Friends ask me why I have a blog, especially considering no one reads it.  I can never really give a straight answer, but I think I do it more for myself than for anything else.  When writing a long, serious post, my thoughts on a particular topic are fleshed out.  I may not have a particularly strong opinion on what I am writing about, but they very act of writing about it helps me understand it better.  On the other end of the spectrum, when I post a song I am really enjoying or a video I think is great, it is a release of my excitement for it from my mind.  Once it’s on the blog, I can let it go.

That may sound weird, but blogging clears my mind.  For this reason, I think everyone should blog in some way.  Whether it be blogging about the industry you work in, about how much you love a sports team, about your frat brothers/sorority sisters, your diet, your workout, etc., blogging will help you.  Trust me.  No one may read it, but it’s good for you.  Blog away.

My sister Andrea, her friend Meg, and my Dad visited me this weekend.  We all went to the Illinois - Ohio State game, which turned out to be cold and dissapointing.  It was a fun weekend none the less.

Tried to register for my classes today and was DESTROYED by U of I.  Why must it be so difficult.  Why.

After eating dinners that come in bags and take out for about the 100th straight night, I’m ready to go home and have a delicious Thanksgiving dinner.  Immediately.

Saw Quantum of Solace this weekend.  Excellent addition to Casino Royale.  The theme song, by Jack White and Alicia Keys, is also very good.

Other movies I’ve seen lately: Apocalypse Now, great movie, but quite eery and disturbing, and American Beauty, another excellent film.

I have listened to this song in some form about 15 times over the past few days.  So good.

(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

I don’t know who this person is, but I think they captured the night very well.  Song is Radiohead’s “House of Cards” from In Rainbows.

What happened on Tuesday was one of the greatest things I have ever seen.  People of all ages participating with enthusiasm and happiness.  We may not have all had the same goal on the surface, but ultimately we all want the same thing deep down.  I have no doubt in my mind that most people love this country.  There are a million reasons why we are the greatest country in the world, the very fact that we can choose our leaders being one of them.  I can’t describe why I feel the way I do.  Maybe it was because it was my first time voting, but I do know that we came together on Tuesday.

I am very sad that not everyone feels as happy and hopeful as I do.  I wish everyone could experience the feeling of excitement that Barack Obama supporters are feeling.  I say that as if I have been a longtime supporter of Obama, but that is not true.  In truth, I have admired and been intrigued by Barack Obama since his acceptance speech for the US Senate in 2004.  I have not, however, contributed time or money to his campaign in any way.  I wasn’t ready to make a decision I felt was extremely important so early on.  For months my friends asked me “So do you know who you are gonna vote for?” and I would always give the same answer: “I haven’t decided yet”.  And I really had not.

A lot of people my age, and young people in general, jumped on the Barack Obama band wagon very early.  I say that not in a negative way, but there is really no other word to use.  Some of these people supported Barack Obama because it was seen as the cool or hip thing to do.  I don’t think it’s right to support something you don’t understand, but I can’t really be angry with someone my age supporting something positive, whether for the right reasons or not.  Because of this, I was very cautious in making my decisions and feeling my way around the political landscape.  As I explained earlier, I am very much in the middle on many issues.  My stance on the Iraq War has changed many times.  I still don’t really know how I feel about it.  My point is, that this was not an easy decision for me like it was for some.

Roughly three weeks ago, it hit me.  I would be part of a group that elected Barack Obama for the Presidency of the United States of America.  Not just the first African American president, but the first president in my lifetime who inspired me to be a better person.

What happened in Grant Park on Tuesday night was beautiful.  That is the only way to describe it.  Beautiful.  One million people joyfully and peacefully came together, in a city I love so much, to celebrate a human being who inspires them to be kinder, work harder, be better.  With the backdrop of those city lights, people cried tears of joy and yelled in happiness.  I was not there physically, but I felt like I was.  I felt like I was witnessing a new era my life starting right in front of me.  Even as I sit here at 4 in the morning, I feel like a better person in every aspect of my life, even in writing!

Regardless of what happens during the Obama administration, I have already reaped the benefits of the new presidency.  If you want something bad enough, and you are willing to come together with those around you and work hard enough, you can make anything happen.  I can’t imagine a better lesson.

These thoughts are a bit jumbled together, but they are all I can muster right now.  More structured posts will come later.

