OH and also

I haven't really updated this in a while so the youtube i use more frequently now is youtube.com/user/justanothermusickid but i don't even really go on that one much anymore either now that there's the band one haha i go on that all the time so thats youtube.com/user/smalltownheroband so yeah, its rare for me to go on kdogg331 now haha i apologize. also, the twitter i use most is @dearyouffi_mast but i have a few but yeah and our band one is @smalltownhero94 so yeah. as always, thanks for reading this :)

wow

wow, i havent been on here in a while.. lol sorry guys, ive been on tumblr a lot lately and kinda forgot aha im still here though and well, i turned 18 in march and started school in august :)

Sex & Drugs in Music, Stupid Lyrics, Generational Opposition, "Bad Music", etc.

   Sex & drugs have always been a part of music, ever since the very beginnings of rock & roll in the early 1950's. Haven't you ever heard the phrase, "sex, drugs, and rock & roll"? haha But the thing with the early music, at least in my opinion, is that it wasn't as noticeable and they could get away with it. Like I said, sex & drugs has always been in music. But the thing with 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, even 90's, rock (and other music) is that it was more acceptable and they had the music to back it up with. Nowadays, it seems like most songs are about money, sex, drugs, parties, girls, "sex, drugs, and rock & roll". But back then, there was just as much, if not -more- of that stuff in the songs. Almost every song mentioned drugs or sex. But they had amazing guitar solos and drums and everything else. Now there is no good music to back it up. It's, mostly, all synthesized, auto tuned, a repeated loop. So now, because there is no real, solid music behind it, people are starting to say "hey wait. this song is all about sex, drugs, money. i don't like that." But it's always been that way, you're just now noticing it. Like I said, the early music had the music behind it to make it acceptable. If they didn't, people wouldn't have liked that either. But they did. So it was more acceptable.

      Also, there have always been stupid lyrics. Heck, even The Beatles had some pretty stupid lyrics. But again, they were cultural icons, and they had the music to back it up with.

      And the older generation has been disliking the younger generation's music since music began, as well, and they will continue to do so. But it's just that now it is more noticeable. If we had stayed on the track of 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's music, maybe we wouldn't now be saying that today's music sucks or complaining about the mention of "sex, drugs and rock & roll" in music. That's a hypocritical approach though because as I said, there has -always- been the mention of sex and drugs in music. So is it really fair to single out today's music as being the absolute worst & calling it shit or whatever? No, of course not. Now sure, there is a lot of music today that sucks. But there is also -A LOT- of music now that is amazing. It all depends on what you like and where you look. I happen to like pretty much everything so I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to my music. haha

    Now, this brings up another point. Music does not "suck" and there is no such thing as "bad music". You may not like it, but that doesn't make it "bad". If it was "bad", nobody would like it and they would not have made it. Someone, somewhere had to have liked it or else they wouldn't have made it, even if it was just one person. If one person likes it, it must be "good music", at least to them, because there is no "bad music". It's all just personal preferences. Now, like I said, I happen to have very eclectic taste in music so this was never really a problem for me and I actually do kind of like some modern/"pop" music. But if you're one of those people who only listens to one genre or postures up in front of their friends and pretends not to like something even when they really do, just remember it's okay to like different kinds of music and there's no such thing as "bad music".

    Maybe one day we'll go back to the music of the early days, but for now we're stuck with the music of Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, and Rebecca Black. But again, there is no such thing as "bad music." 

random post

I'd like to make a shout out to my little brother, Marc, it's his 16th birthday today!! he doesn't have a Tumblr or Twitter but 16's a pretty big year! so happy birthday bro! love ya! <3 :) 
we went out to dinner tonight for his birthday, Sam Diego's is delicious. :) still gotta figure out what to get him though, and what to get for Christmas...only 4 days away now!! haha exciting.
so yeah, that's pretty much it. Thank you for following me and happy holidays folks! :D

New Song!!

