Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 at the age of 49, Bowie was most widely known for his strange yet talented performances and highly grossing career as a singer, songwriter, and overall famous musician, that being said he was so much more than that. Throughout the earliest years of his musical career he was seen in outrageous and complex costumes both in photoshoots, album covers, and live shows. Given as this was in 1969 when “American morals and values” were the most important facet of day to day life there was a huge culture shock surrounding the man in tights and a full face of makeup.

David Bowie was definitely the pioneer for outwardly queer men and the concept of androgyny in American culture. Given as he would go out into the world appearing to be stereotypically feminine or just not masculine donning his alien alter ego and stage persona Ziggy Stardust, during a time when gender roles and stereotypes were a huge deal. Now thankfully for timing women were at this time around the early 70’s starting to fight for equality and the concept of not being straight and not fitting into the heteronormative boxes laid out at birth based off sex was easy to run with.

“Bowie meant so much to so many, but for a number of people who have fought to subvert gender binaries and resist labels in a world that demands them, he made self-acceptance fashionable.” After the original culture shock of his appearance and persona Bowie’s very presence influenced many people to be comfortable in their skin, regardless of how you express yourself and whatever you decided to wear. Arguably paving the way for modern style icons like Jeffree Star, a makeup and style icon who gained popularity on the internet, openly gay and proud of his androgyny, openly praised Bowie in a tribute, for allowing people to be fearless and be themselves, “...thinking of how many doors this one man had opened for people like me. THANK YOU David Bowie for being the definition of "fearless" and making it OK for people like me to express themselves, and be happy”.

Sources:

Biography.com Editors. "David Bowie." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

http://www.biography.com/people/david-bowie-9222045

Segal, Corrine. "David Bowie Made Androgyny Cool, and It Was about Time." PBS. PBS, 11 Jan. 2016. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/david-bowie-made-androgyny-cool-and-it-was-about-time/

Jeffree, Star. "David Bowie “ZIGGY STARDUST" Makeup Tutorial." YouTube. YouTube, 13 Jan. 2016. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsYgeXaqWKI

Timeline of David Bowie’s Life Events

• Jan. 8, 1947 Birth. Originally named David Robert Hayward-Jones

• 1962 David Robert Hayward-Jones starts his musical carrer with his first band, the Konrads.

• 1966 David Robert Hayward-Jones officially and legally changes his name to David Bowie.

• June 1967 Bowie releases his first album. Self titled, David Bowie.

• July 1969 Space Oddity Is released, soon to reach the top 5 most played in the United Kingdom.  

• March 1970, Bowie marries actress and model Angela Barnett, his first wife.

• November 1970, The Man Who Sold the World is released, Bowie’s first fully realized album. Also, begin the first appearances of his Androgynous pop/rock persona Ziggy Stardust.

• May 30 1971, Bowie’s son Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones is born.

• June 1972 The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is released. This album was known as being a full concept album, leaning more towards a glam rock sound and image (Ziggy Stardust).

• May 1974 Release of Diamond Dogs, another concept album based off a George Orwell novel.

• March 1975 Young Americans, an album featuring John Lennon on the single, Fame. This single would soon be his first number 1 single in the United States.

• May 1976 Bowie stars in a sci-fi movie, The Man who fell to Earth and releases his album Station to Station.

• November 1975 Guest star appearance on the television show, Soul Train.

• September 1980 Bowie moves into the Broadway scene, working on the production of The Elephant Man.

• 1981 Bowie collaborates with Freddy Mercury and accompanying band Queen to produce the single, Under Pressure soon to be recognized as number one in the U.K (Bowie’s third recognition on the top charts of the United Kingdom.)

• 1984, David Bowie receives his first ever Grammy for his short film Jazzin for Blue Jean, which is actually a music video, not a film.

• June 1986 Bowie stars in a leading role in the movie Labyrinth.

• 1996 Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

• February 2006, Awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

• January 8 2013, The release of Bowie’s first studio decade in years, The Next Day.

• January 8 2016, Bowie releases Blackstar, his 25th album.

• January 10 2016, Death.

