FiveThings

Moving House

I’m starting afresh with Wordpress. If you still check this, you can stop now (I’d appreciate it if you started checking the new one, though).

Tech Generation

1. 
   [via Hipster Runoff]


2. Have large portions of my generation devolved into a vapid, faux-counterculture mess? Maybe. I may be loathe to label myself a hipster (which, as HRO puts it, “is a term for mainstream news publications & startup ‘progressive’ journalistic outlets 2 talk about to cultivate interest in what they are doing with people who use the internet”), I’m well aware of the possibility that I probably am one. I have numerous American Apparel t-shirts. I enjoy cheap beer. I keep up with underground music. I have a blog. I am a Philosophy major at a liberal arts college.
   
   I’m not sure which part of all this makes me hip. Before the internet came around, it was hard to be a member of a counterculture group. Music had to be discovered through cheaply-produced zines. Fashion trends spread slower without party pics sites. If I had been a teen in the 70s, 80s, or even the early 90s, I would have had no idea what was going on in Brooklyn.
   
   So what all this says to me is that my generation can be pretty well divided into two groups: the one that reads blogs, and the one that doesn’t. If Hipster Runoff (my personal favorite authority on all that is hip, alt, electro, or otherwise) is right, then by virtue of you reading this, you are probably a hipster (or maybe my mother). Get used to it—we’re a demographic now.


3. Today I found out (through Boing Boing, while we’re name-dropping blogs) that an organization called the Digital Youth Project has been working for the last three years on a case study of what kids are doing online and what this means for society. The BB article explains it a lot better than I can, but the findings are pretty awesome. The idea is that all the “time-wasting” stuff that kids do online—instant messaging, social networking, blogging, what have you—is actually an integral part to online exploration and education. The internet is not just for research, and I’m glad for that.
   
   I feel like I’m in a weird age group. I don’t get too much into generational definitions, but Wikipedia says that I’m a member of Generation Y or the Net Generation. I think that, in general, this generation is one that has grown up in the midst of the technological boom. I remember not having a computer or cell phones, and I feel nostalgia for early-90s cartoons. I think that this is a key characteristic. This generation has been the first one to embrace technology wholesale, with a willingness to integrate it into nearly every aspect of our lives. 
   
   The next generation (Gen Z?) is weirder. They’ve never experienced life without computers or cell phones. They are being raised on high-speed internet. This is astounding and kind of scary; I wonder how far they’ll go with what my generation has started.


4. For the last couple of years I’ve been considering a Masters in Library Science for graduate school. I feel like it would marry my loves of technology and information quite nicely. I’ve recently found, though, that there’s a burgeoning field in New Media Studies. I don’t think that the two tracks are mutually exclusive, but I spent a good bit of time today looking at New Media programs and what they entail. I like what I see. The future is going to be increasingly user-generated, and I feel like my place in the world is part of that.


5. I’m contemplating a move away from Tumblr. I like the interface and everything, but it’s really more suited for short snippets of internet joy than longer-form, numerical blogging. If anyone who reads this has a suggestion for a different system (not Blogger), I’d be happy to hear it. Users, Generate!

On Politics

1.  
   [via this isn’t happiness]


2. I think that one aspect of having taken so many philosophy classes is that I don’t really know where I stand on a lot of things. Just about every philosopher I read—with a few huge exceptions—seems to make a lot of sense. Politics is an area that gets me riled up, but I’m not going to claim to know more about it than Joe Sixpack down the street. I read Time Magazine. I read a couple of blogs that mention politics from time to time. But for the most part, I just want to live my life—play video games, read comics, love my girlfriend, make art (or at least think about it). Politics doesn’t have much to do with me as an individual being. But it has a lot to do with me as an American. And I’m a goddamn American.


3. When I was in middle school, I listened to a lot of Rage Against the Machine and the Sex Pistols. I wore a hat with a red star on it; I didn’t really know what that meant. I said that I was an anarchist. It’s very easy to see things in such black and white terms when you’re that young. I know that just a year or two before that I thought I was a Republican. Things change, and they change fast.


