Beauty is...

I started this morning with an unfinished paper for my Comp II class. The assignment was to write a 1-2 page essay with each body paragraph beginning with the words "Beauty is..." I came to school today prepared to skip American History this morning so I could have it finished by 2:00 (which is when my Comp II class starts). Well, instead of skipping American History, I attended class and finished the paper during the hour I usually spend getting lunch. 'Cause I'm just a regular Superman like that. Anyway, I felt like sharing the stupid thing since it was so hard to write, so here it is. Notice that I (un)intentionally and (un)creatively left it untitled.

What makes a person beautiful? Is it physical characteristics—blonde hair, blue eyes, slim figure, and a well-formed face? Obviously these answers differ from person to person. Not all people find the same features attractive. And in any case, how fair is it to judge a person’s beauty solely on their looks? Doing so only demotes the concept to that age-old taunt, “Beauty is only skin-deep.” Rather, people exhibit beauty in ways that transcend outward appearances.

Beauty is more than physical appeal. It is not what magazines sell as beautiful. It cannot be found in the right products with the right brand names, purchased at the right stores. Beauty is not the girls buying into the latest trends, believing they can find their own beauty by imitating the cover girls of fashion magazines, slaving to become what pop culture deems beautiful. That is tragedy. Beauty is the girl who cancels all her subscriptions to fashion magazines when she realizes she does not need to resemble a super model to feel good about herself.

Beauty is in the ways people comfort each other. It is the glow of warmth felt by the cancer patient as her family holds her hand, reminding her they will never stop loving her, whether she makes it through the chemotherapy or not. It is the sense of togetherness felt at her funeral, inspired by the gathering of all the lives she ever left a mark on. It is the smile worn by the couple admiring their first child, and the smile worn again as they admire their first grandchild.

All people are capable of beauty. It may not manifest itself in the ways people anticipate, but not everyone gets to model for trendy magazines, and nor does anyone deserve to spend their youth in front of a camera. Such is the beauty that withers away with age, dimming slowly like a fire burning out. True beauty—the beauty of love between different lives—is what makes a person beautiful, and it never fades to black.

Lioness

Caged and lonely lioness

With beauty so mysterious

I wish to set you free—

And I'll settle not for less

The cage that schisms you and me,

Do I hold its golden key?

Or must you be in pain

As I look on, helplessly?

Lioness—roar—once again!

For I can break the distance chain

That keeps us both apart,

That binds you to your barren plain

So weep not o'er your broken heart

It will be mended once we start

To share our loneliness

And love together, heart to heart

I actually wrote this a while back. It was sitting in my drafts of Facebook notes (did any of you recognize the font?) for quite a while, thought I'd dust off the cobwebs and finally publish it.

"Why Should We?" Preview

I have lyrics on this blog to several songs I wrote, but in the end those are just words on a screen. They don't convey any of the music that really brings those words to life.

That is where this video comes from. I want you to hear these lyrics come alive, so I made this one-minute clip of music. It is a sampling of what I have in mind for the song I posted about three posts down called "Why Should We." Hope you like it.

The final version will feature a full rock band (drums, bass, electric guitars, etc.), likely giving it a pop-punk sound. But, this is just to demonstrate the part of my songwriting that works beyond the pencil and paper.

Still Sticking to Your Guns, Tea Party?

Broken up over multiple tweets, I posted this paragraph last night in response to Saturday's shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona by Jared Loughner:

It's too early to say what Loughner's motives were, and too much of a stretch to claim Palin's Tea Party politics are directly responsible. The Tea Party is known for rallying around xenophobic vitriol and jumping to their guns too quickly (so to speak), but we cannot meet such bitter sentiments and hate-mongering with equally divisive blame-gaming. So long as this can be analyzed rationally and handled calmly, we can prevent this act of terrorism from escalating fear and distrust amongst the country's own citizens.

All that being said, I don't want to let the Tea Party off the hook so easy. Hey Sharron Angle, will those Second Amendment remedies bring Gabe Zimmerman, John Roll, and Christina Green back from the dead? And Sarah Palin, still think "Commonsense Conservatives" like Jared Loughner should "RELOAD"?

