The Graveyard Near The House

I had a blast when I went back to Maryland this week. I hadn’t been home since August so it was nice seeing everyone and hanging out again. It was a very eventful week too. First thing I got to do was go to a concert featuring the bands The Drowning Men, Mona, and The Airborne Toxic Event. The latter was obviously my favorite, but I enjoyed the first two bands as well. I went straight from the airport so it was a race between time and traffic to get to the venue. Luckily we got there just as the doors were opening so we were not to far back. Once the concert started I ended moving back a little further because people were pushing to the front, but I didn’t say anything. The best part of the concert was when The Airborne Toxic Event playing their song The Graveyard Near The House. It is my favorite song from their most recent album and I had never seen them play it live before, despite having seen them live three times since the album dropped. I was super excited when they started playing it and almost the whole audience was singing along. This was amazing because before they played it there lead singer, Mikel, said the song almost did not make the album because he though people might not like it. He was extremely wrong and I am thankful that they decided to put it on the record anyways. After they finished the song Mikel almost started crying and said it was his favorite performance of the song yet. Something I know he does not say every night. I think this was because the audience was so into the song the entire time. After they were done with the song and concert my dad and I went home happy. The next day of break I got to hang out with my friends in my basement like old times. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone again, even though it was only for one day. The next day was Thanksgiving. My family and I went to my Aunt’s house to celebrate. I had hot pockets because I do not like Thanksgiving food that much. After that my dad, older sister, and I went to see the new Muppets movie. It was awesome because of all the cameo appearances that were in it. Everyone loves the Muppets. The next day I went to a hockey games at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. I went with my friends Katie and Sarah along with my dad. We saw the Capitals play the Rangers. The Capitals lost which upset us, but it was still a lot of fun. We tried to go ice skating in D.C. after the game, but Sarah did not want to because she said she would fall to much. The next day I was able to sleep in so I did. When I got up I made plans with a couple of friends to go see a movie before I had to leave the next day. My vacation was a lot of fun and I can’t wait until the next.

Welcome To Your Wedding Day

Yesterday I had a very interesting and in my opinion very fun University 1010 class. Before we even started class our teacher told us to raise our write hand. We said “I swear I will not hurt Ms. Joy.” As the entire class drew confused looks the teacher said we would be debating controversial topics. I was both excited, but concerned. While I myself enjoy these types of debates, I know some people can get really heated and it can end up in not being such a great idea. I am very glad our teacher did this however, as these types of conversations are very important in college. I believe it is a very good learning experience not only to hear other peoples views on different subjects, but also to learn how to be tolerant when it comes to those differing views. We discussed four major topics with scenarios for each to get a wide array of views. The first topic we went over was capital punishment. To voice our initial opinion the teacher split up the room into thirds. On side was yes or I agree.  The middle was maybe or I’m not sure. The other side was no or I disagree. For capital punishment I went to the yes side. The class was pretty evenly spread on this topic. She then narrowed the topic to if your favorite relative was sentenced to capital punishment. Most people moved to the maybe and no side at this point. I stayed on the yes side thinking, “Well if my ‘favorite’ relative killed someone, they wouldn’t be my favorite relative anymore.” I feel capital punishment is cheaper than keeping someone in prison, which is nicer than living on the street. I also feel the person they killed didn’t get a second chance, so why should they? The teacher then brought up abortion. Being in the south I knew no one would say yes, so I ended up being the only person saying yes, it should be legal. I’m not saying I believe abortion is always the right choice, but I feel as humans we have a right to do what we want with our bodies and the law shouldn’t constrain that (as long as it is not harming ourselves). People moved as the teacher changed the scenarios, but for the most part my fellow classmates seemed to drift to the no side. The third topic was gay and lesbians. Again, I was on the yes side for all three scenarios. The first was should it be allowed. Most every student said yes. The second was should they be allowed to adopt. Almost every student said yes except for one who had the excuse, which I see as illegitimate, that the couple would abuse the child if it was the same sex. The third scenario was marriage. This is where the class split up. I stayed on the yes side, but the more religious students felt that it was wrong due to the bible saying marriage is between a man and a women. I understand where they’re coming from, but definitions change over time and it is not like the religion owns the word. If that were the case only christians could truly be “married.” 

The final topic was drugs, which we didn’t discuss to great lengths. I finally moved to no when she asked if we would turn in a best friend, but then changed to maybe when I realized it really depended on the drug. I had a blast in this class because I always enjoy others views, even if I don’t agree and I felt like I learn a lot about my classmate for the better. I hope they learned the same for me.

This Losing

I’ve been thinking about people back home in Maryland a lot lately. I miss my friends and being able to hang it with them. It is not that I have not made friends here or anything, it is just weird being away from the people you have gotten so used to being around. I especially miss my fellow band members. Being in a band was the best part of high school for me. I met so many new people and made so many friends (and fans). It was a great experience. Over winter break we plan to get back together and play a show. Hopefully over the summer we will also be able to play some more shows and at some different venues than the ones we usually play at. Im even thinking of trying to go on a little mini tour or something. Travel out of state some and hopefully give our fan base a chance to grow. It would be very expensive however. We would have to pay for gas, food, and merchandise to sell at the shows. Not to mention it would be difficult to actual book the shows. None of us have any experience with touring though. We do not know how to book shows or how to find places to stay. It is a huge risk to go on tour because people may not like your band or you could lose money from not making enough off of shows and selling merchandise. Even though it might be tough I still want to try touring. I am one hundred percent sure it would be a fun, rich experience even if we lose money. Even if we gain only one fan along the way it would be worth it. Back to missing my friends I really do miss them a lot. I really felt myself around them. I am glad that I am still able to communicate with them however through the power of the internet. We play games like Left 4 Dead 2 and World of Warcraft together whenever we get the chance. Even with me twelve hours away it still feels like I never left when we talk and play games. We give each other a hard time just like we always did and occasionally they say the miss me, but not very often. I can not wait to go home and visit them all. I even feel like I have become closer to people I was not very good friends with in high school. It is nice being able to talk to them about random things that do not really matter. I find it is a good way to relax. At least when I am not playing games or guitar. Losing this band was the hardest thing though. It was hard to willingly give it up, but I needed to so that I could get a good education. I hope everything works out though. Playing in a band as a career is my dream and I really hope it comes true.