4. Last week, Barack Obama won the presidency (as seen—adorably—above). I didn’t vote for him—not because I don’t like him, and not because I think he’s not fit for the job, but because I believe that there should be more than two parties in American politics. I agreed with a third-party candidate on more things than with Obama, so I voted accordingly. For me, this is the epitome of exercising my power as an American; maybe my vote didn’t achieve a third-party victory, but it is a quantifiable way of saying that I believe in someone who’s not in a major party. 


5. I believe that Barack Obama will be a good president. I think that he’ll get some things done that should have been done a long time ago. But he’s still just a guy. He’s not the answer to all our problems, and he’s not go to single-handedly change the world we live in. He’s a figurehead, representing The People (that would be us). The thing is, The People are pretty divided (as they should be. A country full of people who think the same way isn’t realistic or even desirable. Variety is the spice of life. And politics), so the biggest obstacle that I think Obama will face is unifying those divisions (there aren’t just two). Maybe I don’t agree with him on all the issues, but I think that he’ll be a good leader. I guess it’s just important to note that mere hope is not going to be enough to make change. We The People have to make it happen.

All Hallows

1. Today’s not only Halloween, but MJG’s birthday. 21 years ago, his mother was at a Halloween party with her belly painted like a pumpkin when her water broke. I think that’s a really good birth story, and I think it’s kind of embarrassing to him when I tell it in public, but whatever. It’s much more exciting than my birth story, which involved my mom walking around a lot. Not much fun.


2. Bruce Springsteen recorded a Halloween song and video that he put up on his website. It’s called “A Night with the Jersey Devil,” and it’s badass. Kind of a bluesy, creepy Tom Waits turn for The Boss. Here’s the video (via Stereogum):
   


3. Last Halloween, Vice Records put out a song called “Do they Know it’s Hallowe’en?”, a parody of “Do they Know it’s Christmas?.” I like this one a lot more, and it has pretty much every member of the indie rock royalty on it. The video is also creepy.
   
   


4. Tonight Cate’s coming up and we’re going to Michael’s birthday party. Our costumes are not particularly elaborate—in fact, they’re kind of half-assed, but I like them. I got a cheap V mask (which actually looks pretty good for thin, molded plastic), and Cate’s going as Evey (V’s protégé, whose head gets shaved halfway through the book/film. Cate hasn’t shaved her head, but she’s got short hair. Good enough). I guess I’ll wear a black t-shirt or something. I used to work so hard on costumes—maybe I still would if I had time.


5. This really has nothing to do with Halloween, but Wilco (my favorite—and therefore the best—band in the world) was on The Colbert Report last night. There’s a five minute interview with Jeff Tweedy (which is excellent), followed by a new song called “Wilco the Band” (which is also quite excellent). I’m glad to see Jeff smiling these days. As good as his music was a few years back, he sure did look miserable all the time. Here’s videos of both (also via Stereogum):
   
   

Addendum to #5, just to make it Halloween-related:

Good grief, this is adorable. This is what Halloween will be like when I have kids: awkward, hilarious costumes that they don’t get but that I love.

Sonic Recents

1. 13ghosts. This band is seriously the best thing to come out of Alabama since… well, anything, really. Here’s a video of the rocking version of their song “Whip Poor Will.” A much more subdued version of the song is on their new album The Strangest Colored Lights, which I’ve listened to at least twice a day since I got it a week ago.
   


2. Honestly, everything on Skybucket Records is just awesome. They’ve got a free sampler and a free album from the excellent southern rock outfit The Dexateens up for download on their site. I highly recommend both.


3. I’ve also been rocking to a couple of free punk rock comps from The Political Party. Good stuff all around.


4. On Saturday night I saw the incredible sludge-pop outfit Torche along with Coliseum at the Hi-Tone (my favorite Memphis venue). I went on my own because Rhodes has a dearth of folks who listen to heavy music. It was great, nonetheless. I actually plugged my ears for this one, and came out with my hearing intact (when I saw Dinosaur Jr when they were in town last year, I couldn’t hear right for four days). 


