Happy Earth Day! This is an album about climate change (I think).

    Today is Earth Day! First observed in 1970, Earth Day initially sought out to force environmental issues onto the national agenda, through a nationwide protest which mobilized 20 million people, and earned itself the title of 'largest secular day of protest in the world'. Although I can't be sure if that superlative is Guinness Book-official, I am sure of this- the way we celebrate Earth Day now is drastically different. Look no further than your social media platform of choice for evidence. How many of your friends posted a picture featuring the planet or its inhabitants? How many people are participating in demonstrations to bring climate change and environmental issues back to the national agenda? I have no clue what any of those actual numbers are, naturally, but I don't need the numbers to know that the celebration of Earth Day is changing, moving away from its roots in collective action, and towards individual-based reflection. 

    If Earth Day celebrations really have changed, then it seems very unlikely that a present day movement would be able to mobilize 20 million people (about 10% of the U.S. population at the time) as it did in 1970. And if mass protests and collective action are no longer popular or productive ways of getting Earth back on the agenda, how else can such a large number of people be motivated to take action? 

    The answer is Vampire Weekend of course. More specifically, their chart-topping 2019 record, Father of the Bride. I take pride in overanalyzing music, and making abstract connections that only have meaning to me, but this album's connection to the Earth is very, very clear. Just take a look at the cover:

    During the week of its release, this album boasted some 23 million streams, and has only been accumulating more listeners in the time since. Although participating in a demonstration and streaming an album are significantly different actions with wildly different effects, both are are still ways of mobilizing people. Participating in a demonstration can create an attachment to a political cause that leads to a lifetime of activism. Listening to really, really good music can have similar effects. Here are some examples of music changing the way people live and act, from my #awesome roommates:

KC: A boy sent me the song 'To Die For' by Sam Smith, and told me that it reminded him of me. Listening to this song convinced me to be more open with my emotions, and communicating them with other people. 

Anna: I decided to break up with my first boyfriend when I was doing dance improv to the song 'Lover Please Stay' by Nothing But Thieves.

Bri: 'Do Not Wait' by Wallows was a song I shared with a former best friend, and associated with love and friendship. When I listen to this song now, after our relationship has ended, it makes me think of her in a different way- I relate it more to letting go and moving on.

    Father of the Bride is an album that, I think, can change the way people think about their relationship with the environment, and maybe even mobilize inspired listeners to take action to protect it. But if I can't convince you that this is an album about the environment, hopefully this excerpt from an interview with VW frontman and lyricist Ezra Koenig can:

 Of course, no one can actually be motivated to take political action solely because of an album's cover art (or maybe they can- I've seen weirder things). Ezra Koenig's dense, sprawling lyrics is where the true substance is. 

welcome to my rosenblog

This is my blog! 

The creation of this page seemed inevitable to me. I've always had an arbitrary vendetta against journaling, but my dissenting opinion was reinforced by this recent tweet from Social Media Sweetheart Jack Schlossberg:

Journaling is obviously a beneficial practice, but it just does not work for me. Usually, re-reading my own words makes me feel some combination of regret, sadness, and anger. So naturally, blogging is the perfect medium for me to document my thoughts because it puts the onus on you, not me, to engage with itself. I do not feel obligated to read my blog, I just feel obligated to keep writing in order to satisfy my readers. 

Unfortunately, there is a pretty vain assumption at the core of that belief. I seriously doubt this page will ever warrant enough readers for me to actually say that I am writing to fulfill the needs of others. But as opposed to a personal journal, an internet blog at least provides me the opportunity to change the purpose of my writing and say that I'm doing it for you (the reader), rather than my own desire to organize and communicate my thoughts- something that I have tried to reject for a long time. 

Anyways!

I'd love to be proven wrong, but I think the user base of Blogspot is declining. So, if you don't happen to be one of my close friends who is reading this, here is a formalish introduction.

Hi! My name is Laney, and (right now) I am a 20 year old college student. I grew up in Orlando, FL but go to school in South Florida. I plan on moving out of Florida soon, and would love to head North. As Vampire Weekend puts it in their song, 'Ladies of Cambridge': "I've had dreams of Boston all of my life." I have goals for this site, but no guarantees, so, for the foreseeable future, this page will be about Politics, Pop Culture, and Playlists. My favorite artists are The Clash, Vampire Weekend, and Phoebe Bridgers.

Now, please enjoy these words from my faithful blog associate, Kat:

Yo

Laney rosenblatt

Her name says a lot

Thats why she made a blog

No it's not called Laneys log

It's up on blog spot

Check it the rosenblog