A guide to viewing uncomfortable art

When I was 18, I went to New York City with my high school's art program. When we went to the Guggenheim, I was disappointed. I was so excited to see what the main show case would be. I'd seen pictures of previous show cases and they looked so cool. When we arrived at the museum, I was under the impression that they were between shows. The main corridor, which is cylindrical, several stories high, and surrounded by a spiraling pathway, appeared to be completely void of any art. After walking up a few floors, I noticed a couple making out on the floor. I thought that was horribly rude and inappropriate. After walking for a while longer, I realized there was something odd about this couple. Not only were they both wearing completely gray, they were perfectly mirroring each other. I realized they were not actually making out, but dancers, and the exhibit. I was still disappointed.

I was disappointed because the exhibit made me feel uncomfortable, and not for any obvious reason. I could see no social criticism, no call to action, no eye-opening agenda. It appeared that the point of the exhibit was to show the juxtaposition of love and symmetry. This isn't new, it's not a call to action, it's not anything that I haven't seen before. I was not impressed.

One of the teachers saw me leaning against the railing, and came over to talk to me. He asked me why I looked so glum, and I told him my problem with the exhibit. I don't remember much of our conversation, but I do remember one thing he said to me. He said, "If you can't see past the sex, you're never going to be able to see the value."

I might remember that quote because it was the only thing he said that I didn't agree with at the time. I might remember it because it made sense to me in other aspects of art. I don't know because I don't remember anything else from that conversation.

I still don't agree with what he said in relation to that art exhibit; however, I have come to understand exactly what he means. I cannot look at that exhibit and see the value because I already know there's no call to arms and I've never liked seeing people make out. It makes me completely uncomfortable. (Note: My roommate put my opinion of this into a great statement: You can make out in front of people that you have birthed/raised. No one else.) However, there is a current and relevant piece of art that deserves this statement.

Les Miserables is a beautiful movie. The message is wonderful. It's an obvious call to arms. It's touching; it almost made me cry (I have only cried at one movie ever and no books). Many of the characters have uncomfortable moments.

Anne Hathaway's character, Fantine, is one of the most touching, inspirational characters. Just a brief overview for those of you who don't know who Fantine is. Fantine is a single mother that works in a factory owned by Jean Valjean. When the other women in the factory gang up on Fantine, the foreman fires her. Fantine's daughter, Cosette, is being housed at an inn, and Fantine needs money in order to keep her daughter safe from the streets. She sells what appears to be all her possessions, including her hair and some teeth. Eventually she becomes a prostitute.

In the movie that was just released, there is no sugar coating. Fantine's fall down to the lowest a woman (or man) can go is shown, not implied. It makes the viewer uncomfortable. I do not think it is over the top. In fact, I think this scene is genius. There is no nudity and no desire. There is crying, singing, and overwhelming emotion.

This scene could ruin an entire movie for people who cannot see past the sex. For those who can, it amplifies the message of Les Miserables. Les Miserables is a call to arms. It is a social critique. It may not be new, but it is timeless. While the novel by Victor Hugo is extremely long and very hard to get through, it is a story worth telling. No one can put it better than the preface of the novel:

    So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society,    artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny ... so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world ... so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Miserables cannot fail to be of use.

And that is the reason I am okay with every part of Les Miserables. It is a story that "cannot fail to be of use." 

Les Mis is just one example of looking past the uncomfortable feelings to find the true meaning. For some, it may not even be uncomfortable. Some people may not be able to look past the sex to find the meaning in a different way. Any way you look at it, you're missing a message if you get hung up on the way the message is given. Yes, some artists take it too far. And some people may be able to see the message, but the uncomfortable feelings are more powerful to them than the message. That is a personal decision and no one can judge you for it.

When it comes to art, no one should just blow it off because they are uncomfortable. Instead, everyone needs to think about why they are uncomfortable. Is it because something is being shown that shouldn't be, or is it because something is being brought to your attention that you should think about but don't want to?

Stop and smell the roses

This may not be what I see, but I really don't feel like finding a camera. 

As I look out the window of the house I grew up in, I see at least 50 trees taller than the houses, barren of leaves and covered with snow and ice. The houses all have well kept yards and Christmas decorations. None of them look like they're about to collapse. A few inches of fresh snow lay on the ground, and Jeremiah is shoveling the driveway. I'm wearing my warmest sweater, and it isn't too warm. I'm sitting in a clean house with a beautiful Christmas tree, several Nativities, and Christmas music softly playing. And I realize that I am grateful for these simple things.

Growing up I hated snow. My mom's Christmas tree skills were a given. I never even thought of appreciating trees. I hated hearing the wind rattle my bedroom window at night and I didn't like that I needed to wear a sweater. It bothered me that my mom would ask me to pick up my trails. Nativities made me a little stressed because there were so many.

I didn't get to see a decent snowfall last year. Where I live now doesn't get decent snow. When I came home for Christmas it rained and didn't snow again until the day I left to go back to school. The mountains I went back to were brown with dead trees on them.

For the last year I have wanted to see something beautiful. I have to go into the mountains to find that in Utah and I'm used to looking out my window to find beautiful nature. In the spring the greens are bright green at home. Summers are covered with flowers. Falls are covered with bright reds, oranges, and yellows. Hardly anything is brown. In Utah, everything looks a little brown to me.

This past year has been a time where I learned to appreciate the things that are so easily overlooked. I never thought that I would miss trees. I definitely never thought I would miss wind. Now that I have missed these things, I will never overlook them. I can appreciate them now.

Why do I share this story? Because I think this is something that people must learn. So many people focus on the bad things in their lives. They focus on what they can't do, what they can't fix, etc. People get discouraged from the littlest things. Then they confuse discouragement with depression and think that something is wrong with them.

Stop and smell the roses is actually really good advice. As long as you're not allergic to roses. But really, when you're feeling discouraged, just find the beauty around you. Beauty to you might be outdoors, like it is for me. It could be in your apartment, from your friends, at a local coffee shop. If we all stop focusing on ourselves so much, we would be a much happier people.

Hipster glasses: How to wear them

I believe fashion is meant to make us look our best. Clothes and accessories need to compliment our features and not bring out our flaws or create flaws. Thick-rimmed hipster glasses are something that not everyone can wear, because they draw so much attention to the face and how it's shaped. There are three things everyone should pay attention to when they're picking any glasses, and especially if they want to wear hipster glasses.

1. Nose Size and Shape. I think this is obvious. Glasses sit on your nose. Therefore, they draw attention to your nose. Over-sized, thick-rimmed glasses that are so popular among hipsters draw more attention to your nose than any other type of glasses. This is because they literally frame your nose. The larger the glasses, the more attention is drawn towards your nose. If you have a larger nose, these glasses will frame that largeness and make your nose look even bigger. If your nose isn't really that big, but the angle of it follows the rims of the glasses exactly, it will also make your nose bigger. If your nose is super small, it will make your nose look even smaller, sometimes to the point of ridiculousness. There is a very small nose-size range that these glasses will actually compliment. These noses are of average size, straight, and smooth. The angle follows the glasses rim for a bit and then separates from the glasses.
   
   If you have a big or small nose and you like interesting frames, I suggest skinnier glasses with a colored frame. These glasses are still a statement, but they draw the eye horizontally rather than vertically, bringing out your eyes, cheek bones, and brow rather than your nose.
2. Face Size. Another common issue I see with big glasses is the glasses to face ratio. I see a lot of people whose faces are being eaten by their glasses. If you have a small face, you need to adjust the size of the glasses and the thickness of the rims accordingly. If you want large lenses, then you need thinner frames. If you want thick frames, you need smaller lenses. If the first thing you see when you look at your face is your glasses, they're not proportioned correctly. You should show off your beautiful face, and stop hiding behind big, clunky glasses.
3. Profile shape. This is my biggest problem with hipster glasses. I think they look like Mr. Potato Head glasses, and this is mostly why. A lot of people that wear these glasses have extreme profiles. They either have flat faces or very angular faces. I'm going to start with flat faces.
   
   If you have a flat face and wear big glasses, the glasses are going to end up making most of the shape to your face when viewed from the side. This means it's going to diminish the delicate curves and angles that make up your facial structure. I've often said people with flatter faces wearing hipster glasses looks "muppety." Basically, I'm saying it removes the angles of your face, which essentially makes faces look like a Muppet. This can be avoided by simply adjusting the size of your glasses to accentuate your beautiful, delicate nose, rather than hiding it.
   
   Angular faces have the opposite problem. As I said before, big glasses draw the eye in a vertical direction. This means your Roman nose, Jewish nose, Adrian Brody nose, etc. will be accentuated beyond the point of reason. Don't get me wrong, these noses are great. I'm a huge fan of interesting noses. However, accentuating an angular, large nose to the extent that hipster glasses do will diminish all other facial features to the point of not noticing them. I don't think anyone wants people to only see their nose. Again, this can be fixed by adjusting the size of your glasses to diminish the impact of your nose while still highlighting its uniqueness. 

