Horrorcore Rap

This definitely isn't a happy post, but I think the effect media can have on a person is fascinating. In the news recently (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32974921/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts//) there's a story about a girl who was really into horrorcore music (a music genre that glorifies killing and things like cannibalism). She met a fellow fan online and they started dating. A few weeks ago, he went to stay with her and her family and a few days later her, her parents, and friend were found murdered. This guy is the main suspect. He was suspected when he hitched a ride from someone and smelled like a corpse. Here are some of his lyrics:

"They just want me to murder continuously.

"They want me to take lives on a mass murder spree.

"They love the smell of a body that's rotten and decayed.

"That's what I think about when I'm stalking my prey."

In another article I read about this story, friends of the parents said the parents didn't know what to do about their daughter's obsession with this evil music. They were against it, but were worried that if they tried to force her to stop listening to it, she would rebel and listen to it anyway plus she would hate them. They seemed like good parents trying to do the right thing and I feel so bad for them that this was their consequence. I keep wondering what I would do if one of my kids tried to get into this kind of music... It makes me scared to raise kids in a world like our's. Hopefully my kids take after their parents and never think this type of thing is anything but disgusting.

My New Best Friend

So, Skype is definitely my new best friend. My husband left early Sunday morning to move to Wyoming. I'm staying here until I graduate in December. It's only been two days since he left, but I already miss him tons. We both have webcams so we decided to try Skype. Unfortunately, we could only get the cameras to work one way so we had to take turns being able to see each other and the voice wasn't working at all. So, we just IMed for a while. Then, I saw that there were games on there. So, we played chess together. And then we played bowling. One of our favorite things to do together is play games so it was awesome to be able to play together. Him being gone still sucks and I will miss him a lot, but I am incredibly grateful for a form of media that not only allows us to talk to each other, but to have fun.

Cell Phone

I am seriously addicted to my cell phone. If I ever leave it at home when I go to campus (which is rare) I spend the entire day wondering if I'm missing calls and wanting to text Corey (my husband). Whenever I have a long (long as in 10 minutes or more) car ride alone, I try to think of someone I can call. I have always loved to talk on the phone and having a cell phone has just intensified that. Once in junior high, I talked to my best friend on the phone for 9 hours straight (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.).

When I first heard about texting, I thought it was stupid. Why wouldn't you just call someone? But, then I met my husband who kind of hates the phone but doesn't mind texting. So, I quickly learned to like to text. I mostly only text Corey and a few friends. But, I rarely go a day without texting someone. Pathetic? I don't know. But, it is an easy to way talk to people quickly.

I have quickly become very grateful for my cell phone though. In a week, my husband will be moving 10 hours away to start a new job. Since I need to finish the semester, I won't be joining him until Christmas. We'll probably only see each other once between then. Even though nothing can compare to actually being together, I am very happy about the fact that we will be able to talk and text as much as we want. 10 years ago, that would have been extremely expensive.

Live Free or Die Hard… You’d think the name would have tipped me off.

My husband Corey and I spent the weekend at his parent's house. On Friday night, they wanted to watch a movie. Our movie tastes differ quite a bit (Corey's two brothers are 12 and 15) so I didn't offer any input. They kept suggesting R-rated movies which Corey knows I usually won't watch unless I think there's a very good reason to. So, Corey said, "Let's let Allison pick the movie." I quickly said they wouldn't like any movie I would pick. They asked what kind of movie I would want to watch. You should have seen the look on their faces when I said I wanted a movie where no one shoots anyone else…

Obviously, my vote was vetoed. Instead, Corey's parents suggested that we would love the movie Live Free or Die Hard. I was doubtful, but we agreed to watch it anyway.

If you really like this movie, I'm sorry, this isn't meant to offend. But, it was absolutely ridiculous. There was so much shooting and violence. So many people died for no reason. It was ridiculous. But, I think the most ridiculous thing about this movie was the way that a character would get totally beat up and be just fine. For example, one woman was crushed by a huge thing of shelves made of metal and glass. So, maybe this woman could have survived this, but she would have had several broken bones. But, in the movie, not only did she survive, she managed to get up without a scratch and throw a man that was twice her size out of the window. There were several instances of extreme violence barely hurting people. I think this is a very bad message to be sending to viewers. It diminishes the true nature of violence.

My Addiction

Hello.

My name is Allison and I am incredibly addicted to Bejeweled.

Seriously. It's starting to interfere with my life. I made the mistake of adding the facebook app last week and now I can't stop playing! It hasn't gotten in the way of my homework too much yet, but I have this Independent Study class that I'm supposed to finish before I have a baby in 7 weeks and every time I sit down to work on it, I somehow end up playing Bejeweled instead… It's such a simple game, yet so addicting. Yet another example in my life of media distracting me from homework.

Jane Eyre

My favorite book now has been my favorite book since I was 13-years-old. It's Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. It's the story of an orphan 18-year-old girl who becomes a governess for the ward of a wealthy man (Mr. Rochester) and ends up falling in love with him. The day of their wedding, she finds out that he has a secret wife that is insane and lives in the attic. He begs her to stay with him anyway, but she leaves him. In the end, the insane wife sets fire to Mr. Rochester's house and Jane gets to be with him.

So, to someone who hasn't read the book, that might sound incredibly ridiculous. But, the book is beautiful and well-written and my summary doesn't do it justice. I think I love this book so much because I see so much of myself in Jane. She is a very quiet person, but she's smart. She doesn't long for wealth or prestige. She only wants a quiet life with someone to love her. Unlike so many book heroines, Jane isn't a great beauty. I always hated the books where all the guys were constantly vying for the attention of the heroine because of her great beauty because that's not what life was like for me (or the vast majority of girls). Mr. Rochester isn't your perfect Mr. Darcy either. He's not incredibly attractive and has personality flaws. But, he loves Jane and she loves him and they make their relationship work. That's so much more realistic than many books. I also love that Jane has an innate desire to do the right thing no matter what. Even when she's desperate to be with the one person who has ever shown her love, she leaves him because she knows it would be morally wrong to stay with him. In one part of the book, Mr. Rochester pretends to be in love with a gorgeous, immensely wealthy woman. Jane's jealousy is very well written and as a teenager, I loved that the book echoed similar feelings I had. Reading the book made me feel understood and that someday I too would have happiness like Jane's if I kept trying to do what was right.