As I sit here watching President Barack Obama’s acceptance speech for the second time, I can say that I have never been more proud to be a young person, to be a Chicago citizen, but most importantly, to be an American Citizen.  Few events have been more symbolic of what America stands for and what America can be to it’s citizens than the events of tonight.

Congratulations America, you have grown a lot.

I have not lived a long life, but cannot help but think that today is the first day of the next era of my life.  Barack Obama being elected president will not have a dramatic change on what kind of job I get, how much money I make, or how I can support my family.  It will, however, change the lives of millions of people around me.  As CNN analyst Roland Martin, who is African-American, said, blacks across the country can say to their children “yes, you can be President”, and actually mean it.

I will write many posts on this subject, many of which will contain cliches and tired old patriotism.  But I will mean every word of it.  Today was a big loss to the people who hate our freedom and our will to live.  It was a victory for all who love this great country, whether they realize or not.

A lot of people say that the President of The United States of America does not really have the power that the position is perceived to have.  This may be true, however, the person holding this position has power that cannot be measured by any tangible means: they have the power to inspire and comfort millions of people in this country and billions abroad.  The world is at a crossroads in many ways.  Justifiable or not, much of the world doesn’t quite look at us the same way that they may have in the past.  In my opinion, we are in need of a president that can inspire and reassure not only American citizens, but the people all over the world.

John McCain is an American hero in many ways.  From his tremendous sacrifice during the Vietnam War to his dedicated service in politics since then, he has earned my respect as a man and as someone who cares about the country and the people.  In different times, I believe he would make a good president.  But now are not those times.

Now, for these times, I feel that Barack Obama is the best man to be the face of this country.  A lot of McCain supporters say that Barack Obama is all talk, that his rhetoric is just fluff with no substance.  In truth, Obama is an inexperienced politician.  He has only had three solid years in Washington.  I feel, however, that his ability to lead far outweighs his lack of experience.  When I see my peers volunteering and busting their butts for him, or the way he has ran a solid, relatively clean campaign, I am amazed.  This man has inspired thousands of young people, the very same people that are thought to not care about anything but Facebook and Xbox, to get up and do something, to feel strongly about something that doesn’t affect their day to day lives.  To me, that is a leader.

Regardless of who wins, tomorrow will be a historic day.  Vote Obama, vote McCain, vote whoever.  But please vote.

If you havn’t already, see this movie!  It is the 18th ranked movie on IMDB.

Related Stocks:  DE

I think I say “awesome” too much on this blog.  Try it.

Ever?

I was 23 years old when the nation was attacked on September 11, 2001. I can remember hearing pundits say “this changes everything” and “things will never be the same.” Obviously it was a tragic and traumatic event, but that sentiment has carried on through the better part of my twenties. If you were 43 years old on that day, I would imagine it was a difficult concept to get your head around as well, but if you were a young adult just entering his or her individual life, there was an added twist; how can you process the idea of everything changing and things never being the same when you have no point of reference for what “everything” and “the same” is? I was just beginning to put my hands on the world around me, to interact and engage with it, and to actualize the dream of being an adult in a free society. To wait in line for 23 years only to have the “sorry, future canceled” sign flipped in my face was depressing, to say the least.

The social and political narrative of the last eight years, if you’re a young adult, has been “you are the first generation of the second half of the rest of human existence.” That’s a huge psychological undertaking, and I believe it’s one that will someday be diagnosed on a massive scale as having led to a kind of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (Something has to explain away our premature obsession with 1980s nostalgia.) My generation has come to know itself as the generation that should have seen the good days, my, were they spectacular, now take off your shoes and place them on the belt.

What Barack Obama says to me is these days are good for something. Just when I’d thought my only role as an adult was to help shoulder the nation through its darkest days (known to us as “the rest of them”), Obama gives me the feeling that I could be alive to witness one of the most brilliant upturns in a country’s history. Imagine that — a young adult in this day and age being given something to someday brag to his children about having being alive to witness. What a concept.

That’s why hope is a worthwhile commodity. To those who question whether hope is a tangible product worth building a campaign around, I’d say take a look at despair and how powerful that has been in reshaping how people think and live. I believe the definition of the “hope” that Barack Obama enthuses operates on the unspoken thesis that there has to be a polar opposite to the despair of 9/11. Because if we accept that there’s not, the will to live becomes forever altered. To adults who will vote for him, Barack Obama represents a return to prosperity. To the youth, he represents an introduction to it.

Read the original post here.