Sources:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2016/01/11/timeline-david-bowie-career-highlights/78617968/

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03550/bowie1_3550765b.jpg

http://img.cdandlp.com/2013/03/imgL/115908378.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81GaOhfPyFL._SL1300_.jpg

http://cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2016/01/12/da0d14be-b560-4f2a-acea-7a9b3d3795b3/resize/620x465/b8abc2cc12af3f10d2e72130fc3d3753/ap9205030126.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/610V%2B0qBQrL.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/08/08/article-1205175-05E5BD2C000005DC-672_468x308.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/ZiggyStardust.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/Diamond_dogs.jpg

http://beforeitsnews.com/contributor/upload/30080/images/famedavid.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71AMEK3oV1L._SL1500_.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OehLJcjFrAk/maxresdefault.jpg

http://static.gofugyourself.com/uploads/2016/01/RIP-david-bowie-4.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/David_Bowie_-_The_Next_Day.png

https://bumshaketherum.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/blackstar.jpg

Throughout current culture in America, and arguably all over the world, communication is constantly evolving, and so are the mediums we all choose to express ourselves. Instead of walking up to each other and establishing a connection, or explaining to each other why we like the things we do, we just read it, maybe in the 140 characters of a tweet, or the 150 characters of an Instagram bio. The information we choose to post or the media we share with our followers is our definition of ourselves, ‘This is what you see, and that is how I want you to see me.’ In other cultures names or titles define who people are, what relationships they will have, and can convey storybooks worth of information, with just a few syllables. For the purposes of this paper the culture that will be examined is that of Bengali individuals and their lives portrayed when immigrating to America in the book, The Namesake written by Jhumpa Lahiri.

The main character, Nikhil Gangoli spends the entire book agonizing over his name, torn between his inherited Bengali culture, and his born to America lifestyle he spends all his time letting his name define him. He thinks people don’t take him seriously because of his name, originally Gogol, when he finds out, or rather as the reader you find out the only person not taking him seriously, or constantly doubting every move he makes, is himself.

“He is afraid to be Nikhil, someone he doesn't know. Who doesn't know him...It's a part of growing up, they tell him, of being a Bengali.” (Chapter 3 Paragraph 13) This quote taken from The Namesake is from Gogol’s early youth, when he gets renamed from his pet name, Gogol. Originally he is not fond of this name, because it is unfamiliar and uncomfortable for him to change what everyone calls him, his life title. So as a young boy, he chooses to stay Gogol, which later on he regrets, thinking his pet name is stupid, and changes it back to Nikhil. This back and forth struggle over, what people will call him, how people will view him, and the struggle of defining himself through a title that, at the end of the day doesn’t matter is the biggest theme of the book, and for many throughout their entire lives.

Through the way media has evolved, to include every part of our lives, people no longer know what it is to define one’s self, everyone simplifies and belittles what and who they are, to be interesting at a glance. This makes everything less meaningful, when people throughout the world should be able to just embrace their complexities. In a recent podcast titled, Finding the Self in Selfie (This American Life, 2015) a few teenage girls were talking about their experiences and familiarity with the rules of interacting on Instagram, and what it means to comment or double tap.

“Especially because we, like just started High school, so we’re meeting a lot of new people, so you would comment on someone’s photo who you’re not really super close with or that you don’t know really well, and it's sort of a statement, like, ‘I wanna be friends with you’ or ‘I wanna get to know you’ or like, ‘I think you’re cool’. If someone that you don’t know very well commented on your photo, it's sort of like an unspoken agreement that you have to comment back on their photo. Like when you’re making new friends, if they comment on your photo, you comment on their photo.”

 Almost to say that the way to meet new people and force friendships is through your online persona, how you present, or even more to the point, sell yourself. Later in the interview the incoming freshman girls admit, that the way you present yourself online, is almost like you’re marketing yourself, like you are the product, manager, and the marketing team, trying to keep people interested and concerned with knowing about you and your life. Squeezing anything cool or notable about yourself into an Instagram bio, or caption, and sticking a filter on a group picture of your friends having “Tons of fun!” being the only thing keeping us, in this generation current. And beyond that, people making friends and even romantic partners or hookups in the private message sections, or DMs of Instagram.

