Huzzah

I had a good day today. Started off (kinda) early and went out for breakfast. Always a good start to the day. Then I went with my mom to a couple furniture stores. Saw some really nice stuff. It's too bad I've got expensive taste. All in due time, all in due time. After that, I relaxed at home for a bit and then went out to U of M. I did some around University Centre trying to get a few questions answered and get my ID card replaced. I thought this was a good thing, I'd get to take another (better) picture but it was not to be. They just used the picture they have on file and reprinted the card. Too bad. I then went to the bookstore and debated buying my educational psychology book but decided against it. I want to buy the book used so I can save the $30 but all the used textbooks had writing in them and I'm a book snob who doesn't want writing or highlighting other than my own in my books. Is that so wrong? After getting out of there, I went to a few stores to buy some school supplies without getting ripped off, University Bookstore-style. While at the store, I got a phone call from the guy I've been dealing with at the bank. I got approved for the student line of credit we had applied for at the amount we were hoping for. YAHOOOO! I have money for the school year. I will actually be able to afford school. That's a good feeling. Bring on the debt... Aiight, I'm done for now. Peace.

T-Minus Two Weeks

There's barely two weeks left until school starts. Mostly, i'm pretty excited. Scratch that, really excited.... But part of me is waiting for the inevitable realization that it isn't everything I might've built it up to be. But really, is it that bad? I know school won't be perfect - it is school after all - but in the least it's a means to an end and on its own that's kinda exciting. It's about time.

rules

A week and a half ago I was at the Inward Eye show with a friend and we got to talking about a very serious topic that she had recently been discussing with other friends... What was this important topic, you ask? Band/Tour t-shirts and other music-related fan paraphernilia.

We were talking about the rules surrounding the wearing of said t-shirts to concerts. The question that, I think, started the qhoe discussion:
Q: Is it appropriate to wear a band's t-shirt to that band's show?
A: No.

We did come up with a number of qualifiers, or exceptions, such as: if that shirt is in a foreign language from a tour in a foreign country, it is ok. If the shirt is "old school" and the band is on a reunion type tour, the acceptability of the shirt is questionable, but not out of the question. It's debatable, but you could end up with the dubious image of the burnout that's trying to hang on too long...very questionable.

Another no-no was the wearing of a shirt from one of the artist's former projects. As such, it would not have been acceptable to wear a Tool shirt to an A Perfect Circle show, just as it would not be ok to wear a Big Wreck t to a Thornley show. You get the point. It's like saying "I like your old stuff more, I'm only here because you used to be good (even if that's the truth).

I'm sure we came up with more rules, but really, i can't remember them right now. At the same time, though, just following these easy rules may prevent you from looking like a complete loser at your next show. Enjoy. I'm off to watch Inside Man. I hear it's good.

more familiar than before

Current events are disturbing. I don't want to get into a whole political discourse here, that's not what I'm about. At the same time, though, I have to say, the whole Israel-Lebanon-Hezbollah conflict has definitely strick a chord with me. It's hit me closer to home than any of the other Israeli/Middle East issues have, I think.

There's a really simple explanation for this closeness. When I was in Israel in 2004 (on Birthright), one of the places we went to was a kibbutz near Kiryat Shmona, on the Israeli border with Lebanon. We met a man named Mike, originally from New York. He was now living on that kibbutz, working with the Magen David Adom (the Israeli Red Cross).

Mike from New York, as he was known, was an amazing speaker. He imparted on us some of the feelings he had after choosing to live in that area. He shared with us some of the past dangers they'd experienced on the kibbutz and some history of the area in general. We also learned that the area was fairly calm, at that time, though they knew that it would take very little for conflict to arise again. As they say, history repeats itself, I guess (in some form or another).

We were on that border, the border where so much has gone on over the last few weeks. I have felt much different hearing news about the 'conflict' in Israel and Lebanon that I have felt before. It's different, having been in the very place that rockets are flying over. It's different, almost more personalized, than thinking that it's just some place I'd read about or heard stories of... I remember the feeling I felt looking out over land below us, knowing that I was looking out into Lebanon. A different country, a border barely beyond us, yet such differences on the two sides of that border. It's amazing that two groups can be so physically close yet so far apart in so many ways. This picture was taken near the border. The land behind us is Lebanon.

So much of the region surrounding Israel is like that. So many different people, viewpoints, histories, and ideologies. It's no wonder there's tension in the area. I don't claim to have a solution to the problems of the region. But wow, what a long road ahead...