It seems like yesterday that I watched Barack Obama give his acceptance speech for the US Senate in November of 2004.  I remember my Dad saying “this guy’s got it”.  Admittedly, I hadn’t heard of Barack Obama before that election, but he seemed to have the national news pundits excited.  This surprised me, given that he was just now a junior senator.  Apparantly, they knew he would be on the fast track to bigger things.  I had the priveledge of seeing Obama speak at my high school in the spring of 2006.  He seemed to handle himself very well.  Two and a half years later, he is days away from being elected President.

These next 2 weeks, and election day in particular, should be wild and historic.  Four years from now, we will be asking ourselves, “Our we better off now than we were four years ago?”.  As any time period passes, I hope we can always say “yes” to that question.  We’ll see.

Not trying to influence any one, but I thought this video was very cool.

Watched Almost Famous last night.  Phenomenal movie.  This song, and many other great ones, provide the soundtrack for the film.

I’m usually fairly private about my music.  I don’t often share with others the bands and artists I like.   I don’t even listen to it in front of other people if I don’t know how they feel about the song or artist I want to play.  That’s weird, I know.

I think part of me is afraid that other people won’t get the same sentimental feeling out of song I love or won’t be melted by the guitar solo I could listen to a hundred times.  “They just don’t get it” I tell myself.  In reality, everyone has different feelings and interpretations of songs they love and don’t love.  To the listener, a song and it’s lyrics aren’t about what the artist meant for them, but rather what they themselves think it’s about.  That’s the great thing about music: everyone hears and interprets things differently and concocts their own meaning.  In this sense, music is an extremely personal experience.

When other people hear the fierce, biting solos of Buddy Guy they probably don’t think twice about them .  For me, those solos are the best thing in the world at that moment I hear them.  On the other hand, however, music can bring people together, be it in celebration, in happiness, in love, or just to have a good time, better than anything else in this world.  How many times have you been driving in the car with friends and a song comes on that makes you all perk up and you hear “I love this song”?  It can’t happen enough.  One of my fondest memories from this year has been my dad picking me up from school this past Spring.  He arrived in Bloomington, Indiana very late, around 9pm.  We packed up his car and took off for Chicago.  I had made a few mixes for the road, mostly ’60s and ’70s songs.  I had hoped that my Dad would recognize and enjoy them all.  A particular song came on and I turned down the volume.  My Dad said “Rock and roll is supposed to be played loud!” and cranked the volume on full blast.  For the rest of the ride, we blared rock music and had a ball.  My Dad would say “this song came out when I was….” and would tell me all about his life at that time.  When we neared Chicago, we played “Sweet Home Chicago” atleast 4 times in a row, singing along with each lyric.

The experience was a fond one for me and showed a lot about what music can do and what it means to share it with people.  It may not have been a significant moment in my life, but it made me feel even a little bit closer to my Dad.  The message of Almost Famous has a similar theme.  Music is not about the fame or glamour of being a rock star, or how many records are sold.  It’s about how something as insignificant as a note or a lyric can make you have wild feelings and experiences. I will stop waxing (not-so)poetically about this, but I will leave you with one last quote from the movie about what it means to be a fan of music: “To truly love some silly little piece of music, or some band, so much that it hurts”.  I hope you have some form of music that you love as dearly as I love mine.

Back to the epiphany.  As I was half yelling at the lady on the phone, I realized that this is the real class period.  An academic education is certainly an important part of the collegiate experience, but nothing compares to the experience of finally living on your own, with no parents as a safety net.  I have learned that you can’t keep milk for more than a week or so before it goes bad.  Apparantly you have to pay for electricity?  And, oh yeah, doing laundry sucks worse than Chicago sports teams right now.  Last year, living in dorms, I didn’t have this experience.  Meal points dictated how often and essentially what I ate every day.  Now, if I don’t go to the store for a while, as was the case over the past few weeks, I don’t eat, or at least not anything worth eating.

Had I been home, my Dad would have been on the phone with the leasing company, my Mom would have bought my Honey Nut Cheerios from the store, and I would have been oblivious to all of this.  Here, I was forced to do all of this myself.  I am starting to have to make decisions and take actions that resemble that of an adult.  Scary.

Education, not just in the class room.  Cost: $25,000 per year.

From the Into The Wild soundtrack.

I love going out to bars here at Illinois, but it is freaking expensive (Like, “I’m going broke” expensive).

Last night, I finished a paper for my Intro to Film class and immediately thought “this is the worst paper I’ve ever written”.  But then I realized I say this after every single paper I write.  This is not a good trend.