“...I tell her, don't you hate when you get screenshot, Bitch that DM wasn't for everybody, I love tha gram I love tha gram, I'm addicted to it I know I am...” A piece of a very popular rap right now, brought to us by Yo Gotti, who may not be a credible source at first glance, but as a voice for the young of this generation, and the behavior now known as normal, very trustworthy. People being debased to a steady photostream on their phones. This is being highly studied all over the world, and the impact of the internet in general on the mass public has been scrutinized by many since the mid 90’s, but the most powerful words, come from an actress, a media personality, and someone you think would be completely uninvolved in public speaking, Thandie Newton, who in her thirteen minute TED Talk addressed embracing self, and otherness.

“We each have a self, but I don’t think that we’re born with one...The fundamental state of ‘oneness’ is lost on us very quickly...it’s no longer valid, or real...” This transition from having a fundamental sense of ‘oneness’ to being completely withdrawn from everything comes quickly, almost without warning. Unfortunately though, most young adults choose to isolate themselves into different internet profiles in an attempt to recreate that oneness through a self-constructed image that in truth can never fully capture their entire presence. That being said, this trend will likely never end, but the self imposed need to sell ourselves on our media will hopefully be less impending through the different voices pointing out this almost self destructive behavior.

Sources

Ghosts in the Machine, NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/magazine/ghosts-in-the-machine.html?_r=0

Quotes from The Namesake

http://www.shmoop.com/namesake/identity-quotes.html

Thandie Newton: Embracing otherness, embracing myself. (TED Talk)

https://www.ted.com/talks/thandie_newton_embracing_otherness_embracing_myself?language=en#t-560227

This American Life: Status Update

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/573/status-update

Yo Gotti, Down in the DM

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/yogotti/downinthedm.html

Analytical:

Many things can change within a given amount of time, throughout life there are many situations where you have to adapt to get through to the next task, to the next day. The individual has to change themselves in a positive or negative way to be able to get through the pressing situation in their lives,and the changing world evolves based on past mistakes. The changing world and “the self” are related through a mutual bond of pain and adaptation.  Generally the bond of pain has to do with loss or negative issues within the world, and the adaptation is how the world and individual change within themselves.

Throughout the book, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, the characters change based on the unfortunate things that happen to them. One of the best examples of this is at the beginning of the book, while O’Brien is still introducing the characters, saying their names and what they carry. In this moment the author is talking about a soldier named Jimmy Cross and how he deals with having to be in the war while the love of his life is elsewhere. “They were called legs or grunts. To carry something was to hump it, as when Lieutenant Jimmy Cross humped his love for Martha up the hills and through the swamps.” (Pg 3)

The soldiers have to learn to adapt to the new weight of their equipment, which obviously puts new weight on their backs plus the strain of being in a new place. This causes them physical pain (at least a little). And they have to learn to deal with the pain/strain and move on. They must trudge on through the new environment they are in and adapt to everything they go through to stay alive so they can get home. The changing world is were they actually are (in the field aka Vietnam), and the self is exactly that (inside all their heads/how they feel). This is really personified throughout this quote, even though it is pretty short, just by Jimmy deciding to focus more on ‘humping’ his weight and the job he has to do rather than Matha at home. He’s adapting to his situation by blocking out the part of his life that is causing the biggest problem; Martha is making his service difficult, so he decided to block her out and think more about what he has to do, rather than what he misses. And the over all changing world just goes on through the war it is already in, which is the personification of pain for the world. The fact that its getting destroyed over territory and politics etc.

Tim's explanations of what the men have to deal with show more examples of how the men adapt He makes their characters seem more human so can connect with them and sort of feel their pain.(Pg 21) “They were tough. They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing- these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had terrible weight.”Again the soldiers have to deal with all the different issues/situations they go through in the war, and everything that also doesn’t happen. Like all the men that don’t survive, all the people they can’t see everyday, all the battles they don’t win etc. They also have to deal with everything bad that may or may not have happened to them before they even went into the service. The changing world in this situation is again where they are, but more specifically being in the military (U.S Army). The self is also within the subject, more exactly, were the individual is in their mind. Mostly involving their acceptance of past events (Emotional stability). Just generally meaning that the world changes its scenery and location, while the individual changes as a person to adapt to changes around them.

