And so summer draws to a close...

My summer vacation has almost breathed its last breath.

What a welcome relief.

This is not to say I haven't had fun this summer. There have been many adventures to recount. Shall I try to recall them all? Ohh, sure, why not?

Back in late May, I journeyed with my grandmother (Nana, as it were) to visit my cousin and his expecting wife in Erlanger, KY. When I say expecting, I mean that she was about to pop. I spent a little over a week goofing off with a four year old, shopping, lazing around the house, and getting my hair chopped off (again). (The hair cut was nice, but I'm ready for ponytails to come back.)

In mid-June, there was Ichthus Music Festival. This year made the fifth year I'd attended. I saw many a wonderful set such as that of Newsboys, TobyMac, Skillet, and Switchfoot. There was massive amounts of sweating and water drinking to be done. There was fangirling over the string players in Skillet--the 'hot Asian violinist' and the cellist with his beastly black cello. There was much in the way of singing along to songs and standing for longer than my feet cared to. Basically, it was fun. You can't be bored when you go with your mom to Sonic in the middle of Lexington at 1 AM.

July had a few events all its own. There was turning 19, which meant Mahou (the BFF) and I were the same age for approximately a week. (My sole birthday present, aside from money, was a Barnes & Noble nook. *JOYGASM*) There was going with my church's youth group to Kings Island and riding many a roller coaster, eating overpriced park food, and reading on aforementioned nook during long line queues. There was the ACHIEVING OF THE DRIVER'S LICENSE. Now the only thing keeping me at home is a want for gas money. (I can take the occasional drive to the 'Ville, drive to church/cell group/school, putter around town on errands, and give my boyfriend rides home, but I can't just up and drive all over the place whenever I want.) So yeah. Freedom and stuff.

August brought the official first car. Prince Humperdink, in all his broken down glory, is mine! It also brought the half-year 'versary of Corey and I dating. It's pretty awesome, dating this guy. Mahou also had her 20th birthday, which involved she, a bunch of our friends, and I sitting around her house being goofballs and eating sandwiches. YEAH!

So there are many events landmarking my summer. But it was also full of boredom.

When I was not gallivanting around Kentucky, I was sitting at home, on the computer, playing the Sims 2 or Facebook games, all while watching TV. (If House, NCIS, or CSI were not to be found, I watched the news. FNC is pretty awesome.) I ate whatever frozen food hadn't already been gobbled up by my brother, seeing as he's hit the PUBESCENT DUDE APPETITE phase. I only got out of the house to go to church, go to Wal-Mart, or go to the library, mostly. This month, I've been on a reading kick, mostly reading political books.

It's fun for awhile, but then you start to realize you have 2 more months of this.

So next summer, come hell or high water, I will take summer classes. Economy allowing, I might get a job, too. It's hard to find work around here if you're a newcomer teen. And I pray that I can also go on at least one road trip without family. Most likely, I'll visit a college friend. Also, I should probably take Mahou with me on a trip.

So this has been my summer. Long, hot, and Ashley-fied.

The first romance of Buck-Tick

Let us see. Anyone who has talked to Ashley for more than five seconds knows she loves Buck-Tick. (Actually, that's an exaggeration. There are hordes of people at church who have no clue.) So, I was thinking back to the songs I listened to over and over when at first I fell in love.

-Dress
It was all because of that animu show, Trinity Blood. It is my favorite, after all. When I watched the show on Adult Swim, I always turned up the TV and rocked out to the opening. It's such a beautiful song. Eventually, when I was near the internet, I decided to look up this Buck-Tick on YouTube and see if I liked their stuff. Which leads me to...
-Romance
Ahh, the song that reeled me in. The video was gorgeous--in that lovely, goth-y way. The music--especially the vocal line--was exquisite. And that voice...Sakurai Atsushi is one of my favorite vocalists. And all that gothic romance was like the gateway drug.
-Glamorous
This one always makes me feel just the tiniest bit hopeful when I listen to it. Not really sure why. I think it feels as though, during the verses, Sakurai's voice is almost like a prayer--begging, unsure, but hopeful. Then, at the chorus, the vocal line soars, making one feel as though she could fly. Grand, isn't it?
-Heroin
That slightly electronica rock song...it still makes me want to dance.
-Alice in Wonder Underground
Alice in Wonderland seems to be a gothic staple. It's twisted, kind of dark, and quirky. Buck-Tick's Wonder Underground has the same sort of feel, just with more timpani. Also, the song features a countertenor. That's just hot.
-Limbo
What do you mean, Buck-Tick has sexual songs?! This was my first taste of that. I honestly didn't know. But man, I loved that song. It was dirty. I felt dirty listening to it, only knowing what the English lyrics were saying ("SEX FOR YOU!"). It has a strong, driving dance beat, like it threatens to pull you out of your seat and send you spinning. Love it!

