into irrational, calm into chaos, etc etc ad nauseam. Trying to change any of these things takes more effort than (I wonder if) I can make. I feel like taking the time to think about these things once every day, collect myself and enjoy the quiet for a few minutes is so simple, yet unattainable.

There are days when I feel like all I can really handle is reading LOL Cats, and there are days when I feel like I could create an entirely new integrated pest management technique for organic farming.

Bottom line: my life is really good. Even though I go bonkers every once in a while, I have things to look forward to, things to work for, amazing friends and family, a great boyfriend, and two pretty awesome cats. What else really matters?

Come on, skinny love, just last the year

Take these sunken eyes and learn to see

I dropped off some film today. I feel like a child the night before Christmas. I can't sleep, I'm filled with excitement and I keep thinking about what I might get. I hope I'm not disappointed by my shots...

I feel like I need another job to pay for my film habit. Or, I need to move into a crappy, cheap apartment to save on rent.