Mady and music

I've mentioned a few times in a few different posts that my sister takes it upon herself to "teach" me about music, because to her my music choices are inferior and nonsensical. We have similar music choices EXCEPT that I love the Beatles and Mady thinks they're overrated and a waste of time, I enjoy listening to some of Lady Gaga's musical contributions and random pieces of the music I grew up with that ranges from anything and everything from Neil Young to Britney Spears.
I think it's worth mentioning that my sister enjoys MANY of the same things that fall in this category; naturally, of course. What doesn't fall between Neil Young and Britney Spears? Not to mention that we have nearly identical childhoods. And yet, still my music taste is inferior to hers.
She's constantly discovering new music, and by new music I mean music that's new to her, not necessarily new to everyone or pop culture or whatever. This is something I've always admired about my sister. Her ability to continually branch out and discover new things and accept them if she feels they're worthy is something I lack at severely. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have Brand New, one of my favorite bands or about a thousand other songs or artists that she's found and then introduced me to.

Her newest discovery is the singer Jeff Buckley who she listens to literally 24/7 now. And after listening to his music, she decided she wanted to find out if and when he was touring and whether or not she could see him... Cue rampant and intense depression for nearly a week when she learned of his death and then virtually everything about him that there is to know. 
I'm not gonna lie, based on what she's told me, it seems like he was immensely interesting and...cool. It's really tragic that he died so young and mysteriously. His voice alone is captivating; you can hear him singing from his soul and with passion that I think is really rare nowadays. As if that wasn't enough, his songs are incredibly beautiful. I literally can not stop listening to his song "Lover, you should've come over" even though I can't figure out what it's about. 
*Don't let my personal bias fool you. He has many good songs.  

At the end of the day, my sister and I may have musical disagreements (along with many others), but I respect her opinions and I hope with every fiber of my being that she continues to "show me the errors of my ways" even if I have no intention of changing, but every willingness to "learn." 
I mean really, what other 17 year old girls favorite band is Led Zeppelin and discovers and falls in love with a singer whose been dead almost her entire life? If you show me another one like her, I'll introduce you to 100 17 year old girls who don't know what Led Zeppelin is, band or otherwise. I know she feels like she sometimes grew up in my shadow, but I can't tell you enough how individual she is or how much she amazes me.

Wake me up when September ends

I hate the beginning of September; several days that have a negative connotation. I can tell you that my sister and I have agreed that I need to stop being friends with people whose birthdays are in September because it never seems to end well. I think about these days resentfully and with a lot of stress before they happen and once they're here, and I realize the world's not going to end-or have any real affect on me at all-I can let out a sigh of relief and let my thoughts go back to whatever. 
At least until 9/11 which seems to be the end of these days, but in its own way, it may also be the worst. I can tell you that I don't remember very much about 9/11/01 except that my class wasn't allowed to listen to the news broadcasts on the radio and were forced instead to pretend it was a normal day, instead of a national tragedy. This, I think is why I still have a hard time dealing with what happened in New York all those years ago. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be a helpless civilian watching what may very well have been the end of the world. At the time, I think I was too young, and too uninformed to truly understand the gravity of what was happening. How do you explain to a ten year old what a terrorist attack is, what's happened and what it means for the future? Especially when it seemed like that last question was the one on everyone's mind...

When I heard that NBC didn't observe the moment of silence to remember 9/11, I was sad and disgusted. People still put out flags and observe D-Day which happened nearly 70 years ago, and a news network, of all things, can't observe a moment of silence for the worst terror attack in US history which happened a mere 11 years ago??? Seriously? Maybe it's just me, but it seems like 9/11 is a day for respect, no matter how many years have gone by, or what pop culture might find currently but temporarily important. 
I know I can already feel my cynical scrooge-ish version of myself coming out for the holidays, and I know this year is going to be especially hard because of the loss of my grandmother. Maybe I'm negatively biased to this situation, but it makes me nauseous and hate humanity and the looming holidays more than I normally already do.