Wednesday, June 28, 2000

The Napster rant, and figuring out my sister 

Just got a job two weeks ago. The pay is $8.63/hour. I am soo ecstatic. You have no idea how broke I was before this. Flat broke, I'll tell you. Flat. I think I won't know what to do with this money. Maybe I'll buy some new stuff for my computer, but after that? who knows? I'm just glad to know I have money. I have money. I have money. Now doesn't that just feel wonderful rolling off your tongue? ten: fourteen pm

Right now my mind is so crazy I just have to take a break. First of all, my sister expects me to do so much for her, and me, being the wonderful and loving person that I am, I obliged. I had to call Star 98.7 to see if I could win Barenaked Ladies tickets, but they were looking for caller number 9 and I was both caller 1 and caller 7. Do you know how frustrating that is? I barely even get through at all, and this time I was SOO close! She is also making me make this mix tape for her. She's giving it to Amber, who's leaving tomorrow. They won't see each other for half a year. I can understand my sister's pain. This is there last night together. I'm at home, making the tape, she's out with Amber. This tape is so complicated, you have no idea. I've got to record from mp3s and CDs. I had to get all this equipment from Larry in order to do the mp3 thing, because my stereo doesn't have an auxiliary outlet. On top of that, every time the mp3 skips (very often) I have to restart the song, because Alexis wants it to be perfect. That means rewinding the tape to the beginning, and restarting the mp3 again. How annoying is that? So basically I've spent three hours recording about 50 minutes of music. I hate having to do what Alexis says, just because I love her. nine: thirty-seven pm

I think I'm just realizing how much I'm really going to miss my sister. It's amazing. You tell yourself, she's just a pain in the ass. You'll be glad to be rid of her. Well, maybe I'll miss this one sided relationship. I will miss going into her room and pestering her even though I know perfectly well she hates other people in there. I think I'll miss having someone think I have cooties. I won't have anyone to infect. There won't be someone to make fun of anymore, except for Cynthia. But it isn't the same with Cindy. She doesn't get as angry as Alexis does. I'm wondering, who will I complain to about Daddy? Mommy? No, that won't work. I guess Alexis will just have to go onto AIM a lot. eight: twenty-one pm

How am I supposed to get any web traffic if I have no money to pay for advertising? Word of mouth? yeah, right. I'm amazed at how amber attracts so many people to her web site. Of course, she has the money to buy her own domain name, so she can probably manage having a wonderful web site. That's not to mention what an amazing writer she is... seven: thirty-four pm

I'm sure everyone has heard of the whole controversy surrounding Napster and all that. There's the Metallica lawsuit, then there's the question, is Napster bad? I think it's time the two cents I have in my pocket go to some use. You see, I, personally, have been purchasing more CD's than before since I got Napster. Did anyone notice that 3 CD sales records have been broken since the release of Napster? N Sync sold the most albums in a weekend EVER, Britney Spears followed close behind, nabbing the highest sales record for the first week of a solo artist. Then here comes Eminem, who kicks Britney out, both on the charts, and in his songs. I wonder why! Mp3 files were being traded and listened to previous to the CD release, and boom! People just wanted the CD even more! If anything, Napster just acts as an advertisement (a fully interactive one) for artist's music. And the lawsuits being played out right now against Napster are just advertisements for Napster. The more fuss they make about the morals of Napster, the more Napster members are made. And then there's the argument that Napster is replacing CD's. Come on! People still want CD's! There's the benefit of the handy carrying case, and you get the beautiful front and back covers. That's not to mention the booklet in the front, which is always a value to have if you own a CD. Let's not forget the portable quality. I know, I know, there's portable mp3 players out there as well, but it will be a while before those really take off and impact the CD industry. Do you get my point, or am I just rambling? I think it is terribly lame for artists to go and sue because they don't think they get their fair share (i.e. the big bucks). HA! What is the point of making music? Duh! So people can listen to it! Artists (if we can even call them that) are losing there insight into the true meaning of being a music maker. It's about making people happy with your music. I applaud groups like The Offspring who can embrace Napster for what it truly is. I'll tell you this. It will be a long time before programs like Napster and Gnutella are taken away from us, it if ever happens at all. Why don't we all just stop shitting all over this, and embrace Napster? It's our friend... three: forty-three pm