I have finally made my decision on who I’m going to vote for in the election (atleast I think so): Barack Obama.  I will not be particularly upset if McCain gets elected, but I am not comfortable with Sarah Palin potentially running the country.  I think I’m going to post a complete rationale at some point, but not today.  If you have an opinion you would like to share, leave it in the comments please!  Regardless of who you support, please vote!

Album recommendations: Only By The Night by Kings of Leon and Born In The U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen (I know this is old, but I just listened to it and it’s really good).

That’s all I’ve got right now…..have a good weekend.

This video needs no explanation.  2:25.

Everyone knows the dreaded phrase “I’m not mad, I’m just dissapointed”.  It has come out of the mouths of our parents too many times.  That’s the way I feel right now.  I was mad at some point during all three games, but no longer.  Steve Bartman was not the cause of the collapse of 2003.  However, us Cubs fans could atleast look at that, and maybe it was an excuse, but that incident atleast justified our pain.  Some would say “well if that play didn’t happen they would have gotten out of the inning, won the game, and eventually would have won the World Series”.  It was one, single event, something to distract us from the real reason why the team imploded.

There is not a single reason, not ten reasons, but rather a hundred reasons why what happened this year happened.  Was it the weight of 100 years of failure?  Was it looking too far ahead to the World Series?  Did some of the players want it too much?  Did some not want it enough?  Yes’s all around.

In a sense, this is worse than it’s ever been, worse than 2003.  One day we will stop the painful memories and begin to look forward to 2009.  But how many times will it take for the phrase “This Year!” to be “We Won It This Year!”?  Will it ever happen?

Right now, it just hurts.

I’m learning things the hard way.  I wish I didn’t have to.

If I could only hear one song for the rest of my life, this would be it.  Although the song is mostly about the Civil Rights Movement, I believe it can be applied to any struggle.  If you are unfamiliar with the song and it’s impact, read more here.

Muddy Water’s classic blues jam from Martin Scorsese’s Shine A Light.  Great concert DVD/documentary.

I have no doubt that individually, most of the politicians who run our country are good, caring people.  Together, they accomplish about as much as a wet fart in public: you think it’s gonna be funny at first, but it just ends up a wet, embarrassing mess.

Being a Cubs fan, I often find myself hating on the White Sox.  After all, they are the inferior team in this city.  But really, they have what we want: a World Series. Sometimes my dislike for them stems more out of jealousy than out of actual hate, at least since 2005.  The Cubs have already made the playoffs and look like they can’t be stopped.  I would love nothing more than for the Cubs to meet the Sox in the World Series.  Chicago would probably crumble under the sheer blasphemy of the situation, but we would all go down having a good time.  So for once, as I sit here waiting out the rain delay before the Sox game, I hope they win.  Go Sox.

Finally!

Tonight was the final game played at Yankee Stadium, the home of the New York Yankees.  I traveled to New York City over the summer with my Dad for the sole purpose of seeing the stadium one last time.  My Dad didn’t grow up in New York and was never a fan of the Yankees, but I’ve come to the understanding of why he was so adamant about going to see it.  The Yankees represent tradition and history, maybe more so than any other franchise in all of sports.  There is a certain bond that forms between large cities and their teams.  Maybe it’s due to the sheer number of people who are all hoping for the same outcome, or maybe it’s the fact that for those two or three hours, we are all together and enjoying ourselves; we see our team as almost another family member.  Of course, we don’t literally live and die with their wins and losses, but it sure comes close.  How else would you describe the emptiness that a hard loss brings, or the sheer joy that comes from a great win?  The New York Yankees, and Yankee Stadium, are a wonderful example of the greatness of sports, and tradition.  One of my favorite stories of any Yankee is that of Derek Jeter.  Long time Yankees PA Announcer Bob Sheppard fell ill over the past year and has been unable to announce this season.  Rather than have the substitute announcer introduce his at bats, Jeter requested that the tape of Bob Sheppard doing it in years past be played.  This is certainly no big feat or gesture, but it’s the small routines, the small traditions that make up the larger tradition.