While in the war a soldier named Rat Kiley writes a letter to the sister of his best friend, who was just killed in battle. He does this because they were so close during their service and he thought it would be better than her just getting the Killed In Action notice. After he sends the letter out she never writes back, and this is Rat’s reaction to her lack of a response, “Listen to Rat Kiley. Cooze, he says. He does not say bitch. He certainly does not say woman, or girl. He says cooze. Then he spits and stares. He’s nineteen years old- it’s too much for him- so he looks at you with those big sad gentle killer eyes and says cooze, because his friend is dead, and because it’s incredibly sad and true: she never wrote back.”(Pg 69)

This proves the point that the changing world and “the self” are related through a mutual bond of pain and adaptation. It illustrates that the ‘characters’ or soldiers in the real world will adapt each other’s stories for one another and tell them as their own. Effectively this makes their coping go over easier. Although they still feel the need to tell the stories, which is a way of expressing the emotions they felt in order to adapt. In most situations the emotions they’re expressing, his pain from past war experiences.

Even throughout different interviews with the author of “The Things They Carried” Tim O’Brien alludes to the issues he and his fellow soldiers had during the war that he touches on in the books, even though most of the characters in the book are fictional they are based off real people he met.

''We all wondered why the place was so hostile. We did not know there had been a massacre there a year earlier. The news about that only came out later, while we were there, and then we knew. There is a monument in My Lai now and I want to see it.''

This is probably the most obvious and literal quote that could be found. The changing world having to go through a massacre, a large loss of life in a certain area, then having that area be physically changed into a memorial for those who lost their lives during that tragedy. The individual being the people that were affected, the killed, their families, the community members. Then those individuals somehow having to adapt in order to cope with all the changes caused by the massacre itself.

During this same interview with New York Times, O’Brien was speaking to the interviewer about how he felt getting drafted, the shock he felt and what he did after receiving the notice himself.

“His reaction to the draft notice still surprises him. ''I went to my room in the basement and started pounding the typewriter,'' he recalled. ''I did it all summer. It was the most terrible summer of my life, worse than being in the war. My conscience kept telling me not to go, but my whole upbringing told me I had to. That horrible summer made me a writer. I don't know what I wrote. I've still got it, reams of it, but I'm not willing to look at it. It was just stuff - bitter, bitter stuff, and it's probably full of self-pity. But that was the beginning.''”

Tim openly admits to how he felt as his life changed around him. The war becoming worse to the point where the military needed more bodies to the point where more men were drafted into service. He changed in himself, based on the fear and shock he felt at having to go into a situation that could possibly lead to his death.

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction. New York: Broadway, 1998. Print.

Bruckner, D.J. "A Storyteller For the War That Won't End." New York Times Online. The New York Times. April 3, 1990. Web. October 20, 2009.

Narrative:

Most of my family is involved with the Military, and even those who aren’t work for the government. My father was in the Army, My uncle was in the Marine Core, My aunt in the Navy, and my mother, grandmother, great-aunt, and uncle, all work for the IRS. Reading Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” was very helpful in putting everything they had to go through into perspective.

More so my uncle Ray honestly. He came home about four years ago, but he was flown overseas and served in Iraq. Dropped into an unfamiliar place, fresh outta high school and dead set on bringing the family honor. Although thats not really what happened. He doesn’t suffer from PTSD or any other of the myriad of psychological issues he very well could from being in the war.

Although if you go through his phone you’ll see pictures of what its like, and he has buried many friends while he was in the war. Which is touched on very often throughout the book and also in interviews with the author himself. “The Things They Carried”, shows how the soldiers felt doing what they were ordered, and how they reacted to all the death and destruction around them.

That was always something I wanted to better understand, because I knew that my uncle had seen dead bodies, and buildings crumble. Seeing those things can completely change a person and their point of view on life, so I wondered how that affected Ray. I could never actually ask him though, because even if it tore him apart inside he would put on a brave face and act like it didn't phase him in the slightest.

Tim opened my eyes to the fact, that sometimes people in the service just can’t talk about those things, that I can’t just expect anyone to pour out everything they ever saw in the field to me. That sometimes its better not to ask, and just let your imagination assume the worst, and try to be as kind as you can. Just show them all the love you have, so they don’t forget its there when they need it. Just always be happy when they make it home, and try to be the best family you can when they do. Give them support. Everything you can, but not too much so you don’t overwhelm them into thinking there is something wrong with them. Just in general, take everything in stride and don’t think about it too hard, just love the person that comes back as much as you loved them before they were deployed.

