Baby alligators in the sewers grow up fast

I guess I owe Ruthie an apology. For as long as I can remember, she has told me of the magnificence of Radiohead, and while I have listened to my fair share of their songs, I never gave them the benefit of the doubt.

For whatever reason I picked I chose tonight to rectify this, and I have found many things to be new truths to add to my life:

1. Radiohead is amazing, even if I am still unsure of what I think about Thom Yorke's singing voice.
2. Their album Go to Sleep is short, but definitely sweet.
3. I like all of Amnesiac, except for the last song, Like Spinning Plates. However, the live version on I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings I do love very much.
4. I really like The Bends. Like, almost to the point where it is unsafe.
5. I find the music of both Radiohead and Muse to be excellent to listen to whilst writing. Which is what I have been doing. It really gets the brain juices flowing.

So I have come up with a list of bands who I enjoy listening to as I pour my brain onto the page. They are as follows:

1. Radiohead (as previously mentioned)
2. Muse (also, as previously mentioned)
3. Deathcab for Cutie
4. Regina Spektor
5. Sigur Ros
6. Jack Johnson
7. Coldplay
and 8. Anathallo

What a wonderful evening. And again, Radiohead, please accept my apologies.

Not What the Greeks Intended

This morning, when I woke up (with my awesome chest cold, strep throat, and fever) I did what I always go...open Firefox and skim Yahoo News before I head over to read my e-mail. I am usually a little over eager to get to my e-mail so I don't sit and read articles until later, but today one article in particular caught my attention.

After reading this, I was dumbfounded. I realize that China may not agree with the position that Cheek has taken on the Darfur issue, but even during the times of the Ancient Olympic Games, the basis was that "armies were forbidden from entering Olympia, wars were suspended and legal disputes and the use of the death penalty were forbidden. The truce was primarily designed to allow athletes and visitors to travel safely to the games".

Shouldn't this be the standard today?

I know the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980, I know. Mr. Piro, my English teacher in High School, was set to participate. This boycott has become a dark part of his life, it seems, because he carries the bitterness with him every day of his life. He continues to run and coach girl's cross-country year after year, and I don't know how he does it.

I just feel as if these boycotts and instances of visa revocation are not quite what the Greeks had intended for their games when they began so many years ago. I think they wanted the games to be a time of peace where nations could come together and compete with sheer athleticism and skill, a time where nations come to flex their political muscles and boast their economic superiority. I realize the US is a far cry from the perfect nation, and many would claim that Americans are a bunch of warmongers, and our nation has a history of grudges against China (think Sen. John McCarthy's Red Scare) but the Olympics are supposed to be above all that.

But I guess that would be in an idyllic world, and not the one we live in. Maybe someday.

Words, Wonderful Words

I just finished reading a book of short stories my friend Leah lent me, and I absolutely loved it! It is called Read This and Tell Me What It Says by A. Manette Ansay. There are so many stories that strike a chord with me, and it only makes sense considering they all are supposed to take place in the midwest, hence she was awarded the Great Lakes Book Award.

Here is an excerpt that I found especially wonderful:

The sun began rising; one bloody knuckle peeked over the horizon and the flooded fields took up the color until the land around the house burned wild fire...The south edge of the lawn is still under water, and the fields reflect the sacred underbellies of the apple trees, the harsh coin of the sun rippling between them. A few straggly rows of corn grip the high ground, but for the most part the crop is gone, the season's seed lost to the sky.

Though the language is simple, it is beautiful, and that is what I love so much about writing. The beauty that can be conveyed simply through a few simple, choice words is something that I hope to be able to embody, and help others to do when I become a book editor. Words truly are powerful, though unfortunately their power is lost on most. How sad.