And lo, the reason I haven't been paying much attention to my blog has come to a screeching and emotionally ambiguous halt. For those of you who don't know (or those of you who are just insensitive), I've been student teaching at a middle school for about two and a half months. It's given me time to think about my choice of profession from beneath its own crushing boot heel.
I can say that it didn't scare me away from teaching, but it also didn't fill me with a philanthropic desire to "reach" every student and convert gang members into "decent" folk. Anyway, it's a lot to think about still. In the meantime, here's a playlist of songs that kept me psyched up.
"Wolf Like Me" by TV On the Radio: I owe some thanks to Ben for putting this song on a cool mix CD, and some to Ryan for inviting me and Sheree to see Local H where they did a crackingly good cover of it. When the moon is round and full, gonna teach you tricks that'll blow your mongrel mind.
"Seventeen Years" by Ratatat: Nothing like seeing what kind of sounds can actually come out of an electric guitar via synth-exorcism to get one psyched. This song psyches me up for just about anything. I'm psyched just thinking about it.
"The Mountain" by Heartless Bastards: Great song. I am still really trying to like the whole album, however. Spilt blood on this place/it only echoes true all through the day.
"Twilight Omens" by Franz Ferdinand: This album in contrast is spectacularrr (roll the "r" for the correct emphasis). "Ulysses" also gets me pretty damn psyched. Anywho, I like this one because it's got one of the best lines that I've heard in a song: I typed your number into my calculator where it spelled a dirty word when you turn it upside down.
"Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon: That's right. Sex on mutha-huggin' fi-yah! I heard this song one day on KRCL, which prompted me to get the album. For a very long time I've been hesitant about Kings of Leon, but this monster of rock did me in. Hot as a fever/rattling bones/I could just taste it/taste it.
"Heads Will Roll" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Even though I hate dancing because 1. I look stupid when I do it and 2. I know that I look stupid when I do it, this is a good song. If I looked cool/sexy when I danced, I'd totally dance to this song. Off with your head/dance 'til you're dead.
I'm grateful for good psych-up songs. They helped me lots with the peculiar student teaching experience, and they kick ass for other reasons too.
