Musings For A Darkened Room

Google has unveiled it’s  Halloween logo for 2008!  I’m guessing it started an hour or so ago to coincide with East coast time since I didn’t notice it earlier this evening.  The creepy logo which features an array of carving tools for a pumpkin and a glowing jack-o-lantern has alt text which reads, “Happy Halloween! Doodle designed by Wes Craven”.  I think this is probably the most impressive Google holiday logo that I have seen in some time.  As a bonus the image links to the SERP for halloween 2008.  My excitement for this logo may stem from the fact that it mixes my love of Google and my love for Halloween, but regardless it’s still an impressive logo.  Happy Halloween everyone!

I was in the shower this evening and I usually just sing the first song that pops in my head if I sing in the shower.  Strangely a song I wrote over ten years ago popped into my head in it’s entirety.  I’ve remembered the chord progression to the song forever, but I had forgot the lyrics until literally about ten minutes ago.  So here they are for your enjoyment.

I Do

Could it be the one that saved me
Is the only one that raped me of true love
And as I sit here in the dark
And I know we’re far apart
And I ask myself if this is truly love

Because always seem to find myself alone
And I feel the sorrow when you’re in my arms
Does he hold you close, does he hold you tight
Does he think about late at night like I do
Like I do
No I don’t think so

So when you look into the mirror
And you’re staring back at you
Do you ever wonder if you miss me too
And do you ask yourself if you’re truly in love

Because you always to seem to find yourself alone
And I feel your sorrow when you’re in my arms
Does he hold you close, does he hold you tight
Does he think about day and night like I do
Like I do
No I don’t think so

Though I’ve shown my support for voting no on Prop 8 this November, I’ve stayed off my soap box this entire time.  However after seeing a number of attacks on it from both friend and foe and with elections just around the corner, I feel I finally need to step up and say something.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with California’s prop 8, it is a proposition that if passed would change California’s Constitution and eliminate the right for same-sex couples to marry.  The change would mean that the only recognized or “valid” marriage would be between a man and a woman.  A similar proposition was passed in 2000 by California voters, but was later overturned by 4 Supreme Court judges.

There are a number of points I could make on this proposition that could be argued, but sadly I don’t have time to write a book.  The biggest struggle I have with this, aside from the fact that it is discriminatory, is that I keep hearing people argue that “marriage” is a biblical term and that marriage between a same-sex couple is not “traditional marriage”.  Both arguments which seem wholly rooted in the Christian faith.

If “marriage” is a biblical term should we not recognize the marriage of Muslims, Jews, Pagans, and Atheists?  Clearly nothing biblical could support any of these faiths since they don’t believe in the Christian god and they weren’t married in a Christian church and clearly weren’t married under you’re the Christian doctrine of faith.  Therefore the unions of anyone straight or gay from these religions shouldn’t be recognized or “valid” either.

Next it is argued that same-sex marriage is not the same as “traditional marriage” and a no vote will “redefine marriage”.  Ironically Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary will say otherwise.  If you look up marriage on Merriam-Webster Online this is what you’ll find:

1 a (1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law  (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage <same-sex marriage> b: the mutual relation of married persons : wedlock c: the institution whereby individuals are joined in a marriage
2: an act of marrying or the rite by which the married status is affected  ; especially : the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities
3: an intimate or close union <the marriage of painting and poetry — J. T. Shawcross>

As you can see traditional marriage and same-sex marriage are identical.  The difference is simply who the marriage is between.  Clearly the argument that they are not one in the same is rooted in discrimination and religion.  If that’s not the case I would suggest you get in touch with the publishers of Merriam-Webster and let them know they’ve got their definitions wrong.

If you have religious beliefs regarding marriage feel free to have those beliefs, but don’t force them on the state as a whole.  This isn’t about religion.  This is about equal rights to everyone in our state regardless of their sexual preference.  A no vote on Prop 8 does not force you to change your belief system; it simply allows those who might not share your beliefs the same opportunities and benefits you have.  If two people love each other enough to spend the rest of their lives together, shouldn’t they have the security and rights that everyone else who makes that commitment has?

If you are for prop 8 I leave you with this…If you separate religious beliefs or discrimination from your decision process, do you have any reason to vote yes on this proposition?  Would two men or two women being married actually impact your life or your well being?  There are homosexuals all over the state that go about their lives day to day that you probably cross paths with all the time.  Many of them are in same-sex unions or marriages that have already granted by the state.  Are any of these couples affecting your well being?  There are probably already some in your community that you don’t even realize are there.

I ask you again, if you are pro Prop 8 and you separate your religion or discrimination towards homosexuals from your reasoning do you have any reason to vote yes?  Please consider this when you visit your polling place on November 4.

For more information on Prop 8 and why it is unfair, unnecesary, and wrong visit No On Prop 8

After what seems like weeks since finishing the third installment in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, I finally got around to completing my soundtrack for Eclipse.  As previously mentioned, part of my reason for reading the Twilight books was to create a soundtrack for each of the books after reading them.  Since the start of the series I have created a Twilight Soundtrack, New Moon Soundtrack, and now Eclipse.