    So, I know I was trying to go in order and work backwards from the oldest to the newest songs but it's been a while and I wanted to share this one with you guys. I will go back and post some older ones later. :) haha

So this one I wrote on Sunday (10/30) and I made several improvisions and corrections right then and there, which are indicated with the line through them. I didn't completely cross the old stuff out because I wasn't quite sure I wanted to get rid of it and still aren't completely sure. And the bold is revisions made today. Also, the original idea ends when I say I hope you change and then the new begins with where I say but you probably won't, that's not indicated with a line through it. Also, I haven't quite figured out a title for it yet. But anyways, I hope you like it. :)

song:

It's no surprise to me that you hate me.                                
It's not an uncommon coincidence for my friends to.  for you not to talk to me   to ignore me
It's not a coincidence that my friends say they love me. Then go and betray me.
It's not a coincidence that nobody will talk to me this is common nature.
Cause everybody you all probably hate me by now. 
So But I'm writing this song in hopes and hoping that that will change.
I know it probably won't but I'm going to try anyways.
I don't care if you don't like me and I don't care if this song sucks cause I'm doing this for me (and no one else).
So I'm gonna keep on living and keep on writing.
I really hope you change but if you don't, that's cool too.
Cause I'm doing this for me (, I'm not trying to make you see.?) and I'll just ignore the haters.
Haters gonna hate.
Nothing can bring me down.



Sorry if that was really confusing.. haha anyways, that was my latest song. Please let me know what you think. thank you. :)

-Kelsey

My First Interview!!

I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity over the past 3 days to interview (via email), Grant Walker of the band, Halfway to Hollywood. If you don't know, Halfway to Hollywood is a relatively new Powerpop/Rock band from Vancouver, BC. Here is the interview:

Me: So, I guess you should probably introduce yourself first.. I mean, I know obviously you and Jacob, but who else is in the band besides you guys and what do they play? And then also, I'm sure people are probably curious how old you guys are and where you're all from? So do you wanna just introduce yourself real quick?? haha

Grant: I'm Grant Walker, singer/guitarist/songwriter for the band Halfway to Hollywood. If you aren't already familiar with our members they are: Brenden White (bass), Jacob Owen (Lead Guitar), Joey Levesque (Keys) and Graeme Hahn (Drums). We were all born and raised in around the Vancouver area as far as I know and range in age from 19-24. Joey is the baby of the group at 19.

Me: And then, I guess the next logical question would be, how long have you guys been a band for and how did you all meet??


Grant: We've been a band for just a few months now but Brenden and I have been playing together in various projects for a few years now. He and I recorded the Speechless EP this past spring by ourselves and happened to meet Joey around that time. He volunteered to help us out by laying down some synth and one thing lead to another and he became a full member. After we released the EP and started getting a bit of a buzz going online Jacob got in touch with us and then Graeme. I'm really stoked to be playing with a group of such fun and talented people!

Me: Oh, it was just you two, or rather three, when you released the Speechless EP?? That's kinda cool though. What was that like for you guys? Was that your first actual release??

Grant: Speechless was our first release as Halfway to Hollywood. Like I said, Brenden and I have been playing together for years but HTH is the first band we've taken seriously and had a specific creative vision for. Recording the EP ourselves was great because it allowed us to take our time and think about what we were doing which isn't always a luxury you have in a professional studio. 

Me: How would you describe your music, if you had to??

Grant: As a musician that's a question I get asked a lot, and it never really gets any easier to answer. I guess I try and write songs about different life experiences I've had and to reflect on them without taking myself too seriously. We're a pop band first and foremost so I try and keep our music as fun and positive as possible, even when dealing with darker subject matter.

Time for some fun stuff.. lol

Me: I'm sure people may wanna know what some of your favorite things are.. soo..

Favorite color?

Green

Book?

The Dharma Bums - Jack Karouac

Movie?

