So I decided recently to start a new blog for my class called “Sustainable Steve”. The purpose of the blog is to find ways to conserve energy and be sustainable while in your dorm room. I hope it pans out like I am planning.
Here’s the link: http://sustainablesteve.wordpress.com/
It is no secret that Jimmy Buffett is my favorite entertainer, and his music has had a profound impact on my life. So I set out on a mission to find my top 5 JB songs. And believe me, this was no easy task. Jimmy has been making music since the late 60’s, and his first album came out in 1970. Since then he has released 30 albums, and I love them all. But here are, in my opinion, the 5 songs you cannot go without hearing before it is all said and done:
1. Volcano
Favorite Lyric: “You better lava me now, or lava me not!”
This is my all time favorite Buffett song. The reason I like it so much is due to the sound of the keyboard, played by Mr. Michael Utley. It’s got a bounce that will instantly brighten your mood, and I feel that that should be the point of all JB songs. It is just a goofy song about not really planning for things to go bad, which seems like a bad idea. But somehow, Jimmy makes it work.
2. One Particular Harbor (Live)
Favorite Lyric: “Lakes below the mountain, flow into the sea. Like oils applied to canvas, oh how they permeate through me.”
This song uses Tahitian lyrics to start the song. Roughly translated, they mean, ‘Nature lives, life to nature. Have pity for the earth, love the earth.’ This song has an ancient, tribal feeling to it. And when I recall this song live, I get chills when I think about the sell-out crowds of Riverbend singing it in unison. It’s a real shame that I only get to hear this song the way it was meant to be heard once a year!
3. Growing Older But Not Up
Favorite Lyric: “I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead!”
This song contains a great philosophy. You can’t stop getting old, but you don’t have to grow up. It reminds me of the song “Young At Heart” by Frank Sinatra. It reminds me that you’re never too old to stop having fun. I’m thankful that I was exposed to this song at a relatively young age, so that I can grow older with it’s lyrics in mind.
4. La Vie Dansante
Favorite Lyric: “Why don’t you wander and follow La Vie Dansante?”
Jimmy Buffett has the unique ability to take you around the world (if you construct the right playlist). The tour can stop in France, Tahiti, Mexico, etc. I’m a big fan of all the different languages he uses. In La Vie Dansante, JB instructs you to follow ‘The Dancing Life’. La Vie Dansante to me means that life is the soundtrack you dance to. You really can’t worry and stress about too many things if you’re dancing. I am a self-proclaimed terrible dancer, but I still have fun doing it.
5. School Boy Heart
Favorite Lyric: “I’ve got a school boy heart, a novelist eye, stout sailor’s legs, and license to fly…”
It was hard to pick a favorite lyric because I enjoy the whole song. JB uses this song as an autobiography that Mary Shelley would be proud of. In fact, he throws in a Frankenstein reference. Bizzare? Yes. Perfectly used? Yes. Jimmy describes how he is made up of all these different parts, and I really related to that. It seems to me that everyone is composed of things that they value. And this is Buffett’s statement of values.
Everyone should listen to these songs at least once. And if you want more information, please contact me. I’m always glad to discuss JB, and the Parrothead Philosophy.
College is about expanding your horizons. The way that this happens most is through classes. Duh. Right now I have an opportunity to do just that. I have a class called Environmental Communication, and it is an Honors Seminar. An Honors Seminar is special in itself because it is a cross-disciplinary class that focuses on very specialized and relevant topics.
The final project is to create something relating to Environment Communication, and implement it. In the vagueness of the description comes the freedom of the project. It reminds me of grade school book reports. If you had to do a report on an assigned book, it was probably lame. But if you could do it about a book of your choice, then your eyes lit up when you presented.
So I thought to myself, what can I do that relates the environment to communication? And then it became quite clear to me that the answer was a blog. I still haven’t decided on the name. I’m between REDcycle and The GreenBird (both plays off the Louisville Cardinals). But once I figure it out, expect links and harrassment to check it out.
Until that time, any comments with suggestions relating to sustainability, recycling, or the environment would be greatly appreciated. A camper is always looking for logs to put in the fire!
So I was wondering today, “Why haven’t I written a blog post, only slightly twittered, and lost touch with most of the people I’ve met over the summer?” And I came to this conclusion, I’m in college.
Classes
This is one of the main differences between my time in college and my time during the summer. Classes DO conflict with social media. One of the main reasons that classes detract from my online time is that professors don’t know how to best utilize social media. I wish I got a tweet when class was canceled, instead of wasting the gas and time to find out that the teacher is ill. I wish that teachers had Wordpress blogs for their classes that provide supplemental instruction. Louisville attempts to do this with a site called Blackboard. And while this is a step in the right direction, there is still much room for improvement.
Extra Curriculars
All the things outside of class disappeared in the summer, and then became a part of my life again in August. Pike obviously takes up most of my time, but things like InterFraternity Council, Work, and church take up a moderate chunk of my time. Perhaps I should start allotting time to blog, and Twittering from my phone more often. It is definately harder to find time to invest in social media during the school year.
Distance
Being in Louisville has put a strain on the relationships of all the people I met and worked with in Cincinnati. It is inevitable. People I saw on a daily or weekly basis, I have almost lost touch with. Thankfully, LinkedIn is keeping our connection alive. But maybe I’m relying too much on LinkedIn. Maybe a personal email is a better way of telling people what is going on in my life, rather than Facebook or LinkedIn.
With this post, I am going make a conscious effort to live out these things to become more connected. And if you ever wondered where I was, I apologize for not keeping you more up to date. But there is some insight here beyond myself. Some of the ideas relate back why it is hard to sell college students on anything except Facebook.
After a long hiatus, the blog is back and running. I’ve decided to take a more personal approach to my posts, because after all, they are easier to write (and probably just as interesting).
I just got a new job, and I am enjoying it. I am a student assistant at the University of Louisville’s IT Center. It’s great because I can be near a computer. I have gotten used to this luxury! But the power just went out on campus, so the phone’s are dead but we’re on generators.
There is a lot of fun stuff coming up for me like iniating all of our pledges, the Cardinal Football game this weekend, and a final project in Environmental Communication (which will involve blogging). There is more to come on the projects as they develop!