I might think of some more later and add to this list. Also, I just might post a list of favorite songs.

Uh oh. Little Suzy dyed her hair pink. OH THE HUMANITY!

"Visible tattoos, body or tongue piercing, other than ears, or unnatural hair color
including but not limited to blue, green, red, and orange are prohibited for all
students."

This is (or, I know for sure, was) a rule in the local school district's dress code.

My big problem with this is that someone having a tattoo or funny-colored hair doesn't disrupt the learning process. Some students might find such things weird, but who is offended by them? The only real potential problem is an inappropriate tattoo--say, of a naked lady. But aside from that, how are these things inappropriate?

After all, school dress codes are to ensure that no one wears something offensive. For instance, in this district, one also can't wear anything that promotes drug, alcohol, or tobacco use--fitting, since most everyone in K-12 schools can't use any of these legally anyway. Also, girls can't wear shirts that show cleavage (or, more ridiculously, but still within the limits, shirts with no sleeves). Boys already look at girls; let's not make it harder on them.

But what does a tattoo, a body piercing, or unnatural hair dying do? Absolutely nothing.

Making such rules also have some consequences. What do you do with a student who, before being informed of the rule change, got a tattoo over the summer (or already had one in the first place)? Say it's on his arm. Does he have to constantly cover it up now, just to appease the administration? Guess that means long-sleeve shirts in the late summer for him. (School starts here in early August.) Or to the girl who dyed her hair green--now she's forced to re-dye her hair? Do students with nose rings have to take their piercings out, or wear those weird plastic studs as placeholders?

It serves no purpose to ban 'body art,' as it were. A kid with a music note tattoo shouldn't be sent to the office.

Of course, this one can't say for sure how well such rules were enforced last school year. After all, I graduated the year before. But I clearly remember seeing lots of cleavage that was never called out, while my long-legged female friend gets sent home for wearing a dress that falls just a little short of her knees.

But I can easily imagine the principle plucking a pierced person from the throng of students in the hall to tell him to take it out or go home.

It just seems odd that even the more mainstream forms of body art are still so opposed in parts of society. Getting a tattoo doesn't make you a rebel. Getting a lip ring doesn't signal that the person is a Satan-worshiper. Geez!

Taxes and Wasted Money

So I was reading an article on Jack Conway (the Democratic candidate in the upcoming Senate election here in Kentucky) and how he's flip-flopped on whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts. During the primary, he asserted that they should be allowed to expire. Now, purportedly to seem less liberal, he's calling for an extension of the tax cuts.

Something smells fishy, yes?

I found it even more annoying when, upon scrolling down to read the comments, someone was calling Republicans hypocrites for complaining about the national debt, then demanding tax cuts, which would "increase the deficit." It seems someone has forgotten that conservatives, as a general rule, also support less government spending.

Granted, there are a few 'Republicans' who are all for big government.

But most of us wish we didn't have things like the Stimulus law adding to the deficit. I mean, what's it given me? Hmm...let's see...we've had two road construction projects that tout the "American Investment and Recovery Act" signs. One can probably be deemed helpful, but did we actually need that money to get it done? The other doesn't seem to be getting anywhere. One lane of traffic is blocked off, and the lane where the construction people were working has been covered with fresh, bumpy pavement. I'm not sure what they're doing there.

I still believe the only reason those signs went up by the projects was to further annoy people on their way home from work as they're stuck in traffic because of the blocked roads. Kentucky is pretty conservative.

Prince Humperdink (Not the Movie Character)

Sitting out in my driveway is an old '92 Dodge Grand Caravan. If you were to see it driving down the road, you'd probably think, "What a hunk of junk." There's rust showing on the back, paint spots missing on the hood, and it just has that "old car" look to it.

