I’m generally a fan Swift’s music, but I remember listening to this song and just thinking it was the feminine version of a white night incel. I get it’s supposed to be the song “all of us” felt like when we were in middle school or high school watching a crush date someone, but anyone older should view the song as a “what not to do” song.

I assumed it was to sarcastically “twist” there idols. Kind of like the “Jesus being a dick” memes.

Homeostasis is a giant catch-all term for normalizing things in or about the body. In this context, something foreign is introduced to the body (thorn or the tattoo ink) which is affecting the “normal”(equalibrium) state of the body. The body will then do its best to return to this equilibrium, and in these cases, that involves expelling (thorn) or slowly removing (dye) the objects from the body.

I’m going off of memory, but homeostasis also covers our body temperature and chemicals. It’s why medical personnel can take blood and learn about issues; there is an expected range for everything to be in. Homeostasis is just that over-all term for “things should be this way”. There are dozens of equalizing processes under the term “homeostasis”.

I think the difference can be drawn in parallel to cigarettes: an unfiltered cigarette is worse than a filtered one for smoking. Both are obviously bad for you, but if you’re stacking carcinogens and other health concerns, eventually you’ll reach someone’s breaking point. I don’t think anyone is claiming alcohol is healthy, but I also don’t think the response should be “it’s already unhealthy, so this isn’t won’t stop anyone”. Every risk associated decision we make adds to the statistics pool for whether we get sick. Mitigating that might actually worry someone enough to switch to a healthier (not healthy) form of alcohol consumption.

This week, it’s been A Farewell to Arms by Machine Head. The song just builds into something incredible.

In that vein, Devil in a Midnight Mass by Billy Talent is an easy go to when trying to “capture” their sound. Such a great band I finally got to see live for the first time this year.