There you have it, Steph's guide to wearing hipster glasses. I used to say these glasses just never look good. However, I have matured in the past year or so on these types of matters. Every accessory or clothing style will look good on someone. There are just some things, like hipster glasses, that people need to be more selective about before wearing. 

Turn the frown upside down

One smile will spread to others. Add a silly hat and smiles will spread like something super spreadable.

With finals just around the corner, I've been seeing and hearing a lot of depressing statements. Usually I would ignore this just like every other year, but this year is a little different. This year I've been seeing these types of things (on Facebook) more from people who aren't in school more than people who are in school. I've been hearing these statements for a long time with no looming exams to initiate them. I've decided I want to share my opinion on these pessimistic and depressing statements.

I've never understood pessimists. I've never understood how you can live your life always looking at the bad side of things. I don't understand how you can enjoy life that way. Perhaps I'm missing something. I'm not saying that nothing bad will ever happen. I'm simply saying it's not as bad as you think. I have a theory that whatever you think will happen will end up happening. If you think you'll fail a test then you'll fail it, even if the score you got is higher than the score you were expecting. You'll still see it as failure because you've convinced yourself that you cannot pass. If you go into a relationship thinking it's going to end, it will. Not because either of you is a horrible person, but because you cannot put sufficient effort into something that you don't see working. (I usually say why start in the first place when I don't think it's going to work, but maybe I'm just weird.)

I also don't understand perpetual down-putting of yourself or complaining about your life. If your life is so bad, why not change it? You have control over your life. No one else can control it for you. I suggest finding the thing in your life that is causing your issues and find a way to fix it. This might not be particularly easy, but it's not impossible. If you hate that you have a lot of debt, stop spending money you don't have. Get a second job so you can pay off the debt you do have. If you don't like where you live, move. If your friends depress you, get new friends.

If you suffer from putting yourself down, just stop. People always tell me that it's not that simple, but I'm living proof that it is. For those of you that are religious, let's have a moment here. God does not put bad thoughts about yourself in your head. God loves you, no matter who you are or what you've done. Satan puts those thoughts in your head. Satan hates you. He's miserable and wants you to be miserable like him. Luckily, you have one thing that Satan does not have. You have a body. Everyone with a body inherently has power over those without a body. Do you realize what that means? That means that you can tell Satan to get out of your head and he has to obey you. That doesn't mean he's gone forever, but, you can pray to God and ask him for help and Satan will stay away longer. It's great.

If you are not religious, then that last bit probably sounded super weird and superstitious to you. I'm not sure how to battle self-esteem issues and not be religious about it, since I am religious, but I think there are some things that can transfer over. If you think ill of yourself, you can push those thoughts from your head. Be stubborn about it and don't let them back in. Every time you think ill of yourself, think two good thoughts about yourself. I was told once that this leads to more bad thoughts, but, seriously, just stop. All you need are two good thoughts. Unless you have some type of preexisting mental health issue, you should be able to control your thoughts. Start this early and your thoughts won't lead to a mental health issue later. (Note: I am fully aware that there are several types of mental health issues that are completely out of your control. I am simply talking about mental health issues that are in your control. Many self-esteem issues are initially in your control.)

I want to issue a challenge to anyone reading this that suffers from perpetual pessimism and general depressingness (like my word? I do). For the next week, don't think about how things can go bad. If you are convinced that something will go bad, just admit that it's out of your control and try your hardest to keep it from being super bad. Push bad thoughts from your mind and replace them with good ones. Lastly, but not even nearly leastly, smile. Every time you feel like the world is going collapse in on you and your life sucks and you hate everything, just smile. My mom used to tell us to flex our smile muscles when we insisted that we were so mad that we can't smile. So, flex those smile muscles and keep flexing them. Something happens in your body and you'll soon not be so mad and depressing. Others will want to be around you more and you'll just feel generally good about yourself. So do it, for just a week, and see if it works. I can promise you, if you really try, it will work.

Let's all be logical here

I really like logic. Logic puzzles have always been some of my favorite things to do. I also tend to be logical  in my views, opinions, and decisions. Recently, it has come to my attention that this is not as normal as I thought. I have decided to share my views on being logical and being illogical. 

I will admit that there are times when being illogical and even unreasonable are exactly what you need to do. I have done this before. I once was freaking out and some of my roommates were telling me things that I already knew. It was really bothering me, since I hate being told things I already know; I find it pointless. I finally told one of my roommates that I wanted to be irrational. She sat down with me and we came up with increasingly more irrational scenarios. I ended up laughing and everything was fine. 

I have come up with a list of reasons I find appropriate for illogical thinking.

1. When you are incredibly stressed and need a break from the world.
2. When you're pregnant or have some other type of hormone craziness going on.
3. When you're brainstorming.
4. When nothing seems to be working and you just need the world to revolve around you for a minute. (Unless you're a pessimist and you never think anything is working. Then you just need to cheer up.)

I have also come up with a list of reasons people tend to be illogical when I don't think it's appropriate.

1. Money issues. I have never understood why people are illogical about money. I completely understand the urge to buy new clothes or a new gadget or whatever your weakness is, but I don't understand why anyone would buy something when they don't have enough money for food or rent. It's completely illogical. It's also illogical to think you have to spend money as soon as you make it. Save up for things. Save up for emergencies! Have emergency funds! Follow a budget. I just don't understand illogical money use.
2. Relationships. I'm talking about all types of relationships, not just romantic ones. If you tell someone not to get you a present, you can't logically get mad when you don't get a present. If being super close friends with someone is causing you more stress than joy, it's only logical to distance yourself from that person. 
3. Cleaning. I just don't understand not being clean. I'm not perfect at keeping my apartment clean. I will never say I am, but I do try to pick up after myself. It's logical to do that. If I borrow something, I pick it up. I don't understand how it makes any sense to use someone else's thing and then expect that person to clean it up. It's only logical to pick things up as soon as you are done with them. 

Logical thinking can relieve a lot of stress. I'm going to share a story where logical thinking helped me make one of the best and hardest decisions of my life. It is about my wonderful fiance! I decided in late October that I wanted to decide once and for all whether I was going to marry Jeremiah or not. I knew that marrying him would not be a bad thing, so I decided to identify exactly what was holding me back. After thinking about it, I was able to identify two distinct reasons why I couldn't decide. The first I quickly resolved by deciding it was a stupid reason. I realize that this might seem weird to many, but there are just some things that we think matter, but, when all things are considered, they just don't. The other reason was a problem I have had my entire life and it's not really a problem. It was my age, but I have always felt too young. I still feel like I'm too young to be living on my own, working, going to school, supporting myself, etc. Really, I'm perfectly capable of it. So that reason was also put in the "doesn't matter" pile. After that, I had absolutely no problem with marrying Jeremiah and all the stress I felt about our relationship vanished. I'm so glad I worked through that, because he is an even better fiance than he was a boyfriend and I have no doubt that he will be an even better husband. 

Logical thinking has also helped me with my money. I'm not rich by any means, and I can't have all of the luxuries I grew up with, but I can live comfortably. It's not because I make tons of money; it's because I think before I spend. I completely understand wanting new things. My weakness is music and clothes. Since I'm currently saving everything for my wedding, I have had to ban myself from music stores. I went in one a few weeks ago and it was incredibly hard to leave one of the books I found. I still feel like I need it, but logic tells me that I will live, so I must not give in and go buy it. While I can find cute clothes and not feel like I need them in my life, I also tend to want new clothes more when I know I can't have them. When I get this feeling, I have to ask myself if I am naked. Since I am not naked, I do not need new clothes. Logic dictates this.

Logic can be used in any situation and a better outcome will come of it. I give a 95 percent guarantee. That 5 percent is only there for those people that just insist that everything is bad all the time and nothing good will ever happen. Logic will help you in school. It will help you in your career. Logic is your friend. It will never abandon you and it will make your life better. 

Really, I just don't understand being illogical. It's illogical to be illogical. I don't know how the comments about my logic were meant to be taken, but they haven't sounded like compliments. However, I will take them as compliments. I wish the world were logical. I really think everyone would get along so much better if logic was used more often. I've noticed that illogical people are easily offended and are hard to be around (only because it's hard to be logical around illogical people, which makes thinking before you speak more important and twice as hard). I challenge everyone to think logically before making a decision. Decisions made from an illogical state of mind will very rarely end in success. 

Style is the definition of you

I got engaged recently and, like many engaged women, I've been looking at wedding dresses. Even before I got engaged, I knew I'd have a hard time finding a wedding dress. I'm not a huge fan of trains, but I don't think column dresses are so great for a wedding. I rarely like lace, I don't like wedding dress beading, and I am not a fan of shininess on dresses. I will not wear a dress that has bows or flowers on it. I want a long sleeved dress and I want it simple yet stylized. Clearly, I'm not an easy woman to shop for.

