The Seemingly Endless, Violent Cycle

I sat down to blog today intending to write a review about a few movies I've seen recently, but before doing so I logged onto Twitter and saw breaking news headlines about something a little more important, so I'll just have to put that off for now.

According to a number of news outlets, there's been another movie theater shooting, this time in Lafayette, Louisiana during a showing of the movie "Trainwreck." It seems almost appallingly ironic that this has occurred less than a week after the announcement of the verdict in the case against the Aurora shooter, who killed 12 people during a Batman midnight showing nearly 3 years ago and was just today deemed worthy of the death penalty in the state of Colorado. In this current case, 2 people have been killed, as well the gunman who shot the victims and himself with a handgun. I haven't been able to find a source explaining what the shooter's motives were, because according to The Huffington Post, authorities have been able to identify the shooter as only a 58-year-old white man, but are not releasing any more details.

Aside from informing those of you who may not have known this happened, I'm also writing this because I needed a way to try and make sense of what's happening in this country. As most of  you have probably heard by now, the Sandra Bland case is stirring up a lot, (and I mean A LOT,) of controversy about the state of the police force in the United States, and the often apparent use of excessive force, especially against people of color. And now, in the  midst of yet another homicide, also a week after the gunman in Tennessee killed 5 military personnel, we are not only  having to cope with not being able to necessarily trust the authorities, but fear is being instilled in us in regards to each other. We can't trust those who are supposed to protect us, and we can't turn to each other for protection, either.

Given, one bad seed does not an apple make, and I know that not all police have a partiality for violence, and I know for sure that not all people are capable of murder. But here's the thing - maybe it's because I'm getting older and therefore becoming more aware, or maybe things are changing and changing quickly enough to make note of it, but it seems that the very thin, precarious structure of our society is starting to come apart at the seems. In regards to police violence, maybe it's always been a thing, but now people are starting to fight back and that's why there's been so much news about it. People of color, women, disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, and every other person that's faced discrimination for whatever reason are no longer tolerating unjust treatment as anything less than an equal human being. And more power to them. I wholeheartedly believe that this country could use a wake up call. However, I have absolutely no explanation for gun violence, or really any violence, with or without a motive. In the case of these recent shootings in Lafayette and Tennessee, I really don't know how I'll be able to explain those incidences in a way that will help you, and myself, understand them, because I really don't think there's a good enough explanation. There is no reason for someone to shoot unarmed marines and navy officers in a military recruitment office that was open to the public, however you may feel about the military. There is certainly no reason to bring a handgun to a movie theater and shoot people you've never met before.

That brings me to the next argument - maybe the people who commit these crimes (the shooters, not necessarily the police,) have mental health issues and that's what causes them to believe murder/homicide is justifiable. That could very well be the case, which is why the government needs better ways of treating people with mental health issues. From what I can see, the issue of mental health is only really taboo for the older generations; my generation and those around it are leaps and bounds ahead on the road to accepting the importance of mental health. But again, you could tie the presence of rampant discrimination back into this argument and point out that the mental health label is more commonly used in regards to straight, white, male criminals. Anyone else is given a different according excuse.

Honestly, I don't really have any concrete answers to solve these modern (or maybe not so modern) problems that we seem to be facing. I don't know how to stop people from committing crimes or how to prevent cops from being any form of asshole or how to make people as a whole more accepting. I really don't know, and I'm pretty sure no one else does, either, because these things keep happening. All I know is that if we want these things to stop happening, it  needs to be a collective move forward. The majority needs to be those who believe in equality, in peace, in as little corruption as humanly possible, and then they  need to be loud in their effort to achieve their goals because the loud ones are the ones who make change. I, for one, intend to contribute.

P.S. - I watched the CNN story about the Tennessee shooting, but here's where I got my information about the Lafayette shooting, if you're interested.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shooting-at-lafayette-movie-theater-reported_55b1918be4b0074ba5a406bd

Current Music Recommendations

So, as you know, I haven't posted since February, which means I haven't updated you on what I'm currently listening to since before that. So here I am, back and better than ever with the songs/albums/artists I'm currently listening to on repeat. You can thank me later.
(As always, each title is hyperlinked to the video for the song, when available.)


Le Chant des Sirenes by Frero Delavega (A song my high school French teacher introduced me to that I absolutely fell in love with.)

She's Kinda Hot by 5 Seconds of Summer (Thankfully not as sexist as I feared it would be, actually has a really good message)

Tiny Dancer by Elton John (How can you not love this song?)

Hold Me Down by Halsey (I adoorreeee this song and I want everyone to know it, and love it with me.)

American Candy (album) by The Maine (Jumped on this train and I never want to get off)

Black Magic by Little Mix (Top 40 isn't always a bad thing. Plus, the video for this song reminds me of the live-action version of the show Sabrina: The Teenage Witch and I loved that show so I kinda love this song.)

