The Best Gift: A Kickass Music Compilation CD
Every year a friend of mine makes a music compilation CD of a bunch of songs he deems totally awesome that he gives to friends and family for Christmas. He creates the CD cover, inserts, and even designs the artwork on the CD itself. It’s a nice homemade gift that takes a shitload of time and effort and I am lucky to be a recipient of his yearly gift.
Since I am not a selfish person and love sharing music, below is ALL 17 tracks from the CD in order (since order is very important when making any CD or mixtape). I’ve listed the artists and track names above each song. Get ready to listen to some great songs!
Brain Farts All Around
So obviously I haven’t blogged in a while. Yeah, I don’t feel obligated to blog, but I have been having major brain farts about… well, everything lately. I’ve been feeling out of sorts and haven’t been able to do shit lately. I couldn’t decide what theme I liked, so I kept trying out different things. My regular readers will know that this is usual with me, but usually I know what I want and lately I haven’t. I do like this design so that is out of the way. For now…
I need to get back to working on my novel and I have a ton of books I need to read. I feel like I’ve been in some sort of funk and my head is finally clearing. It’s frustrating when you have so many things to do but don’t know what you want to do first or how you even want to go about it. I’ve been a bit down lately, too, so maybe that is it. Either way, hopefully this time I can get a firm grip on my head and pull it out of my ass and get my shit together. If I had a theme song, No Rain by Blind Melon would be it.
No Rain by Blind Melon
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New Design!
Yeah, I know. I have been redesigning my blog more than posting. But it’s fun! Anyways, I hope you like the new layout. I have a few things left to work out, but this is pretty much it for now.
I’ll be posting a bunch of stuff soon, so make sure to come back or subscribe to my RSS feed.
I’d appreciate any thoughts on the new design! I love feedback, and I would love to hear what you think!
UPDATE 11.19.08: Did another redesign. Wasn’t happy with the old. Now I can get to blogging!
Tagged: Personal
I Love Post Secret
I really love reading all the “secrets” at Post Secret. I especially loved this one this week. I can so relate to this. Some people just don’t like hearing the truth.
Image courtesy of Post Secret.
The Power of Words
I recently had a conversation with a friend who lives out of the country. It was just a casual conversation at first, the kind where two friends play catch up and all that. Well, in the course of this conversation, I used the word “hate”. At the time, we were discussing politics. I wasn’t using it in a negative way and I really only meant “dislike”. However, this person doesn’t believe you should ever use the word “hate” in any way because it’s negative and therefore it hurts you for using it.
(Note: this same person said that I shouldn’t bother voting because my vote won’t change anything, so obviously someone is a cynic and cynicism is negative, but that’s a debate for another day.)
While I understand his perception of the word “hate” and the negative things that come with it, it makes me wonder about the flip-side: What about the word “love”? How many times a day do we say, “OMG! I just love that!” when we don’t really love it, we are just using the word as a substitute for “really like”. Should I stop saying the words “love”, too? I know in America, we constantly dilute words to the point that they don’t have the same connotations as how the rest of the world sees it. A good idea of how the word “hate” is diluted is how this author described their view of it:
Hate. It is defined by the dictionary as disliking intensely or passionately. I was raised to use the word loosely. Cries of “I hate peas!” or “I hate doing dishes!” resounded throughout the years of my childhood.
Did I ever go out to the garden and rip up the pea vines? No. Did I ever break the dishes defiantly to avoid cleaning them? Maybe. That’s beside the point.
Certain words have us divided. I am sure anyone who is knowledgeable enough to read this blog knows what I mean when I say the “N” word. This particular word probably has more hate behind it in the U.S. than the actual word “hate”, yet so many people use it in a flippant way, such as describing their friends, but get angry when someone of another race uses it. I see this word as racist regardless of who is using it, and I am not a racist. I may claim to be an equal opportunity discriminator, but that’s all in jest and the reality is I am very against racism and you could even say that I “hate” it.
So what does the pollution of words mean to us? Hate doesn’t necessarily mean hate unless you live outside the U.S., someone takes you literally, or you say it with disgust or anger? Love doesn’t mean love unless you slip a ring on someone’s finger? Hell, for all you Christians out there, even Jesus used the word “hate” in the bible:
Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. (St. Luke 14:25-26 NRSV)
But the author goes on to explain what this meant:
No, Jesus did not tell us to “hate” our families, but to prefer him over the demands of family.
There are so many different ways I can use these words in daily conversation and at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter except to the people who are looking for something deeper in the meaning of it all. The people who feel the need to point out that I said “hate” obviously have hatred towards that word or they wouldn’t have noticed that I have said it to begin with. The majority of people who notice the word “love” seem to be lacking some in their own life, but really, who isn’t, right? Right?!
But one thing I can still say? I hate the “N” word and I dare anyone who can fault me for that.
Stop Pretending!
