it comes down to choice

to sum up a long rant in a few sentences: it comes down to choice.

when you listen to the radio and your mp3s, do you realize the limited amount of choice you're given in deciding what sounds and ideas are going into your mind through your ears? most of the music we listen to in mainstream america and popular culture unfortunately reflects the deep insecurity of big record labels.

here's a short equation:

declining music industry b/c of advancing technology = insecure big record labels = the need to produce and distribute music that brings the most proven profits = very generic and very shallow sounding pop, "rock" and "rap."

unless the lyrics are significantly different than the typical and actually directly challenge our notions and identify our problems (a la weezer's new album make believe), then american music as we know it is dangerously feeding us and breeding a culture of insecurity and complacency - the very same insecurity and complacency that leads big record labels to rely on and promote this type of predominantly meaningless music in the first place.

random stuff. so...i really don't know what to say. i guess there's nothing exactly that i can say that will cause anything in particular to happen. that's not how people really work. i need sleep. i have a feeling that most people i know have a pretty good idea of what it is that they want to do, be it as simple as something good and selfless or something good and selfish. people often say they don't know what they want to do, because there comes a point when people realize that it's actually much more difficult to pursue what it is that they want to do over just doing something else that is much easier to do but unfortunately puts whatever it is that they wanted to do on hold and potentially on hold forever.

overheard

"...she speaks Asian..." - overheard tonight in kirkland dining hall.

an hour a day

an hour well-spent with nature can make you a whole day younger.