| TEEN SCENE |  | |
by Jackie Klapak
It’s May already, and the weather is so beautiful where I am at, that I find myself sitting back and observing life rather than concentrating on what needs to be done… Such as my linguistics research project….
I thought that by becoming a little more lax, I was wasting my time, but recently, I’ve found that I think it has done me good. Sometimes, I think that people need to sit down and take everything in, notice what’s going on around them, and learn from their experiences and surroundings, in a style à la Timothy Leary in a way, I suppose.
The guy had a good point when he chanted that people should “Turn on, tune in, and drop out.” Taking some time off and spending it to focus on your own life can definitely be beneficial in the long run. Of course, it’s important to still accomplish the tasks that you must, such as schoolwork and to remain pretty focused.
Mick Jagger put it well when he said, “It’s all right letting yourself go, as long as you can get yourself back.”
In my time observing things, I’ve found just how important trust is. Trust is a very broad topic. I have found that one must be extremely circumspect about whom to trust. A startling experience was recently, with my roommate Prachi. We are very close with all of the people in our wing of the dorm. Actually, the whole floor is a really close-knit group, and my roommate is on very good terms with nearly everyone. It’s been pretty much a Utopian community, but one day when we were both out of the room for an hour, someone just walked in and stole Prachi’s camera and the contents of her wallet. Sure, it was pretty naïve of us to not lock the door, but we had never, ever had a problem. No one in our wing has ever had to lock her door—we all look out for each other, like one family. We took it for granted that that evening would be like all the rest that we’d had. We sure learned our lesson.
Needless to say, the lesson went far beyond the mere fact that both of us need to be locking our door from now on. I found it amazing that someone we trusted took advantage of that and shouldn’t have been trusted from the very beginning.
Trust is a very fragile thing. It is easily broken and, for that reason, should not be doled out generously. What’s that famous saying? “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” That’s it. It’s pretty scary to think of life that way—so next time something happens to you that you don’t necessarily want the whole world to know, choose very carefully to whom you divulge your information. (Or be careful in specific situations, as in Prachi’s and my case.) It’s better to just be careful from the beginning than to learn things the hard way.
On the flip side, it’s great to trust people in certain situations. Three of my friends whom I’ve known since kindergarten at Our Lady Of Grace Catholic School invited me to go country line dancing with them. Talk about something new! They promised me that it would be fun. I trusted them, and went along with them. I had a blast! I’ve never been into country music, but we definitely had fun making fools of ourselves.
We went to DC’s Country Junction in Lowell, Indiana and wow, it was great. This was a case where I was glad I trusted my friends and went along. If you think this sounds out of your character, you’ll probably have more fun than people who are serious about country line dancing. It was definitely an experience that I’ll never forget, and I certainly won’t ever hear “Sweet Home Alabama” the same way ever again!
So, speaking of trust... My friend Jordan Cox, the drummer of the local band, A Pleasant Fiction, is trusting me to tell you about their music. They call it – “screamo/emo/experimental.” They have four demo songs out now, and I encourage you to check out their My Space website at http://www.myspace.com/apleasantfiction
My favorite song of theirs is “Our Common Disease.”
Saying that it was chock-full of energy is a severe understatement for these four guys. Their sound is so very unique, and their personalities are just as awesome.
If you get the chance, check them out on May 20th at Java Joz in Crown Point, IN. Unfortunately, I can’t make it to that show (I’ll be in Greece and Italy) but I wish them the best of luck!
THIS TEEN TURNS ON...
For this month, I listened to the CD Rain Dogs by Tom Waits. I was more than impressed—I was swept off of my feet! It was spectacular!
I was not too familiar with Tom Waits before listening to this album, and I am eternally grateful I had the chance to listen to it! His lyrics are ingenious, such as in the song “Cemetery Polkas”, as well as the general musicality of it all.
In the song, “Tango Till They’re Sore,” the melody is swanky and there are wonderful jazz/swing horn and piano parts. The beats to some songs, such as in “Jockey Full of Bourbon” were extremely creative and created a certain vibe that I just can’t place. I can fully understand why the CD is titled Rain Dogs. The overall feeling is somewhat dark, but very humorous and laid-back. It definitely reminds me of rain, but in a good way.
Be sure to check this out. I’d like to thank Mr. Gregg, my genetics instructor, for lending me this CD—Thanks a billion, and keep on playing the bass!
Next month, I plan to listen to Comfort Eagle, by Cake. Stay tuned and, as always, e-mail me at Jackie@midwestbeat.com See you in June! | |||
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