Stop pretending that you are someone you are not is some of the best advice I can give someone. I am so tired of all the bullshit that people say and do because they can hide behind an online identity. I’m not talking about all the trolls or people that intentionally lie to stir up flame wars, etc. I am talking about the average person who goes online and blogs. They start pretending that their life is great, that they are so intriguing, and that they are so knowledgeable when they don’t know shit. It truly is pathetic.
Since I’m calling out these assholes, I have created a list for them to become human again, instead of the carbon-copy piece of shit they are right now. This is by no means a final list; this is just a starting point.
- Stop acting like you are an authority on a subject just because you read a book about it. Reading about something and living through it or experiencing it is a huge difference.
- Stop thinking that just because you type something it makes it so. It doesn’t.
- Stop crying like a little bitch when someone calls you out on your shit. Admit when you are wrong. It’s the adult thing to do. Better yet, if you don’t know about something, don’t talk about it to begin with.
- Stop acting like your life is better than mine. They both suck.
- Stop believing your own shit. I know this is hard since you’ve been lying to yourself for so long. Try it. It won’t hurt… much.
- Stop making someone else feel bad about who they are or what they like. Everyone is different and if you don’t like me, the least you can do is respect me. Respect: Learn it, Live it, LOVE IT.
- Stop photo-shopping your own pictures to make you look better. I don’t care what you look like and if I did, I’d be as shallow as you.
- Stop believing your views are the only correct ones. Opinions are like assholes & everyone has one. Also, don’t assume. You do know what assume means don’t you?
- Stop acting like a ignorant twat and grow up. If you want someone to take you serious, don’t act like a child. It’s insulting to me and insulting to children.
- Stop pretending that while you are reading this that none of it applies to you. While it may not, 9/10 blogs I read are full of shit and are a waste of my time.
I know that you, my beloved reader, know of at least one blog owner who should read this list. If you want to, please copy and paste this list wherever you feel.
If this post applies to you, tough titty, said the kitty but the milk’s still good!
Blogging Without Obligation
In case you haven’t noticed, I blog when I want to. I blog when I feel like it and I don’t blog if I don’t. This is my blog and I will do as I damn well please. I know that some readers want constant content or they drift, but if they don’t care enough to revisit my blog, I don’t give a shit. This is my space and I’ll blog if I want to!
Also, if you have ever been to my old blog, you would have seen advertisements from Google and other affiliates I worked with, like iTunes, etc. I got tired of my blog being littered with ads and not seeing any money from it. I mean, I made some, but not enough to collect a check because you have to earn a certain amount first. Also, you have to post within their guidelines, and I couldn’t use profanity, etc. I mean, if I want to say fuck, shit, cock, motherfucker, etc., then it’s my blog and I want to say it! So this blog is ad free and will stay that way. This is my place and I don’t need someone censoring me so I can make a few cents that I won’t see anyways.
So here I am, blogging without obligation or ads and not giving a shit, and I couldn’t be happier!
Update: Yeah, I am using ads again. Fuck off about it.
New Theme!
I hope you all like the new theme! I may still make a few changes, but this is pretty much it. I missed my white background!
I’ve Changed My Mind… Again…
I am going to try a different theme. I know, I know… I’m fickle like that. While I like the new one and all, I miss having my white background. So after I get unpacked fully and this possible hurricane scenario with Ike passes over, I’ll try out a new theme. In the meantime, leave a comment letting me know if you prefer black or white as a background color and why you like it and don’t like the other. Thanks!
All Moved In!
Luckily I am all moved in my new place, because it’s raining like crazy outside! With Hanna nearby and Ike possibly hitting me dead on by this Tuesday, this is going to be a crazy weekend!
Hopefully my fellow South Floridians will be able to contain themselves and not fist-fight for canned food or a spot in line for gas. Wait… never mind. This wouldn’t be South Florida without all that neighborly love!
Oh, yeah: I live in a mandatory evacuation zone since I live on the beach. Fun times indeed.
Tagged: Personal
Almost Moved In!
Phew! I am almost done moving! We have everything moved over to the new apartment and I am still unpacking. I’ve already transferred services and my cable, home phone, & internet will be connected this Sunday morning!
Since Comcast had to verify our address-even though we are only moving one apartment over-we had to wait to get an appointment but luckily we got an appointment sooner than expected! Last time it took 3 weeks to verify the address and I was mooching wi-fi from the neighbor who moved out of this apartment. I have no shame in “stealing” wi-fi if someone is dumb enough to leave their internet unsecured. Especially since this is the same neighbor who abused and neglected his dog and the same one I rescued the bearded dragon from.
The only things left to do is clean the old apartment, which will be done in the next hour, and change my address for all my bills. Oh, yeah… and get the rest of my stuff out of storage now that I have the space. Now I just have to convince my dad to help us with his big truck to get my over-sized couch since it obviously won’t fit in my Mitsubishi Lancer.
And you know what? My pets love the new place, and if they are happy, so am I!
Moving!
I will be switching to a bigger apartment over the next couple days so I won’t be able to finish any of my tweaking and may not be online as much. I’ll keep you updated!
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