Summertime

Feels something like summertime
Top down and nothin' but time
Radio's on and your by my side
Feels something like summertime


My List:

1. Visit the Montague Book Mill
2. Ascend Mt. Greylock
3. Eat at the Sonic in Peabody
4. Meet an interesting man in central MA
5. Go camping, in a tent.
6. Attain tickets to the John Mayer concert in Mansfield
7. Make a depressed child fall in love with UMass
8. Ride a horse (again)
9. Drive to P-Town
10. Re-learn Chemistry
11. Make the digits on the scale equal 3, again
12. Go to Fenway for a game
13. Find a canoli I don't like
14. Give the Blackberry a larger role in my life
15. Jump off of a rock, into a body of water
16. Find a constellation
17. Re-think my life
18. Hit 90mph
19. Learn a basic conversation in Polish
20. Find and use roller-blades
21. Climb Mt. Tom... successfully.
22. Drive West.
23. Overcome my fears of seaweed and butterflies.
24. Get my feet back. And maybe my heart.
25.


Making lists- both a strength and a weakness. We'll see how this goes...


These days life goes like this
Wake up, check that off of some list
Gotta be a little something more than this
The botton of my coffee cup

Lies

Some lie in the face of death
Some lie about their fame
Some kneel and lie to God
Some lie about their name

Some lie in words and speeches
With every living breath
The young lie with their guitars
The old lie for a little respect...

Listening to some Elton John this morning, I gained new perspective. Not that I hadn't listened to this song before, but I had never stopped to really think about it. 

Everyone lies. Fact of life. Whether it's a little white lie that you get forgiven for at confession, or a lie about your life that you never regret telling- everyone lies. 

But, for a moment, let's think about what it is that we lie about. For me, I can pinpoint the lies I've told this year on one hand. I've lied to my parents about my test grades. I've lied about my opinion on a piece of clothing. I've lied about what I think of a certain song. And, I've lied to my sister about where money comes from. So now, where do these lies come from? Why do I speak untruths? 

The truth is, I've lied to keep my parents happy. I've lied to keep my friends happy. And I've lied to save myself from giving a ten dollar bill to a four year old. 

But these are only one person's lies, one person's reasons. Imagine the extent to which some people may lie. For some, lies may surround their entire lives. Lies may be the only thing they let other people see. To hear the truth themselves, they may be too afraid, or, for that matter, ashamed. 

So, if fear or shame or any other emotion can dictate lies, can it also dictate truth? Should it dictate truth? To me, the truth is like the dark. Innocent, and free of any instigation. The lies create the light. Thus, the absence of lies allows the truth to prevail. 

Therefore, the answer is no. Neither fear nor any other emotion or ultimatum should instigate truth. Truth should be all that is left after the reasons behind one's lies disappear. 


But what happens if those reasons never disappear? What if someone is too insecure, too afraid, too angry... What if their entire outward life is a lie? Who would know? 


Who would help?




No one. 




And we lie, lie, lie on a streetcar named desire
Oh we lie, lie, lie for that sweet bird of youth
I could be great like Tennessee Williams
If I could only hear something that sounds like the truth.

Write Me a Letter

Write me a letter,
Write me a letter,
Write it today,
I'm goin' away...


Communication today has, unfortunately, commercialized and has become something very impersonal and under-appreciated.

If I had all the time in the world, I would make certain that I call all of the people I care about at the very least, once a week. But in this world we live in, that just isn't practical anymore. Be it for better or worse, people today do not have enough time to appreciate communicating with their loved ones.

Facebook, Twitter, and other social-networking tools have obliterated personal communication on an entirely new level. Now, people can say they keep in touch with others, when really, all they're doing is following status updates. What does that say about society? What does it say about the evolution of mankind? Have we become so busy that we are now all uncaring, disengaged acquaintances? I certainly hope not.

While I, too, have lost myself in the realm of a busy collegiate atmosphere, I still manage to find time to write letters and make phone calls. It's essential, really. I very rarely see some of the most important people in my life. I make sure that I call my parents every few days, my cousins every week, and my friends as often as time allots. In addition, I write letters to certain friends so that they understand that I care about them enough to put in the effort to do so, even when I don't have the time to sit down for a phone call.

Following a mini-feed on Facebook, or following a friend on Twitter do not and can not compensate for staying in touch. It's lazy and very impersonal. Speaking bluntly, not making any efforts past social networking show that you couldn't give two dimes about some people. We all run out of time, we're all busy people. The human race today is the most active it ever has been. However, that shouldn't stop us from caring about people. It shouldn't stop us from involving ourselves in the lives of those we love. And most of all, it shouldn't stop us from communicating personally.

So make a phone call and shoot the shit. Write a letter and sign it with love. Make the effort to show people you care, and maybe... just maybe... you'll make someone's day.

Well I've been away forever
Suicide's crossin' my mind
Well I'll never, never get so far behind
Well I've been so many places
Hidin' from the wind and the rain
But you could write me a letter
For to save me from goin' insane...