I love it.

Thanks to my boyfriend, I decided to name it Prince Humperdink. It's white, it's roomy, and there's something nameless about it that pulls me in. Maybe it's the allure of having my bona fide 'first car.' This will certainly make the commute from home to school and back more interesting.

Already, plans to really make it mine are forming. Some car decorations, like a steering wheel cover and some seat covers, are in order. Probably after posting this blog, I will pick the official back-seat stuffed animal. My high school grad cap tassel is already hanging from the rearview mirror--a practice that is illegal in the sense that filesharing is illegal. (Also, is it illegal in all states, or just Kentucky? Hanging things from the rearview mirror, that is.)

Of course, the vehicle has its flaws, but nothing that I can't work around until they are fixed (or I end up with a different vehicle on my hands anyway). The air conditioning is faulty while actually driving; sitting still, it works just fine. The sliding door will come off if you try to open it, but one can easily climb into farther back seats via the passenger door. Also, the anti-lock brakes are going out, but (1) that will be fixed soon (I think) and (2) the brakes themselves work.

But hey, I'm not complaining. I didn't buy the van, and I'm not paying for gas. I'll take what I've got. It gets me to school, the library, friends' homes, and just about anywhere else. So I'll drive it and be content that I can chill to conservative talk radio as the road flies beneath me.

So, here's to Prince Humperdink, my humble chariot.

So you're a Democrat, eh?

I think I'm going to invent my own new hobby. It goes like this--I ask my friends what political party they identify with. When a Democrat pops up, I'll start pressing them on the issues that their party supports. You know, things like:

• abortion for any woman, at any stage of pregnancy, without the approval of people who matter (you know, like minors' parents)
• raising taxes to Big Government
• gun control (that only is abided by...law abiding citizens)
• skipping over drilling for oil in more places on our property, so while the private sector invents alternative fuel, we keep buying from the middle east
• etc. etc. etc.

I feel as though, especially among young voters (or close-to-voting-age high schoolers), people just don't understand the consequences of liberal policies. I knew a guy who told me, "I identify most with the Democratic Party," but upon pressing him for issues he sided with, he had nothing. This from a guy who can vote in two years.

It seems as though the only issues that the everyday high school or college student cares about are (1) gay marriage, and, more recently, (2) the health care bill. That's it. No thoughts given to the messed up tax system, Government waste, the national debt, or the fact that the only people who are stopped from carrying guns on campus are the people who care about the rules and that, subsequently, students are less safe, since they are unarmed. It saddens me.

So, I don't blog much

Reason?

Most things I want to write about seem to personal.

Oops.

Maybe I should change that, yes?

In Want of an eBook Reader

Previously, I've been against buying any sort of eBook reader. You've heard the arguments before--it's not the same as having a hard copy of a book, etc. I was also quite turned off when I heard Amazon remotely deleted 1984 from peoples' Kindles because of some copyright issue the company who published it had.

But then, I stumbled upon Barnes & Noble's nook. After looking over it, the appeal is quite large. The wi-fi and 3G features will make buying eBooks on the device convenient. (Imagine being stuck on a road trip, yearning for a new book to buy as the driver is fueling up at some middle-of-nowhere gas station. Just hop on the 3G network!) I've read that it also supports Overdrive formats, meaning I can use Kentucky's Libraries Unbound to borrow books that I can read on it.

I've looked over the prices of eBooks on B&N's website, and honestly, it's a steal. You've got new-released bestsellers that go for over $20 hardback but can be bought in eBook form for only $10. I could easily buy enough books for the savings to pay for the nook. In addition, there are free eBooks to be found, although thus far, I haven't found ones I'd want.

The only downside for me is that as of now, no manga is being made available in eBook form. As someone who buys and reads a LOT of manga, that would be ideal.

Ahh well. I could live without that capability, if only for the fact that I could buy an eBook version of the Bible, which would mean less bulk in my Sunday morning purse.

A new blog

Because I'm tired of my old one. So! Let us begin anew.

My name is Ashley, but on the internets, I go by Kaizoku. I'm a freshman in college, majoring in music education (vocal emphasis), which basically amounts to this--I want to be a choir teacher one day. You will find me discussing music, politics, video games, books, and various other sundry items. Whatever comes to mind, really.

So, we shall see what comes of this, ya?