I understand that it is unfair to hold Palin, Angle, and other Tea Party politicians accountable for the actions of a disturbed young man. However, we cannot let them get away with spouting loaded, rabble-rousing speech any longer. Words have meanings. Actions have consequences. One cannot batter the public with calls to arms, promotions of "Second Amendment remedies," and urges to "take aim" at opposing politicians without expecting some sort of repercussion. It is sad that it took an act of terrorism (and make no mistake, this shooting is terrorism) to realize this truth.

An Ode to 'You'

This is an ode

to the one everybody likes

talking about on the Internet

in status updates, livejournals, tweets--

anything teenagers can get their keyboards on these days.

So many people admire you from

behind their computer screens,

but at times you do frustrate them.

Then they paint their Facebook walls

with aggressive graffiti aimed at you.

While it takes your admirers and enviers

great courage to drop such bold confessions about you--

especially where all their followers can see--

I can't help but wonder why they fail to drop one other little detail:

YOUR NAME (perhaps

they figure you willl know it's you they are speaking to

if they say it where everyone can read it).

I can't deny that

sometimes I wish I was You;

I envy the attention You gets.

That is why I dedicate these lines to him (or her).

May he (she?) forever dwell in anonymity!

And may I never be reduced to 'you'.

Why Should We?

These are some song lyrics I had on the back burner for quite some time now. They underwent many changes, but this is a version I'm finally content with. Feel free to share any thoughts after reading.

Why must we grow old?

When you're young you've got so much to live for.

But the world won't stay the same,

So I guess that means we have to change...

We're not getting any younger

So we can't stand still!

We're not growing any wiser

if we ignore our chance until

it's too late.

And time won't wait

so why should we?

Debts we pay

and debts we still owe;

the promises we make

but never keep to ourselves.

At our time's end

are they all we have to show?

Just empty words in dusty books,

hanging on forgotten shelves?

Forever in forgotten realms...

Life is meant

to be lived at full speed,

To cherish every minute

'cause it doesn't last for long.

But when our time is spent

on things we don't need,

we fade into the background

with no magic in our songs.

We lose the magic in our songs...

So we can't stand still!

We're not growing any wiser

if we ignore our chance until

it's too late.

And time won't wait

so why should we?

Why do the weeks grow ever longer

yet pass by oh so quick?

Why is a man like a candle burning*

at both ends of the wick?

I guess we're not

getting any younger...

so we can't stand still.

We won't grow any wiser

if we put off our dreams until

it's too late.

And time won't wait,

So why should we?

*This line is an homage to Suzanne Cleary's poem "From The Boy's Own Book: A Compleat Encyclopedia of All the Diversions Athletic, Scientific, and Recreative, of Boyhood and Youth by William Clarke"

3-2-1 Lyrics

These are the lyrics to the song we wrote during band practice the other day. It's called 3-2-1.

Every day, it's just the same: we bleed and hurt and cry,
But do we ever ask ourselves, "What is the reason why?"
Suffering and misery, momentary happiness--
Is that what life is meant to be? Is there nothing more to this?
Too late! Your time is almost done.
The clock is ticking, seconds draining--

Three, two, one--time to live your life free of pain, guilt, and fear!
Stop yourself--from falling apart.
Hear me out: don't waste your whole life in fear of the grave!
Take control--of your life today.

They say the only answer to your sorrow and pain
is to beg for forgiveness, to pray you'll be saved.
"Atone for you sins," shout the priests from above,
"Give up your life, and we'll give you our love!"
But that, my friends is all a lie,
told to weigh you down till you die...

Three, two, one--time to live your life free of pain, guilt, and fear!
Stop yourself--from falling apart.
Hear me out: don't waste your whole life in fear of the grave!
Take control--of your life today.

Aaand that's basically it. There's a bridge section after the second chorus we might add lyrics to, but for now it's just instrumental. I might start posting more song lyrics here, too. We shall see...