Macklemore.

Do you have $20 in your pocket?
Do you find yourself popping tags?
What about your grandpa's clothes? Do you wear them?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, don't worry! I'm here to help.

Ready?

....Macklemore has songs other than Thrift Shop. In fact, he has a whole album! A WHOLE ALBUM! And not just one! 

There. I said it and now you know. 

Thrift Shop is a great song. It really is, especially if you listen to the words, not just hear them. His whole album, The Heist, with Ryan Lewis is just...*insert all words from a thesaurus for the word glorious/awesome/astounding*. 

I hear people* complain about rap music and artists all the time. 

 They're sending the wrong message.

They don't make any sense. 

They're ruining society. 

WELL YOU'RE WRONG.

Because this guy exists, this Macklemore fellow, and he uses his powers for good (and yes, he is a superhero. SURPRISE!). 

He tackles society and doesn't stop and it's catchy. 

But you have to listen. 




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[In other news, A Rocket To The Moon's latest album, Wild & Free, finally dropped this week! Pick up a copy if you haven't, it's one of the best things I've heard this year]

*People is referring to the older citizens I've run across in Wal-Mart and various Internet forums. 

Music Monday

I had a special post for today, but the music gods bombarded me with some great new goodies. 

So today, I present to you three new and exciting announcements! 

ONE.
Lydia's new album, Devil, drops tomorrow! Today, they released the music video for the song "The Exit" and it is perfect. 

Lydia's music has always moved me. I cried the first time I listened to the song "Hospital" (off of album Illuminate). I expect this album to be no different. 

Devil drops tomorrow!

Watch and listen to Lydia's new song, The Exit

TWO.
There's this kid named Austin Nivarel. I say kid, but he's actually older than I am. None of that matters though. His music is good and he put up a new song from his upcoming album, What We Don't Say Out Loud.  If you like A Rocket To The Moon, you'll DEFINITELY love him. 

But let's say ARTTM isn't your thing. You are still going to enjoy Austin's music. I won't waste time trying to describe his sound. Words will never do it justice. Give it a listen and fall in love. 

Austin's new song, Fall In Love!

Follow Austin on Twitter to make sure you can snag a copy of his debut album!

THREE.
I'm a huge fan of Ryan Adams. The first real record (by real, I mean vinyl) I ever bought was Ryan Adams' Easy Tiger. I play it and his last album, Ashes & Fire the most. 

So of course I had a small excitement attack when I read that he had started a new punk band!
They're called Pornography, and while you won't see any one naked, the first song is available to listen to on soundcloud and well...the album title 7 Minutes in Heaven is appropriate. 

It drops on Record Store Day, or April 20th for those who don't celebrate the made up holidays like Pi Day and Record Store Day. 

More information can be found here!

Guys, there is a TON of music out there. You may hate some of it, and some of it may hit you with a force not even Obi Wan saw coming. The point is, you don't have to waste time complaining about how the radio sucks. Just explore a little bit  and you'll find the music. 

(If you haven't yet, you should watch Dave Grohl's Key Note Speech from this year's SXSW Festival. He hits on so many points. Dave Grohl has always been one of my music heroes and his speech just confirmed his spot at the top of my list.)

Make it a good week!

through the eyes of a child

I think too many people grow up. Not growing up in the sense that we naturally age, but growing up in that we lose ourselves to what society wants. Society and culture dictate that we go to college, get a 9 to 5 job, work to make money, make money to support a family, have a family with 2.5 children because that's what the U.S. census says is average. 

If that's what you want out of life, then by all means go for it. Everyone has their own dream and it's up to each individual to pursue it. It's in the act of pursuing that I think we get lost. We discourage our youth to major in something like religion because it seems pointless. What kind of job are you going to get as a philosophy and religion major? Practicality starts to win out. We end up with mounds of debt hanging above our heads and in desperation we succumb to society. 

We lose our "inner child" and become hardened by the realities we face every day. We shouldn't shirk the demands and responsibilities thrust upon us, but I do think we can approach them more like that of a child. I think kids know everything there is to know and we lose it at some point, then spend the rest of our lives trying to find it again. 

To see the world through the eyes of a child would be astounding. They take concepts adults can’t even grasp and make them unbelievably simple and explain them so well that they leave you with no doubt in your mind that they’re correct. They don’t see hate, prejudice, or fear. They show love, happiness, and friendship. Children are truly our greatest minds but we don’t acknowledge it. We say "you're twelve! you don't know!" and then have them shut up and sit down. We force them to grow up and they learn how the “real world” works.

