Open up those wings, you're gonna fly

- Joel Wright

Changed my template again...
Yes, I've gone back to a pinkish background. Deal. It's not that I like pink better than other colours. (My favourite colour is actually yellow, we all know that.) But pink just seems to suit me better I guess. Plus it's pretty!

I'M GETTING MARRIED!
Two weeks ago yesterday, my boyfriend proposed to me. And of course I said yes. I said it very quietly, but he heard it. And he knows how much I want to. While most of the time the future is very scary to me, I can be certain of one thing: I will get married to the man of my dreams. And I know we'll take care of each other. See? Much less scary.

Recording tip #1
A few weeks ago, I discovered that adding reverb to a song you've just recorded makes it sound ten times better and more professional. Even if it's barely noticeable, and even if it's a lot. Makes a huge difference. I think that's the one thing that every closet recording artist should know. I mean, yeah it should be good, and well-performed and all that. But reverb is really the key to making a listenable song.

The library
I work at a library. It's sometimes very tedious (trust me on this), and sometimes challenging (which is a good thing). But my favourite thing about it is the regulars. Just seeing them and knowing exactly what they'll bring back and take out. And I've only been there about two months, but most of them know my name. But they all at least know me. You can tell by the way they smile and greet me. I guess that's one of those things I've always wanted in a job.

Looks like I might be spending an American thanksgiving this year. That could be fun!

You'll never know what if unless you try to fly.

And they called it puppy love

- Donny Osmond

I'm only going to say this one more time. I am not by any means a die-hard Justin Bieber fan. I definitely think he sings songs that are too old for him, and I'm a little annoyed that he almost sings better in my range than I do.

But honestly, I am so sick of hearing people say "Oh, but when he grows up, his voice will change and he won't be able to sing anymore." Well, I'd just like to point out a few things. For one thing, men's voices are different than women's. If a man has got a voice, it will stay good pretty much till the day he dies, whereas women have to continuously work to keep a good singing voice after her younger years.

And for another thing... I challenge ANYONE to watch this
and tell me that Donny Osmond was not successful later in life because "his voice changed and couldn't sing after that."

Honestly, give the kid a break. He's not awful (pretty good actually, if you ask me) and if you really can't stand his songs, then for Heaven's sake, don't listen to them!

How can I tell them this is not a puppy love?

Who could ask for anything more?

- Ella Fitzgerald

Tonight's blog will be slightly random again; just getting out some thoughts. I am also somewhat hyper as you'll probably be able to tell from my writing. So here goes...


How not to be a loser

I have the most awesome family, awesome friends, an awesome boyfriend and pretty awesome roommates too. I mean, I got lucky with the types of people that influence my life. I just don't hang out with losers. It's pretty sweet, if you ask me. I mean... I couldn't ask for anything more. I can honestly say that I hang out with these people because I'm just naturally attracted to awesome people. And no, you won't convince me it's the other way around.

Racism

I realized today that I had no idea what racism was or that it even existed before being told that it was wrong. Do you see a problem with this? I do. You know what it is about racism that makes it even more apparent? It's the fact that we so often point out and discuss discrimination. The thing is that it shouldn't even be about discrimination, but rather distinction. The fact is, we make a distinction between different ethnic groups, genders and ages. WHY? I just don't get this.

Shouldn't a person's worth lie in what they're good at, what they can do? Or even just in the fact that everyone is human, everyone trips up, we are all the same. Distinctions should be made based on what a person is good at. And even then, we should recognize that every individual has potential in their lives. If you want my advice on stopping racism - and some people might chew me out for this - we should just stop discussing it, and start learning how to act like decent human beings who have respect for every person on God's Earth.

Showers

Do you ever have one of those moments in the shower where it's just so good to stand in the flowing hot water, and you never want to get out because you know then you'll have to face reality? Yeah? I'd say "join the club," but eventually someone will figure out we're the ones hogging all the hot water.

Essaying

My theory on essaying is that you should treat it like something fantastic - like an online flash game. Oh, we've all got our favourites. And I'm sure we could all agree that the best part of a flash game is seeing how high you can get your score. That's how it should be when writing an essay. Do the very best you can, try to get the highest score imaginable - and beat your friend's while you at it.

Learn to love it. Like you love flash games. Soon, you might find writing essays enjoyable and playing flash games a chore... Yeah, that sounded stupid in my head, too.


Hope you enjoyed tonight's random bloggage (to the extreme!). Have a nice night everyone and happy studying! (Just like a flash game, just like a flash game...)


I've got rhythm, I've got music. I've got my man...

So she sang

- Tasjie

I have probably never had more of a desire to be mainstream than I do at this moment. I guess I should start at the beginning...

See, I love music, it really is my passion. My favourite thing ever to just sing, and it makes me so happy to do so. So keep that in mind with what's going on in this blog.

I like to write music. I have a lot of songs now, kinda. And yeah, they sound kinda depressing at times. I don't know what it is, I just can't seem to write songs that sound more upbeat. Maybe it's a combination of the way my voice sounds, the chords I chose, the content. They are always meant to be uplifting, and in a way they are. (Or so I've been told. I mean, that's the way I intended them to be.)

But I'll be the first to admit that some of them don't really have replay value and wouldn't be that popular. Others, though, people really seem to like. The new one I wrote last month "Love for the End is Near" people seemed to like, and even seemed a little surprised that I wrote it. But that makes me happy.

The thing is, I'm not really that great a performer, at least not solo. Maybe I was just way too nervous. Forgetting lyrics, chords, even sometimes from my own songs... Granted, this is the first time I've done something like this on my own. But I can't help feeling disappointed in myself for not just... being better I guess.

Which brings me back to the whole mainstream thing. Maybe if my songs were more of a mainstream value, then they might be better-liked, and I would have more confidence in playing and singing them. Or maybe it's just me being me, and there's no way I could improve it. I mean, when I play alone, not gonna lie, I sound amazing at times. I know I'm talented, and that I can put a song together (even if it sounds kinda sad), but when it's for other people it just all falls apart.

Like, when I'm performing with my family, it's different. We all work with each other so well, and even if one messes up, it's generally easily covered by someone else. And we sound so good together, because we're just a mass of talent. And I definitely feel ten times more confident being with them.

I guess what I would need to "get more experience." But honestly, half of me just wants to give up. Because sometimes I just feel like my songs are really worth it, and since I'm not even that great in concert, then why bother right? But the other half of me just loves music so much that I know I could never ever give it up. But for the moment, I feel like I might be done sharing, at least for a while.

At least I know I can always trust a Shure mic...


She may not be a superstar, she just be another girl. But she's still got that voice inside, the one that shows itself when she sings.