Nostalgia: All-County Band Edition

When I think about grades 6-12, my very first thought isn’t awful school lunches or maniacal teachers. It’s usually band. All-County band.

Please, PLEASE, watch the State of the Union

Tonight at nine PM — as in less than three hours from now — President Obama is speaking. This shouldn’t be news to you, but hey. I won’t judge.

I don’t care if you have never watched the news. I don’t care if you refuse to identify with a political party. I don’t care if you think that the democratic/republican/save-the-llamas party drinks the blood of innocent children. I don’t care if you’re scared of The Man. You’re gonna watch this speech.

The biggest problem in American politics today is ignorance. People refuse to listen and refuse to participate. They think so little of our system that they forget that the system is run for, and by, The People. And when The People don’t step up, political types have to run the show all on their own. Thus we end up with an inefficient, ass-backwards governing body.

Interestingly, President Obama is doing a post-address interview with three YouTube stars. Not major networks, but people you’ve likely watched while you were procrastinating that history paper.

Your criticisms or praises of the Obama administration — of the system — have no weight unless you know what you’re talking about. And the very least you can do is listen to this general, likely short, address tonight. It’s an annual tradition. It’s bare-bones politics. And it is aimed at you.

Besides, it’s not like you’re doing anything on a Tuesday night. And if nothing else, you’ll get the jokes on SNL when they inevitably parody it this weekend.

Nine PM. Every freaking network channel (NBC, right after Parks and Rec ). Be there. You owe it to yourself and the rants you’ll go on this year.

So You’ve Already Screwed Up Your Resolution

We’re almost 100 hours into 2015. Still committed to your New Year’s resolution? Good for you! You have more willpower than a lot of other people I know.

Did you already fall off the horse? That’s okay. You’re not doomed to a wasted year. And you’re not the only one that has already broken that “promise” they made after that third drink on Wednesday night.

People have cemented January 1st as a day for resolutions because it’s easy to remember your start date and it’s a convenient date to use when counting the number of days you have left until your end date. But really, it’s a bunch of nonsense.

You don’t have to make a year-long resolution. Are they worthwhile? Yes! It’s good to think of 2015 as the year you read every day, or did push-ups every night. But is it a requirement? Heck no. Maybe your resolution won’t take a year. Maybe it’s more obtainable to read every day for six months because from July until December you’ve got a seasonal job that takes more time and effort than your January to June gig does.

Every day is a good day to start something new. If you wait for “the perfect day” you’ll never actually start. You’ll stay stagnant. So what if you decide that you want to get in shape, but it’s already January 21st? You haven’t missed the boat! It’s still a very noble goal and one you should start anyway — or else you’ll be nearly a year behind where you could have been. The champion is better than the casual goal-setter, who is infinitely better than the drifting bum.

If you missed a day already, or miss days in the upcoming weeks, don’t give up on your goals for the sake of “the perfect year”. There is no such thing. Progress is not dictated by a calendar or measured by one. It’s your resolve and the improvements you make that matter.

Cartoon courtesy of Angus and Phil