Why blog about my laments in regards to wedding dresses? Because I've been thinking about my style. I love my style. It is me and no one else. Sure, I wear things that other women would wear and I may even have some pieces of clothing that aren't particularly unique, but that's not what's important. What's important is what I tell people with my clothes, hair, make up, etc.

It's very important to me that I never look like a slob. I want to show people that I'm well put together and can think for myself. I don't ever want to look matronly but I refuse to show more than I deem appropriate (which isn't very much). I want people to look at me and know that I can get the job done. What job? I don't know, but I want people to think I do and that I can do it. I have anxiety about not dressing appropriately for occasions and I live by the rule that it's better to be over dressed than under dressed.

I think it's very important for everyone to care about their personal style. I don't think everyone needs to be a fashionista or even fashion forward. However, your clothes will say something about you whether you want them to or not. There are two serious style issues that I wish to address.

First, there are people who will never dress their age. I see this a lot in Utah and, as my friends can attest, it drives me nuts! One of the things that bugs me the most about living in Utah is the fashion of mothers and daughters. (Note: This is not every single family, and it's not only in Utah. There's just an unusually large population with this problem in Utah.) It's quite hard to tell the difference between many mothers, daughters, and, sometimes, grandmothers (shudder) from looking at clothes and hair in Utah. If the daughter dresses her age, the mother dresses the daughter's age as well. If the mother dresses her age, the daughter dresses the mother's age. I am a huge fan of age appropriate clothing.

When you are a teenager, you have a fundamental right to dress like a teenager. While it doesn't look very good, you can experiment with layering and wearing sweats with Uggs. Teenage years are a time for you to find your style. Experiment with clothes, figure out what looks good on you, what you like and what you don't like.

Mothers, middle-aged women, grandmothers, male equivelants of these labels, please let the teenagers be the teenagers. You can be stylish and still look like the mature person that you are. High fashion is there for you, if that's what you're interested in! There are plenty of clothing lines directed at you that are fashionable, fresh, beautiful, anything you're looking for in your clothing. You don't need to dress like a teenager to look young.

The other problem is people who refuse to admit that clothes define them. This is a delusional lie. Clothes will always say something about you. Clothes don't have to define you. Notice the title of my post. Style is your definition. Do you see the difference there? You have the control. When you decide that clothes don't matter and just throw on anything, people will see that you don't care. That's a horrible first impression. It's important to understand that style does not mean fashionable. If you, for some reason, are against fashion, then wear classics or something, but don't stop caring. That's a horrible practice. You don't have to be as obsessed with clothes and design as I am, but you should care about what you look like. Don't look like a hobo.

Now about wedding dresses, I want my style to show on my wedding. I may get lucky and find a dress that I love. However, I have planned for this and know how to make patterns. Dress designing, here I come!

I like looking at hair styles

I feel like writing about hair styles today. I suck at hair styles. I can wear my hair messy, in a little, tiny ponytail (this is for when I clean, mostly), or straight. I can do itty bitty braids and big braids, but I can't french braid or do anything fancy in any way with braids. I'm pretty good at figuring out what to do with bangs, though.

I may not be the best at hair styles but at least I can tell what will look good. I compensate for my dismal styling skills by getting interesting cuts that compliment my face. I will not do any style that I can't make look well done. Occasionally I will wet my hair several times in the course of an hour because I tried something and it didn't work. I will be going through some styles and sharing my opinion about them.

Ratted hair

I understand that some people like big hair. I get that. Sometimes it's nice to show off your volume. I also understand that straightening thin hair usually makes it go really flat, so you might want to do something to make your hair have life again. Here's my problem with ratted hair. I hate it when girls rat their hair into a square or triangle. It doesn't look good. It looks like you slept in a box.

When you rat your hair, if you rat your hair, control yourself. This isn't the 80's. If you end up with corners on your head, brush it out and start over. If you have a ring around your head but nothing on the top (this is what I identify as triangle-shaped ratting), brush it out and start over. If you can get your hair to rat into the shape of your head, good job.

Alternatives to ratting: Blow dry your hair upside down. When I do this, I end up looking like a lion (I have a lot of hair...), but this can really help with volume if you don't have crazy thick hair and a lot of it. Another thing you can do is blow dry your hair with a brush. Pull your hair up and out while blow drying it and you'll have a little more volume. If you do have thin hair, I suggest not straightening it. I straighten my hair to contain it. When it's not straightened, it can stick up way too high for my liking. However, if you have thin hair, straightening your hair can take the life out of it. If you have thin, curly hair, try blowing it straight. It won't be stick straight (which I think is ok in nearly every instance), but it will have more volume.

Buns

I've seen some interesting buns on campus. My least favorite by far is the bun on the very top of the head, which I've mentioned before. Mostly my problem with this type of bun is that it's become a lazy bun. Lazy buns flop around and having a loop of hair flopping around on the top of your head just isn't cool. Just stop. Put your lazy buns back on the back of your head where they're meant to be. Now, when I say "top of head," I don't mean the crown. I'm talking about the spot where you'd balance a book. The very top of your head.

That's really the only type of bun that I don't like. I'm just going to list some of my favorites that I've seen recently.

I saw a girl yesterday who had made a bow out of her hair. I thought that was amazing. I could never do that...especially to myself. It was very sweet. It's a very casual bun, so I wouldn't suggest it for a formal event, but it complimented her red and mustard gathered, high-waist skirt and mustard cardigan so well. She just looked like a sweet person who is ready to help in any way she can.

I also love what I refer to as "donut buns." I don't know what they are actually called, but they remind me of donuts. They're on the crown of the head and the hair is rolled out into a tube-like shape around the center of what I assume is a ponytail. I have a friend who is very good at these. I think they are very classy.

Last, but not least, I love buns that are at the neck and extend all along the hair line. I've never seen two of the same and most have some type of braid involved. They look very sweet and nice. I love when a girl puts a bow in one. It just adds to the cuteness.

Braids

The last thing I want to mention is braids. I love braids. I always have. When I was little I always loved it when my aunt came over and she would french-braid my hair.

One type of braid that always intrigues me is a fishtail braid. I've watch tutorials and looked at picture instructions and I still can't figure it out. These braids are just so cool! Plus, they're rarely stiff, which is good.

I am also intrigued by braids that go up the back of the head and into buns. I can't figure out how girls can fight gravity to do this. Maybe they braid it with their heads upside down? I don't know. Girls who do this, keep it up. It looks awesome.

I also love any type of braid that doesn't end up super stiff. This could be a ring around the head, braided bangs that are pulled back, french braids of most type. They're just great and I love to look at them.

I do not love stiff braids. Braids that get braided together were cool in elementary school, but now it looks juvenile. Also, I think people should keep braids down to two or under on one head. I've seen two different people who had three french braids. I don't know why they did this, but it seriously looked like their hair was an octopus. I expected them to turn around and have 5 more braids around the rest of their head. I was told once that some girls do this to make their hair wavy. Here's my thought to that. If you are braiding your hair like that to make it wavy, don't venture outside like that. It's the same concept as curlers. You stay inside until your curlers are done, you should stay inside until your weird braids are done.

To all you girls (and boys) that can do cool things with hair, I give you props. You have a talent and a gift. You shouldn't let that go to waste.

What makes it a classic?

Do you know what songs that came out in the last five years will be classics? I don't. I have no idea because there are so many one-hit-wonders nowadays. When I think of classics, I think of the best songs by amazing groups from the '60s, '70s, and '80s. Mostly the '60s and '70s. I've just barely gotten into '80s metal. I was once told that the children of my age group won't listen to the music of the '60s and '70s. I really hope that's not so. While I do love some current bands (Nightwish, Kamelot, Rhapsody, Death Cab for Cutie, Green Day, Apocalyptica, and Blue October, just to name a few), the truly remarkable songs, in my opinion, came from the '60s and '70s.

While I whole-heartedly disagree when some one says creativity is dead and everything that can be done has been done, I do not think popular musicians are as daring as they used to be. Music today is meant to be catchy. Real instruments don't even have to be used for a song to reach the top of the charts. The groups/"artists" that reach the top of the charts often don't write their own music or lyrics, let alone both (kudos to Taylor Swift, even if I don't like her music). If you want to find the real talent in modern musicians, you basically have to search for it. A lot of these groups don't want to get radio play (Dream Theater, anyone?) so I suggest Pandora for your music finding needs.

The '60s and '70s were all about experimenting. Concept albums, an amazing amount of sub-genres, and different ways to play instruments were created at a rate in this time that has never been matched since. I feel nostalgic today (not that I lived then, but I didn't even realize people made music after the '70s until I was 12ish, so this is the music of my childhood) so I've decided to pick a favorite song or two from each of my favorite groups and talk about it.

