I was reading the Oh Comely! Issue Twenty-Five last night and there was one article where the writer was talking about the first music album she bought and how it changed her life. What was that album for you?

Music

When I was young, these were the albums that I listened to from the beginning until the end, on repeat. I listened to a lot of Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys. A lot of Beatles and Eagles as well but these four albums played bigger roles in my life. I think.

Shades of Purple was M2M’s first album. They’re a Norwegian duo and they released this album when they were about 14 years old. I am an Eminem fan to this day. We don’t necessarily agree with everything, but I admire his talent a lot. The same goes for Linkinpark. Songs About Jane is by Maroon 5 and it is filled with music you can listen to all day. These artists taught me about fandom. Their music told me stories and I believed in almost all of them. I remember singing in the shower to “Mirror, Mirror” when someone broke my heart. It helped ease the pain a lot. I have no idea why it hurt so much back then though. My news source back then was MTV! I watched “Bowling for Columbine” but found out that people blamed it on Marilyn Manson through Eminem’s, “The Way I Am”.

Tumblr

I’ve been blogging for more than a decade. I like documenting my life and I used to find the internet comforting and safe. Okay, I still do find it comforting and safe, but not as much.

Tumblr is a blogging platform. I can’t remember what year I joined, but it was years before Yahoo bought it. What I loved so much about Tumblr was the community. Most of my real-life friends were in it too.

• I was never bullied in school and have zero ideas of it other than what I see in the movies. Tumblr taught me about the dangers of bullying. I had online friends from both sides of bullying.
• It taught me that “Even if you’re right if you’re rude, you’re wrong”. It thought me about humility and compassion.
• I met a lot of cool people from all over the world. Through Tumblr, I learned so much about language and culture. A lot of history too.
• I learned that not everything I do is cool and it’s fine.
• I learned that I DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING.
• I learned a lot about grammar. I still use Grammarly though.
• I learned a lot about startups.
• Memes are cool.
• Some people are very critical of their looks.
• Putting on makeup is fine.
• Everyone feels misunderstood most of the time.
• You are not alone.
• Cats can be funny and cute too. But dogs are still way more awesome than cats. The sharks are pretty cool.
• Don’t mess with the internet.
• At first, you’ll care about who to follow, who follows you, and who likes your posts. Eventually, you’ll get over it.
• Most of the time, if you listen, people will listen to you back.
• It’s always nice to be nice.
• I learned about new places, books, art, music, and everything else you can’t even think about through this site.

I learned so much more from Tumblr and do believe that I am the way I am because of it. Silly? Maybe. I don’t know. But if it made me a better person, then it’s good. What about you? What have you learned lately and from where?

P.S. There are two types of taxis in Morocco, the petit and the grand. Shown in the photo below is a petit taxi in Casablanca.

Other interesting finds:

I Like Nothing Better Than a Fat Drop of Rain
One of my Tumblelogs that is still alive
China is huge and beautiful
Strawberries and Cat