5. Upon deciding to not go abroad next semester, I’m starting to kind of try to think about maybe cobbling together a band. Maybe. We’ll see.

The Innocents at Home

1. Wednesday was the deadline for applications to study abroad. I had a lot going on last week, but I got the application done (which wasn’t too awful, because I wasn’t applying for financial aid or anything. I just had to get three or four different signatures). But as I grew closer to turning it in, I realized that I don’t really want to go abroad. I’m happy here. 


2. I’ve known my friend Thomas since fourth grade, when we met at Jesus Camp. Since then, he’s been one of my best friends. A week or so ago he posted a note on Facebook about being divided between two cities (Birmingham and Nashville), and missing people from both places. This made me think a lot about where I belong—I’m already split between two cities. Adding another country could be too much. I’ve come to understand that I’m actually happier than I’ve ever been at this moment and in this place. I wish that I could see Cate more, as long distance is never easy, but all things considered I’m doing really well. I’m learning and growing and being and it’s wonderful.


3. My mother studied abroad twice when she was younger: for a semester in France during her junior year of college, and then for a full year in Switzerland after she graduated. She’s always talked about it as a really important experience, and has pushed me to study abroad during my college career. I was really worried that she’d take this new development badly. My mother and I have never been good at arguing with each other, largely because we’re very similar people and neither of us like being told that we’re wrong. Because of this, our arguments tend to be long, drawn-out, overly emotional, and thoroughly exhausting. So I tend avoid these arguments.


4. This weekend I’m home for Fall Break, which is really just a long weekend. I’ve been putting off talking to Mom about the study abroad stuff all weekend because I didn’t want to fight with her. Today, though (under pressure from Cate and my father), I called her at work, told her I needed to talk to her, and went to her work and talked to her for a while. The whole way there I was antsy, prepared for a fight, but when I got there it was totally a non-issue. She was on my side. I was surprised and thrilled. We talked about going abroad for just a little while, then talked about other stuff. It was great.
   
   After I left, I talked to my dad, who told me that it was probably so easy because she had expected something much, much worse when I had called to ask her to talk (i.e. my girlfriend being pregnant or me getting arrested or something). So she was surprised and relieved as much as I was. Man.


5. I have a busy week ahead of me (with no less than three writing-based assignments due in the three days of class in the week), but I’m glad that I’ve gotten through the awful mess of study abroad applications. I don’t have to worry about that stuff anymore, which means that I can focus on things I care about. I’m happy, I’m writing, and that’s about all I could ask for. Cheers.

Media Whore

1. TV on the Radio is an incredible band. Jesus. I’ve only heard two songs from their newest album, Dear Science, and I’m ready to call it the best album of the year. Here’s a performance that they recently gave on the BBC’s Later… With Jools Holland. I think it speaks for itself.
   
   


2. Here’s a video from when TVotR performed on Letterman for their last album, Return to Cookie Mountain. I must have watched it fifty times and it still gives me the chills every time I see it. Not to mention the fact that Kyp Malone has the coolest damn hair, beard, and guitar I’ve ever seen on anybody.
   
   


3. I received Power Stone in the mail today and it is awesome. Probably an excellent thing to happen just before midterms (probably not).


4. Today I spent three hours working on getting the new Rhodes Radio website up and running. It’s hard enough making a website that I made work right (for instance, the site for the Rhodes Activities Board that they never use); our webmaster had no idea how to get the site up on the server (neither did I, but I sure as hell found out. It took forever).


5. I don’t know if I’ve ever really established to anyone just how much I love Wikipedia. I know that it’s not necessarily a reliable source but damn if someone’s not a fucking expert on hairstyles (Yes, I did look at all of them. Yes, I am a huge loser).

Cohesion?

1. I’m thinking that these posts need to be more cohesive. Instead of just five kinda random things that I’ve got going on or that I’m interested in, maybe I should be posting five things that are loosely related, or that have something in common as far as how I see them or in my life particularly. Five random things isn’t seeming so interesting to me.