The Beatles are always a good group to start with. They'll be the hardest pick, mostly because the different types of songs they made, depending on who wrote it. So I've settled on three.

1. Oh! Darling is just a wonderful song. I love very blues-inspired rock 'n' roll. I also love the way Paul McCartney's voice sounds. He wanted it to sound like this song had been sung every night in a club for weeks, so he recorded it in the mornings so his voice would be gravely. The mix of the voice and melody just portrays longing. John Lennon claims he could have sung it better, but I'm not sure. It's pretty perfect the way it is.
2. Fixing a Hole This song sounds like a harpsichord! It's so cool! I just love the instrumentation of this song. The guitar entrances are at such amazing times! I'm very excited about this song, obviously. It's so simple but so great. I never ever skip this song when it comes up on my mp3 player, even if I'm in a metal mood. 
3. Blackbird Who doesn't like this song? It's simple, acoustic, and beautiful. It's one of the few songs I love more for the lyrics than the music. I just feel peaceful when I listen to it. It also uses dynamics so well! I miss dynamics in music...no one uses them anymore...at least on the radio. Also, I think the bird chirps are used very wisely.

Next up is Cream! My favorite Cream song is White Room. I love the juxtaposition of singing and guitar styles. The melody is very simple and kind of repetitive, but it works with the guitar so well. And don't forget about the drums! The drums just tie the whole song together. I love it.

Deep Purple was hard to pick a favorite. I love Deep Purple, but I've decided on one. Woman From Tokyo is just so fun! I wish more people knew about this song. There are so many details. I love how the hi-hat and bass line up so perfectly during the bridge. I love when the guitar comes out during the verses for just a little bit. Also, there's a false end. I love false ends. It makes the rest of the song seem like a treat.

The Eagles (I'm just going down my artist list, can you tell?) was easy. Desperado is a perfect song. Piano, ballad, strings, a beautiful voice, what more do you want? It's peaceful and sweet and touching. The mood of the song is spot on.

Jimi Hendrix was really hard. I am always amazed at his guitar playing; it doesn't matter how many times I've listened to the song or what song it is. I have decided that All Along the Watchtower is my favorite. Not only is the guitar part awesome, it flows the best in my opinion. It makes me happy to listen to this song.

There is is no doubt in my mind that the best Led Zeppelin song is Stairway to Heaven. This song is just a masterpiece. I don't care that it's eight minutes long (I often listen to songs that are up to 20 minutes, anyway). I love how the feel of the song changes about half way through, but it still has the same theme. I love hearing talent and I can definitely hear talent in this song. Also, the lyrics are just so intriguing.

The Mamas and the Papas turned out to be difficult. I'm trying to mostly pick songs that are originals by the band and most of my favorites by this group are remakes. I finally settled on Monday, Monday. I realize this is not the song this group is well known for, but I really love this song. I love the chorus. And the harmony. And the instrumentation. It just makes me smile every time I hear it.

I know a lot of people think The Monkees were a made up band, but they weren't. They just ended up being highly commercialized. Since this is the case, I have also picked a song by them. It is...I'm a Believer. Is anyone surprised? I didn't think so. I love this song. It's so much better than the remake. It's just so much fun! I love fun songs.

Simon and Garfunkel was really hard. I had to pick two for them. Really, I've never heard a song by them that I didn't absolutely love.

1. The Boxer was always one of my favorites growing up. I always asked my dad to play me "the ly la ly song." It's just so simple and soulful and beautiful. Plus, it reminds me of my dad and his guitar.
2. Homeward Bound was another of my favorites growing up. It's so pretty and you can hear the emotion in the melody. Also, reminds me of my dad again. I'm not sure why only Simon and Garfunkel songs remind me of my dad, but they do.

I decided to pick the song that makes me smile the most for Three Dog Night. I ended up picking The Show Must Go On. I don't know a single person who can't help but smile while listening to this song. It starts with the circus song! And then it gets serious. And then it's the circus again! Plus, Danny Hutton just has an amazing voice

The Who was another easy band. I love Pinball Wizard. I love the original and I love Elton John's version. It's just a great song. I love the sound of the song. I love the singing, the instrumentation, the structure, and basically everything else that has to do with this song. Also, Tommy was a forerunner to some amazing albums. It was the first successful rock opera. I understand that many young music listeners may not understand the awesomeness of a rock opera, but they are just awesome. They may have become extremely unpopular when the album was ruined by mp3s, but I love the bands that still do them, even Green Day (though American Idiot is not that great of a rock opera).

These are just the band I know well enough to make an educated decision on. Other bands that deserve mention for being awesome are The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, and Pink Floyd. Bands from the '80s worth looking into are Metallica, Iron Maiden, and U2. Earlier rock 'n' roll stars worth mentioning are Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and, of course, Elvis Presley. If anyone is interested in the great country stars, I highly suggest Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. I didn't include any of  my country favorites because I decided to focus on rock music. If I didn't focus on one rather large genre, this list would never end.

In defense of the photoshopped

I'm currently in a media and society class. This week we talked about photoshopping pictures. One of the topics of discussions was, "Is photoshopping racist?" This kind of really annoyed me. The examples used were two pictures of OJ Simpson, one on Newsweek and one on Time Magazine, and two pictures of Gabourey Sidibe, one on Elle and one from google images. The picture of OJ Simpson was his mugshot. On Time, the photo was altered to cast a shadow over his face, removing most of the highlights. It also blurred out the edges of everything and darkened the background. Apparently people thought this was racist because Time was trying to make Simpson look more dangerous by making him darker. The opposite was true for the photos of Sidibe. The picture on Elle was considerably lighter than her actual skin color. This, apparently, was racist because it's saying you have to be white to be beautiful.

I'm going to start with my problem with the OJ Simpson pictures. First off, Simpson's mugshot was very red. On the Newsweek cover, it completely washed out the title and headlines, which were also red. Time, which is NOT a breaking news magazine, would be more concerned with the lay out of its cover. Secondly, casting a figure in a shadow is not racist. It is mysterious. Time probably wanted to have a more suspenseful cover. I ask you, if a white man had been cast in shadow, whould that also be racist? No, it would not. So why is a black man cast in shadow racist? Darker skin was not the intent of this photo. The intent was the shadow. A shadow that would have the same effect on a white or black person.

My main issue with picking on photoshopping pictures is actually with Gabourey Sidibe's photo on Elle. In my class, a lot of people were saying the lightening of her skin was saying you can't be beautiful with very dark skin. I completely disagree. Elle is a fashion and beauty magazine. You will never see an extremely dark-skinned person shown with her actual skin tone on the cover of a magazine like that. It's not because dark skin isn't beautiful. It is. However, extremely dark skin hides necessary lines in faces when being photographed. Look at this from the editor of a beauty magazine's point of view. (Note: I am not an editor of a beauty magazine. I just happen to know about design and art. Plus I'm very interested in fashion and beauty so I pay attention to these things.) Sidibe has beautiful eye brows. Women might want to shape their eyebrows like her. How can they if they cannot see her eyebrows in the magazine? Sidibe's face is very nicely shaped, with the shape of her check bones, nose, lips, and chin filling out that shape in a very beautiful and charming way. If her photo had been left untouched, the darkness of her skin would have flattened her face out. Did her skin have to be lightened as much as it was? Probably not. Did it have to be lightened in order to show off the natural beauty that is in the shape of her face? Yes. Real life and photographs are different. Untouched photographs of almost anyone are not going to sell magazines simply because things that naturally occur when mixing skin and cameras will flatten faces, make faces look oily, create a skin tone that is not accurate, etc.

The camera also adds ten pounds. I'm not joking. You can look super skinny in real life one day, but a picture of you will look averagely skinny. Can you blame editors of photos for taking cellulite out of pictures? Is there an easier way to shed those ten pounds? This photoshopping can go overboard very easily in feature articles. However, in advertisements, I don't think this does go overboard. Advertisements are meant to sell a product, not a person. If the height of the model's shoulders will distract from the product, then it is perfectly ok to move them. Some people just have weird proportions. In an advertisement, anything that is proportionatly off will detract from the product. Model's are photoshopped into a "perfect" person in order to detract as little as possible from the product.

This is often criticized as making the standard of beauty unreasonable. While I can see the reasoning behind this argument, I disagree. I will bet you anything that young girls compared themselves to eachother before the camera was even invented. Girls and women have always compared themselves. There has always been someone prettier, someone you could never hope to even compare to in beauty. All photoshopping in magazines has made following celebrities even more seperated that it already was.

Now, I am not a parent, so I am taking a guess here, but I think self image is rooted in the home. While the teenaged years are rough, I believe the poor body image common in these years can be grown out of based what was taught in the home. Parents have more affect on their children than it seems like anyone cares to admit. If the parents of a young woman don't tell her how pretty she is, how her eyes sparkle when she smiles, then that young woman will never believe it when she's a woman and a man is telling it to her. If parents don't teach young girls not to compare themselves to other girls because everyone has their own qualities that make them beautiful, that girl will never stop comparing herself to others even after she is a grown woman.