Like I Can by Sam Smith (I don't think Sam Smith is capable of making a bad song.)

Crave by Parachute (I've loved this band since I was like, 9, and their first two albums were EXPONENTIALLY better than their third one, but with this new single I'm hoping they go back to sounding the way they did in their hey-day. This is promising though.)

Fight Song by Rachel Platten (Sue me, I love this song.)

Woman (Oh Mama) by Joy Williams (This song is simple in it's composition, but it gives me goosebumps and I loved the Civil Wars so much, so since they're broken up I've turned to the individual members' music, and Joy does not disappoint. This song is frickin phenomenal.)

Renegade by Styx (Old song, still badass.)

Speechless by Lady Gaga (Another song that was popular back in the 6th grade, but still a jam nonetheless.)

Blank Space/Stand By Me - Live From Spotify London by Imagine Dragons (You haven't heard Blank Space like this before and you never knew you absolutely needed to until now. Just note that the Spotify version is better than the one I linked to but it was all I could find.)

I Guess I Suck But What Else is New?

I haven't written since the day before Valentine's Day. Which was a LONG ASS TIME AGO. So I'm back. And here to tell you about my life in all it's mediocre glory. I'm a nearly-creepy teenage version of a suburbanite blogger mom. Oh well.

Alright, so. I'm officially a high school graduate, so that's cool. I graduated a month ago yesterday, and it was such a surreal process, I don't even fully remember all of it. I remember getting up really early to straighten my hair and do my makeup really nicely in a last-ditch effort to impress peers I'll probably never see again (if I'm lucky). Then my best friend/neighbor came over and we took a few pictures before driving off to get our other friend who lives across the divided highway in our town. We all then drove to school and took a shuttle bus from the elementary school where we students had to park to the high school, where our ceremony was to be held in the gymnasium because of the threat of rain that day, (it never ended up raining but thank God we were indoors because we all got outside after the ceremony and it was effing HOT). We all had to go to the lower level of the school and line up alphabetically up and down the hallways, and we seemed to wait like that forever. After a decade and a half of anxious chatter and cap adjustments, we finally got to process into the gym. From there, we found our seats and proceeded to sit through 3 hours of redundant speeches. Our principal that no one really likes apparently gave the same speech she gave the previous year, and the valedictorian's speech made me want to vomit a little bit because of how subtly condescending it was. And don't even get me started on the guest speaker, who fully admitted to have never done something like that in his life and blatantly didn't even attempt to write a speech. But anyway. I digress. Somewhere between getting our diplomas and tossing our caps, someone started tossing blow-up beach balls and an inflatable flamingo, and everyone loved it except the administrators but there was nothing they could do at that point. After that settled down, we all stood up, moved our tassels from right to left, and tossed our caps haphazardly into the air, which the administrators also didn't like but again, could do nothing about. Which was probably the best part about graduation, the realization that as soon as we got our diplomas, we were free of the public education system. We had no one left to dictate to us exactly what to learn and what to do and how to be. It was so weird, but also long overdue.

That night after graduation, the PTO sponsored an All-Night Grad Party at the local recreation center, and it was actually so much fun. We had access to the indoor pool, there was catering from literally every popular restaurant in our area, karaoke, gambling for raffle tickets, game show simulations, nail/hair/massage salon, candy bar, photo booth, volley ball, basketball, mini car racing, a magic show, huge and expensive raffle prizes, and this thing that's a cross between surfing and a mechanical bull. You had to be there... It was such a great way to spend the hours between 11 PM and 4:30 AM after graduation. I'm really grateful that the parents involved at our school pay more attention to us than our admin. It was also a really fun way to spend time with my peers before everyone splits up for good. Thanks to social media, I'll be able to keep up with people, but it definitely won't be the same. In some ways that's a good thing, but in other ways it's not because I am definitely going to miss people. Especially after I took the time to realize a good chunk of my friends are going to college out of state..

Speaking of college, I know where I'm going! I guess I'll let you in on the secret - I'm going to the College of William and Mary, and I absolutely cannot wait. I've been talking back and forth with my roommate, whom I have not met yet but she seems really cool and she's also from Egypt so that's cool. I've already planned out which classes I want to take and which clubs I want to sign up for and I'm just so excited to get started. I went to a New Students/Parents reception today at an alumni's house, and it was really informative because some current students were there and they answered all of our questions and were super nice and friendly. They also had W&M themed sugar cookies, and that always leads to good things. I'm about a month away from move-in day and orientation, and even though I'm a little nervous about leaving home, I am SO INCREDIBLY PUMPED to get started with the College Experience.

Hopefully I'm not so incompetent that I actually remember to chronicle it here.

My friends from homeroom shortly before the ceremony