A Guest Post! Hooray!

Today's post is something special.... C decided to put his English degree (professional writing AND creative writing, so it's really like TWO English degrees...) to use and write a guest post! Oooooh. Intriguing, right? Right.

When C said he wanted to put together something for the blog, I had no idea what to expect. The content could have been anything. What I did get surprised me, and made me laugh - so I consider that a win. Enjoy!

This picture is really just to give you a graphic example of a typical moment in our relationship.

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So I found myself listening to Carly Rae Jepsen, this spunky little Canadian that’s infiltrating our blue-collar American Billboard Charts, and I found myself wondering two things:

1. When did I start to hate myself?
2. When did it become such a damn chore to listen to music?

The answer to my first question is pretty apparent. It was when I hit play on this URL*. Unfortunately, my second question is more difficult to answer. 

-->Editor's note: "Call Me Maybe" just came on via Shuffle on the playlist I'm currently listening to. Hilarious.

Discovering new, under-the-radar music used to be a fairly big part of my life. I loved getting my friends tuned into randoms that I found on TV shows, stumble, Genious suggestions, other friends’ collections, etc. I liked knowing that I was just wading into an ocean of untapped notes and lyrics. I’d find new bands seemingly every week and spend hours trying to find their music. I can’t pinpoint the moment this stopped, I just know that it did. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not upset by it; music is divisive. I spent an equal amount of time defending my music as I did gathering it. Because music is genre-oriented—how many cowboys do you see at rap shows, for example—people tend to associate themselves with the type best suited for their demographic. This leads to all-out music wars.

Basically, if music resembles the United States, most people settle in Kansas. They sample from all states. That being said, people in Oregon refuse to listen to music from Florida. They spend an insufferable amount of time defending their own music and crucifying others. During my musical heyday, I tried to hold conversations with people from every state. It was exhausting.

It’s never easy to sit back and tell someone, “I like what I like. You don’t have to like it too.” I like to think that humans, in general, are too gregarious for the opposite to be the norm. 

So back to Ms. Jepsen. While I find her music elementary, I can’t help but notice a surface-level charm. She’s not on the lyrical level of Bono or Dylan, but she’s miles ahead of Nicki Minaj and Rebecca Black. Carly’s song isn’t trying to overstep its bounds. It’s a summery, made-for-radio song that we’ll probably forget about by July. But honestly, it’s pretty catchy. And that brings me back to question one…

*Quick side note. My first impression upon seeing Ms. Jepsen, “Oh, she’s actually pretty cute.”

-->Editor-inserted photo:

Thanks, Google Images.

That led to the now-necessary Wiki search to verify that the law and my conscience allow me to have those thoughts. And remember that there’s a difference between those two**.  Good news, I’m safe and she’s older than me.

** Two quick formulas:

•  Law = 18+
•  Conscience = [(my age) / 2] + 7

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I'm sure everyone has already seen this, but it is pretty funny....

[source]