Miike Snow - Burial

Miike Snow has quickly become one of my favorite groups. The band hails from Sweden. Their debut, self-titled album ("Miike Snow", 2009) has an indie-pop/electro feel giving the band its own original sound. I find most of the songs to be rather upbeat and easy to get stuck in your head. My favorite songs include: Silvia, Sans Soleil, Plastic Jungle, and their break-through, most frequently played song, Animal. I strongly encourage you all to check them out!

Car Camping and Pawnee Buttes

     Last weekend, Nick and I attempted to go camping. Well, I suppose we were half successful. We wanted to stay two nights but only stayed one. It drizzled on us the whole time making it extremely difficult to start a fire/means to cook. During the night, it rained pretty hard and steady, and we woke up in a pond. So, it didn't take much arm twisting for either one of us to leave early and sleep in our warm, dry beds. On Sunday, we made up for our shortened trip by venturing east to Pawnee Buttes. The weather was perfect, and the clouds were nothing short of picturesque.

R.I.P. Yeardley Love

      On May 2nd, Miss Yeardley Love, a 22 year-old senior at the University of Virginia, was murdered. She was only days before her graduation. She was found by her roommate at 2:15am laying in a pool of blood with bruises on her face and a swollen eye. Her boyfriend, George Huguely, was arrested the next morning and is being charged with her murder. He admitted to kicking in her door, shaking her, and violently hitting her wall on the night of her death. Prior Police reports confirm he has had multiple run-ins with the law, including one instance where he verbally abused and attempted to assault a female police officer. Furthermore, it is significant to note, police reports confirm a previous domestic violence call involving Huguely. Police responded to a fight between him and his father during a family vacation (Charlottesville News and Arts, 2010).
     Recently, I lost the friendship of a young woman, Yeardley's age, who I considered to be like a sister to me. After I caught her boyfriend cheating on her and noticed several red flags appearing in their relationship, I became very worried about my friend. There had even been a time where the police were called to intervene a fight between the two, resulting in a night of jail for him. I confronted my friend, and I told her I was concerned for her well-being and more so her safety. As hard as it was, I told her I did not approve of her relationship with him. Also, that I would in no way support it. Unfortunately, she chose to believe her boyfriend's lies over my word. After, much to my dismay, she hastily eliminated me from her life and launched a smear campaign against me. About five weeks after she terminated our friendship, she broke up with him because she caught him cheating on her. Because of what I have been through personally, what I have seen others go through, and what happens to countless women all over the world each day, I do not regret telling my friend I thought she was in an abusive and unhealthy relationship. Even though it resulted in losing a friend, I would still not keep my mouth shut if I had another chance.
     I must admit my friend's case was seemingly mild. Never did I feel her boyfriend was on the verge of murdering her, but who's to say? It's been far too long that we, as sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, friends, acquaintances, and so on, stand by and let this happen. The majority of these women will swear by the legitimacy of their relationship and that "he really is a good guy". However, I will not be a part of this facade. I will not sit silently while I watch or even suspect another person is being abused. We must not stand for silence. Too many victims are afraid to come forward in a society that often resorts to victim-blaming. Awareness and discussion are great tools to help erode the hush-hush attitude that has blanketed issues like domestic abuse and sexual assault for centuries. Complacency is my enemy. Complacency is our enemy.
     At what point does the "boys will be boys" attitude stop and real accountability take place here? Drinking, getting in an argument, and putting a dent in the wall, may be seen as "no big deal" or simply just blowing off steam. This may be true in some instances. However, there are cases in which minor property damage and threats are indicators of much deeper problems within the individual. Unfortunately, I know domestic abuse will continue whether I remain silent or if I scream my opinion from a street corner. What can I do as a single person? What can we do as a community, a nation, a planet, to bring these injustices to light? As before, I'm not sure of a solution. However, I am sure that I will never remain silent again. Even if that means potentially embarrassing someone, calling the police into a "false alarm" situation, or even more losing a friendship. Never again will I let the urge for silence overtake my need to speak out. I think everyone can help Miss Love, and millions of women who have passed, receive the justice they so rightfully deserve. We must be guardians of the people we care about and love, even when they may not ask for help.

A touching video about Miss Love's lacrosse team can be found here:
Love's Team Plays in Her Honor

Dedicated to all human beings...

Gnarls Barkley. Cee-lo has amazing range and a unique voice, which I love. A very tasteful and beautiful tribute to Radiohead and to one of my favorite songs of all time.

Hewlett Gulch - Early Spring

Take Back the Night - Update

Nick and I appear in the video accompanying this news in The Rocky Mountain Collegian:

Sexual Assault Survivor Shares Story

Take Back the Night

     I woke up yesterday morning with no intentions of anything special happening. However, while sipping on my morning coffee and reading The Rocky Mountain Collegian, I realized it was a very important day. As one final push before the end of April, which is Sexual Assualt Awareness month, a rally by students was being held on campus, called Take Back the Night. With a few of my favorite local supporters beside me (Nick, Courtney, Keren, and little Elliot), we arrived to the rally around 6pm. With intentions of an open mic, survivors were encouraged to stand up and tell their stories. We listened to these heart-wrenching and tear-evoking stories for about an hour. There certainly was no shortage of people eager to share their personal experiences with sexual abuse. In fact, because of time, many did not get to speak, including myself. This fact alone speaks loudly of the prevalence of sexual abuse in our community and much more our society.
     Following the open mic, we all grabbed signs providing various messages such as, "Real Men Don't Rape", "Respect My Body", and "Consent is Sexy". We marched through campus, down Laurel Ave to College Ave, and finally into Old Town Square. We shouted along the way, "Out of the halls, and into the streets. We won't be raped. We won't be beat." and "Sexist, Racist, Anti-Gay, you can't take our night away." Traffic was blocked. Cars honked. People gawked from their comfy houses and nice restaurant dinners. It felt strange to be part of such a disturbance, but I believe this disturbance was more than necessary.

    Upon assembling in Old Town Square, we listened to the insights of Roe Bubar, JD, an ethnic studies and social work professor at CSU. She spoke largely of the dismal statistics surrounding women, men, minorities, and more specifically indigenous people, who are at highest-risk for sexual assault. Likewise, she spoke of the importance of teaching our children not to rape, which is a concept most are afraid to speak with children about. Following professor Bubar's speech, Rebecca Preston, a slam poet, performed three very powerful and stark poems moving the crowd towards laughter and empowerment.
    After the speakers were finished around 9pm, over half the crowd dispersed. The remaining marched back down College Ave, still chanting, though not as loud as before from tired, scratchy voices. We met back on campus for a candlelit vigil. We honored those who were not lucky enough to survive their experience, whether it be through resulting murder or suicide. Along with the vigil, we listened to Ram-Nation, a Native-American drum circle. They banged and chanted rhythmically in honor of those lost and in thanks for those in support. The rally was coming to a close, but still people lingered. We had built such a sense of solidarity among friends and strangers alike. It was almost difficult to pull myself away. Upon sensing this, Ram-Nation offered and performed an encore. Though I respectfully walked away, hand-in-hand with a man who would be anywhere at anytime to support and encourage me. At that moment, I felt incredibly lucky.

     Like I said, I woke up that morning with nothing special planned, but by the end of the day I had participated in my very first protest. Being socially active and responsible is something I need to find myself doing more.