In my previous soundtracks I focused on the lyrical content more than anything and I have yet to stray from that formula.  However, I was able to add two more factors into this mix that I had hoped to be able to incorporate at some point while creating these soundtracks.

First, I have always wanted to use one of the bands that made up the Seattle sound or grunge scene of the early nineties. Since the books take place in and around Seattle I felt it was only fitting.  Fortunately for Eclipse I was able to finally achieve this with Alice In Chains’ Grind.  The song was just dark enough and edgy enough to fit the rest of the sound of the soundtrack and still stay somewhat on theme.  The mood of the song I feel is perfect for the rise of the newborn vampires in Seattle and the news surrounding the multitude of murders taking place in the area.

The second was an ode to Stephenie Meyer’s soundtracks and her explanation that Linkin Park was the band she had in mind when writing chapter 7 of Twilight. Meyer explains on her website that in the scene where Bella is listening to music to drown out her thoughts she is listening to Linkin Park.  I have kept that in mind throughout creating my soundtracks, the problem is that Meyers’s soundtracks have never been lyrically relevant.  My hope was that at some point I could use a Linkin Park song that would fit into the scheme of my lyrically driven mixes.  For Eclipse I was able to use Linkin Park’s Easier To Run obviously related to the disappearance of Jacob at the end of the book.

As I have done with the other soundtracks I have tried to keep all of the songs on the soundtrack as lyrically and thematically relevant as possible.  Fortunately for the first time since I started these soundtracks I was actually able to piece together the entire soundtrack and compile the mix using mixwit, and you can listen to my Eclipse soundtrack in its entirety.  Below is the track listing in the exact order in which it appears on my mix.

1. Alice In Chains - Grind
2. A Perfect Circle - Pet
3. A Static Lullaby - The Art of Sharing Lovers
4. Eve 6 - Think Twice
5. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Your Guardian Angel
6. The Divine Madness - Closer
7. My Chemical Romance - Vampires Will Never Hurt You
8. Nonpoint - In The Air Tonight
9. Rise Against - Everchanging
10. Haste the Day - Long Way Down
11. Sparta - Taking Back Control
12. Evanescence - October
13. Linkin Park - Easier to Run

I recently finished archiving a number of journal posts from my old LiveJournal account here on Musings For A Darkened Room.  Before I began seriously blogging I updated friends and family using the free services of LiveJournal.  At the time my blogging efforts were nothing more than journaling my daily life.  I would typically post about the ins and outs of my daily routine and only on the slight occasion did I post anything outside of that.  HOWEVER, I came across a few of those occasional posts which I wanted to share with some of my newer readers.  Most of them still hold some social value, or I just really enjoyed writing.

Understand obviously that many of these posts were written 3-4 years ago and my writing skills were not nearly at the level they are now, though I’m not saying they are exactly up to par just yet.  Hopefully these entries will pique your interest and bring back some life into these old forgotten posts. Enjoy!

Write It Just Like That, But Not Really - A post about school censorship and how we are striking down creativity and self exploration at a critical time in adolescent lives.  How can teens discover who they are if they aren’t allowed to be themselves?  Especially in this case where a student is told to write an assignment in a certain style and then gets severely punished for doing just that.

For My Fellow Pagan Bloggers - Have You Found Jesus? - A funny story that I shared from a Yahoo! Group that I belonged to at the time.  It tells of a woman who had been preached to by multiple people about religion in a single day and how she calmly, but comically responded to the last person.

God’s Politics - My response to a change made to the Kevin & Bean morning show which airs weekday mornings on Los Angeles based radio station 106.7 KROQ.  The changes which stemmed from a strongly right wing political environment were in my opinion unwarranted and ultimately show how the Christian values of politics and society have struck fear into corporations and the media.

The Story of Father Time - A funny anecdote about an experience I had with an elderly gentleman in a Carl’s Jr. restaurant who was convinced that only his Timex had the correct time.

Christianity, Striking Fear Into the Naive and Gullible For Centuries… - I repost a ridiculous list of warning signs that a church by the name of St. Mary’s Catholic Church provided parents with as an aid in determining if their teen was turning goth.  Sadly a large portion of the things listed are pretty normal behavior for a teenager.  A couple of my favorites are, “Insists on spending time with friends while unaccompanied by an adult.” and “Watches cable television or any other corrupted media sources.”

Wedding Invitations & Save the Date Cards - The last and only truly personal post in the group.  This post showed scans of both the Save the Date Card and Wedding Invitations that Misty and I hand made for our wedding using scrapbooking materials.  It was perhaps the most tedious task of my life, but it made our wedding related mailers one of a kind.

I have added a significant number of older posts dating all the way back to August of 2003.  Most of them again are just personal journals that I kept, many of which were related to my early days of dating Misty up until the point in which we were married.  I doubt there is anything of real interest outside of what I provided above unless you want to get a glimpse into my life a few years back.

I moved nearly everything that was hosted on LiveJournal over, however the account still exists and there are still a number of posts with either surveys and tests or just posts that I felt were too general and irrelevant to bring over to Musings.  If you’re interested you can still read the rest at A Day In the Dark