Joe Blattner's Blog Posts

Music, it’s a part of everyone’s life. From smooth jazz to heavy metal, and everything in between music is pretty much everywhere. For me, listening to music helps me lower my stress, elevates my mood, and sometimes is useful to be more productive while doing something else. Although, there are only some songs that can make me feel a certain way when I listen to them as opposed to others. In this post, ill be telling you five of those songs that have meaning to me, in other words, the playlist of my life.

 

#1 – Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9ioyEvdggk

The lyrics take some pretty wild turns, but the beginning of the song is about a woman who accumulates money, only to find out the hard way her life had no meaning and will not get her into heaven; “a woman getting everything she wanted without giving anything back.”  It starts slowly with that beautiful guitar tune. And then the lyrics, “There’s a lady who’s sure, All that glitters is gold and she’s buying a Stairway To Heaven.” It’s her journey searching for the meaning of life, the and first part says that money won’t get you everything.

#2 – Sweater Weather by The Neighborhood

The reason I enjoy this song so much lies in the lyrics:

“All I am is a man / I want the world in my hands / I hate the beach / But I stand / In California with my toes in the sand / Use the sleeves of my sweater / Let’s have an adventure / Head in the clouds but my gravity’s centered / Touch my neck and I’ll touch yours / You in those little high-waisted shorts.”

Is this really about clothes, fashion choices, and style? No. Not even close. What frontman Jesse James Rutherford is really singing about is connecting and making the best of the situation you currently find yourself in.

#3 – Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

At first glance, people listening to the song might view the lyrics “If I lay here, If I just lay here, Would you lie with me and just forget the world? ” as relating toward someone who is dying or about to commit suicide. To be honest the somber tone of the song creates that sad, hopeless feeling to the listener. However, if the song is listened to too many times you realize that due to the ambiguous nature of the song, its meaning can be open to many interpretations. For me, this song has an interpretation of happiness/love because I have learned to grow myself despite the judgment of others.

#4 – Everlong by Foo Fighters

“Everlong” is about a new relationship Grohl was getting into, as his marriage was dissolving. The lyrics are about falling in love, but the power comes from the chorus, which features the song’s most nakedly emotional lyric, which appears as the guitars are at their strongest. “And I wonder,” he sings, “When I sing along with you / If everything could ever feel this way forever / If anything could ever be this good again.” It sounds like it’s about nostalgia, which is a frequently embarrassing feeling weaponized by people who refuse to grow up. Perhaps it’s enjoyed in this context by people who’re remembering what they had in a relationship at its most potent after it’s all gone away.

#5 – Bullet With Butterfly Wings by The Smashing Pumpkins

“The weird nihilism that permeates Mellon Collie is extremely relevant to what’s going on right now. So many kids are intelligent and articulate, but they don’t know what to do with themselves,” Corgan said of the album. He’s saying that the anger and feeling of having no one to trust is a reflection of youth in particular and society in general. He also once said this song was a strong personal representation of how he felt at the time, particularly with his growing fame – “the world is a vampire” basically means he feels like everyone wants to latch on and take something from him.

Autumn, or fall is the season that has a hidden essence inside of it’s name,

the orange, red, and brown leaves falling from their trees and grouping on the ground in the grass,

and as the chilly wind picks and blows across your lawn you can hear the trees dancing in harmony,

or you find yourself inside your lodging gazing into nature,

and you can hear the whistling of the wind grazing your home.

The nights are drawing in sooner everyday,

and the temperatures beginning to decrease,

there’s nothing like sipping hot chocolate on a cold autumn night.

These events are a sign that the season may be changing but there’s just somethings

that only fall can bring you joy during this time of the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, in the chapter “On the Rainy River”, O’Brien tells the story about how he almost ran away to Canada after he was drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. In the six days he spent living with Elroy – the elderly man that agreed to take him in – I feel O’Brien learned something about himself In the time he was in Minnesota and when he finally made the decision to go to Vietnam, I know it must have taken real courage to do so. Yet, something that confuses me is that he still consider’s himself as a coward afterwards. Not to mention he’s so embarrassed about what happened that he didn’t even tell anyone the story until the wrote the book. Which to me is odd, since his actions were in do doubt justified in my opinion since going to fight for your country to kill others and possibly dying, is a big undertaking for anyone. But with the courage he found out on the river and help from Elroy, he’s realizes that he doesn’t want to escape to Canada anymore.

