I Can't Stand Songs with Crappy Lyrics

        I'm a HUGE, HUGE music lover. I used to solely listen to  alt. rock  and indie music. But I've recently been getting into rap and folk and I liiiiike it.  Within the last year, my music library has expanded from about 50 artists and 400 songs, to over 300 artists and 3,000 songs. From this expansion, I've decided that I hate songs that have horrible lyrics.
        I believe that whole point of a song is to capture the attention of an audience. Lyrics, I feel, can do that all on their own. Sure, a song can have a great beat and instrumentation. But crappy lyrics ruin it for me.
       I'm so into lyrics that I'm made fun of for it. A general conversation goes much like this:
Me: "Man, this is so good. The lyrics are off the charts! So much meaning behind it. The story it tells is unmatched." ( I don't say EXACTLY that, but it's something equally snobby and "deep".)
Other Person: "Wow. That's lame. Do you always talk like this?"
Me: "But seriously, the LYRICSSSS!"
Other Person: " Well... I'll just leave you to your musically induced hysterics now."
        My lyric obsession also leads to extensive research behind the true meaning of a song. I spend endless amount of time looking up interviews and checking out websites that could possibly lead me to finding out what the lyrics REALLY mean. I generally have my own ideas, but when the band/singer explains it, I feel even MORE connected to the music. 
    Here are some recommendations for bands that I find are "Lyrically Inclined": (Artist first, album second)
Falling Up: "Fangs!", "Your Sparkling Death Cometh"
Lydia: "Illuminate"
Edison Glass: "Time Is Fiction"
Sleep for Sleepers: "The Clearing"
Deas Vail: "Deas Vail", "All The Houses Look The Same", "White Lights EP", "Under Our Skin EP", "Birds and Cages"
Fair: "The Best Worst-Case Scenario", "Disappearing World"
House of Heroes: "Suburba", "Cold Hard Want"
Switchfoot: "Vice Verses"

Why Everyone Needs to Ask a Stupid Question

            I've spent a good chunk of my life in school. I can't exactly say I'm pissed about it. I like to learn. But what I don't like is our inability to ask stupid questions. Sure, sure. Teachers say, " There's no such thing as a dumb question." But there are, according to unspoken social rules that we should all supposedly follow. My theory is that everyone has a stupid question that they are just aching to get out there, but are too scared to ask. My advice to you? GET OVER IT AND JUST DO IT. 
          I've noticed that while we make snide comments once a stupid question is thrown into a discussion, we all mentally go, "Damn. Why didn't I think of that?". The reason behind this is PRIDE. Nobody wants to be or look dumb in front of others. It's a big no-no according to social laws. Everyone desperately wants to be an intellectual. We can't all be geniuses. <----- If everyone was a genius, we would all be CEO's of large companies or members of the CIA. That would be no fun. 
          If we all took the time to ask one stupid question a day, conversations would become ten times more interesting. I promise you. We would laugh more and theorize more. We would just become smarter people all around. 
           To end this blog post, I leave you with a sampling of stupid questions I've mentally compiled over the years: 
1. What would happen if trees suddenly didn't have leaves? Like, there are only branches and bark left. 
2. Were sprinkles named sprinkles before or after the act of sprinkling became a verb?
3. Why do non-compact cars park in compact car parking spots? <----- I know, I know. It's not stupid. But doesn't cease to piss me off. 
4. Can you ever use too much tooth paste? Like, to the point where your destroying your teeth instead of cleaning them?
5. Can you die from ingesting more than the medicated dosage of cough drops? The bag says one every two hours, but I've been known to take 2...or 3...or 6.... 

Meet Me: A really mean person.

MEAN: Unkind, selfish, malicious

         At times, I feel I double as both a humble and kind person, as well as rude, uncaring jerk. I'm great at playing the role of a sensitive and caring person when the moment calls for it. But I've also come to realize that most of my time is spent grumbling and complaining about people and things I dislike. I've also come to realize that I'm PERFECTLY OKAY WITH THIS. 

         As an American, I've been taught that I should treat everyone the way I would like to be treated. Or that if I have nothing nice to say, that I should say nothing at all. But due this teaching, I and possibly thousands of others, have forgotten that we're allowed to have an opinion. America is a country where everyone receives a trophy or a medal just for participating. At schools, teachers feed us this "constructive criticism" BS. I find this to be extremely frustrating. Sometimes, there just isn't anything good to say! Better yet, a person to SHOULD be able to express their true opinion!

        Because of this " Let's please everyone!" approach, I live in a country full of overly confident people. But it's not entirely their fault. The people I'm surrounded by have never been told, " This sucks. Try it again, but don't make it so crappy this time." They were instead informed, " This is really wonderful. If you just twerk a few things here and here, it'll be perfect." That line is the biggest mistake a teacher can make. Not only are the being unrealistic, but  have just instilled confidence where it shouldn't exist. 

       I, along with thousands/millions of other people, need to LEARN TO LOSE. No longer do I want to give false positive feedback to people. No longer do I want to receive another stupid participation certificate or trophy. I want to tell it like it is and I want others to do the same in return. Everyone can't be a winner. I don't always want to be a winner, either. I want to be rude, in your face, and the most brutally honest person you've ever met.