 If we were to only hold onto a sliver of who were as kids, we could make the world such a better place. 

credit
"Love is when you're missing some of your teeth but you're not afraid to smile because you know your friends will still love you even though part of you is missing." -Emma, age 6

Part One

When I was little, my church had a secret Santa for all the kids. This boy named Josh drew my name out of the offering plate and gave me a rag doll. It sounds simple, just a lone little rag doll. I named her Molly and for years she was my favorite. In fact, I still have her. She’s in a box in my closet waiting for me to pass her on to my future daughter. She’s been through a lot. There’s a coffee ring on her face, just big enough to encapsulate one safety eye and drawn-on nose. Someone gave me a gift and it turned out to be more than just a gift, it was a friend.

Fast forward and I’m the vice-president of my high school’s key club chapter. It’s one of the few things I miss about high school. Spending my time doing something that mattered, volunteering, instead of sitting around wishing something cool would happen was so rewarding. Knowing that whatever I was doing that day was going to help at least one person (or animal). Someone somewhere was benefitting from my actions. It’s one of the best feelings in the world.

Last year at Christmas, my family pulled a name off of the Angel Tree at our local post office. It didn’t seem like much in theory. You pull a card off tree shop for them and then return it all to the post office so it can be delivered. Normally, everyone takes the children’s names. My mom and I had just been talking about how we all tend to forget the elderly, who need just as much help as children. So the name we chose was that of a 91 year old man. We gave him a Christmas and the best part was that no one knew who was behind it.

My entire life, I’ve always loved helping and volunteering. Even in college now, my majors are geared towards helping whoever I can. That’s what I want to do, and this is where I need your help.

I found the “word” sonder on Pinterest. While it’s not a real word, it describes a feeling that at some point or another we have all come across. Sonder is the realization that everyone around you, every passerby and stranger, is living a life just as vividly and (extra)ordinary as yours. I’ve always thought that everyone should get the chance to tell their story, if they so desire. So that is what we’ll do.

As I travel or just generally wander around, I want to actually talk to people. I want to know about the shop keepers and the drummers at the drum circle, the single father at the park and the maintenance man at the mall.

Here’s why I need you. I need to start somewhere, and there is no way I can meet everyone in the world. There’s over 7 billion of us and I only come across an exemplary small percentage of people. So send me your stories. If you so desire, you can send me a picture of yourself (or of something that represents you) along with your story. It doesn’t have to be your life story. It could be a story about the time you fell off the monkey bars or the day you met your favorite band. It could even be a story you’ve written.

Just let me know.

With the permission of the person sending me the story/picture, they will all be posted on our tumblr where we can share our stories far and wide.

This is part one. 

To submit your story send an email with your preferred name, picture, and story to the email address located in the 'contact section'. Eventually, there will be a 'submit' button on our tumblr page. 

Fergus and the Crumbly Biscuit

Fergus Newdellium Cracker

Fergus loves crumbly biscuits. He sits patiently on the floor, eyes wide with expectation. Inevitably, the first fluffy crumb falls, scattering into more tiny crumbs. He licks his lips and goes in for the first attack. He hoovers up the biscuit crumb in milliseconds, and sits back for the next crumb to fall. His favorite human is done eating so he ventures up onto the couch to sniff his best friend’s shirt, making sure all crumbs are gone and his favorite is ready to go about the day. Later, perhaps another crumbly biscuit will be eaten and he can again hoover up more delicious fluffy crumbs, but until then Fergus burrows under the quilts and naps. 

waiting in expectation

Fish

Fish don’t get proper funerals.

They don’t get the proper attention they deserve either.

We get fish, put them in a tank with a nifty paper background of their natural habitat and then they just… live. 

It’s sad, really. Swimming in circles, er…rectangles, day after day, waiting for some oblivious human to come sprinkle deliciousness from the heavens.

We clean their tank every once in a while.

                And by every once in a while, I mean when it starts to turn green and becomes an eyesore in the living room.

We don’t normally name them. And we don’t spend time with them. We coexist peacefully in the same house until one day, little Joe Fish has gone belly up and we scoop him out of the tank before he contaminates the waters or before the kiddies can see.

He gets flushed down the toilet to rot away in the septic tank. And in a few days, when we get time to go by the pet store, we replace him without a second thought.

                We do not grieve over his short, aquatic life.

                We do not say a few words in his honor before the final flush.

                He does not get a witty epitaph.

Fish don’t get proper funerals.