With the current day and age technology is continuously evolving, making everything easier to come by and find. Going on google can lead to information, apps, games, and programs that help with over efficiency and productivity. These search engines can also be very helpful for finding Bit Torrents and bittorrent compatible files. These Torrents are most commonly used for illegally downloading music files like albums and songs from different bands/composers, getting all the tunage with minimal work and no pocket money. File sharing and illegal downloads are not killing the music industry, because what keeps music alive is the mutual love for it fans share.

It is becoming a common trend to illegally download things like music, books, games and apps Focusing on music, many people (mostly with jobs in the music industry/community) have been continuously saying that torrenting music is killing the industry. That supporting the band(s) or artist(s) would be putting money towards the music to allow more to be made. Although other people have been countering with the argument that the love of music kept it alive this long and will continue to do so with or without the music being top purchased on iTunes.

Dee Snider, a rock and roll legend and member of the band Twisted Sister was interviewed by LoudWire.com on the death of rock and roll. His opinion was,

“Rock ‘n’ roll is alive and well and thriving on social media, in the streets, and in clubs and concert halls all over the world. And the bands playing it are more genuine and heartfelt than ever because they are in it for one reason: the love of rock ‘n’ roll.”

This comment can be transferred to any genre of music. Most bands and artists have Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and Instagram profiles, they leak previews of their new albums and give out free merchandise bundles. Which is according to the logic that ‘torrenting music is stealing from bands’

Recently there was a case study done by Time Magazine titled, “Illegal Music Downloads Not Hurting Industry.” This study concluded a lot of interesting data. Including:

• Men are more likely to download music.

• People with higher education stream more music.

• Average income doesn’t affect the amount of music streaming.

• Based on cultural differences/economic structure in different countries downloads vary across the globe.

The study proved that, “Specifically, the study found that legal purchases would be about 2 percent lower without illegal downloading available—meaning, yes, illegal downloads boost legal downloads. Their conclusion: people who download pirated music mostly do so for tunes they wouldn’t have ever spent money on. The positive effect of streaming was even larger.”

The article also made the point, “Clicking on a legal download website does not equal buying music, past studies have found that “some people buy and steal a lot of music because they love music”.”

The final outcome/result of the study is that the people that illegally download their music wouldn’t buy it if they didn’t torrent it. Meaning that there was no initial ravine for the music industry to be making for them to really lose any money.

Works Cited:

Kreps, Daniel. "Gene Simmons: 'Rock Is Finally Dead. It Was Murdered'"Rolling Stone. N.p., 7 Sept. 2014. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.

Hartmann, Graham. "Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider Responds to Gene Simmons’ ‘Rock Is Dead’ Claim Read More: Dee Snider Responds to Gene Simmons' 'Rock Is Dead' Claim | Http://loudwire.com/twisted-sister-dee-snider-gene-simmons-rock-is-dead-claim/?trackback=tsmclip." 

Loudwire.com. Loudwire Network, 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 3 Oct. 2014. Rothman, Lily. "Your Illegal Music Downloads Not Hurting Industry, Study Claims." 

Entertainment Illegal Music Downloads Not Hurting Industry Study Claims Comments. N.p., 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2014.

According to the hype in the trending topics, if you are into a non-trending topic you are less than those who are trendy; including music taste, makeup, and clothing. 1There are over 7 billion different people on this Earth. Each one unique, just like the DNA and fingerprints they are born with. Now, some of these people have certain things in common- such as favorite colors, bands, and interests.

Such stigmatism's can be made specifically about certain people that are fans of heavy music. This includes the genres of metal, heavy metal, and thrash metal. Which have always been underlying genres in music- definitely not trending. People think those who listen to this music are more violent, angry, and overall on the brink of killing people. Which is definitely not true for all the fans of this form of music. This bias continues to persist to this day.