2. So, if I’m going to try to be more cohesive, maybe I ought to start with a few things about video games. I am not a huge gamer, nor am I a collector. In fact, I’m pretty bad at most video games. I don’t have a current-gen console (MJG has an XBox 360, which I guess I could count, considering it’s in my room). I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than $20 on a video game. That said, I occasionally geek out.


3. Part of said geeking out is my recent purchase of a Sega Dreamcast. I have always liked the Dreamcast, but I never got one. For a while in middle school I borrowed a friends’ console (I think he had my PS2 as collateral) and I spent a lot of time playing a fantastic game called Power Stone. A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a friend about the system and as a result spent some time watching the prices on eBay. I finally found a suitable one, with all the right cables and controllers and two good games. I’ve never been so geeky and lame than I’ve been about this Dreamcast. I tell people about it all the time, like it’s something new and exciting. In reality, it’s an old game console with some good games and funny-shaped controllers. I love it nonetheless.
   
   Tonight at dinner I found a kindred spirit, a guy named John who was so excited about yesterday’s find (a copy of Power Stone for less than twenty dollars) that he continuously grabbed his hair, rubbing it around until it became this big mess. Though others have been excited by my new game console, John finally gave me the reaction I wanted: a pure, unadulterated geek-out, with not even a hint of self-conscious irony. I own a Dreamcast. I am proud.


4. I guess most folks perceive geekiness as overt obsession with something that isn’t broadly understood or accepted, like computers or comic books or even the less mainstream of movies, music, and literature (and I suppose I could be considered a geek in some or all of these fields). But I think it goes beyond that; a geek, at least to my understanding, is someone who becomes absorbed in things because of the sheer joy they derive from them. It’s a purely self-motivated act, I think; there really isn’t much of a social component to geekiness.


5. I think that when it comes down to it, I just like knowing. I can spend hours on Wikipedia just learning about all this stuff. That’s what most of it is, too—stuff. I feel like a lot of the things I know aren’t particularly useful or practical, but I just like that I know them. I suppose this is similar to my book-owning affliction: I don’t really care so much if I make use of what I’ve got, just so long as I’ve got it. I’m not sure what this says about my personality. Am I an informational pack-rat? When I’m old, will I go crazy because of all the metaphorical heaps of newspaper in my brain? Could an addiction to information ever be fatal?

Sixth.

1. This weekend Cate came up. It was Parents’ Weekend, not Girlfriend Weekend, but it was nice to have her around all the same. We watched a few movies (The Langoliers, Mind Hunters, and American Gangster), hung out with many people, and had nice alone time, too. We will have been together for two years in just a couple of weeks, and I’m constantly amazed that I’ve been able to hold onto something—anything—for that long. Long distance relationships are tough, but this has been a really formative and important event in my life. I hope it keeps right on being formative and important until I die.


2. MJG’s been writing (by hand!) in journals lately. The fact that he actually just filled one astounds me. I don’t think that I’ve ever been able to keep a handwritten account of anything for more than a week or so. People think that journals make good gifts for me because I like writing; I’ve got a small stack of them, ranging from nice leather-bound volumes to those thick, book-sized ones with the tiny grid instead of lines. The truth is, I hardly even write notes in class. I feel bad that I have zero impetus to self-document the old-fashioned way. It’s a bit of a lost art, I think.


3. I do, however, have a great appreciation for pens. I’ve found the perfect ballpoint: the Zebra F-402. I accumulated a small stash of these during my days working at Staples, and they last forever if I don’t lose them; I just recently threw one away that I’d been carrying for at least a year.


4. One of my best friends from high school, Glynnis (who has been blogging since we before met in middle school and is much, much better at it than I am), is spending the year in Paris, attending classes at the Sorbonne and the American University. She’s keeping a blog about her experiences with French culture, and I love it. I’m not even that interested in French culture; I think it’s just interesting how people from different countries interact. 


5. Speaking of cross-cultural interaction, I’m currently working with two other students from last semester’s Philosophy of Education class on helping the Refugee Empowerment Program, an after-school tutoring program for refugees from Sudan and the surrounding region. If you read this and live in Memphis, consider volunteering every now and then. They could use it.

Fifth.