I am loving some things right now.

• My 1994 black Ford Ranger.  Seriously.  She’s awesome. Most consistent thing in my life.
• The snow.  I saw maybe one inch of snow all winter whilst in Europe.  Not this winter, baby!  There is something so refreshing about the bitter cold.  Something about the snow brings about peace and a feeling of restarting, refreshing, etc.
• Michiganders.  We are badasses for living in this stuff.
• The fact that I am nearly done with the semester.  I spent the past 24 hours either in a computer lab or a classroom, and I am a better person for it.  I am a doubly better person because I took a nap on the heated floor in Padnos.

EDIT:  You know what I hate about Michigan winters?  Coming home after a day spent at GVSU to find your bedroom window is frozen completely open.  Snow in your room.  No way to fix it.  It happened.

I’m scared….

This looks good:

December 8th is the anniversary of Lennon’s untimely death.  Let’s not forget about this guy.  This video features Lennon with Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell playing “Yer Blues.”  Plus, John is funny.  Enjoy.

Hey, here’s a list for you.

As with all of my musical lists, the songs/albums/artists listed are never all from the same year.  I’m not that up to date with the newest thing coming out; instead, I tend to branch off from my pre-existing musical family tree to find new twigs and leaves of nutritious notational glory.  Basically, these are the songs that will define my 2009.

Peter, Bjorn, and John – Amsterdam. This was consistently on my mind whilst in Europe, and anytime I hear it I am brought back to train rides, English dorm rooms, and digestives.  Not only that, but I was able to see them in their homeland of Sweden, which was a hoot.

Golden Smog – A Long Time Ago. This one probably made #1 for most times listened to during the year.  When I first heard it, it was infectiously catchy to me, almost to the point of annoyance.  8 months after first hearing it I still enjoy it.  Maybe its the lyrical content, the harmonies, or the banjo solo.  It’s probably all three.

Dangermouse and Sparklehorse – Just War. Featuring Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals, this is a sweet, sweet tune.  What sealed the deal for me was an unofficial music video for the song.  Special thanks to Huckin for introducing me to this album.

Wilco – Deeper Down. Another one that is infectiously catchy to my ears.  My favorite track on the new Wilco album, it contains everything you need to know about Wilco in 3 minutes.

Sun Kil Moon – Gentle Moon. Big props to Mike Vaughn for giving me the music of Mark Kozelek’s new project.  Luscious song? Tis.  I feel redemptive whenever I hear it.

Stephen Malkmus – Phantasies. Malkmus will forever be linked to summer 2009, thanks to a certain Scott Rider.  I borrowed his Malkmus collection one cd at a time.  Malkmus’s self-titled solo debut is the best Pavement record.

Dirty Projectors – Stillness is the Move. Another one recommended by M.Vaughn.  I would argue that Dave Longstreth is currently the best guitarist around, simply due to a brilliant combination of abnormal talent and weird, refreshing originality.

Bob Dylan – Changing of the Guards. Tried to tackle the Dylan catalog.  Some of it is too awful to even attempt.  But this is my favorite track from a surprisingly good album, Street Legal.

MGMT – Electric Feel. This is England and Hawthorne house parties wrapped in one.  If you seek a perfect pop song, look about you.

The Mountain Goats – West Country Dream. A late addition to the list, but sometimes we save the best for last.  Thank you, Celia Cherewick, for opening me up to the world of The Mountain Goats.  This is from the album Full Force Galesburg, and it’s hard to pick a favorite.  It has been a while since I have felt sincere emotion in earnest on a record such as this one.

There you have it, folks!  I thank all my friends who supplied me with music this year; half of the songs on here are from recommendations.  I’m planning on taking a break from music next year, so do not expect me to talk about music at all.

There’s this documentary series titled Burn to Shine.  The premise is they find a house in a particular city that is about to be destroyed, gather bands  from the city to perform a song in it, and then film the destruction of the building.  Here is Wilco from the 2nd edition of Burn to Shine in Chicago, 2004, performing Muzzle of Bees.  I’m surprised the song’s coda did not destroy the house itself.

I need to complain about how busy I am going to be for the next few days, even though it matters to no one.

Tonite – Revise 7 page research paper on farmers.
Tomorrow – Revise 6 page critical essay on Robinson Crusoe.
Friday, Saturday, Sunday – Compile a “Conceptual Unit” of 15 lesson plans for my imaginary high school English class.
Sunday – Make a podcast about The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Monday, Tuesday – Write a 10 page research paper on Twelfth Night.
Wednesday, Thursday – Write a 6 page research paper on Religion amongst Turkish immagrants to Germany (?).
Friday – Study for my Shakespeare final exam.
Saturday, Sunday – Write a 4 page close reading of The Tempest.

cough, cough.

A lot of people have asked me, “Why are you a vegetarian?  Why are you such a sissy?  Salad eater,” you know, the standard.  Well, here is my reasoning behind it.  I officially challenge you to find a cogent argument on why you should eat meat.

• Health. Meat is not good for you (especially beef).  It is high in saturated fat.  Most of it is pumped with antibiotics and growth hormones, and I don’t want to eat that.  There is a such thing as too much protein, which has long-term health effects.  Diets high in fat and cholesterol lead to heart disease and being overweight.
• Environment. 20% of our fossil fuel goes to produce meat.  1/3 of greenhouse gasses are being emitted by meat production.  It takes 78 calories of energy to produce 1 calorie of beef.  Skipping meat one day per week would help save over 35,000 gallons of water. Cutting meat out of your diet entirely would help save 5,000 lbs of carbon emissions per year.
• Ethics. If we love animals, why do we kill them?  Not only that, but why do we kill them so inhumanely?

  I think there is a great argument for hunting–as well as allowing pigs to be pigs, cows to be cows, etc., before killing them for food, and if I ever return to eating meat, it will be in favor of grass-fed, free range, or hunted animals.

  But to put animals in cages where they cannot even turn around, to pump them full of hormones so they cannot stand on their own legs, or to force them to eat other animals’ shit, it’s just weird and wrong.  Aren’t we more civilized than that?

Anyway, those are the reasons why I became vegetarian.  I am curious to hear your opinions on the matter.  I wrestled with the idea of putting actual pictures of factory farms in this entry, and voted against it.  The link is right there so you have no excuse not to know what goes on in animal farming.

Check out some images of how our meat is produced.

Watch Food, Inc. (You must!)

Eric Jerusalem Kehoe -

Haha.  Remember that one time you randomly came over to eat McDonald’s and use my ketchup?  I don’t.  Nice rockin out at my birthday.  And my mom’s birthday.  Eww.  OE.  I gave Mr. Unger some of that cake.  He got fat cuz he kept wanting more.  So then the cat jumped off the bridge.  Speaking of cats, I miss Glen.  RIP.  We should cook something with those ashes.  Yummm.  This has been an interesting year… the deaths, the births, you know.  We must hang this summer, Wally dude.  Don’t forget me when you make it big some day.  And buy me a present in Spain.  I’ll be the first in line for the new Rufus Lewis and the Vibrations CD, you just wait.  Keep listening to the New Ams and drinking strawberry things from Starbucks you third wheel hardy har har.  And no more getting gas in D-town.  Fred McLeod?

My deepest sympathies,
George

The yearbook project.