Coming of Age

Music has been a very important thing in my life. Since elementary school, I’ve been involved in music up until senior year in high school. Since then Spotify has been my lifeblood and what I use to stream music between work, visiting friends and family and more.  (Here is my Spotify profile. Feel free to listen to my playlists!)

Today I want to share some of my favorites that I’ve been listening to!

 

boy pablo is a Norwegian indie-pop band that has risen to popularity last year and recently dropped a new LP that was my favorite album of 2018.

Capital Cities was SUPER popular for their single “Safe and Sound” but they have fantastic music in the same album the single is from.

 

Throughout 2018, we saw more and more states legalizing marijuana either for medical or recreational use. In 2019 there is bound to be new states addressing this issue. Interestingly enough, John Boehner, a member of the Republican Party and former House Speaker is attending and being a part of the North American Cannabis Summit on January 28th. 

If there is such widespread appeal and desire to legalize marijuana on medical and recreational fronts, why is it still banned? Sources say that diabetics benefit from the plant. While others say that marijuana is a memory loss drug that should be banned entirely.

While I do agree that youth ages 10-18 shouldn’t smoke pot due to potential damage to learning capabilities and addictive-ness, on the medical side it should be legal nationwide for anyone 21+.  Some people state that smoking marijuana helps with anxiety and depression. Others say it helps with back pain or arthritis. Recreational use is a different story however.

When you travel to Colorado, you will absolutely smell or see marijuana in some way. With social media and the internet allowing stronger pushes for legalization through ballots and petitions, it’s ultimately up to our policy makers that will show the future of marijuana’s legalization.

With Nebraska Senator Anna Wishart introducing a medical marijuana legalization bill in early 2019, there is a strong chance we will see some news this Spring about marijuana’s legalization in Nebraska very soon.

 

Sources: https://www.omaha.com/livewellnebraska/nebraska-sen-anna-wishart-will-introduce-medical-cannabis-bill-in/article_4235c410-7bd9-5175-8785-ce0cff746f25.html

https://nypost.com/2018/05/22/all-the-ways-marijuana-can-hurt-your-health/

http://northamericancannabissummit.org/

https://www.foxnews.com/health/can-you-use-medical-marijuana-if-youre-a-diabetic

 

Shutdown driven by Trumps Lies

This Denver Post editorial that gives a blanket statement that Trump is the sole proprietor of the shutdown is insane. Both sides are to blame for this shutdown that is ruining families lives across the United States.

While there isn’t any one person writing this specific article, The Denver Post is a moderately liberal based publication so the title would make sense in this case.

I read out of this article that the Denver Post editorial board is predominately Liberal based and while I do understand that this is an opinion piece, they should lay off of the clickbait title and see the story from the other side.

 

As stated in this Weather Channel video, Trump recently mocked Global Warming saying that “Wouldn’t be bad to a little of that good old fashioned Global Warming right now!”.

If whether or not you believe in Global Warming, you can tell there is something irregular going on on our planet. Rising sea levels, warmer climates around the globe and odd weather patterns are a sign Mother Nature isn’t liking what is happening.

The common stance on it is that “It’s a myth!” or, “It’s the worst thing in the world!” and there really isn’t any middle ground that I’ve heard from people. In Nebraska, we’ve seen a generally warmer beginning to the Spring semester comparatively to the last 3 years at UNK where we have had at least one Snow/Ice day (As of writing this, I slid my way from the Union to my dorm due to how dangerously icy it is right now.)

Nationwide we are seeing a huge snow mass headed towards the East Coast that will ensure stopped travel and accidents galore.

In Global Warming Might Be Making The Waves Stronger, they say that waves around the globe are becoming stronger and more dangerous due to rising tides and irregular weather patterns.

So, when I see President Trump mock and joke around about a serious issue like that on social media is infuriating. I do understand that the Global Warming issues have been a very touchy subject with this Presidency and has been a talking point for Politics since the early 2000’s with Gore, but what is with the mocking and making fun?

I think the biggest issue I see is that we cant reach across the isle and have a civil discussion on what the issues are and how we can change this problem.

