But not with drugs. Unless you consider music a drug. A friend of mine, T, invited me to a concert for a band I'm not too familiar with called Manchester Orchestra. So why would I agree to attend a concert of a band I've never heard longer than 3 seconds?
Because an experience I had going to another concert. When I went to see Taking Back Sunday with my little sister, I couldnt get into the band beforehand. She burned me a cd and I just couldnt like their stuff. But I had to go to the concert because Christine was young enough at the time that my parents wouldnt let her go without me. And because I already had spent the money on a ticket. At the concert, I fell for their music. Then TBS became one of my favorite bands that summer. From that experience I concluded, some bands are just better live. And some are better when they've been doctored up in the studio (Black Eyed Peas, anyone?)
So Sunday night I say to T, "I guess I have one week to get into Manchester Orchestra." I was excited at the prospect. The first time I listened to them I was not hooked. I could appreciate a couple of songs for their musical qualities but they didn't catch my interest. Pensacola was one of the first I liked for its sound--not so much for the lyrics. T asked me what I thought of the lead's voice. It is very unique. I liked it. I also like the voice of the lead singer in Anberlin who also has a unique voice. And James Blunt. Some people are turned off by those types of voices. And trust me, there are voices of musicians out there that I simply cannot stand. Not the case this time.
I've known for awhile that it usually takes me a long time to like new stuff and I usually hate everything at the beginning. One of my most favorite bands right now, Muse, was a band I was unimpressed with at first.
I've listened to Simple Math every day (sometimes multiple times a day) this week. Monday and Tuesday, I was trying to force their style and sound into my little box. That wasn't working. I wanted to be in love with the lyrics but it just wasnt happening. T knows lyrics is one of the biggest things that drives me to particular songs. With him, not so much. He is more interested in the melodies a song has to offer. I think emotion can be strongly expressed in both ways, but one is a little more obvious than the other. Props to T for appreciating the unspoken emotion of a song. By Tuesday I felt like I was entering into an arranged marriage with Manchester Orchestra on Saturday. I was going to a concert of a band I didn't choose and I didn't want to back out. I wanted to make it work. But it was going to be a mystery as to what the band would bring to the arranged marriage. It wasn't like I felt dismay at the prospect of an arranged marriage. Just this feeling of, "ok, I'm going to make this work despite my preconceived notions."
Wednesday was a turning point for me. A couple of songs really started to stand out to me, like Pale Black Eye and Virgin. Pale Black Eye snuck up on me. It was toward the end of the song when I felt the emotion the lead singer was conveying as well as the music supporting him. As it ended I had to restart the song with this open-mindedness that I might actually like other parts and aspects of the song if only I looked for them. The song grew on me fast. At first I didn't like Virgin because of how heavy it was and I typically gravitate to lighter styles like John Mayer or Death Cab. I could appreciate Virgin for what it was trying to do, but it didn't catch me. Kind of like how I can acknowledge Jazz music as good and talented without actually liking it. But Virgin grabbed me because of its predictable repetitiveness. Maybe it is a little too repetitive but it got stuck in my head. Then I started allowing myself to feel the emotion of it and then I loved it. I told T a few of the songs were actually starting to grow on me. I gave up on trying to be in love with the lyrics and just tried to appreciate the sound because thats what got me with Pale Black Eye. One of the reasons I had a hard time with this specific band is that I couldn't understand what they were saying half the time.
Today is when I was able to articulate the reasons I had a hard time with this album at first. I've learned from this experience that I'm pretty closed-minded about new music and thats why I usually don't like it at first. I try and cram music into a box. I want it to sound a certain way. I want the structure of a song to follow a certain format. I have to fall in love with the lyrics. If it gets stuck in my head quickly, all the more better. I like music with predictable repetition. I've got to be able to sing along. But after listening to most of the songs several times, I've realized I have to read a little deeper into the lyrics to understand what they mean. I have to work at appreciating the message. I also did a little googling wed night to find some explanations by the band. Not every song is explained but hearing the central message of what Simple Math is about, I realize that there's a very specific context for some of these songs and its not blatantly obvious. And if you dont know what that context is, you are like a lost wanderer in a foreign land. Anyway, yesterday I accepted I couldn't expect to appreciate the songs based on lyrics alone. And today I realized these songs just dont follow a structure I'm used to. But when I started opening my mind do what they are (instead of what they aren't) I started to feel a new hope that I could maybe really like this band.
