Associations

The other day I was walking home from campus and I was struck by what I saw on the people passing me. Most of them bore marks which associated with sororities, Obama supporters, Engineering Societies, Nursing majors, The Association of College Republicans, fraternities, the band and the like.


I realized how happy I am to not be associated with any of those things. In fact, I'm not associated with much of anything at all. I'm not in any clubs, I have a major but I don't have any shirts proclaiming, "Sociology Majors Do It Better" or any rubbish like that. I was an Obama supporter but that was after careful consideration, not just because I'm always a Republican or a Democrat. I actually enjoyed having candidates vie for my vote rather than feeling obligated myself to try and convince people to vote one way or another. I choose to live with the people that I live with, and I'm free to go about my business as I please, not forced to participate in inane community or spirit building exercises. I have to go to classes, but I'm not forced to go to any practices where I must run for miles in order to be associated with a sports team.

There is something that just really turns me off about being associated with things. I want to be an amalgamation of my individual likes and dislikes, which are unique to me. I love not having an idea of how I feel about a thing until I am presented with the facts of it and get to decide for myself, as well as not having pressure from some group which expects me to feel one way or the other.

I guess that I don't think bonds should be formed just because of agreement on a subject. I don't want to go to cookouts with you because you are also an Obama fan. I don't want to wear matching shirts because we are both atheists or Christians. That is not enough of a link to make me want to spend time with you. In fact, some of the most interesting people think very differently about the world then I do.

Anyways, I guess if I have to be associated with something, I would like it to be justice, loyalty, honesty, and things like that. Instead of someone saying, "Savannah's a Democrat, she'll probably answer like this..." I want them to say, "Savannah believes in justice, she'll probably answer like this..."
Those are really the only things I can think of that I want to associate myself with, not Future Farmers of America or any such silly thing.

The Dolphins Make Me Cry

In honor of Ms. Britney Spears' birthday today and the dropping of her new album Circus, here is a post about music.

Do any of you ever have this problem? You're listening to a song you've never heard before and you're really enjoying it. Suddenly you hear the dumbest, most awkward, senseless, or repulsive lyrics ever. The song is ruined for you.
Or maybe you're listening to a much loved song for the millionth time, when suddenly a line that used to sound like, "blah rah lah" clarifies itself in your brain to make lyrics that are suddenly understandable and utterly horrifying. This song is also ruined for you.
Maybe I'm the only one that lets song lyrics absolutely ruin songs for me, and I will be willing to accept that none of you care or can relate to this. It's just that today while listening to my adorable little red i-pod shuffle, this happened to me like 10 times in a row. I'm going to list some of the offending lyrics, and you can let me know if I'm overreacting.

First song: "She Wants to Move by N.E.R.D.


This song is one that I have enjoyed many times before. I really liked it... until today. I heard the lyric, "Her ass is a spaceship I want to ride." This occurs at about 1:16 in the song. The lyric in itself is pretty ridiculous but there is something about the way Pharell sings it that just seriously makes it not ok for me. Especially when that guy in the background echoes "Her ass." Weird.

Song 2: Spazz by N.E.R.D.
I am not picking on N.E.R.D. It just so happened that my i-pod wasn't on shuffle mode so I got these two songs in a row. This song had me going with an AWESOME opening beat and then suddenly, the first lyric:


"I'm a little teapot short and stout.." ???!?!?!?!?! OK no. That is not ok. I want some lyrics about pimps and hos and dirrrty cash and my ride. NOT A NURSERY RHYME. Wow. So not cool.

Song 3: Upgrade U by Beyonce and JayZ
Unfortunately embedding for the actual music video was disabled so heres a fan made video so you can hear the song:

Ok I'm loving this song. It's awesome right? And I love Beyonce and Jay. Let's face it, Jay is one of the greatest lyricists of all time. So WHAT was he thinking? Jay sings, "Cuz that rock on your finger's like a tumor." (2:55) Really Jay? Like a tumor? I mean I know it rhymed, but I don't want to be jamming to this song and then suddenly be contemplating finger tumors. No.