One amazing example of this is the West Memphis Three. This is a murder case were the justice system was swayed by such said biases against people who are nothing more the a little different. On May 5th 1993 there was a murder case opened. Three second grade boys were beaten, mutilated, bound, and killed. These boys were the namesake for the West Memphis Three. The police had no leads but were drawn to some teenage boys that wore all black, kept to themselves, and listened to very heavy metal, and rock and roll. The real rebels of ‘93. All joking aside these boys were convicted and sent to prison for crimes they did not commit all based on bias created by trends and marketing tactics.  In all marketing campaigns when you see pop artists their pictures and videos are usually very bright and colorful. While in heavy metal, rock, punk, and thrash music most pictures and videos are darker, and have a more serious motif. Usually the lyrics are about real life issues and feelings, while pop music is more about having fun and being cool. I am not saying that pop music is better or worse than other types of music, but I am definitely saying there is a huge bias against kids that listen to these ‘other’ kinds of music.  

I can definitely relate to this. Some of my favorite bands are Of Mice & Men, Bring Me The Horizon, Megadeth, and Nirvana. These bands are all classified as Heavy Metal or Rock & Roll. And because I listen to these bands and genuinely enjoy them people form opinions and biases against me. Like, “You’re probably going to grow up to be a serial killer”, “Are you a satanist?”,"You're on drugs aren't you?" and the most popular, “Are you a lesbian?”

Somehow listening to someone expressing their feelings in a more raw fashion means I have to be societies definition of undesirable. Just as the West Memphis Three were pegged. In metal music the singers and band pour their feelings into their songs and scream it out at the top of their lungs, they don’t pretend to be calm or collected. They make their thoughts sound how they feel. But if you openly admit that you have the same feelings and refuse to water them down you are dangerous. Being that you don’t feed into the same mass delusions of complete sanity that most people in today’s world do.

In the end the West Memphis Three were released and the true culprit- a church going, faithful, and reliable stepfather of one of the boys- was placed behind bars. And thank God the police aren't shared on any of my playlists- or I just might be in prison too.

City- synonym for cesspool.

These are my people and their stories,

Stories I helped them write.

A Truth.

They own nothing.

They want everything.

No one knows who we really are.

They don’t have pretty plastic dreams manufactured by their parents.

Searching for love, but then turning to drugs.

A Romance.

Empty Lots full of booze cans and empty prescription bottles.

No pretty green fields filled with roses and marigolds.

Makeout sessions that come in the flavors of Cigarettes and Jack Daniels

Going further than that one sweet suburbanite kiss on the Gymnasium dance floor.

Prowling the malls for free chinese food samples.

No home cooked family meals with Mom and Dad meeting the boyfriend.

A Prince.

Drive thru drug deals at Johnny Rockets.

Buying diapers with coke money.

Coping jars of baby food from K-Mart after school.

All for the baby, the mistake.

The one she helped him make.

Because city thugs dont use condoms- 13 or otherwise.

A Princess.

Three story house instead of a castle.

Two angry cats instead of friendly birds and deer.

No evil stepmother, No dead father, No siblings.

Instead of sudsy water filled pails, There is a red Pep-Boys bucket full of empty Pall Mall packs.

A Break Up.

Broken pieces of glass showering across the asphalt.

Like pretty pink cherry blossom petals.

But RED.

He cheated, so she swung,

no death...just 17 stitches and a nasty scar.

Let us be true here my friends, I do not turn out all evil.

I was built- and named after mind you- Brotherly Love.

I am not as bad as congress and politics would like you to believe.

A City Couple.

Walking in love park

A white sun dress for her and a black polo for him

strolling along.

The sit at the fountain, and he pulls out the ring.

Two hours later they are standing in line at city hall.

Four other couples as their witnesses.

No family for miles.

City Newlyweds.

No money for a honeymoon,

but enough time off at work for a five day weekend,

cooking and cleaning together.

Sitting and watching American Horror Story.

Living the life.

A City Mother.

She worries, the stress of work weighing down on her.

Can’t lose the baby.

After he is born she knows-

she will love and protect him.

A City Father.

He worries about her, and the little one.

While she was in labor he almost passed out.

It was so unsanitary.

But know he knows...

He will love and protect them.

The Babies,

One Tiny and clean and full of potential.

One born of lies and infidelity, still full of potential

Then I have to decide, I have a choice to make.

Will I ruin them, or will I build him up to all they can be?

In a way I am the most human city there is, with my possessiveness,

and indecisiveness. With my whimsical ways and last minute decisions.

This my fellow nations, cities, and towns is what I ask you.