I'm still excited to see if they're awesome in concert on Saturday. Thats one question I had from the start and after this whole process this week, it still remains.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Explaining why i have to explain people
I dont understand people. I dont understand where they get their ideas. Why they get pleasure from what they do. Why they treat others the way they do.
I dont even understand myself.
I know that I judge people because its how I think I can make them make sense in my head. Or to put it another way...people dont make sense. when they dont, my first reaction is to judge them. but why is that my response? because if i judge them, i give an explanation for why they are the way they are. Or maybe I dont give an explanation, but I put them in some sort of box and then I feel like they make sense to me now. so judging people is how i fool myself into thinking they make sense to me. or explaining them.
Even though judging them is so wrong in so many ways. I cant assume I know why people are the way they are. I cant put them into a box because usually the box I choose is much worse than what reality is. But I have a hard time dealing with the fact that people are confusing to me. I have to be able to explain 85% of what I observe in my life.
The best I can come up with is that most of the time, people do things the way they do for a reason (even though that reason is not apparent to me).
I dont even understand myself.
I know that I judge people because its how I think I can make them make sense in my head. Or to put it another way...people dont make sense. when they dont, my first reaction is to judge them. but why is that my response? because if i judge them, i give an explanation for why they are the way they are. Or maybe I dont give an explanation, but I put them in some sort of box and then I feel like they make sense to me now. so judging people is how i fool myself into thinking they make sense to me. or explaining them.
Even though judging them is so wrong in so many ways. I cant assume I know why people are the way they are. I cant put them into a box because usually the box I choose is much worse than what reality is. But I have a hard time dealing with the fact that people are confusing to me. I have to be able to explain 85% of what I observe in my life.
The best I can come up with is that most of the time, people do things the way they do for a reason (even though that reason is not apparent to me).
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Bandwagon
I figured I'd join the bandwagon with my many classmates who are doing their summer internships and blog about my experience. I am interning at LDS Living in downtown Salt Lake City. So far I have helped write some articles and learned about the tone and style of the magazine. It is a smaller team than I thought it would be but I think that will give me opportunities to pick up more skills than I would if I were at a larger publication.
Our print articles are written in Chicago Style and I'm only trained in AP style. On Friday, everyone was out of the office and I got writers block. My solution was to read some of the Chicago style book. Wow. On the one hand I found it kinda interesting. On the other hand, it makes me thankful for the ability to write creatively.
As far as exploring SLC, on Tuesday and Friday I went to Blue Lemon on South Temple. Caitlin met me on Friday and we had a nice lunch. I'm excited to eat at some of the new little places in the City Creek center and just exploring downtown. We talked about our classmates interning in NYC, about how our market is SLC and mormons, about how their market isnt mormon, etc.
Today I got home from Atlanta with Professor Randle, Kayla Frandson and Paige Guthrie. We met at the airport at 6am on Saturday and got to Atlanta at 2pm. Professor Randle let us go to work that afternoon. We were like embedded journalists as we sat backstage watching the Young Ambassadors prepare for their big show that night. We had been given topics for our articles but we just weren't sure what we were doing for the first little while. Saturday was our longest day. We were up very early to be at the airport at 6am and didn't get back to the hotel till around 11pm.
Sunday we went to church in Canton, GA. It was fun to hear conversion stories and advice on how you can go to the store on fri nights to get your home teaching done cause all the members are shopping. We went to a member's house for dinner. She has lived in Georgia nearly her whole life (minus going to BYU) and she made us southern chicken courdon bleu, spinach strawberry nut salad with lemon poppyseed dressing, mashed potatoes and amazing peach cobbler. Then we went to a fireside put on by the YA's. I conducted an interview with the teacher I'm doing a profile on (watch for a link to that later). Kayla dominated on interviews that night. I think she interviewed all of the YA's.
