Essentials Pt. 2

Books. I'm going to be an English teacher in 2 years now, maybe 2 1/2, we'll see. Either way my ADD makes reading difficult but I get so much satisfaction every time i finish a novel. Eventually I want to be a college professor and teach a class in Literary Analysis or any other type of Literature class. Here's my essential list of books to read.

"Breakfast of Champions"
"Cat's Cradle"
"Slaughterhouse Five"

All by Kurt Vonnegut. My favorite author and in a way, my hero. It wasn't until I finished BoC that I came to this conclusion. I had read SHV and loved it, but that didn't hit me until much later after I finished reading it. His style is genius and so complex, yet simplistic. He blends together everything I love in a book and I can do nothing but read the works of his. Every book has multiple quotes which pertain to him personally that I relate to so well. If you haven't read anything of his, you are truly missing out. Start with Slaughterhouse Five because it's the classic, but don't make your final opinion until you finish Breakfast of Champions.

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer

I was recommended this book but when I read the description wasn't interested. I finally decided to pick it up anyways and it had me hooked. I have recommended this to so many people, including my mother, and all of which share the same admiration. It will make you laugh and cry. There's so much more to the book than what the story entails, and it's so well put together that, based on my preference for reading, it makes perfect sense why I love it so much. It's story includes themes of childhood innocence, loss, family issues, love, fear, and more. The book is a roller coaster of emotions and will make you feel the same way.

"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chances are you read this in school, we all did. Most of us hated it. Behind the overly-detailed descriptions and stories of spoiled rich people is a story more beautiful than anything. In my opinion, it is the best book of the Modernism literary period. It also has a complete disdain for the American Dream, which everyone chased at the time. When it came out, most people hated it, but then, just like me, it hit me.

"Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Steven Chbosky

It's cliche, but one of my biggest regrets is not reading this earlier on in life. It probably would've helped me out a lot. It'll take you a day, and entirely worth it. Also, it has one of the best mixtapes ever made.

"Night of the Iguana" by Tennessee Williams

Playwrights are odd and sometimes difficult to read. But anything by Williams is brilliant if you pay enough attention.

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig

I'm still working through this, and taking my time just like Pirsig says. What I've gotten out of it so far is multiple life lessons that I think anybody can utilize in some respect.

"Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn

Just a mind-bending book, which is more of an informal guide to human culture disguised as a novel. It takes some work but in the end is entirely worth your time.

"Night" by Elie Wiesel

You probably read this in high school too. There's a reason. One of the most powerful books ever written, but also it instills a sense of hope unlike many other books.

"Survivor" by Chuck Palahniuk

Holy. Fuck. also read "Rant" if you can make it through.

essentials

The next few posts will be essentials in specific categories. The first and longest is music...

Against Me!- Crime as Forgiven By...
Against Me!- Reinventing Axl Rose
Animal Collective- Sung Tongs
At the Drive-In- Relationship of Command
Bad Brains- S/T (Roir Cassette)
Bane- Give Blood
Black Flag- My War
Boards of Canada- Geogaddi
Broken Social Scene- S/T
Buried Alive- DOYPW
Count Me Out- Permanent
Crowbar- Broken Glass
Crowbar- Sonic Excess in it's Purest Form
Cult of Luna- Eternal Kingdom
Cult of Luna- Somewhere Along the Highway
Cursed- Blackouts at Sunrise
Cursed- II
Cursed- III
Deftones- White Pony
Do Make Say Think- Winter Hymn, Country Hymn, Secret Hymn
Down- I: Nola (but you should get all of them... oh fuck it...
Down- II: A Bustle in your Hedgerow
Down- III: Over the Under
Elliott Smith- S/T
Foundation- Hang Your Head
Fugazi- Repeater
From Ashes Rise- Nightmares
Godspeed You! Black Emperor- Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennaes to Heaven
Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest
Have Heart- Songs to Scream at the Sun
His Hero Is Gone- Monuments to Thieves
Hostage Calm- Lens
Hot Water Music- No Division
Instilled- Unfinished Business
Integrity- Those Who Fear Tomorrow
Integrity- Systems Overload
Integrity- Humanity is the Devil
Jawbreaker- Bivouac
John Fahey- Days Have Gone By
King Geedorah- Take me to your Leader
Leatherface- Mush
Lion of Judah- Universal Peace
Mars Volta- De Loused in the Comatorium
Mastodon- Crack the Skye
Mental- GAOT
Mewithoutyou- Catch for us the Foxes
MLIW- Witness
Modest Mouse- The Lonesome Crowded West
Modest Mouse- Building Nothing out of Something
My Bloody Valentine- Loveless
Nas- Illmatic
Nick Drake- Pink Moon
O Pioneers!!!- Neon Creeps
Radiohead- Everything
Rachel's- Music For Egon Schiele
The Replacements- Tim
Righteous Jams- Rage of Discipline
Ringworm- Birth Is Pain
Shipwreck- Abyss
Sonic Youth- Daydream Nation
The Smashing Pumpkins- Siamese Dream
A Tribe Called Quest- The Low End Theory
Verse- From Anger and Rage
Weezer- Pinkerton

<3

My Mood Swings

sometimes i feel like there's no way life could get any better. and other times i feel like the only way i'll be happy again is if i were to run off to some far away country. sometimes i feel like i'm living life to the fullest, other times i feel like i'm wasting every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every year. sometimes i feel like my dreams have come true, other times i feel like i'm living in a nightmare. sometimes hell seems so remote, other times it feels far too close. sometimes i feel like i just need to stay where i am, other times i feel like i need to hit the road.

today i realize that maybe i'm just both.