I'm begging you, consume media responisbly. There will always be something to take offense at if you don't. Understand the type of media you are consuming. Understand the messages the magazines you subscribe to are trying to send. Before you accuse a magazine of being racist or setting a bad example for the yound and impressionable, think of what that magazine is trying to do. Society can't be blamed for all of the problems in the world.

Fashion at BYU

It's the start of another school year. As many of my friends know, I tend to rant about fashion I see at school. BYU tends to get more rants from me than other places because of the honor code. I have pretty strong feelings about the honor code. I've heard a lot of complaints about it. I have one response to these people. If you don't like the honor code, go to another school. The honor code is part of BYU and you signed it to come here. Part of the honor code includes groom and dress.

Now that I've said that, I have a list of top ten good things I've seen in the last 3 weeks! I also have a list of 10 bad things I've seen.

The good:
10. Classic maternity shirts. BYU is also fairly unique in the amount of pregnant women there are on campus. I've always thought it was a silly idea to buy trendy maternity shirts. If you do that, you'll have to buy new shirts every time you get pregnant. If there is ever a time to buy classic clothing, it's when you're pregnant.
9. Shrugs and blazers over sleeveless shirts. There are a lot of really cute sleeveless shirts out there. I won't argue this. I think the best way to wear these shirts modestly is with a blazer. Occasionally, a cardigan or shrug is the best way to go. Generally, blazers look sharper. I love seeing the women on campus make their outfits modest this way.
8. Women in button up blouses. I've always loved this look. It's classic and it generally looks good. A classic button up blouse is a staple of every woman's wardrobe. These shirts are so great because they look good with jeans, slacks, or skirts. I think one of the most flattering outfits is a button up blouse tucked into a high-waisted pencil skirt.
7. "Nerdy" tees. I love superhero-themed t-shirts. I also love t-shirts with things from Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Star Wars, Star Trek, Pokemon, and Questionable Content. There's an unusually large amount of these types of t-shirts on campus. I don't know if the people wearing them just thought it was funny/cute/awesome or if they actually know what they're wearing, but I think it's awesome how many of these I see.
6. Beater-style tank tops under lace backs. I think shirts with a triangle cut out in the back covered in lace are really cute. I don't think it's OK to wear these types of shirts with a camisole. The back is too low. A lot of girls on campus wear these shirts with beaters. I think this is great! The back is high enough and you still get the look of see-through lace without being immodest.
5. Layered bobs. I love short hair. There are a lot of girls that look the same on campus. The average BYU girl's hair is long, to about the middle of her back, with "beachy waves." I don't like this style. The "waves" look like really bad hat hair. I love seeing girls around campus with short hair. There is a girl in one of my classes that has the cutest layered bob. I love seeing what she does with it every Monday and Wednesday.
4. Men wearing their pants high enough. I've always hated slouchy pants. While there are still guys that wear slouchy pants on campus, there are way more men that wear their pants at an appropriate level. It's wonderful!
3. Intricate braids. I've never been able to braid my own hair. I can barely braid other people's hair. Perhaps that's why I enjoy seeing women around campus with very intricate braids. I'm often impressed by others' hair skills.
2. Matching necklines to make things modest. I've always said, if you're going to layer shirts you have to match your necklines. Because of this, I've often told girls to avoid one shoulder shirts. This week, I saw a girl wearing a one shoulder shirt that actually looked good! She matched up the neckline so that the point of the v-neck t-shirt was at the exact spot the one-shouldered blouse crossed the neck line. It was really cute!
1. Men in shirts and ties. Perhaps it's because of the prestige of BYU's business school or maybe it's just a large amount of guys returning from missions that aren't used to normal clothes yet, but there is a very large amount of men wearing white shirts and ties on campus. It's amazing.

The Bad:
10. Wearing ear warmers as headbands. I am a huge fan of using clothes as they are intended. You don't wear pants as shirts or socks as gloves. Ear warmers were meant to keep your ears warm. Once you go inside, they should come off, just like the rest of your winter clothes. Also, it's not winter yet.
9. Over-sized glasses. Very few people can pull these off. My problem with these over-sized, black, thick-rimmed glasses is mostly with noses. If you have a very small bridge or a very small nose (think of Asian noses), these glasses make your face look flat. I actually think these glasses make people with small noses look like muppets. If you have a large nose, these glasses make your nose look HUGE! There is a very small number of people with the right sized and angled nose for these glasses to look good.
8. Knotting shirts in the front. Just tuck your shirt in! Good grief! Knots in the front of your shirt are NOT flattering AT ALL. Also, if it's a big one, which I see a lot, it kind of looks like a weirdly placed third boob.
7. See through shirts. Just because a shirt has sleeves doesn't mean it's modest, by honor code and LDS terms. If you want to wear a see through shirt, you have to wear a t-shirt under it.
6. Skirts that are blatantly too short. It's one thing to have a skirt that's too short when you're sitting but not when you're standing. If your skirt doesn't reach your knees when you're standing, get a new skirt. That is obviously not up to honor code standards.
5. Wearing out-of-season clothes. My favorite clothes are sweaters. I LOVE sweaters. That does not mean it's appropriate to wear sweaters in the summer. My sweaters aren't even appropriate for fall; they're much too thick. When you wear clothes out of season, you look like you live under a rock and have no idea what the weather is.
4. Wearing too many clothes. You look like you're suffocating. There was a girl in one of my classes this week that wore a lace, empire-waist vest and a scarf. The scarf was cute, the vest was cute, but they were not cute together. Sometimes, you just have to pick one or the other. It's the way of life. There are a lot of people I see that wear way too many clothes. I want to rip something off of them in a completely platonic way!
3. Men cuffing their pants. First off, if you're going to cuff your pants make sure they're the same height. Secondly, make sure your socks match. Black jeans with navy socks and blue shoes is the worst idea ever! Also, men don't have pretty ankles. Cuffing your pants either makes your bony, chicken leg ankles look skinnier or makes your ankles look like kankles.
2. Wearing sleeveless blouses over t-shirts. See number 9 of "The good." This looks tacky.
1. Buns on the top of heads. I'm sorry, but you look like a tee with a baseball ready to go on your head. If you wouldn't wear a pony tail there, don't wear a bun there. Especially a loose bun! What is the point? I thought loose buns were what you did when your hair got in the way. Let me tell you something, having a bun flopping around on the top of your head looks ridiculous and your hair is definitely not out of the way. Can you tell that this is my biggest fashion pet peeve? I'm aware that top-of-head buns are being used on the runways. Those buns are tight, stylized, and obviously meant to be there. When you just knot your hair on the top of your head in a couple second it looks like you weren't paying attention to your hair placement and missed.

Put your behind in your past

Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend about loving yourself for who you are. Once again I had too many thoughts to say in one conversation so I'm going to put them all up on the internet! That's what the internet is for, right?

Way too many people use "love yourself for who you are" as an excuse. I think the meaning of this has been twisted by society. There has been such a focus on condemning models and celebrities for giving us a skewed idea of beauty and it drives me nuts. As I told a friend once, models are picked because they wear the clothes well. A fashion designer doesn't want everybody looking at the model, they want everybody looking at the clothes. The fashion industry knows this. The designers that design for people shaped like a model rarely go far. Girls like me have a hard time finding clothes that fit, not because clothes are designed for models, but because the average girl has considerably less curviness to their bodies. If clothes were produced for girls shaped like me more girls would complain about how they fit. Instead of hearing girls complain about how they can't wear button down shirts or they have to wear baggier shirts to fit their hips, we'd be hearing more girls complaining about how they can't fill up the tops of shirts, how everything is baggy and will only fit them around the waist.

Why does this matter? Because I want it to be somewhere on the internet that says you can love yourself for who you are and still want to look better without it being unhealthy. "Love yourself for who you are" doesn't mean accept the hand that has been given you. I truly believe it means love your personality and body type.

I feel I can use myself as an example of loving yourself for who you are because I have struggled with this and come out on top. I love myself for who I am. I don't wish I had another body, but I work hard to make sure my body looks as good as it can. The biggest thing I struggled with was my skin. I was born with skin that is prone to acne and boils. I had skin that hurt for a long time. Over the counter acne treatments would help for a little while but none of them lasted. If I had decided to "love myself for who I am" as it is understood by many people today, I would still struggle with this constantly. It has not gotten better as I've gotten older and in fact has gotten worse. I decided it was worth it to take the extra time to take an antibiotic and my skin has cleared up considerably.