What will we decide with our citizens?

Will we be saviuors, or the shepherds of the Damned?

You wouldn’t think that moving from Chicago to Philadelphia is a big move. But it really is. Especially if you lived there your whole life before you moved to Philly, so you have that Chicago accent. My first day at my new high school all the other juniors thought I got kicked out of my last school all the kids did all day was talk about me...and they were NOT quite about it.

‘Cause like- have you heard Damien talk? He sounds like a drug dealer or something. He probably got expelled and he always slurs his words together. He might even come to school high. Do you think he would get expelled for that?’

When in reality I’ve never been suspended. Another great thing about my school? Their speech department. Or at least thats what the vice principal was telling me in her office. She thought that because I was the talk (no pun intended) of the school that it might be in ‘my best interest’ to take two speech classes. One to assess if I had any other ‘setbacks’ and the other is specifically for kids with accents and slurs. So of course I agreed so that she would dismiss me. Biggest mistake of my Junior year. No my high school career.

So all my speech classes started the second week of school. My first two classes of the day on Monday and Friday. Let me just tell you- when I walked into that class I felt like an asshole. There were kids in wheelchairs and girls without hair and here I am just standing in the doorway. The least impaired looking one in the whole room. I mean, I don’t think you need to be impaired to need or be sent to speech therapy, but it was really obvious that I didn’t really belong in the room.

“So...Damien, what brings you here?”

“I was referred here by the vice principal. She said my accent was a ‘setback’ so here I am. “

“Well, I noticed you’re from Chicago. But you don't have any issues with your sentence or word structure. I’m going to send you down the hall to your next class, this one isn’t really for you, this class is for the mentally and physically disabled.  So I am not really sure why you were sent here.”

I didn’t even bother going to my next ‘therapy’ class. I left and went straight to the office. I walked past the nurses station and past the waiting chairs, then walked straight up to the secretary's desk.

“I would like to talk to vice principal Rasheed. I can wait.”

Twenty minutes later I’m admitted to her office. I just walk right around her and sit in the most comfortable chair I can find, I’m going to be here awhile. She takes note of my obviously pissy disposition and just gives me a snarky once over.

“I hope you know I am counting this as you skipping your speech classes- if you need to talk to me, I want you to do it on your lunch or between classes, plus you are just counteracting what is in your-”

“Don’t you dare say ‘my best interest’.  There is nothing wrong with the way I talk, I am not from the same city as you, therefore I have a different way of talking to people. Its how I grew up. That does not make me anymore or less than you, and I would love to know why one of the classes you sent me to was for the mentally and physically disabled.”

I didn't even have to wait for her to answer me. The head of the school walked in and escorted me out onto the school’s lawn. He told me to go home, that my parents had been called and that I was going to get into serious trouble the next time I skipped classes- for a ‘good reason’ or otherwise. So I walked my angry ass home, a thirteen mile walk. Took me two hours, but I was pretty mellow once I got home...my mother on the other hand was completely livid. They told her that I was cutting and causing a scene in the office.

“Those self righteous bastards.” That was all she could manage after hearing what actually happened to me. So then she went into full out terminator mode. She wanted the school to be publically humiliated. So she pulled me out of that school and she started researching everything she could think of to make what they did seem as incriminating as possible.  

It took about two weeks for the whole state to find out about the issue I was having. Apparently there is a small recording device in the V.P’s office, that had caught the whole thing on tape. One of the secretary's had found it very sad...so of course what did she do? Upload the video to YouTube spilling all my information in the info bar. After that people started paticians, walk outs and strikes, all under my name. So naturally I have been getting all the heat and love for this movement. Thats were I am going now, Im in a cab in New York on my way to central park to give a speech about the issues people go through, because of course a hormonal seventeen year old would know best.

So here I go, walking up the steps to the podium, about to spill my guts on the altar of sacrifice. Just because I lived in Chicago until I was sixteen.

“Hay there. This is a huge crowd...wow, well Im flattered. I just wanted to say- That no matter the language, accent, or even dialect- we are all entitled to our voices. They are a part of what makes us special and should never be ridiculed; or under appreciated. To quote my favorite movie “Pump Up The Volume”, ‘TALK HARD. THE TRUTH IS A VIRUS.’ Goodnight”