Monday morning us journalism students went to some civil war sites including Kennesaw Mountain and a cemetery in Marietta where many war soldiers are buried. It was crazy to find out that around 3000 of the soldiers buried in that cemetery were unidentified U.S. soldiers. You cant help but feel a different kind of reverence as you walk around this site. As we drove up to Kennesaw mountain, I tried to imagine a civil war battle going on amidst all the trees. There are so many trees that it just doesnt seem possible. I think they must have chopped down a section of trees just to have the battle there. And how exactly will they see the troops coming when everywhere you look all you see are trees? It would be one thing to stand at the top of Ensign Peak in SLC and see the troops coming all the way from point of the mountain but here in the dense trees it just seemed impossible. We had an amazing lunch at this place called Sonny's in Marietta. I had baby back ribs for the first time and ate more southern food. It was fun to drive around with Professor Randle and share comms department stories and have him explain to us why the program is the way it is. We spent the evening with the YA's at FHE with a bunch of YSA. Enough acronyms there?
Some memorable things from our trip were walking into the American Girl store and explaining to the sales associate that "we're with him." "Left turn on MOLLY lane," our smoker car. People who are always "on." Hunting down a battery charger. Giving a stranger a ride to the hospital. Observing the wallflowers.
Our print articles are written in Chicago Style and I'm only trained in AP style. On Friday, everyone was out of the office and I got writers block. My solution was to read some of the Chicago style book. Wow. On the one hand I found it kinda interesting. On the other hand, it makes me thankful for the ability to write creatively.
As far as exploring SLC, on Tuesday and Friday I went to Blue Lemon on South Temple. Caitlin met me on Friday and we had a nice lunch. I'm excited to eat at some of the new little places in the City Creek center and just exploring downtown. We talked about our classmates interning in NYC, about how our market is SLC and mormons, about how their market isnt mormon, etc.
Today I got home from Atlanta with Professor Randle, Kayla Frandson and Paige Guthrie. We met at the airport at 6am on Saturday and got to Atlanta at 2pm. Professor Randle let us go to work that afternoon. We were like embedded journalists as we sat backstage watching the Young Ambassadors prepare for their big show that night. We had been given topics for our articles but we just weren't sure what we were doing for the first little while. Saturday was our longest day. We were up very early to be at the airport at 6am and didn't get back to the hotel till around 11pm.
Sunday we went to church in Canton, GA. It was fun to hear conversion stories and advice on how you can go to the store on fri nights to get your home teaching done cause all the members are shopping. We went to a member's house for dinner. She has lived in Georgia nearly her whole life (minus going to BYU) and she made us southern chicken courdon bleu, spinach strawberry nut salad with lemon poppyseed dressing, mashed potatoes and amazing peach cobbler. Then we went to a fireside put on by the YA's. I conducted an interview with the teacher I'm doing a profile on (watch for a link to that later). Kayla dominated on interviews that night. I think she interviewed all of the YA's.
Monday morning us journalism students went to some civil war sites including Kennesaw Mountain and a cemetery in Marietta where many war soldiers are buried. It was crazy to find out that around 3000 of the soldiers buried in that cemetery were unidentified U.S. soldiers. You cant help but feel a different kind of reverence as you walk around this site. As we drove up to Kennesaw mountain, I tried to imagine a civil war battle going on amidst all the trees. There are so many trees that it just doesnt seem possible. I think they must have chopped down a section of trees just to have the battle there. And how exactly will they see the troops coming when everywhere you look all you see are trees? It would be one thing to stand at the top of Ensign Peak in SLC and see the troops coming all the way from point of the mountain but here in the dense trees it just seemed impossible. We had an amazing lunch at this place called Sonny's in Marietta. I had baby back ribs for the first time and ate more southern food. It was fun to drive around with Professor Randle and share comms department stories and have him explain to us why the program is the way it is. We spent the evening with the YA's at FHE with a bunch of YSA. Enough acronyms there?
Some memorable things from our trip were walking into the American Girl store and explaining to the sales associate that "we're with him." "Left turn on MOLLY lane," our smoker car. People who are always "on." Hunting down a battery charger. Giving a stranger a ride to the hospital. Observing the wallflowers.
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