Over-Rated Band #1- NIRVANA

When I think of Nirvana I think Kurt Cobain. Immediately. The soft spoken lead singer of Nirvana was a fantastic singer, songwriter and a truly troubled endearing intellectual. His tragic death touched many in the music community and all over the world. I remember hearing of his death and seeing the terrifying displays of tears from his beloved fans. His lyrics were incredibly deep and insightful-

"Meat-eating orchids forgive no one just yet
Cut myself angel's hair and baby's breath
Broken hymen of your highness I'm left black
Throw down your umbilical noose so I can climb right back"

-Heart-Shaped Box

Nirvana opened up a new genre of music. Grunge. With all due repsect for Nirvana- they started grunge. Grunge. Grunge brought Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam brought tears to my eyes- not exactly tears of joy, but more along the lines of misery that Pearl Jam became... well Pearl Jam.

But this is not about Hurl Jam. This is about Nirvana. You cannot escape Nirvana. I would put five dollars down that my own mother knows the lyrics to Smells Like Teen Spirit simply from driving me to school and back and the damn radio jockey's unknown obsession with continuously repeating the track over and over. I cannot walk through my college campus without seeing a Nirvana poster displayed right next to the obligatory Scarface poster in 5 out of ten dorm rooms. Tie-dye went out of fashion the minute someone tie-dyed a shirt. But I cannot seem to reason why everyone owns a tie-dyed Nirvana shirt. In normal conversation with your average college stoner, if you speak wrongly of Nirvana, watch out. That kid might just actually open his eyes past a squint and get angry.

Nirvana is over-rated.

Over-rated Bands. The series.

I will begin an ongoing segment I would like to call "Over-rated bands." You may not agree with these choices and you may get downright offended. I will hopefully make an argument that is hard to disagree with.

These are going to be bands that have been overplayed, over-loved and somehow horrifyingly established mini-fanatic-cult-like followings whose members abhorrently display their undying passion through the medium of t-shirts, stickers, and whatever else they can get their grubby little hands on.

I in no way am saying that these are bad bands, but maybe I am saying they have bad fans.

So it begins...

Dear Descartes,

You said, "I think therefore I am. "

You slimy bastard. I know hundreds of people and plenty of them don't think. They don't amount to much in my opinion.

Love, Erik.

P.S. I am no exception.

We seem, as conscious sentient beings, to idolize others in their absence. When that person is gone and stripped from your life a stake is driven into your heart and all your mind wants to remember is what you miss. The bad stigmas seem to dissipate over time.

A golden goddess rises like a phoenix from the ashes and the flames.

Perfect.
Absolute.
Untouchable.

It's too late. Chances have run out. Reality gets too abrasive and the only thing you can hold on to you can't even touch. The intangible memories. The fake what if's.

Wishes are hopes that only the logical can reason will never come true.
Hopes are logical peoples wishes.

College frustrates me.

The encouragement of profound and meaningful thought can never be found in institutions dedicated to breeding these moments.

These glimpses into the thoughtful psyche can and only be found when...


---I would like to think that college stimulates and encourages the mind. It does, it does. But to have a regimented schedule is a large enough limit on a mind to depress the sparks of meaningful moments.

I am the king of Clockland, and these are my subjects.

magnet poetry.

Seek not mischance.
Speak tempt with lordship,
aye this haste.
Let thou vulgar mercy ere perilous discontent.

Last Night

It's 3 am in 5 minutes.
The fog outside silks the black coffee night and it makes the thin brittle cold air thick in peoples exhaustion. The moon glows unaware of the clinking, clanking clatter the relentless swept dead Autumn leaves of yesterday so quietly create.

What a simple existence. The moon knows of no jealousy. The leaves know of no perversion.

I stand feeling the density of the dim porch light knowing both.

Diabetics can't eat sugar.

And that makes me sad.

...and also hungry. I'm getting a sandwich today. I'm very excited.

"And the last time she called for help, I couldn't give it, and she died. She ended in the middle of the story of her life, she was an unfinished song abandoned at the bridge, deprived of the right to follow her life's verses to their final, fulfilling rhyme."

She said-

"Don't Richter me, [Rai], I've already been scaled."

-Salmaln Rushdie

I.... (love?) you.

