Music videos.

Where does the inspiration for some of these modern music videos come from?

I happened to see one last night from Lady Gaga, and I've seen clips of whoever it is that sings "Disturbia."

Where does the inspiration come from?  (Or "from where does the inspiration arise," but I feel like being more real right now than proper.)

There was all of one dance sequence when Lady Gaga seemed human.  The rest of the time she was something else, something eerie, and almost captivating, if you could avoid being creeped out.  She seemed demonic.

These videos seem to demonize - in far more real a sense than the word is commonly used - these women.  They are made to seem licentious, taboo even, but only to the point of making them more alluring.  They are probably quite popular videos.

I know how deeply tormented this generation is, especially sexually.  I also know how easy it is to listen to little voices that aren't the right ones.  I rely heavily on inspiration for my poetry, may be a little less now that I have a little more experience turning thoughts into pretty sounds -- but I have a story.  One night, I was bored.  I was on facebook, so I decided to write on the wall of a friend of mine, a girl.  What am I going to write...  I have nothing to say.  I can't just say, "I'm bored. Hi."  But that would have been better than what I ended up writing.  It would have been cute even.

I ended up asking, no, more demanding a sexual favor from her.  In those random words I chose to post, there was a slang that I didn't even know existed, but with my phrasing, it looked like I knew exactly what I was talking about and was ready to teach her.  I listened to the wrong voice.  It shook me terribly that that was even possible, that it was possible for that unholy whisper to enter my head.  But there it was, posted plain as day on her wall.

And that's what concerns me about these videos.  Yes, I know they are trying to be provocative.  Yes, I know.  But what is that doing?  I wanted to make a statement with my facebook post.  And I did.  A bold one.  What is the expense of this provocativeness?  Are we conditioning ourselves to the demonic?  Already, how few people actually believe that demons are a threat?  How many people already indulge temptation as a "lifestyle choice?"

... but only if it is Oolong with German Rock Sugar from the Teavana tea company.

But seriously.  I had some the other day.  And I'm taking a new angle on life.  It actually had more to do with the packaging than the tea, so I guess I'll go on with the story.

My Grandmother got this awesome tea brewer from Teavana. It takes the real leaves, puts'em straight into the water, and drains the water out of the bottom when you're finished brewing.  Simple, straight-forward, ingenious engineering.  And then I read the instructions that came along with it... they need to hire a writer or a new one.  Or at the very least contract out a proof-reader.

There was a terrible grammatical error in the first three sentences, in both the English and the Spanish.  Mistakes in both languages.  English they put a period that should have been a comma.  Spanish though, they invented a new word, didn't use a verb, and then misspelled the company's own name.  All in the space of five words.  It was ghastly.  I mean, I could have fixed that.

And then I thought about that again.  I could have fixed that.

I could have fixed.  If I had been the Technical Writer and had gotten the contract, I could have fixed that.

I did some research, and it turns out that Technical Writers get paid rather well.  The jobs don't require any further qualifications than I already have (besides experience).  But most importantly, the jobs exist! 

So that's what I'm looking at right now.  A job that I'm qualified for, where I can earn some money, and gain some peace of mind.

I got a wonderful little package in the mail yesterday.

It had this nice hefty medal in it.  The front held a relief depiction of my university landmark, and the words Cum Laude were etched into the back.

A wonderful little package indeed.