The Troubadour

So I was sitting here and wondering what to say, and I decided to write about my experience at the Greg Laswell concert at the Troubadour in L.A. The venue was a great despite the sweat that resulted as people were standing shoulder to shoulder and front to back. And although the music was great and the environment was unique, my favorite part of the show was that I stood next to Elijah Wood for about 1.5 hours. The thing that struck me was not the many jokes that I thought of to say such as,"I'm hoping to visit New Zealand, would you mind telling me how to get to the Shire, oh and are those gross orcs still roaming the land," but the collection of thoughts that came from observation. My thoughts resulted from curiosity about his life. What would it be like to go around and have every single person know you? How would you act in public, and what would drive your decisions? I felt trapped for him. I watched as he looked directly ahead, avoiding a tilt of the head, or a shift of the eyes, and I wanted to tell him it was okay. He could do what he wanted, look around without fear, yell, and be free. It was in that moment that I was happy to be me. Despite being able to tap my foot and look around, I was able to watch a famous person (and he couldn't). In no way am I saying I have a better life, or saying he must not be happy. But it made me think more about the differences and the similarities we (all humans) share.

There are so many things in life that are great equalizers. When one leaves for college, when one graduates, or when one begins their relationship with Christ; these things remind that we are all the same. My green eyes may be different than the deep brown eyes of my sister, or my love for volleyball, different than Craig's love of guitar, but deep down we need the same things, and I love being reminded of this. Which is why I look anxiously and excitedly to the greatest equalizer of all, death. When all will be judged for what they did or didn't do in this blip of time we call our life. How beautiful it will be. To look past one another's faults or successes, and to see them, naked and vulnerable, and yet complete. When I will be held responsible for my life, and when I along will every single human being, will no longer fear. We will all be able to shout, and look around, and tap our feet to the beat (sometimes the little things make the biggest differences).

On a very different note, I decided to edit and revise my blog post today, so I hope it is less ridden with grammar mistakes, and spelling issues, and poor writing. But I desire to fix my writing issues through this blog as well. And if you wish to do the same, here are a few pointers from, "The Elements of Style," by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.

"4. Write with nouns and verbs

Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place. This is not to disparage adjectives or adverbs; they are indispensable parts of speech. Occasionally they surprise us with their power, as in

Up the airy mountain,

Down the rushy glen,

We daren't go a-hunting

For fear of little men...

The nouns mountain and glen are accurate enough, but had the mountain not become airy, the glen rushy, William Allingham might never have got off the ground with his poem. In general, however, it is nouns and verbs, not their assistants, that give good writing its toughness and color."