But At Least They Explained to Me Why...

Apparently, I'm a compassionate asshole. At least according to their romance-science.

Rejected by e-Harmony.

iTunes/My iPod Want Me to Be Depressed.

They seem to have an affinity as of late for playing the following songs:

The Black Keys - Lies (Attack & Release)

The Black Keys - Things Ain't Like They Used to Be (Attack & Release)

Easily the two most depressing songs on the album. Thanks, Apple. I got it covered.

Simple Pleasures

In no particular order:

Sleeping on fresh sheets on my bed.

The word "duty" (or "doody")

Holding hands with a significant other*

*Don't care if that makes me sounds gay/like a woman. I like it.

An Interesting Bit of History

John Brown, of Harpers Ferry fame, was close friends with former slave, Frederick Douglass and tried to convince Douglass to join him on his attempt to raid Harpers Ferry in Virginia. The idea was that Brown and his men would raid the arms depot at Harpers Ferry to supply freed and escaped slaves with weapons to begin a second American Revolution in which all slaves would be freed by force Brown was subsequently charged with treason and murder and was hanged for his crimes.

I can't even imagine how different things would have been if Douglass had gone with Brown.

The Weird Thing to Miss About College

As odd as it may be, the thing I miss most about the academic side of college is the debating of my political science and philosophy classes. Being able to look across the room or across the row, or even up to the front of the room at someone who does not agree with you, and probably never will, but that will sensibly* argue with you until one of you has poked so many holes in the other's line of reasoning that there is nothing left to debate. I particularly enjoyed playing devil's advocate in class. I often times had my own view of things, but found immense joy in doing whatever I could to counter the logic and reasoning of my classmates to show them they were wrong. Rarely did I ever put forth my own opinions and theories unless I had ample and seemingly foolproof arguments to back it up. And even then I didn't like to tip my hand to show how I really felt. I just enjoyed listening to and partaking in the intelligent discussion of ideas and theories and the passion that people had for what they believed in. Everyone had access to the same information and everyone was pretty much on the same level of logical reasoning skills. It always made for an exciting time.

This, unfortunately, is much harder to do outside of the world of academia. People's access to information and their desire to know what they are stating as arguments is actually true is not the same. Most people seem to have no fear that they might be wrong and thus double check information before they make claims. Most people are not open to new ideas, new lines of reasoning, new points of view on things they have set their minds on believing. It seems most people can't keep their passion for their ideas separate from their own emotions. Anything critical or in conflict must be eradicated or ignored and taken as a personal attack. Intelligent discussions become limited. Even those capable of having them avoid them for fear of offending someone. So, instead, they gossip and I just keep to myself.

The Roots ft. Jim Jones of Monsters of Folk - How I Got Over - Track 3 - "Dear God 2.0"

Dear God, I'm trying hard to reach you.

Dear God, I see your face in all I do.

Sometimes, it's hard to believe in,

But God, I know you have your reasons.

They said He's busy, hold the line please

Call me crazy, I thought maybe He could mind read

Who does the blind lead?

Show me a sign please

If everything is made in China, are we Chinese?

And why do haters separate us like we Siamese?

Technology turning the planet into zombies

Every body all in everybody's dirty laundry

Acid rain, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis

Terrorists, crime sprees, assaults and robberies

Cops yellin' stop, freeze

Shoot him before he try to leave

Air quality so foul I got to try to breathe

Endangered species, and we runnin' out of trees

If I could hold the world in the palm of these

hands, I would probably do away with these anomalies

Every body checking for the new award nominee

Wars and atrocities, look at all the poverty

Ignoring all the prophecies, more beef than broccoli

Corporate monopoly, weak world economy

Stock market topplin'

Mad marijuana, oxycontin and klonopin

Every body out of it

Well I've been thinking about

And I've been breaking it down

Without an answer

I know I'm thinking out loud

But if you're lost and around

Why do we suffer?

Why do we suffer?

Yeah...it's me, still one of your biggest fans

I get off work, right back to work again

I probably need to go ahead and have my head exam

Look at how they got me on the Def Jam payment plan

Well, I'm in the world of entertainment and

trying to keep a singing man sane for the paying fans

If I don't make it through the night, slight change of plans

Harp strings, angel wings and praying hands

Lord, forgive me for my shortcomings

For going on tour and ignoring the court summons

All I'm trying to do is live my life to the fullest

They sent my daddy to you in a barrage of bullets

Why is the world ugly when you made it in your image?

And why is living life such a fight to the finish?

For this high percentage, when the sky's the limit

A second is a minute, and every hour is infinite

Dear God, I've been trying hard to reach you

Dear God, I see your face in all I do

Sometimes, it's so hard to believe in