After a long day of recess and learning basic life skills at West Lawn Elementary in Grand Island, Nebraska, I would rush home to finish off my class work if there was any for the day and bear witness to the most defining 90’s show to young boys and kids across the US, Dragonball Z.

Hearing the opening song and watching Goku and friends kick ass and scream was the absolute best way to spend an afternoon after school. From recreating scenes from the show to my friends on the playground, to seeing merchandise and references to the show across the last decade shows the impact this show has to Americans.

On January 16th, some friends and I took a trip up to Lincoln to see the highly anticipated movie, Dragonball Super: Broly. While we caught up and grabbed lunch, the topic of conversation of the day was how hype we were to see the movie. When we sat down in the Lincoln Grand Cinema and heard the gigantic beam blasts and intensely animated fights, we knew this movie was a game changer.

From making close to $10 million dollars on its first day to it trending on Twitter later that night, Dragonball Super: Broly made sure to send the message out that Dragonball is here to stay.

When we walked out of the theater, all of our minds were blown. 4 college students in their 20’s were getting the same emotions and reactions to when we were young. That is the energy this show continues to create and shows how well a piece of childhood media can still be very important to us when we are older.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/02/the-guardian-view-on-spaceflight-the-outward-urge

 

I’m not the best at science or even close to comprehending what work goes into flying out of our atmosphere, so I live vicariously through NASA social media to see what our, and the worlds scientists have accomplished.

It’s absolutely astonishing how brave and intellectual some of the people in the United States are with figuring out how to leave our world and set foot on our Moon, send satellites to alien worlds and showing us deep space marvels. This specific editorial emphasizes how important it is to realize how powerful technology has evolved from the first Moon landing to now.

Category #1-Memes

• Videos In My Folder 

One of the newer accounts I have followed and man am I happy I did. I would say most of the videos on this Twitter account are some of the most bizarre things I have ever seen, but also some of the funniest things I have seen on the internet.

• Pictures Folder

Similarly Videos In My Folder, non aesthetic things AKA @PicturesFolder posts some of the funniest pictures to add to a meme collection, as well as some of the weirdest things you would see on the internet. (While making this post, I saved two images to my computer from this account.)

• Overspace Music

While he makes original music, he also remixes popular music with odd samplings and versions. In the link above, he samples Sicko Mode by Travis Scott and Drake, but uses Animal Crossing noises. It’s fantastic.

 

Category #2- CUTE DOG ACCOUNTS 

• ShibeTown

Shiba Inu’s are some of the most adorable dogs on the planet. They are round, absolute units with tons of sass and cuteness packed into their fur. The one linked above is incredibly adorable.

• WeRateDogs

Every good doggo around needs some brownie points and help getting attention. WeRateDogs’ Twitter account is wholesome and hilarious, with the occasional GoFundMe to help out a dog in need of surgery funds. It’s heartwarming and a perfect account to follow if your feeling down.

• Wholesome Memes

The world is a dark and depressing place right now. Among the doom and gloom around us, there needs to be some happy and funny memes that make you feel good. Wholesome Memes is one of the best accounts I follow and one of the few that I have active notifications on whenever they post.

 

Category #3-Art and Other Interests

• RandomSakuga

I am a huge sucker for art and animation accounts. This specific Twitter accounts posts gorgeous shots of anime, Disney movies and other animated media with fantastic moments in animation and quality. Highly recommend if your into animated movies and deeper looks into how media is made.

• Arby’s

In the past few years, corporate fast food accounts have been making strides of changing their social media platforms from boring promotional ads to creating unique and different ways of promoting their products. Arby’s uses their cardboard from their sandwiches and other products to craft fantastic sculptures of references to popular forms of media. Scrolling down their Twitter list is like going through a museum of curly fries and He-Man references.

• ClothMap

Drew Scanlon travels around the world to explore and visit other cultures’ media scenes, specifically how other countries play and consume video games, movies, comics and more. Highly interesting to see how other cultures consume the same media we do.

Ultimate Japan Travel Guide

The thing I want to do most before I die is to travel to Japan. I love their culture and more importantly, their food. This travel blog/guide gives really fantastic tips for someone like me who has never traveled outside of the country and gives good tips for finding the best food and places to stay overseas.