Ch..Ch..Ch..Changes!

Sorry about all the new backgrounds and colors going on around here lately. I get bored and decide to prettify the blog. Then every time I do, a few days later someone will point out to me that it's hard to read because of the colors, or it doesn't show up right in their feed because I've changed it. So then I have to try and find something that is not boring and still allows everyone to read it easily. I'm actually really digging this current design. Maybe it will stay up longer than a few weeks.

*** Edited on 09/17/10 - looks like it only lasted 3 weeks. I really started hating it after a while.

Poetry Corner

I thought I might start posting a few poems I have written. Some of them may be recent, some of them may be poems I wrote 10 years ago. I'm not going to bother explaining them. All I ask is that as you read them, you remember what I said about my poetry in the last paragraph of this post.


Regrets

Loose bits of past regrets, floating all around me
Clawing at me, pulling on me, trying their best to drown me
Sneering at me, leering at me, being really hateful
Trying to out-shadow all the things for which I’m grateful

Zipping by, flashing by, displaying my wrongdoings
I cannot tear my eyes away, they’re addicted to the viewings
Bad decisions, bad ideas, bad choices I have made
Are all right here in front of me, chronologically displayed

They get to me, these little bits, and make me feel ashamed
I let a tear slip down my face, my head begins to hang
Then suddenly I find my voice, I raise my head up high
And scream at all my past regrets “My spirit will not die!”

Revenge Of The Nerds: Nerds Are Now The Norm

Raise your geek flags high and wave them around proudly, we are winning the war! According to this article, 'Tyranny of the Fanboys', from New York Magazine in July, most of the things once considered too nerdy to talk about are now loved by almost everyone.

"Yes, all the favorite obsessions of nerds and fanboys (or fangirls)—vampires, superheroes, manga, and sci-fi—have now been successfully incepted into our collective pop-culture dreams....

...these days, fanboys are never excluded because they run the culture. They may still sit in rooms alone, but they commune endlessly with other fanboys online, praising what they already like and shouting down anyone who won’t join in. And somewhere, these days, there’s a teen alone in his garage, wondering if it’s safe to tell anyone that he’s not particularly psyched for a Kick-Ass sequel and that he fell asleep in Inception halfway through."

I don't think the author sees this as a positive thing, but that's alright; he's entitled to his opinion. Personally I am thrilled this type of shift is taking place because I have always rode the line between wanting to go to BlizzCon in costume and also being completely aware of the fact it would mortify my friends and family... so I refrain. Maybe if nerdiness continues to gain popularity I can not only feel free to attend these types of conventions but I may find someone who'd be willing to go with me.

Music From My Childhood

I was born in 1970, so when the 80's rolled around I was the perfect age to really listen to, appreciate and enjoy the hell out of that amazing 80's music. It's my childhood. I went from age 9 to age 19 during the 80's. Those are some important developmental years in a kid's life. Music was a HUGE part of it. I remember getting my first radio with a tape recorder around the age of 10 and spending hours with the tape paused on record, waiting for certain songs to play on Rock 99 out of Springfield, MO and then unpausing the tape to record the songs from the radio. I got to be really good at timing it just right and not getting any of the dj's talking. A few years later, around age 14, my mom came home from work one day and asked me to name my top ten favorite artists because she worked with a young girl whose birthday was coming up and mom wanted to buy her a popular tape for her birthday. So I sat down and compiled an amazing list of names like Cyndi Lauper, Kool & The Gang, Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears, Chicago, etc. Two weeks later, for my birthday, mom had bought me every tape I listed. IT WAS AND STILL IS THE BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT I'VE EVER GOTTEN. Simply because I had no real possessions at that age, I lived to hear those songs on the radio and it was a really sneaky, thoughtful way to get me a present.

I also had a really cool neighbor (Terry Kidwell) who was a year older than me and who introduced me to two things: rap music and Wham. Funny combination, no? The Wham album, Make It Big, was one of his favorites and I soon grew to love it as much as he did. "Careless Whisper" and "Everything She Wants" were great songs. But he also listened to a lot of rap music and passed that along to me as well. Where he got his hands on it, I don't know. Because in small town Missouri in the early 80's you didn't hear rap on the radio. I don't know who introduced it to Terry, but I'm grateful. He soon had me jamming to Kurtis Blow, RunDMC, Doug E. Fresh, Grand Master Flash, etc. Good stuff. I still love the Kurtis Blow album "America". And everytime I hear "You Be Illin" by RunDMC, I think of Terry. Some of my all time favorite songs are from the 80's. "Come On Eileen" by Dexie's Midnight Runners and "Burning Down The House" by Talking Heads. And of course, "Take On Me" by Aha! The 80's gave us Deff Leppard, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi and even Paula Abdul. Lol.

Point of all this rambling, a coworker of mine came in this morning humming a melody I recognized from the 80's and I spent some time online trying to figure out what it was. It finally hit me - "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. During all of my searching and thinking, I stumbled across this website which lists the Billboard Top 100 for each year from 1980 - 89. I thought you might enjoy looking through them as much as I did. Find them here

And now I will leave you with video I found on YouTube this morning... 10 minutes of little 80's video snippets.