Again in the chapter “On The Rainy River,” O’Brien shares his thoughts on courage as a 21-year-old: “Courage, I seemed to think, comes to us in finite quantities, like an inheritance, and by being frugal and stashing it away and letting it earn interest, we steadily increase our moral capital in preparation for that day when the account must be drawn down. It was a comforting theory.” In light of this, I think there is a question that needs to be addressed which is whether a person can enter a war as an act of cowardice. I believe O’Brien wasn’t a coward because the constitution says that as a citizen if you are drafted into the military, you have an obligation to serve in it. O’Brien’s reasoning for this choice of refusing to serve is explained when he said, “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons. I saw no unity of purpose, no consensus of matters of philosophy or history or law.” This not cowardice at all, but he said that he disagrees with war and thus he rejects his obligation as a citizen to serve in the war. Seeking to emigrate, he then makes the reasonable decision to travel to the Canadian border and when he was on the boat 20 yards off the shore of Canada, he wasn’t a coward, no, he had the courage to make arguably the hardest choice in his life, and that to me doesn’t sound very cowardly at all. In conclusion, no I don’t think its cowardly to decide to not enter a war, it’s a decision that only you can make for yourself. Just like what O’Brien said earlier how his theory of courage at the time was comforting, courage is a quality that is whatever you deem itself to be, and when you’re making a really hard decision your courage will always be there with you so you can make the right decision.

 

When I think of war, I picture soldiers fighting in foreign lands, risking their lives to fight for their families freedom and maybe even dying on the battlefield for their country.  But, through reading “The Things They Carried” and looking at many powerful photos, I now see there is so much more to sacrifice and to gain being a soldier.  I chose these pictures to put in my collage because they fool the heart and mind to see something natural and more beautiful than reality’s truer, and unfortunate brutality.

Hello! My name is Joe Blattner and if you’re reading this, then id like thank you for visiting my blog and taking your time to read my first post on here: About Me. Before I get into too many details, I it would be wise to get down some of the basics first. To begin with, i’m a junior here at Naperville North and I have been apart of the swim team since freshman year. Although I don’t plan on continuing to do so this season, being a swimmer at North and swimming as a kid has had a big impact on my childhood and not to mention getting to know my team mates and having a ton of fun with them are experiences I will never forget. Swimming has also made me a better leader and it taught me how to work better with others. The reasons for me sitting out this season mainly are so I can focus more academically and so I can work more hours after school and during the weekends.

Secondly, one of my favorite hobbies is playing video games. Specifically, playing Xbox with my friends is one of my favorite pastimes and my usual go to activity when I come home from school and I don’t have any other plans or homework. Lots of new games are coming out in the next few months so me and my friends are anxiously awaiting their release. On the contrary to popular belief that video games make people stressed and make you more prone to anger, I play video games for the sole purpose to have a good time and relax. Even when I get competitive in online multiplayer or with the boys, it’s all in good faith. Also, I love to go to popular attractions like six flags, raging waves water park, the fox valley mall, haunted houses, and even the last fling that took place last weekend. Next, i’d like to talk about the fact that I love to watch movies. Ill be watching IT 2 tonight which i’m really excited for including the new Joker movie, Rambo: Last Blood, and last Star Wars movie that are coming soon. Don’t get me wrong I do classic ones but I like so many so I can’t really pick a favorite. Recently, I’ve also found great enjoyment in binge watching TV shows on Netflix and Prime Video.

Next I would like to talk about my family and my pets. Besides my Mom and Dad, I only have one sibling; my older brother Jack. Jack is a sophomore at OSU and went to Naperville North too. Visiting him at his campus in Columbus was a really cool experience and it was fun seeing what it is like to be in college. I also planning to visit him soon to watch the Buckeyes football game with him, my parents, and my aunt and uncle. For my pets, I have two cats and their names are Bernie and Stripe.

Finally, I’d like to thank you for your interest in getting to know me some more. I hope you stick around to read my future posts as I’m probably going to have to read some of yours!

Also, here’s a photo of me and my friends when we went ice skating this one time: