So, I’ve decided it’s time to use Tumblr for more than just the usual funny gifs and adorable corgi pics. (And probably Facebook since I’ll more than likely be adding this as a note at some point.) I always think up of lists in my head about certain things, usually music or videogame related as those two things are what I spend a lot of time on. So I’ve decided to start typing those lists out whenever I feel like it, so if you’re gonna unfollow me, best to do so now before I get a full head of steam. (Since I have a solid 8 followers I can’t say I’m overly concerned with losing any.)

Anyways, my first top five list is as follows:

MY TOP FIVE FAVORITE VOCALISTS

Right, so I’ve put some thought into this list and yet I just changed it a few minutes ago, which prompted me to actually put it in writing for the first time. It’s a pretty simple countdown notion, starting from 5 to 1 all the while building up loads of suspense. (Suspense sold separately…) Also, just a minor note that this is either male or female vocalists, so it’s my top 5 overall. So on to the list!

5. Adele - Adele

Yeah, I know, you´re probably upset because you hear Adele all the time on the radio and everyone loves her and that upsets you. I get it. I used to be that way to. You´re probably saying, “Why her? I mean yeah she sings ok and stuff, but she’s just another heartbreak who gets overplayed on the radio”. My response to that is this: Yeah, she is just another overplayed heartbreak, but she sings about it really freakin’ well. She’s got soul, which for me is a big thing for vocalists to have, and her songs, while about heartbreak, actually have some solid lyrical content. (Although I really want to know how one sets fire to the rain…)

Songs that prove my point: ‘Set Fire to the Rain’, ‘Rolling in the Deep’, ‘Someone Like You’

4. Michael Buble - Michael Buble

So yeah, another artist who’s kind of known for having a really good voice. But to be honest, I’m not sure that I’ve ever found someone who thought he wasn’t a great singer. Sure, I know people don’t like his music, but I feel like pretty much everyone can a least agree that he is mega-talented when it comes to singing. He’s also another singer who’s got some great soul which, like I said, is a big thing for me personally.

Songs that prove my point: ‘Feeling Good’, ‘Home’, ‘Lost’

3. Adam Levine - Maroon 5

I want to make this point clear: I’m not talking about the Adam Levine who sings songs like ‘Moves Like Jagger’ and ‘Misery’, although those aren’t necessarily bad songs. No, I’m talking about the Adam Levine who sang songs like Harder to Breath and my absolute favorite ‘Sunday Morning’. This is the change that I made to the list about 10 minutes ago after listening to ‘Sunday Morning’ and thinking, “Man, Adam Levine absolutely kills this song”. (Also, to avoid confusion, when I say kill in a good way, not a bad way.) Also, I really don’t think you can be a judge on ‘The Voice’ without having some sort of singing credibility. (Although, Cee Lo Green is a judge so I could be wrong…)

Songs that prove my point: ‘Sunday Morning’, ‘Harder to Breathe

2. Haley Williams - Paramore

I’m assuming I’ve confused several people at this point by putting Paramore’s leading lady all the way up at number two, but no, this is not a mistake. Truth is, I really like Haley Williams’s voice. She has this really cool blend of smooth vocal ability, with roughness around the edges, and delivers them both in a great balance in her music. For example, she goes through nearly all of ‘Only Exception’ nice and smooth, then for the bridge belts out some killer lines with a nice touch of roughness as she hits her high notes. Another reason I like her so much is that in high school band I was required to read an article that was actually about the band Paramore and how they make their music. The article heavily covered the fact that the band listens to and likes to mess around with several different styles of music, and Haley Williams talked about all her favorite genres. The fact that she likes to be versatile is a big one-up from me.

Songs that prove my point: ‘Only Exception’, ‘Monster’, ‘Misery Business’

1. Bear Rinehart - Needtobreathe

If you know me or anything about my musical taste, this should be approximately a 0% surprise to you. I have preached from the first day I heard this band that they were a talented bunch of musicians, and spear heading that talent is the absolutely incredible Bear Rinehart. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an artist who can cram more feeling and more soul into lyrics than this guy. The dude could sing the phone book and I’d buy a ticket in advance and go early to be front row. He’s just that good. He also writes all of his songs with his band mates, and knows exactly how he wants each one sung, and delivers every single time. There’s a good chance you’ve heard little of this band, but seriously, check them out. You will not regret it.