As emo as it is about to sound- here, below, is 100 different ways to say "I love you." At the bottom, there is my own version. I recently thought about how "I love you" can be seen as an intention and meaning that holds as much magnitude as it's popular usage's polar opposite. Of course, my version of "I love you" is not used in popular societal culture because it's not as accepted as a positive meaning. I say this because of the amount of people (that I've seen and observed) who have used the term "I love you" have ended up learning the hard way of what this saying actually entails. Shakespeare, if still alive, would be one of the first people to tell you that love is mostly not a beautiful thing... and this [is] coming from one of the greatest love story writers of all time. You cannot know beauty without ugly. You cannot understand love without heartbreak.


English - I love you
Afrikaans - Ek het jou lief
Albanian - Te dua
Arabic - Ana behibak (to male)
Arabic - Ana behibek (to female)
Armenian - Yes kez sirumen
Bambara - M'bi fe
Bangla - Aamee tuma ke bhalo aashi
Belarusian - Ya tabe kahayu
Bisaya - Nahigugma ako kanimo
Bulgarian - Obicham te
Cambodian - Soro lahn nhee ah
Cantonese Chinese - Ngo oiy ney a
Catalan - T'estimo
Cheyenne - Ne mohotatse
Chichewa - Ndimakukonda
Corsican - Ti tengu caru (to male)
Creol - Mi aime jou
Croatian - Volim te
Czech - Miluji te
Danish - Jeg Elsker Dig
Dutch - Ik hou van jou
Esperanto - Mi amas vin
Estonian - Ma armastan sind
Ethiopian - Afgreki'
Faroese - Eg elski teg
Farsi - Doset daram
Filipino - Mahal kita
Finnish - Mina rakastan sinua
French - Je t'aime, Je t'adore
Gaelic - Ta gra agam ort
Georgian - Mikvarhar
German - Ich liebe dich
Greek - S'agapo
Gujarati - Hoo thunay prem karoo choo
Hiligaynon - Palangga ko ikaw
Hawaiian - Aloha wau ia oi
Hebrew - Ani ohev otah (to female)
Hebrew - Ani ohev et otha (to male)
Hiligaynon - Guina higugma ko ikaw
Hindi - Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hae
Hmong - Kuv hlub koj
Hopi - Nu' umi unangwa'ta
Hungarian - Szeretlek
Icelandic - Eg elska tig
Ilonggo - Palangga ko ikaw
Indonesian - Saya cinta padamu
Inuit - Negligevapse
Irish - Taim i' ngra leat
Italian - Ti amo
Japanese - Aishiteru
Kannada - Naanu ninna preetisuttene
Kapampangan - Kaluguran daka
Kiswahili - Nakupenda
Konkani - Tu magel moga cho
Korean - Sarang Heyo
Latin - Te amo
Latvian - Es tevi miilu
Lebanese - Bahibak
Lithuanian - Tave myliu
Malay - Saya cintakan mu / Aku cinta padamu
Malayalam - Njan Ninne Premikunnu
Mandarin Chinese - Wo ai ni
Marathi - Me tula prem karto
Mohawk - Kanbhik
Moroccan - Ana moajaba bik
Nahuatl - Ni mits neki
Navaho - Ayor anosh'ni
Norwegian - Jeg Elsker Deg
Pandacan - Syota na kita!!
Pangasinan - Inaru Taka
Papiamento - Mi ta stimabo
Persian - Doo-set daaram
Pig Latin - Iay ovlay ouyay
Polish - Kocham Ciebie
Portuguese - Eu te amo
Romanian - Te iubesc
Russian - Ya tebya liubliu
Scot Gaelic - Tha gra'dh agam ort
Serbian - Volim te
Setswana - Ke a go rata
Sign Language - ,\,,/ (represents position of fingers when signing'I Love You')
Sindhi - Maa tokhe pyar kendo ahyan
Sioux - Techihhila
Slovak - Lu`bim ta
Slovenian - Ljubim te
Spanish - Te quiero / Te amo
Swahili - Ninapenda wewe
Swedish - Jag alskar dig
Swiss-German - Ich lieb Di
Tagalog - Mahal kita
Taiwanese - Wa ga ei li
Tahitian - Ua Here Vau Ia Oe
Tamil - Nan unnai kathalikaraen
Telugu - Nenu ninnu premistunnanu
Thai - Chan rak khun (to male)
Thai - Phom rak khun (to female)
Turkish - Seni Seviyorum
Ukrainian - Ya tebe kahayu
Urdu - mai aap say pyaar karta hoo
Vietnamese - Anh ye^u em (to female)
Vietnamese - Em ye^u anh (to male)
Welsh - 'Rwy'n dy garu
Yiddish - Ikh hob dikh
Yoruba - Mo ni fe


Erik- Only you could ever hurt me this badly.