This Date in History: April 12, 1861

You didn't really think I wouldn't blog on this date, did you?

On this date 150 years ago (and, because I'm such a huge history nerd, at the exact same time as this post went online: 4:30 am EST), the newly formed Confederate States of America fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, signaling the start of the American Civil War.  Over the next four years, the country saw brutal combat that would result in the deaths of over 600,000 Americans.

The next four years of this century will see a number of commemorations, as the country remembers what happened 150 years ago.  Obviously, this blog will do the same.  For my personal commemoration, I will be reading Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative.  Composed of three volumes and coming in at just under 3,000 pages, this is arguably the most in-depth examination of the war.  Originally, I was going to coincide my reading of major events with their 150th anniversary, but after just making my first deadline (the firing on Fort Sumter) with four hours to spare, I decided to just read the book at my own pace, which probably will not take me the four years I had originally planned to take to read it.

So, I hope you will join me as, over the next four years, I remember probably the most important event, outside of the American Revolution, in American history, and certainly the most tragic.

Guess That Band I

Wow, I can't believe I haven't blogged in almost eight months.  This used to be the only place where I could keep everyone up to date with the goings-on in my life.  But now with Facebook and Twitter I can do that much easier than on here.  I'll try to blog a bit more before the end of the year.  But now, a new contest.

The premise is simple: I give you five songs by five different bands.  Then I give you a picture of each band.  Your job: match the song with the picture of the artist who performed it.  We'll see if you're all good at guessing what a band looks like based solely on their sound.

The songs:

Baroness


Between the Buried and Me




Coheed and Cambria


Kamelot


Revocation


The Pictures:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

WHO DAT!!!

 

As some of you know, I'm a huge New Orleans Saints fan.  So you can imagine that I'm still a little hyped about the Saints winning the Super Bowl last night.  I have been a sports fan my whole life.  When I was three days old my parents watched football with me.  Even though I was very young, I'm sure I enjoyed it!  Football was an early obsession of mine.  I distinctly remember watching Seahawks games when I was only four or five years old.  Later, I became a baseball fan.  I still enjoy both sports.  Yet, despite my years of fandom, this is the first time a team that I love has ever won a championship.  Watching the Saints win last night was a dream come true, and an experience I won't soon forget.

Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?*

* Here is an interesting article on the origins of the Saints motto

New Decade's Goals

A bit different take on goals this time around. Instead of giving my goals for the upcoming year, I'm thinking big. These are the things that I want to accomplish in the next ten years.

1. Begin a career. Right now I'm stuck in a crappy fast food job, and I have a Master's degree. I'm not at all happy with this arrangement. So, in the next decade (actually, I would rather have this happen in the next year), I want to find a job in my field that I can stay with for many, many years. I'm almost 30 years old, It's about time I found some stable, good paying employment.

2. Start a family. Emily and I had wanted to have kids by now, but unfortunately our financial situation has prevented this. And with our friends beginning to have children (Thomas and Morah, we're very happy for you, but also insanely jealous!), and with me being almost 30 years old, we realize that our time to have kids is running short. So, the sooner the better.

3. Buy a house. We are tired of living in small, cramped, hard to keep clean apartments. We have too much stuff for apartment living. So, we want to get a house. Of course, this depends on finding stable employment. We don't want to buy a house, then realize that we can't afford it, or have to move because of work. Once either Emily or I find that nice career path, we can start saving money to buy a house, wherever it is we are living. People younger than me are starting to buy houses (have I mentioned that I'm almost 30?), so I think we should have one too.

4. Travel more. You know how many true vacations we took this decade? One. To Boise. To see Emily's sister. By true vacations, I mean ones where you go somewhere just to go. We did some traveling, but it was always for weddings/funerals, so I don't count those. We almost went down to California to see Mara and Brent, but unfortunately had to cancel. We want to go there sometime this year. Also, we really want to go to Europe. Ireland and France have been mentioned as possible destinations, but I really want to go to Germany during Oktoberfest. Why? Do you really have to ask?

So there you have it. My goals for the decade. Come back here January 1, 2020 to see how I did.

The Best Albums of the Decade...Sort of

As promised, here are my top ten albums of the decade. I say sort of in the title of the post because, in order to have more variety, I chose to only have one album per artist on this list. Two of my artists would have had multiple albums, and I wanted to showcase other bands as well. Two of the albums on this list are on my top albums of 2009, and therefore do not have videos with them. Go to my original post to see them.

10. Epica - Consign to Oblivion (2005)

9. Buckcherry - Time Bomb (2001)

Ridin' @ Yahoo! Video

8. Serenity - Fallen Sanctuary (2008)

7. Otep - The Ascension (2007)

6. Kamelot - Epica (2003)

5. Green Day - American Idiot (2004)

4. Protest the Hero - Fortress (2008)

3. Dream Theater -Black Clouds and Silver Linings (2009)


2. Living Colour - The Chair in the Doorway (2009)

1. Nightwish - Century Child (2001)