Songs that prove my point: ‘Washed by the Water’, ‘Girl Named Tennessee’, ‘Lay Em Down’, ‘Something Beautiful’, ‘Slumber’, ‘Able’

So there it is, a top five list for everyone to disagree with and talk about how I have the worst possible music taste and decision making abilities. But just so you know, and I tell you this to keep you from disappointment, there is little chance that I will consider, or even care about, you’re opinions. (Except for a select few people, who by now should know who they are…)

So, I’m writing and posting this not because I care if everyone on the world wide web gets a look, but because I genuinely believe that this thought is important and needs to be seen by the right people, even if it’s just one. Or perhaps I just want to write it down to see how it looks outside of my head, but I hope the first is also true.

I recently got into the t.v. show Doctor Who thanks to the constant babbling by my friends at school about how great it is. Although I admit, it wasn’t the concept of the Doctor or the Tardis that got me interested, but that of the Weeping Angels. I saw a Youtube clip of them and began watching the show. Needless to say I was instantly hooked. I’m halfway through season five now and it’s been about a month. I love this show. But I tell you that just for a little back story.

Four days ago I began a job at Walmart here in my hometown. I work full time in the backroom unloading trucks and stocking shelves. It’s not a bad job, but I work from 4p.m. until 1a.m. which means I basically sit at home in the morning when everyone else works, and then go in to work when all my friends and family get off. It’s been a big adjustment and one I’m not particularly fond of, but I have to pay for school somehow.

Anyways, I tell you those two things because the whole profound thought that I had only happened because those two things are in my life currently, and them combining is why I understand this now. When I work at Walmart, I primarily am stuck in the backroom movin.g palettes and unloading trucks, as well as sorting inventory. It’s not a bad job, and someone has to do it, but I only get to go out for breaks, and when I move the palettes onto the sales floor. It’s like a small separate world inside the backroom and I think I hate that the most about my job: I’m stuck for the greater part of 9 hours, in a small dim world of cardboard boxes and palette jacks.

Right so, the whole profound thought thing. I was working in the backroom (naturally) moving heavy boxes and palettes and sweating and growing tired, when I just stopped for a second, and looked out the small window in one of the garage doors where the trucks pull in, and I saw a hill. Just a hill. Been in my hometown longer than I have, always there right next to the street that I’ve driven on and past hundreds of times. But in that moment, when I was stuck in my own small world of doing a job in a closed off room with hardly any windows or people, I saw that hill as something so much better. I looked at the long green grass, swaying in the light summer breeze, and the color of the whole thing in the slowly setting summer sun. And it was in the moment when I put two and two together. When you watch Doctor Who, and for those of you who never I have I HIGHLY recommend it, see I use bold face type to show the emphasis, but anyway, seriously watch this show. But when I watch Doctor Who, I see the Doctor and his companions and all the worlds and times they travel to, and I always think, “I wish I could travel and see all those remarkable places and people.” I wish I could do that”. But in that one moment of seeing that field, I realized I don’t need a Doctor or TARDIS or time travel or teleports to other worlds. I’ve got this whole big world right here, just waiting to be looked at, and all I have to do is step outside, and start looking. I had contemplated studying abroad for at least a little of my schooling so that I could see other parts of the world, but now I’m going to do everything in my power to make that a reality. The world is too big to sit around wishing you could see it all. If people did that, and of course they usually do, they’d never go out and see any of it ever, and that’s just sad. I’ve realized that I want to see things, experience things, be a part of things, live things. I realize not everything in this world is fantastic or brilliant, but isn’t that the point of living? To go out and see for yourself and learn about all of the world, the good and the bad, and be a part of it? Well, that’s what I want to do, and I’m going to do everything I can to make it happen.

Right so, that’s my whole long complicatedly simple and profound thought that I had, that probably only applies to me. But I hope anyone else who needs to see this does. I really do. And for the record, I very much like how it looks written down. So there.

“When you’re a kid, they tell you it’s all, “Grow up. Get a job. Get married. Get a house. Have a kid, and that’s it.”  But the truth is: the world is so much stranger than that. It’s so much darker. And so much madder. And so much better.” - Doctor Who