The Magic of Owl City

Hi.

Last Wednesday, October 26, 2011, my father and I had attended a concert. And not just any concert. An Owl City concert.

It’s the All Things Bright and Beautiful Tour, baby.

Of course, I was pretty much stoked about the whole thing. I was going to watch Adam Young perform. And not to mention the beautiful band members (for the tour). We were already lined up when a woman started shouting out questions about Adam, and whoever answered them correctly would get a backstage pass. Now, guess what. I didn’t get a backstage pass. Seriously. I began to feel depressed about it as the line moved slowly. I almost freaking met Adam. It’s one of the reasons why I have Post Concert Depression right now.

Well, so, we entered the tent after several minutes. My father and I were able to stand at the left side of the stage, right in front. Two boys beside me (who were younger than me) were talking on about meeting Adam and getting him to sign stuff like a poster and their copy of the ATBAB album. I was vexed at myself by the time they were boasting about it to this girl (who I thought was also younger than me, but my father said she was older and just shorter), showing her their stuff-signed-by-Adam-Young stuff. I couldn’t help but be so envious about the fact that they had met him.

Eventually, the concert had officially started. I can’t express how magnificent it was. Adam started drumming, and Breanne Düren was basically in front of us. And, shoot, the lights! They flashed everywhere. I jumped almost the whole time, and flailed my arms everywhere. The people on stage were so alive and energetic that you could feel pangs of their energy bouncing off to you. I didn’t care that my eardrums felt like they were shattering and that my feet were aching from all the standing. I loved it when Adam would interact with the crowd. All were enjoying.

At the end, Adam sang If My Heart Was a House.

And everything felt perfect. I had tears streaming down my cheeks right when he sang the first line. Owl City has this positive impact on your life. If you have depression, I recommend you listen to Owl City. It’s a home. When no one is there, Owl City will most likely be. Life is a rollercoaster, true. Owl City is what keeps me hanging on. I wish Adam knew that he was my best friend.

Amber

Exposure to The World

I’ve missed blogging. I wasn’t in any reach of superb inspiration until it hit me right in the face this morning while watching a few episodes of Glee Season 2.

Watching TV.

Teenagers, like me, actually have access to the media. We’ve got the Internet, television, film. Whether parents or guardians realize it or not, we are exposed to what we stumble upon while surfing the Web, or switching from channel to channel. We are able to catch and get information from the media without us really expecting to. And who brought in the Wi-Fi in the house? Our parents, or someone older than us, of course. They don’t want us to learn about things or get into other people’s cultures. But who stopped us from watching our favorite TV shows?

Yesterday, I and Caleb* somehow leaped into a conversation about rallies. And homosexuality. I had told him that one day I’d like to join at least one rally for the rights of people – gay people. Caleb shook his head at the idea. He said that “homosexual people are abominations. They aren’t accepted by society because God created Adam and Eve. Not Adam and Eve and gay.” I’m completely heterosexual, but hearing this from Caleb hurt. Are we even Christians anymore? Who still goes to Church among us? Who?

But let’s go back to the real subject here. This morning, I encountered Caleb again while focusing on the TV in front of me. He was watching a few scenes of an episode from Glee Season 2 with me while he was having a mad conversation on the phone with someone. I was aware that he had seen Brittany carrying Artie to a bed, and Karofsky forcefully kissing Kurt. The first thing he said as he ended the convo and put down the phone was something like this: “I don’t like you watching that show. That’s American culture. That show showcases sex, and gay....” I confess I wasn’t paying too much attention to what he was saying, but some short sentences like the ones previously said stuck to me.

Culture does get passed on. I’m not American, and I know little about American culture. But this isn’t about anyone’s culture. This is about a TV show showing their viewers about sex and homosexuality. TV shows aren’t the only things in media that expose these “mature content” to young people. This kind of media is everywhere: the mall, the local playground, the neighborhood, and even school. There are songs about sex. Other teens even joke about sex. Gay people are coming out anywhere. And how can you prevent your teenager from hearing or seeing these?

Sometimes, your kid knows more than you think they do.

* Caleb is a pseudonym.