After watching some of tonight’s ceremonies and honoring of former players, I couldn’t help but want to be there, witnessing it all first hand.  I don’t know why it takes things like watching a ceremony on tv to get me to understand, but I’m starting to do just that.  I can only hope that I am able to leave some legacy for my children and my family, but even more than that, I hope to leave them with traditions that they not only enjoy, but want to pass on to their own children.  Maybe one day they will tell their kids about the hundreds of times their dad brought them to a Cubs game, and how much fun they all were, no matter how good or bad the team was, and how he would always buy them hot dogs until they felt like exploding.  Whether it be landmarks like Wrigley Field or Yankee Stadium, or something as trivial as what I order everytime I go to Portillo’s with my Dad (chili dog with cheese, no onions, a large fry, and a large chocalate shake, please), I’m going to start embracing, and celebrating, the traditions of my own and those of the people around me.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.  (Thanks Nickels)

Great job Carlos!  There are too many good things, too many “this hasn’t happened since” moments for the Cubs to falter this year.  IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN

I understand that this is kind of pansy, girl music.  Whatever, I’m not apologizing.  This girl is amazing.  After many years of label issues, her new album finally comes out in Octoboer.

Ever since Zell bought out the Tribune Company, bad things have happened.  In my opinion, many of the changes made have had a negative impact on the end customer.  Why change things that worked perfectly fine and looked good before?  I don’t want to sound like a cynile old man who believes all change is bad.  I understand that Sam Zell bought the Tribune Company with a whole lot of debt and must recover it in some way.  Some changes are necessary and understandable when adapting to the way things are becoming for newspapers (they are being killed by blogs and the internet in general, something I welcome with open arms).  Change for the sake of change, however, is not the way to go, especially for traditional entities who have longstanding readers/fans.  Changing the masthead from something recognizable to something that is just new, not better, is pointless.  More importantly, it’s not going to increase readership one bit, rendering the whole idea a complete failure.

Heres an idea: lets hire someone who is universally disliked and has no respect among colleagues, past and present.  Genius.  I can’t take this anymore.  Mark Cuban, please buy the Cubs away from this guy as soon as possible.

But then sometimes it rains.  I can’t explain why, but I would much rather run in the middle of a downpour.  On Thursday, it rained literally all day in Champaign.  Not having exercised in a while, I decided to go for a run.  Being out of shape and fat, I didn’t run very far (or fast), but it was one of the most enjoyable exercising experiences I’ve ever had.  There is something twisted about enjoying the fact that you are being pounded by the elements as you punish yourself for all of the days you havn’t done anything active, but I really do love it.  In the rain there are no good excuses to stop running.  You aren’t soaked with sweat, you aren’t overheated, you havn’t been running fast, so there is no way you tell yourself to slow down.  You just go and do it.  Soaked and tired, I felt great afterward.  Go figure.

Uh, the Bears looked really good.  Didn’t expect that, but I’m lovin’ it.  A Bears win, and this amazing commercial, capped off a great weekend.  Bear Down!

Jimmy Stewart (of It’s A Wonderful Life and Vertigo fame) performing his poem “Beau” about his dog on Johnny Carson.  I’ve never owned a dog, but I do love them.  I don’t really know why I loved this video, but it made me want to get a dog right now.

Could not be more excited for The Office.  Back September 25th!

Somebody’s pissed.

If I were you, I probably would have thrown up in my mouth a little if I had to read something like that.  It may have been painful to read, but it would have been written honestly.  The truth is, even as much as it is played up in movies, going to college is completely life-changing.  A year ago, I was a different person than I am today.  I have experienced things that have made me a better person, just as I have experienced things that I would not be comfortable telling my grandmother about.  It’s impossible for me to describe the way I lived my life last year at school to someone who has never experienced college.  College is not a chore, college is a party.  I don’t mean that in the literal sense, although that is certainly true.  Responsibilities and expectations of normal life do not exist while at school.  It is truly a surreal experience.  All the guys act like they are fifteen, and all the girls try to act like they havn’t gained weight (I kid, I kid).

I’m not sure what I am getting at, other than if you still have college ahead of you, it is something to look forward to, and if you are out of college, I hope you look back fondly on those years.  As I’m sure all of you already know, I decided in the spring to transfer from Indiana to the University of Illinois.  Although I will be a sophomore academically, I feel like an incoming freshman inside.  I am just as excited as I was last year, and just as nervous.  I know this year will bring many new experiences, good and bad.  In the next year’s time, I will live in my own apartment for the first time, turn 21, and move one year closer to being in the real world.  I wish you all good luck, whether it be at a school you love, a job you hate, or in whatever it is you may be doing.  Go Illini!

One of my favorite hip-hop songs/beats.