This might not be the best example because that is skin and this is normally aimed at weight. I would like to point out that I started the antibiotics because of comfort, not looks. When you're a healthy weight you feel better. I have never heard someone say "I wish I was fat again." When it comes to looks, love what you have and work so you can love what you don't love. I'm not saying get plastic surgery or something. I'm saying if you're over weight, work to be a healthy weight. If you are a healthy weight and you don't like the shape of your body, find flattering clothes. Remember that no one can wear every style, not even hour glass shapes (for girls) or extremely v-shapes (for guys). I'm hour glass shaped and many people seem to think hour glass shaped girls can wear anything. This is false. I cannot wear shirts that are baggy and then come in around the hips or most empire waist things. I also look horrible in yellow. I don't know why cause my skin tone should look good in yellow... I know this, so I don't wear those types of shirts no matter how much I like the shirt/dress. Clothes really can help body image.

The same thing goes for other features you may or may not like. For example, I love my eyes and lips but I hate my nose. How do I not fret about my nose? I accentuate my eyes and avoid makeup styles and glasses that might bring attention to my nose.

Now that I've spent so much time on physical appearance, it's time to say what I think that phrase really means. I don't think it's supposed to be about our bodies. I think it's supposed to be about out personalities. I don't think I'm alone when I say I could spend hours listing my faults. Everyone has them, no one has exactly the same faults as anyone else. I think "love yourself for who you are" means to love yourself even though you have faults. Again, this doesn't mean you shouldn't work on yourself. I just think it means love yourself while you strive to make yourself a better person. There is no reason you should hate yourself. You might hate things that you've done, but that should never keep you from loving yourself. Rafiki said this better than I ever could.

Rafiki was teaching Simba to love himself for who he is. That's really what The Lion King means to me. Simba still has his faults at the end of the movie, but he doesn't hate himself anymore.

How to be classy

I want to share something this week that has to do with fashion. I've had a hard time deciding what to share. I've decided to share a lesson I prepared for the girls back home about modesty a few years ago. The great thing about this lesson is it's designed in a way that it won't change with time. I want to share it in hopes that someone, some where, can get some ideas from it. This will be modified from the original lesson a little, but it's basically the same thing.

When I was a younger I was awkward (who isn't?) and I never thought boys would like me ever. When I got to high school boys were suddenly paying attention to me and I loved it. I soon realized that boys like cleavage. I was not lacking in this field and I figured there would be no harm in showing a little so I would wear increasingly lower cut shirts. I had heard the lessons in church about modesty but it was always something along the lines of "dress modestly because you're told to." I'm stubborn and a little rebellious (not much, but I tend to like to do the opposite of what I'm told when I'm not given a good reason. I once really wanted to get married just because my friend said I couldn't get married before her because her and her boyfriend had been dating longer and I thought that was a silly reason). It took a while before I realized there was a good reason I was told to dress modestly, and I wished someone had given me a better reason. I have come up with three reasons.

1. Dressing modestly shows you have respect for yourself. When you cover up you're telling people you don't need to be an object to feel good about yourself. You're confident in who you are in all ways, not just in your appearance. Girls that dress immodestly give off the impression that they feel they can only impress people with their bodies. In the business world it shows that you have little confidence in your abilities. While girls that show up to job interviews in short skirts and falling out of their shirts may get the job sometimes, in any respectable work places it wouldn't fly. You're taking away from your resume when dressing like that. It gives the message to your future employer that, no matter how impressive your resume is, you don't have the confidence in it to get you a job alone. 
2. Dressing modestly shows you have respect for others. Let's use the interview example again. When a girl goes in for a job interview with things hanging out and what not, it distracts the interviewer from the resume. If the interviewer is male, he may have a hard time looking at your face. I don't care what you may say about the interviewer, this is what happens. It doesn't matter if he's looking at your chest, legs, midriff, what ever is showing, or decidedly behind you or above you or down at what ever is in front of him. The fact still remains that he's not looking at your face. I don't know if many girls realize this, but revealing clothing can be distracting for female interviewers, as well. It may or may not be in the same way. Now put this in the every day world. Nearly every day you will see people. Most of these people don't want to see everything you have at once. Dressing immodestly is bound to make someone feel uncomfortable around you every day.
3. Dressing immodestly for a boy will not impress him and if it does he's not a boy you should be trying to impress. I think this is pretty simple and straight forward. Most women want to feel respected by men. If a guy is talking to you and dating you because he likes your (enter body part here), where is that relationship going to go? That's right, to the entered body part. If you're looking for a good, healthy relationship, impress a boy with your laugh, brain, wit, what have you. I'm not saying don't look good. Do look good. Looking good is important. But, as Michael Kors said at some point on Project Runway, you don't have to show everything to have sex appeal. 

Another bit in this lesson I gave had to do with shopping. I'm going to shorten this section considerably because it's hard to type. I had girls pick things that went together to make a point.

It is possible to make almost anything modest by layering. Always have good white and black camisoles. The best way to layer is by following this check list in the order I will present it:

1. Color If your reds are a little off and right next to each other someone will notice. If your colors clash horribly everyone will notice. This is the first thing people will see
2. Style The next thing people see is style. You don't have to be close to someone to see that they mixed styles that compliment each other or didn't. I can spot style clashes from 50 feet easy and I can't be the only one.
3. Fabric Not many people can tell exactly what type of fabric you're wearing until they're within talking distance. It's important to match fabrics, this will just be the last thing people see. 

Now, don't go crazy layering. The less you wear t-shirts under tank tops the better. Layering doesn't always have to be like that, either. It's perfectly acceptable to wear a nice blazer over a more revealing blouse to make it less revealing. If you really want to wear t-shirts under things, make sure your neck lines compliment each other. A good example is a crew neck with a halter top. That looks tacky. I actually think most halters look tacky anyway, but that looks especially tacky. If you're not like me and do like halters, scoop or v necks look the best with them. 

When you go shopping, go shopping with someone, preferably someone that is blunt. Ask them if something looks tacky if you can't decide. It's also nice to have someone there to tell you if your butt crack is showing when you sit down. Always make sure you sit down when trying on pants, shorts, skirts, and dresses. Decide how long you want your skirts and make sure they're still that long when you sit. Bend over, move around, make sure your clothes actually fit and won't fall off. 

And finally a word of advice: Get classic clothes. A pair of nice jeans will never go out of style. Fads can be nice but they won't last. But never give up! I entered the mature clothing stage in the early millennium when all the shirts were short and the pants were low and butt crack was the new cleavage. Bermuda shorts didn't exist, knee length skirts were rare, knee length dresses even rarer. When there is a slump in good clothes, just wait it out. Buy classic clothes while you can and they can last you until you feel comfortable with the styles again.

Lead vs Rhythm Guitar: My opinion as a nonguitarist

I've been thinking about this topic since I had to compare a song written in the 1950s to a song written in the last 10 years. The assignment was to compare and contrast the two songs and then do a short personal response. While I was writing the response I had an epiphany. When I love a song, it has a solo or some type of solo aspect to it. I realized this while I was listening to different recordings of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," particularly the one I've included in this post. Now I don't think Chuck Berry is a master guitarist, though I do love his music. I've definitely heard better solos and other guitarists are my favorite. Jimi Hendrix is, in my opinion, the greatest guitarist ever to live, followed closely by Yngwie Malmsteen. But that is not really the point of this, just a random thought I've included. The point is, I don't understand the role of lead guitarists in a lot modern music.

The lead guitarist is supposed to be the head of the band, the most important of the instruments. If you take the lead guitarist out the song shouldn't be able to stand on it's own. That's why it's called lead. Really, you shouldn't be able to take any instrument out and still have a stand on it's own song, but that, again, is not the point. Lead guitarists lead. They're the lead because they can play more than just rhythm guitar, they can solo.

I am saddened by the fall from soloing and I blame grunge rock. I understand how music got to grunge. The 80's was getting ridiculous. Solos went crazy long, were crazy hard, and became a time just to show off. A lot of the time solos weren't even in songs, they were a show case that lead into a song. I can understand how that can get old. If you don't understand the technicality of these solos they wouldn't be interesting. I just think grunge took it a little too far.

Rhythm guitar, to me, is something that happens during the verses and chorus. It purposely doesn't draw attention to itself. Good rhythm guitar compliments the melody, doesn't overpower the singer, and is just catchy enough to get the song stuck in your head. I don't like when it's the main thing in the bridge of a song. A bridge is supposed to be different. I don't like what bridges have become. It seems to me that bands today try to see how many layers of things that have been repeated through the whole song they can get at once. I don't find that interesting. I think it's boring and a short cut to making song writing easier. Now, bands that change things up in the bridge, make one or two instruments stand out, whether it's technically a solo or not, that is interesting.

Now I will explain why I feel this way. I consider myself to be a pretty good musician. I couldn't be a professional musician but that is simply because I'm not willing to put in the time to polish that much or to pick one instrument. My main two instruments are piano and percussion. For the sake of this blog post, I'm going to focus on my experiences with jazz band. My senior year of high school I finally discovered an instrument my high school jazz band uses in every song that I love playing. It was bari sax. I love that instrument but it took me a while to find it. Here's my story.

