Random Topics that Don't Warrant Individual Posts

Here are a few topics on which I've been considering posting my thoughts, opinions, etc, but which I really don't have enough to say to justify separate posts for each.

Wow, I Feel Old
As my job requires me to drive a lot, mixing up musical selections in the car is essential. Since I don't have satellite radio (yet) and FM is largely crap, it is up to my CD collection to get me through those long miles. Two CDs that found their way into my lineup this past week were Oasis's What's the Story Morning Glory and Everclear's Sparkle and Fade. In fact, both of those discs ended up in my CD player on the same day.

As I was driving, it occurred to me that I got both of those CD at about the same time. I think "Wonderwall" and "Santa Monica" were both popular within a month or so of each other...early '96 if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, that lead to another realization: with it now being early '06, I have had those CDs in my collection for a decade. Wow. I vividly remember both of those being brand new.

Even scarier, three of my all-time favorite CDs: U2's Achtung Baby, Nirvana's Nevermind, and Pearl Jam's Ten are pushing the 15 year mark. There are now kids in high school that were born after these were released. Yeah.

MLK
Another result of traveling so much for work is that I get to see lots of towns that I would probably never go to otherwise. And what does EVERY town have in common? A major road named after Martin Luther King, Jr.

Now don't get me wrong. MLK was a great man, and this nation is far better off because of his work and his influence, but sometimes I feel like towns name things "MLK" more out of a sense of obligation than anything else. And in a roundabout way, I think it sort of cheapens the honor if the town council only acts because they think they have to.

Dr. King deserves every bit of his tremendous legacy, and he had to overcome an adversity that most of us will never know personally. However, I think when we chose to honor him, it should be out of respect instead of obligation, and the memorial should be something relevant to his life and work...not just a random street only so that the mayor can sleep better at night.

Citibank Giveth, and Citibank Taketh Away
One final thing that's been on my mind lately is the fact that my standard of living has not changed very much from the time I was a student to now that I'm actually bringing home a paycheck. The problem being, of course, that such a large percentage of said paycheck goes directly to Citibank to repay those loans that made possible my 3 year stint in Miami.

I know that when you first take out student loans, there's the little disclaimer about "you should borrow responsibly, yada, yada, yada..." but I sort of wish someone would actually come in, sit you down, and say "no, really...this is gonna be a huge chunk out of your paycheck after you graduate." It's hard to think that way, though, when someone is offering you thousands of dollars for basically nothing in return immediately.

I guess it's sort of like when you make a deal with the mafia (or so I'm lead to believe from various movies and TV shows). Or like on that episode of South Park where Trent Boyett comes back from juv'y. You know you're gonna get your ass kicked, but at the time it seems so far off that you take the "I'll deal with that when it happens" approach.

In an ironic twist, though, I'm pretty sure if I had it all to do over again, I would borrow more money instead of less. Yeah, that's right. The social aspects of law school were freakin' awesome, and with as big of a hole as I already dug for myself, an extra $20 or $30 now to be able to have gone out and done more then would've been totally worth it. So in other words, I'd like to have my cake and eat it too. That was a good South Park episode as well.