Fall - Autumn - Fall

I've recently come to a realization. I'm pretty fearless, academically speaking. Well, in a certain sense. I don't care to be wrong, again in certain setting. I'll expound upon this idea.

I've been blessed and cursed with an inquisitive mind. I need information, I want to know why, I crave knowledge. Partly because I truly believe that knowledge is power and partly because the acquisition of knowledge is a journey which I adore and will hopefully continue on for the duration of my life. That's the blessing part, the curse part is I often get sidetracked and have a tough time focusing (for real life example - see the unread books upon my shelf and/or the delayed major choice during my undergraduate expierence).

I like when my professors pose a question and I can answer it, I enjoy the nod I get, the sense of satisfaction from knowing things and being able to display that knowledge. And because the more I know the more I can impart to other people, friends, family, students, peers, etc.

But I digress, this fearless concept I've recently come to identify with - it stems from this. I don't care if I'm wrong. I'm fine with being wrong. You can only fail by not trying. If I answer a question in class and my idea isn't what the professor had in mind, and I'm "wrong" then so be it. Edison, Franklin, Graham-Bell they were all wrong, many times - but when they were right, they changed history.

So in closing, it is my proposition to one and all that we not be scared to venture out of our comfort zone and to be wrong, to fall on our face, to swing for the fences and miss - because it is through theses experiences that we learn.

There is an old adage, "You never lose by loving, you only lose by holding back" I propose we change the paradigm. "To fail is to not try, to succeed is to fail and try again and again..."

::::End::::

I need to take my own advice and not be afraid to fail in all areas of my life not just in the pursuit of knowledge.

My America. What about you?

So I love America. I love America completely and truly just as much for it's faults and failures as for it's triumphs and successes. I think sometimes people fall into the line of thinking that, "Well I don't like what the governments doing, so I don't really like America." No, wrong. That's why you should like America, because we have a system put in place that means we as the people have a voice (albeit a representative and symbolic voice) in the way our country is governed. But that's beside the point. 

There's a 100's of reasons to dislike America. But there's millions upon millions of reasons to love America. When I see something absurd like an incredible mullet, or a car with Looney Toons characters painted on the side of it, I say out loud, "I love America." Because things like that are just incredible. 

When I said this the other day, someone asked me if I was being serious. If I really did love America. I was slightly offended, but realized this was an opportunity to explain my love of this country. 

I know America is not perfect, but damn if I'm not proud to stand up and put my hand over my heart when the "Star Spangled Banner" is played. 

So just take a moment to think about America and what it means to you. Maybe not as much as it means to me, but hopefully it means something. This is my America. 

My America is home. 

My America is church steeples in the country side and rolling hills.

My America is wide open roads and truck drivers. 

My America is coffee shops until 4 in the morning and blue skies.  

My America is home. 

My America is the love of a good women. 

My America is family, and friends, and Long Island, and East Tennessee, and Southern Florida, and NOLA. 

My America is knowing your neighbors name and lending a helping hand. 

My America is home. 

My America is Bob Dylan and his terrible voice and his beautiful songs. 

My America is crying with your best friend when it all falls apart. 

My America is fireworks on the fourth of July and giving out candy on Halloween. 

My America is fireflies and morning frost. 

My America is family. 

My America is baseball with my Dad. 

My America is driving on the Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate system and switchback mountain roads. 

My America is Appalachia. 

My America is the Grand Canyon. 

My America is the Great Lakes. 

My America is the Mississippi River. 

My America is land of the free and home of the brave. 

My America is open to any and all, just like it was to my family. 

My America is not perfect. 

My America is opportunity. 

My America is hope. 

My America is home. 

My America is my opportunity, my hope, and my home. 

What is your America?

Chris Thile = Cybord

After listening to Nickel Creek and Chris Thile for most of the day, I've come to this realization. 

Chris Thile, is in fact, not human. He is a cyborg sent from space to make musicians and songwriters feel inadequate. 

Damn you Mr. Thile, with your robotic fingers, Damn you. 

Go listen to the mandolin parts on "Stumptown" which is on the NC record, "Why Should the Fire Die?" Then I dare you to tell me he is human. 

Zac