I started my middle school jazz band playing drum set. Besides the struggle of fighting the guys for any fun parts, I had a serious problem. The way I played drum set was technical. I had the technical skills to copy people and know what would sound good. The problem with that is I couldn't hear the music in my playing. I felt like I was just banging random drums, even when I was copying a drum solo from some well known band. It was boring, I didn't like it, so the next two years I played piano.

The problem for me with jazz piano is I can't solo. Give me the chords, I can comp. It's not that hard for me to see the chord and make an interesting rhythm with the chords. Rhythm guitar is the same thing. It's basically, make this chord progression unique and interesting. I honestly think anyone who knows chords and has a sense of rhythm can do this. Soloing is hard. When you solo you have to take into account the chord progression and the type of scale you're in and rhythm and different octaves. It's a lot. I can solo with one hand on the piano. Throw in the other hand and suddenly I'm overwhelmed. So I took two years off jazz band, gave up on learning the trumpet, and learned the saxophone.

I can improvise really well on one instrument. I don't know why, but I can solo on vibraphone with 4 mallets. This, really, is how I've formed my opinion of soloing. I think true soloists have a talent in them that reveals itself through their instrument. It's the same concept as painting. Anyone can learn to paint, anyone can learn to solo. Only those that really have a gift can continually progress. Those with that gift also tend to be faster learners. I don't have that gift. After high school, I decided to stick with what I'm comfortable with, classical music.

When I listen to music I want to be impressed by something. I don't listen to songs just because they're catchy. My favorite bands are my favorite because I am impressed by their song writing abilities, technical skills, ability to mesh sounds, etc. It's hard for me to hear talent in many bands today because of their reliance on rhythm guitar. I love listening to solos. I can hear the talent in solos. I love listening to solos particularly by classic metal guitarists. I sit there and I am in awe and the speed and exactness of it. I can hear the influences and the skill. I may not be able to hum it, but I rarely hum songs anyway so it takes nothing away from my music listening experience and actually increases the pleasure that listening to music brings me.

Take care of your toes

I almost always have my toe and fingernails painted. I've done this for so long that I need to have them painted now for me to feel comfortable. Why does this matter? It doesn't, really. I've just been thinking about appearances lately and how your toes play into your appearance.

In my family we dress to look good. We don't wear things that aren't flattering. Every time I'd go shopping with my mom and I tried on something that I thought looked cute on the hanger but it didn't look cute on me, my mom would ask "What does that do for you?" That's generally what I think when I'm shopping or someone asks me for my opinion on their clothes or when I just see someone wearing something very unflattering.

The thing about toes is it's really easy to cover them. Shoes and socks are like make up for your toes. If they're hairy or have weird nails, covering them with shoes is the fastest way to fix it just like make up is the fastest way to hide a blemish. This is why I have decided those that really care about their appearance take care of their toes.

There was a girl in one of my classes that I sat next to quite a bit. Her style was very young, so I didn't think she had much interest in fashion. I was surprised to find out she is actually very interested in fashion. This confused me and I started to wonder why I'd thought this. I realized the biggest reason was not her very young fashion sense, it was her toes. She wore flip flops every day and her toe nails were in desperate need of maintenance. I was surprised she didn't have scratches on her legs, but maybe most people aren't as active of sleepers as I am.

So why are toes so important? Because they're easily overlooked. You can be successful and look successful without ever showing your toes. It's the same idea as shaving your legs in the winter. No one is going to see your legs since pants are generally worn, you do it for yourself. That, I believe is the bottom line of my thought. No one is going to ask to see your toes, no one will ask you to roll up your pants in the winter, few people will ask why you don't work out. You do it for yourself.

I don't think you have to go out and spend a lot of money to look good. While people may enjoy manicures, pedicures, facials, etc, you don't need them. What you spend on your looks is up to you. For example, I feel comfortable spending a rather large amount on hair cuts because I have difficult hair and if I don't I have to find someone to fix the cheap hair cut. Whenever I'm asked where I get my hair cut and how much it is, people are shocked. Those people do not need expensive hair cuts. Some people are really bad at applying nail polish or maybe they just find manicures or pedicures relaxing, so they choose to spend money on those. I don't, don't think I ever will, but I am also pretty good at giving myself those. You don't need designer clothes, just clothes that fit. Looking put together is within everyone's budget. There's not even that many essential clothing items. I have just decided that I will include a list of these.

Essential clothing for women:

• Black and/or brown skirt
• Black and/or brown dress pants
• Black and/or brown close toed heels or flats (or both! I really like shoes...)
• At least one pair of well fitting jeans
• Button down white and/or black shirt
• A belt

If the "or" option is picked, I suggest picking black or brown in all of the options. Black and brown is very hard to match to each other.

Essential clothing for men:

• Dress slacks (black, brown, navy, tan, olive, just have some)
• Matching belt and dress shoes (It looks kind of funny when you have a brown belt and black shoes)
• At least one tie
• At least one pair of well fitting jeans
• White button down shirt
• Here's an optional one for you men! A suit or sport coat (I strongly suggest having one, but they're expensive and, in most cases, it's not absolutely necessary)

Well, there it is. Steph's view on appearance. I hope you enjoyed.

Sunday Spiritual Thought: Testimonies and Intellectualism

I enjoy facts. I like things to be proven and well documented. I want to see with my eyes what makes things happen and I will not just trust someone that something is right. A good example of this is 2 classes I took last year. While I did not do that great in ECON 110, I enjoyed the class. This was mostly because my professor would say "If you don't understand calculus, zone out for the next 60 seconds" and then explain why some equation would work using calculus. I did much better in STATS 121 but I detested it. My professor would give us these random numbers that were constants and then say "You'll just have to trust me that it works." I don't like this at all. I still do not know why those numbers work and that bothers me. While I am able to do basic statistic problems, I do not know why I get the answers so I will not do statistic problems.

What does this have to do with testimonies? Good question. I've recently come to notice a general train of thought when it comes to members of the LDS Church. It might be present in many faiths, I don't know, I'm not of many faiths, I am of one. This thought is that it's hard for intellectuals to have testimonies. Until recently, I have not really considered myself an intellectual. Perhaps I'm not one, but I fit the category as described by many. In some people's eyes, I am an intellectual. In a scientist's eyes, I'm probably not. Either way, I like things to be proven. This being said, I would like to share how I came about my testimony that God is our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.

I cannot remember a single Sunday growing up that my parents just decided not to go to church. The only times I can remember not going is when I was sick, we were snowed in, or we were travelling. Even when we were travelling, I remember going to church almost every Sunday we were on the road. The only exception I can remember is when we were visiting my grandpa on a Sunday. He is not religious and family comes before anything else so we would visit with him instead of going to church. As a child I simply did not doubt my parents or their testimonies.

The first time I remember doubting religion in general was sometime between 7th and 9th grade. I don't remember an exact year, but I know it was in there. I had a hard time believing there was a being I could not see that cared about me, cared about what I did with my life, and knew me personally. The vastness of God was just too much. My "prove it" tendency came out and I could not find anyone that could prove that there was any type of god.

This type of thought came and went for a few years. I remember telling my mom that I didn't know if I had a testimony or not and she told me that I did, I just didn't know it and she could tell I did because this bothered me so much. I did not believe her, but I realized I was bothered by not knowing because of two reasons: 1) I did not know and I don't like not knowing things and 2) the idea of a world and life with no meaning is incredibly sad to me. I could not accept that we come to this life, conscious beings, from nothing and then die and become nothing again. The thought of only leaving a legacy, not continuing after this life, is kinda depressing if you really think about it.

Once I realized this, I knew I had to find out if life is depressing or if there is some other purpose. Growing up in a church-going family really helped me find a place to start. The interesting thing is, I hadn't even started looking when I found the answer.

By this time I was in early morning seminary. Every morning I would get up sometime between 4:30 and 5, get ready for school, and leave at 5:30 to get to seminary by 6, which was held at the teacher's house. I hated it. I am not a morning person and I only went because my parents expected me to and I've never liked disappointing them. Some time in the first two years of this, I was trying to find a scripture to start the class off with (We rotated doing a spiritual thought and prayer by week) and I opened up The Book of Mormon. I liked doing this because you can find a good spiritual thought on almost every page of that book of scripture. The scripture I found that day happened to be 2 Nephi 11:7

 7 For if there be ^ano Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no ^bcreation. But there is a God, and ^che is Christ, and he cometh in the fulness of his own time.

That highlighted part is the part that really struck me. I'd always had a hard time accepting that the whole world just evolved by chance into what it is. It just seemed a little far fetched to me. I have never been able to just accept that conscious life just happened by chance. People are too complex, animals are even too complex. There had to be something there prompting it along. I agree with a biology professor I had a few semesters ago in saying God may have used evolution to create the world. He is the greatest scientist ever, after all. Even if he didn't, I will never say it does not exist after the creation, there is just too much evidence saying evolution exists.

After finding this verse, I decided I needed to find the true religion. Since I found the verse in The Book of Mormon, I figured the religion I was raised in was a good place to start. I also trust my parents and consider them to be very intelligent. If they have testimonies that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church, there must be a reason why. They wouldn't believe it blindly. I began asking questions in church and to my parents. I had a lot of questions but every answer I was given made sense, there was no contradiction between them. Slowly, I gained a testimony all for myself.

I know God is real. It has been proven to me beyond the shadow of a doubt. I know he is a God of order and his church would be the same across the world and organized in a way where that could easily happen. He is a kind and merciful God and would allow a chance for every one of his children to return to him. I know Jesus Christ was sent to earth to die for us for just that reason. I know they appeared to a young Joseph Smith to restore the true church to the earth. This I know for myself. I have studied it, I have prayed about it, and I've received answers to my prayers.

If anyone that reads this doubts that intellectuals can have testimonies, I hope I have shed even the tiniest ray of light into that thought process. Intellectuals can have testimonies. Religious universities and colleges everywhere are evidence of this. Testimonies come when they are searched for, just like any other knowledge. Those that truely understand things are those that study whatever it is that's being understood. Anyone can come to know anything if they only put in the effort.

Words are tools

I've been thinking a lot about words. I like words. Anyone that knows me knows that I love to discuss. I love to hears other's ideas and to share mine. I also do not like to beat around the bush. One of the worst parts about my job is when I ask "How can I help you?" or "What's the emergency?" or anything else along those lines and it takes forever for the caller to get to a point where I can figure out what they need and how to control the call in order to get the necessary information out of them (Note: If you ever call 911 or a non-emergency police line, get straight to the point. The dispatcher will ask you for exactly what happened when they need it. The first priority is to get officers to your location as fast as possible and let them know what they're dealing with). Recently I've specifically been thinking about contention.

I believe there are different types of contention. The first type is the type mentioned in the Bible when it says contention brings Satan into the home. This type I will call contention for the sake of contention. This is when you argue because no one is willing to admit they were wrong or sit down and figure out a solution. No one actually wants to find a solution, they just want to be right. It's very hard to talk to people like this. There is no point in it. It brings Satan into the home, school, where ever this takes place and once Satan is there, he's not leaving until you make him.

Another type of contention is unaware contention. This is people that don't realize they're being contentious. This happens when someone feels the need to share an opinion every time someone shares something that they don't find funny or don't agree with. All intentions are good, well most of the time. A lot of times this is seen as debating by the unaware contention starter. I actually find this type to be the most annoying. If I lived in an ideal world, everyone would know exactly what they were saying and how it sounds to others. I don't think anyone is innocent of this, but some just do it more than normal.

The last type of contention is what I consider good contention. I find it healthy and convenient. It's not really contention, in my opinion. It has it's uses. What many consider contention is not really contention. It is a way to resolve things. I, personally, hate passive-aggressive behavior. People who run from "contentions" force others into passive-aggressiveness. I think that's just plain rude. Another way contention is good is it gets things out there and fixed faster. When people run from this "contention" it prolongs problems and just causes more problems and eventually you get real contention.

Tune in next week for some other random thought at some random time!

And then there was an attack on music

I've finally done it, I've started a blog. Why? Because I just have too many thoughts that I want to yell at the world but there just isn't enough time in the day so I thought this would be simpler. So now I will share my thoughts with the world through a blog, starting with my thoughts on rock music.

I am currently in a class called Philosophy and Sociology of Rock and Roll. I've really enjoyed this class and the teacher. Before this class, I hadn't really noticed when people bash on rock or call it evil. When the professor would start talking about how often it's called evil, I would just think he was stuck in his childhood and that stuff didn't happen any more. I've come to realize, I was just oblivious. The bashing isn't as prominent as it used to be, but it's still there. I should have figured this out when I realized AC/DC does not stand for "Anti-Christ, Devil Child" but actually for "Alternating Current/Direct Current" but I didn't. I didn't really figure out how often I hear bashing of rock music and the musicians in it until yesterday while at work.

A coworker was talking about a young family that named their child "Jagger." This coworker asked if any of us would name our children after any of The Rolling Stones and my immediate answer was "yes." I really would. Brian Jones was a brilliant musician. While I'm not a huge Stones fan, I respect Jones' music and the influence he's had on basically everything since. He was the one that really brought the blues back into rock and roll after the 50's died out. He is the one that started electric rock as we know it today. I might even name my kid after Keith Richards because he is also an amazing musician and I believe he is a pretty good guy. He's recently written an autobiography called Life that has been highly recommended to me and I plan on reading. There are other musicians I would name my kids after first, but I wouldn't rule these two out.

After my response, the story most members of the LDS church have probably heard at some point came up. Elder Gene R. Cook sat next to Mick Jagger on an airplane at some point in his life. When asked what impact his music has on the people listening, he responded that it's supposed to drive them to sex. While I do believe this conversation happened, I do not believe that Jagger was completely serious. Let me share why.

When The Rolling Stones first came into the spotlight, it was at the same time as The Beatles. The Beatles had this clean cut, guy you'd like to bring home to meet your parents type look going for them. They tried to make music that both teens and adults could enjoy. The Rolling Stones decided to give the opposite image. They were the long haired, drug using, guy you'd date if you're being rebellious band. They did not try to target adults with their music at all. They did not try to keep their drug use quiet and got arrested several times. This was their image. It was purposefully the opposite of The Beatles. (The Beatles were also heavily in to drugs. If anyone doesn't believe me, just google it).

The Stones wanted to keep that image alive. That doesn't mean they were the devil, it just means they were entertainers and actors in every day life. If anyone has watched their rock and roll circus, they'd know The Stones went for shock factor. While singing "Sympathy for the Devil," Jagger rips off his shirt and the devil is drawn on his chest. Anyone that actually knows that song would know it's not saying Jagger is the devil, it's saying the devil causes all the evil in the world and we, as humans, are bound to sympathize with him. The devil on Jagger's chest was simply to get reactions out of people.

Now take that same person and put him next to a man that introduces himself as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I don't think anyone will argue with me that religious people tend to be the first to question and even attack any type of new music. (Note: This is not an all inclusive statement. I'm in a class full of members of the LDS church and we obviously love all types of music, especially rock, and I know we're not the only ones nor of the only faith that love any good music.) Elder Cook gave this talk in 1988, but I don't know when this conversation happened. No matter when it happened, Jagger had to have been performing for a decent amount of time, seeing as he was in a magazine. During that time, he'd been called the devil and other not so nice things. Put yourself in his shoes. You're now a man that has been attacked for years by many people, religious people among them, you have an image of a bad boy so it doesn't matter what your personal beliefs are, you're bad, and you are a natural entertainer that goes for shock factor whenever possible. What would you do? Give shocking answers.

I do not believe The Rolling Stones aim to make their listeners have sex. Are some of their songs about sex? Yes. Is that what all of their songs are about? Not even close. Many of their songs, especially from Beggars Banquet, Sticky Fingers, Between the Buttons, and Exile on Main Street, are very good and have good meanings. Her Satanic Majesty's Request is another album that isn't about sex. I don't think it's very good, but that's not the point of this thought. The whole point of this is to say give music a chance.

I would not name my child after Mick Jagger. I think he's very egotistical and I do not want my child to be named after a man with 4 kids from 3 women who can't seem to keep his life together, even if he is a good musician. I also think he's sold out too much. I understand that bands need to sell out some times to survive, but Jagger's music has just become too commercial for me. I will, however, defend him and other musicians that have been attacked for years and probably for years to come. I encourage anyone that has questions about different bands and music to look into it and find out for yourself if it's good or not. Look up lyrics, it's so easy. Don't listen to anything that makes you uncomfortable. There are certain chord progressions and chords that give off an unpleasant sound. You will hardly ever see an augmented fourth/diminished fifth in classical music because of that very reason. If that type of sound affects you in a negative way, then don't listen to it. It's that simple. But never, ever attack someone else's music.

I do not condone listening to music with obviously negative and sinful lyrics. If a song is blatantly pro sex, violence, drugs, or anything else that would fall into this category, I will not be allowing my future children to listen to it, I will ask whoever is playing it to turn it off if I'm around, and I will tell anyone that asks my opinion not to listen to it. I will not write off bands because they may have some songs about that. The amazing thing about our world and how we get music is you don't need to buy the whole album anymore. If you really want to support a band, buy their cd, but if you just like one song, you can do that, too.

For the record, musicians that I deem worthy of naming a child after are as follows: Jimi Hendrix, John Paul Jones, Ian Paice, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Chuck Berry, Roy Khan, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Robert Plant, Jon Lord, Ritchie Blackmore, Pete Townshend, Tony Iommi, Brian Jones, and Keith Richards.