Two Things Gave Me The Chills Today

I include this picture because I feel like my other posts today have been naked. This is the best I could do for an image of the chills. Before I get into any of that...I am posting at a furious rate right now. I don't know how long I will be able to keep this up. One thing I will say is that I have really enjoyed just being able to write. I hope that what I write is at least somewhat interesting and that it comes across clearly. I think it has reawakened also a greater desire in me to be more well-read. In a bunch of different ways. I want to read more classic fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. I just ordered several books on history and economics. Isn't that weird? That, I think, is inspired by my brother. The guy is relentless in his pursuit of just overall self-improvement. You know how when you're in grade school your teachers would ask who you look up to or who is your hero? I would always say my brother. That is still very much the case. He amazes me. I don't think he has any idea just how much he inspires me. Anyway...I digress...the two things:

1. The first song on the new Strung Out album. Every one of their albums has a leadoff song that has a sweet intro. The last album had what I think will be the best ever intro. But this one is really cool. It's just a really cool mix of different sounds and guitars and then the music just pops in. Like, literally explodes and it is really cool. I just love the capacity that music has to strike such a chord - pun intended - within our being. While I'm talking about music, I really love my playlist right now. I need to make a separate post dedicated specifically to music. But I just really dig on those songs. A LOT. When In Rome and Flock of Seagulls and Devo will be playing together in August sometime, I think, and I don't think anyone but Karen would want to go to that. But she's married, lives in another state, and I've never met her. But now we're blogging buddies and I love it. I guess I'm giving you the shout out because you inspired the playlist with your post on the music festival. But until recently, I didn't realize that another friend has been reading, or at least has read, my blog and I think she knows that at least one song is dedicated to her, Depeche Mode's Strangelove. Wow. I have the window up and that song just started playing as I typed that. Or maybe you didn't think I would remember that you love Depeche Mode. Anyway...


2. This one is much more profound. Today - and I realize I'm jumping on the boat a little bit late - but it's the annivesary of the speech Reagan gave when he challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. That is commonly cited as being the most important speech of his presidency. But I was listening to the radio and they replayed an excerpt from that speech and it literally gave me chills throughout my whole body. I love that there is a physiological response that is triggered entirely by emotion that we refer to as "the chills". This website gives the text of the speech as well as the audio, if you should want to listen to it. Most people don't realize this, but at that time Reagan was seen as a lame duck president. Control of the House and Senate shifted entirely to the Democrats. He was dealing with Iran-Contra hearings. Extremely difficult time for him. This might be impossible for some people to believe, but at one point his approval rating was actually lower than President Bush's. People hated him, both in and outside of the country. However, hindsight is 20/20. I read a book a few months ago called Greatness by Stephen Hayward that actually compares the leadership styles of Reagan and Churchill. A great, quick, read. Ronald Reagan was an amazing man. Being relatively young, we don't have much perspective on greatness or what great people resemble very much, but in his person we absolutely have an example of what it means to be great; he personifies what it means to be exemplary, what it means to stand and fight for right, what it means to be American.