Song 4: Flashing Lights by Kanye West
Ok, I could write a whole post on my hate for Kanye lyrics. While he's a good producer he absolutely sucks as a rapper. Today I was listening to this song by Kanye:


when I heard the lyrics, "'Til I got flashed by the paparazzi ,damn these niggaz got me. I hate these niggaz more than the Nazis." (1:18) Wow. You're so clever Kanye, really, but a tip for next time: don't say you hate the people paid to take pictures of you so that you can remain in the spotlight as a rap star more than people who committed genocide and tried to take over the world.

Anyway, there were quite a few more but these were all I could remember. I realize they're all rap songs that I'm talking about and I want you to know that this especially upsets me. Amazing and witty lyrics are what drew me to rap in the first place. All I'm saying is try a little harder people!

Excerpt of a 2 Hour Long Rant

Pet Peeve of the Month: *People who don’t know when to talk about me behind my back.* I encountered someone this past weekend who was entirely uncivilized.

This person, who I'll call 'Rick' (just because I feel that the name Rick really portrays this person) was they type of person who tries really hard to be 'real'. He likes to pretend that he says what he thinks and is just honest and blunt with you because, hey, we're all friends here. Wrong. No. We are not all friends here. I take offense at you when you are offensive.

Listen, I can identify genuine people easily, and while being genuine is definitely not one of my fortes, I can appreciate a genuine person. I still think being genuine is uncivilized, but at least they speak their mind in a way that makes you feel like you can trust them, and I think they make good friends.

Rick is not genuine. He has no censor button. It’s like someone told him that people are endeared to you when you are genuine, but he missed the genuine boat and got on the rude boat.

Here are a few examples from this weekend:

WNB (Me): "My ankle was really hurting me, and I was worried, until I realized I had just been wearing my shoulder bag on the same shoulder all semester and it was doing something to my posture and my ankle."
Rick: "Oh, so are real backpacks not 'in' at your school, and that's why you wear a shoulder bag even though it hurts you?"
WNB: "Wait, what? I had no idea my shoulder bag was hurting my ankle, what are you talking about?"
Rick: "Haha, nevermind."
We can tell that this is not genuine but obnoxious by how Rick demonstrates bad faith in this conversation. He says something rude which didn't stem from ignorance as evidenced by the way he backs down when confronted about his intentions.
Another example:
While sitting and talking, conversation turns to my love of celebrity gossip.
Rick rolls his eyes and says: "Celebrity gossip is so shallow though."
WNB: "That's what I like about it. I think the same things that make me like sociology make me like celebrity gossip. I love knowing what’s going on with pop culture and our society."
Rick: "Oh well if you're approaching it from a sociological standpoint then that's ok, I guess."
WNB: "No, I'm not. It's just fun. It's just a hobby. Besides, I can't think of anything not worth learning about."
Rick: "I think some things are not worth learning about, and that would be one of them."

*Listen kids, I am neither embarrassed nor ashamed of my hobby of reading celebrity blogs. I think they’re fun and entertaining, and I enjoy knowing what's going on in the world of celebrities. Knowing about celebrities is just a hobby, like knowing all about your favorite sports teams. *

When he insinuated that reading celebrity gossip is only ok if approached from an academic standpoint it reeked of a pretentious, and phony academic. Not to mention the fact that it is downright RUDE to tell someone their hobby is lame and insinuate they are shallow to their face.

I'm not saying that people can't disagree with me about the worth of celebrity gossip or secretly think I'm a fashion conscious schickimicki. The problem comes when they feel the need to tell me that to my face.
As Kathy Griffin says, “I was raised right. I talk about people behind their backs.”

Maybe you found this rant unfounded, obnoxious or ignorant. Fine, you're welcome to your opinion. Just please, do me a favor and don't tell me about it, talk about me to someone else behind my back.

We are where we live? I hope not!

Hey.
I thought that you might find this website interesting:http://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp?ID=20&SubID=&pageName=ZIP%2BCode%2BLook-up
I am pretty sure that it is for advertising market research, but I had a lot of fun messing around with it, so I thought you might too.

