My problem with 24/7 media

In my experience, the national attention span has drastically decreased since the emergence of the 24/7 news coverage. Yes, information is power and transparency in government is important, but there has to be a limit somewhere. All of the news outlets are trying to break the story first, before their competitors, before the bloggers, before the tweeters, but that means they may not have full information. Then one person reads that story or hears it on the radio and it virally spreads. 

The most recent example is the swine flu, oh I mean the H1N1 influenza A virus, which has panicked not only the nation, but the world. Yes it is a threat, yes it can be dangerous, after all the normal strain of the flu which hits each winter kills about 40,000 people. I'm not in any way trying to downplay the nature of the beast (sorry bad pun), but people need to take precautions and use common sense. Wash your hands, use antibacterial soap, wipe down your desk at work, etc. It just frustrates me that there is a level of hysteria over this. You can't turn on the TV or read the paper without seeing a NEW UPDATE on this.

This is coming across as crass and uncaring and I'm not trying to do that. I find it annoying how the news outlets get ahold of things like this and repeat the same information because there is nothing new to report. There are bigger issues facing the state, the nation, and the world that are being swept under the rug. For example, the ILGA is in session and there are important bills sitting in the Rules Committee that could help get the state out of the current financial mess. Yet those stories get only passing mention.

Maybe choosing the flu was a bad example. Maybe the economy would have been a better one...we are currently in a precarious financial situation and I don't think the media is helping. We all know we're broke, we don't need constant reminders by talking heads. Turning on the nightly news and getting reminders of how bad off the country is will not encourage consumer spending and decreases consumer confidence, therefore causing the markets to drop even further. 

I'll get off my soapbox now. I knew there was a reason I don't watch the nightly news...it just makes me angry. 

April showers

When I hear music, I fear no danger.

I am invulnerable. I see no foe.

I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.

- Henry David Thoreau

It’s funny how a song can take you back to a different time. I was playing with the genius option on my iTunes (one of the coolest things I’ve discovered lately), and an old favorite came up. As soon as the first chords started playing, I was no longer in my apartment in the city. I was transported back to high school sitting on my then-boyfriend’s bed and listening to him play guitar. A flood of memories came back of our short-lived romance, including some that I had forgotten about. He taught me a lot about life, including many things I didn’t understand until recently. Although it ended badly, which I know was my fault, I know if I ever need him somehow he’ll know. So thanks T, wherever you are!

Music has always been my escape. In my younger days, it helped me tune out the chaos and focus on the race, game, or just the moment. As I’ve grown up, my taste in music has also changed, but I will still always have “those” songs. It’s funny, whenever I meet someone new, I “assign” a song to them and each time I hear it, no matter where I am or what I’m doing, I think of that person and all we shared.

College is probably the best example of this, when I hear certain songs I think of a specific moment in time or in some cases, a lifetime worth of memories. To this day, I can’t listen to Alan Jackon’s “Remember When” without thinking of those Salem summers and Tomias.

I love how music can bring such strong responses out of people. Maybe that’s why I’m so excited about this summer and the all the music festivals. Lolla is going to be great…so many friends and so much music to make new memories to.

 

And yes…I still listen to “Murder on the Dance Floor.”

Weekend Recap

I took a nice looong weekend off work and traveled to Salem, VA for Alumni Weekend and am still recovering. Although this year was tame compared to years past (no one I know was arrested, very little boyfriend drama, that type of stuff), it was still ridiculous. It was so strange to go to a place I called home for four years to see how much, and how little, has changed. The school still attracts the same type of people and it is still easy to spot freshman. The funny thing is, it made me wish I would have been a little LESS involved. Maybe then I could have created closer friendships with more people instead of fostering shallow friendships with a lot of people. 

It was nice to go around at my own pace and not have to have constant people around, but it was also a bit lonely. Hard to imagine when you are in a crowd of some of your former close friends, but I was lost for a bit. When I left my home as a freshman, I went there alone, and when I left, I came back alone. I never got too close to any one group or person and that suited me just fine. And it still does. It's a strange thing to feel. I knew most of the alumns but didn't really know anyone. 

That said, it was a blast and I saw some of my favorite friends. And am SO glad to be home in my own place, in my own bed, even thought it means I have to go to work tomorrow. 

Funny sign

The lettering reads: "Our guns may be silent, but Dixie will never die." 

Only in Salem, folks! 

Favorite quote

This is one of my all-time favorites, courtesy of Mr. Kerouac:

"A kind of lyrical ecstasy possesses certain young Americans in the springtime, a feeling of not belonging in any one place or in any one moment, a wild restless longing to be elsewhere, everywhere, right now!"

That pretty much sums up how I feel right now. I am restless and ready for something, anything new. It's not that I'm bored, far from it. I'm just wanting the next adventure. I was in a convo about this same restlessnes/homesickness/feeling of nostalgia with JSor today and know others feels the same. It's the feeling you get when you listen to an old song and it takes you back. Except this doesn't take me back in time, this takes me forward. I don't know if I can even begin to explain it...but it's unsettling! 

It could just be a trait of a wanderer, but maybe it's something deeper. It's strange, I have roots here, stronger roots that almost anywhere else but I am ready to go. Go where? No clue. What can I explore, what can I discover, who can I meet in my travels? I could just be reacting to the full moon (it's possible, it's happened before) but I think that a new adventure is beginning. 

I'm excited.