The deal is, you enter in your zip code and they tell you the segments of the population that live in your area.
An example:When I entered in my current zip code, I got 5 segments of the population. Here is one

Suburban Pioneers represents one of the nation's eclectic lifestyles, a mix of young singles, recent divorcees, and single parents who have moved into older, inner-ring suburbs. They live in aging homes and garden-style apartment buildings, where the jobs are blue collar and the money is tight. But what unites these residents--a diverse mix of whites, Hispanics, and African-Americans--is a working-class sensibility and an appreciation for their off-the-beaten-track neighborhoods. 2007 Statistics: US Households: 1,171,495 (1.03%) Median HH Income: $33,448 Lifestyle Traits Eat fast food Do needlepoint Baby Talk magazine King of the Hill in syndication Suzuki Verona

Skip if you hate cute cat things.

Philanthropy

Brent and I went to a book sale at the public library yesterday. We bought 6 new books each. They were all a dollar, which I initially thought was a little pricey, but some of the books I ended up getting had to have cost around 30 dollars new. This was my stash:
'Handbook of Modern Sociology' -Modern is a relative term as this book was published in 1964.
Volumes 1 and 2 of the 'Survey of Social Science' -This means I only will know Sociology things starting with the letters A-H.
'A Sense of Sociology' by Lee Braude- The back says it will tell me what the career-paths of Sociologists are... something I have been dying to find out.
'Philanthropy: Voluntary Action for the Common Good' by Robert L Payton- This is basically an in-depth look at philanthropy in America.
'Me: Stories of My Life' by Katharine Hepburn
Anyways, I am pretty happy with what I picked out. Not a lot of books for light reading, but I'm trying to start my own reference library for when I do research next semester.

I've been thinking a lot about Philanthropy lately. I looked online for the actual definition:"loving mankind," from phil- "loving" + anthropos "mankind."
I've been wondering if this is actually possible, to love all of mankind.
Soren Kierkegaard said that when it comes to love, the particular is higher than the universal. Isn't this true? Is it possible to love everyone as much as you love your family? Are there different levels of love, a top tier for those special few and on down the rungs until you hit mankind? I don't think love works like that. I feel like if you love someone, that you group them in the category with all others that you love.

Stalin said, "One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic." You know how much America loves a poster child. On commercials asking us to donate money to starving kids in Africa, they always introduce you to one child and tell you his story. They know people won't donate based on the love of all people in a continent, but people will donate thinking, 'That's so sad, I want to help that boy.' Can we love only an individual? Do we have to know the person, and their specific story in order to love them? I agree you can feel pity or compassion for all mankind, but that's different from love, isn't it?

Marx loved the workers and hated the owners of the means of production. He was all about dividing people into two specific groups. I've often wondered if his love of the Proles had only to do with their situation. If they had a coup and took over the means of production, would Marx then have loved the new Proles, the guys he hated yesterday? Majorities turn into minorities all the time. Can we actually love a whole group of people just because of their situation in life? Is this really love, or something else? In order to be a true Philanthropist wouldn't you also have to love the new majority, the new oppressors?

There are lots of jerks who are oppressed. Are we supposed to ignore their jerkiness because of their state? In this way I guess not knowing the individual is actually helpful in loving them. If I knew that the man we were donating money to was a wife beater, it would seriously inhibit my ability to love him. This actually happens to me all the time at football games and amusement parks; I love mankind more before I meet them.

I guess I'm starting to believe that true Philanthropy is impossible. I think that I believe compassion for large groups of people is possible, but I don't agree that you could love the whole world. I don't even think I could love all of my University, or all of my professors or all of my friends.
I was a little depressed about this before, because the idea of loving all of mankind is so romantic and selfless.
Now, I'm beginning to think that love is something too special for the whole world. I think this helps me appreciate those I do know and love because I'm aware that I can only be so big, and know and love a finite number of people.

Equality for All

I am extremely saddened to learn that Californians voted ‘yes’ on Proposition 8
to re-ban same-sex marriages, after a judge already ruled that the ban was
unconstitutional. It is one of first times that Americans have voted to take
away an existing right from a group of people. President-elect Obama’s historic
win which overcame decades of discrimination against African Americans was
bittersweet because other groups are still being actively discriminated against
in this county. I find the decision to re-ban same-sex marriages in direct
conflict with Thomas Jefferson’s words in The Declaration of Independence, “We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Equality is the sentiment our
country was founded on, and one we should strive to uphold.