Koyaanisqatsi...its this crazy film from the 1980s about the influence mankind is having on the Earth...really trippy/beautiful to watch and has a cool message at the end. I'm also a big fan of Stanley Kubrick. If I had to pick something a bit lighter though I'd have to say I really like Disney movies or really anything from my childhood.

Food?

Pizza! I think that's everyone in our band's favourite actually.

Flavor of ice cream?

Strawberry Cheesecake...there is this awesome gelato place a few blocks away from our studio that makes icecream in pretty much every flavour imaginable but that's my favourite so far

Hobbie(s)/pasttime(s) or thing(s) to do when not making music?

I'm a 4th year psychology major so school takes up a lot of my time, but when I'm not busy with that or the band or my day job I like all the usual stuff...partying, hanging out with friends, camping, whatever. Pretty much anything as long as its with good people. 

Me: And of course, I have to ask this because I used to love Pokemon, especially the original show, and I feel like it makes for some pretty great conversation.

Soo.. What's your favorite Pokemon?! If you even have one.. :P haha

Grant: I think I'd have to say Charmander...he got me out of some tough jams when I used to play the game on my gameboy, and he eventually turns into Charazard who is badass. Honourary mention goes to Metapod for being super chill and just hanging out :P

Now back to the serious stuff. :P lol

Me: So, being the songwriter, where do you get the inspiration for your songs and what are some of your biggest musical influences??

Grant: It really depends on the song. I guess I tend to write based on personal experience but that doesn't necessarily mean that every one of our songs is about some specific person or thing from my life. Sometimes I'll even write songs with narratives delivered from someone else's perspective which is fun because it allows me to approach something from a more interesting angle.

Me: What are some of your favorite bands/musicians? And then albums/songs?

Grant: I've always been a huge Beatles fan and I grew up listening to a lot of my dad's classic rock records. In high school I started listening to bands like Blink, Green Day, All Time Low, Nirvana, etc and from there got into punk and metal and stuff like that. I've always had pretty eclectic musical tastes which is great for songwriting because it allows me to incorporate ideas from all over. Big albums for me would have to be Green Day's Dookie, Blink's Enema of the State and All Time Low's So Wrong It's Right. 

Me: Whats the best and worst concert you've ever been to??

Grant: I saw Green Day on the American Idiot tour in '04 and that was pretty sick, but I don't know if it was the best show I've ever seen. I go to a lot of local shows around Vancouver and those are always fun. And as for worst show ever...no comment!

Me: Was there one particular piece of music or concert or something that really influenced you or changed your life??

Grant: I can't really pick one specific moment but music has always been there for me. I didn't exactly have an easy time in high school but music played a big role in helping me figure out who I was and always gave me something to live for even when things were hard. 

Me: When did you first start playing guitar and how and when did you first decide that you wanted to be in a band and that music was what you wanted to do??

Grant: I've pretty much been playing music in some capacity for my whole life so I don't think I could pick one specific thing. One of my earliest memories is dancing around my parents bedroom to Wild Thing by the Troggs but I don't know if thats where it all started haha

Moree fun!.. lol

Me: Describe each of your bandmates with one word?

Grant:

Brenden: Intense

Jacob: Thoughtful

Joey: Sparkley

Me: Oh, I thought of some pretty good "ors".. haha

Mac or PC?

PC

Coke or Pepsi?

Coke

Snickers or Milky Way?
Snickers

Skittles or M n M's?
M&M's...especially Peanut M&M's :)

U2 or The Who?
The Who FTW

The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?
Beatles, hands down.

Oasis or Blur?
Blur, just because they seem like nicer guys.

Nirvana or Radiohead?
Nirvana

Do you like Coldplay and/or The Goo Goo Dolls?
Not a big Coldplay fan...love the Goos though!

What are your thoughts on Aerosmith?
Amazing band...I like their 70s stuff more than their later stuff but its all good. I'm always driving people in our band crazy by playing the "Walk This Way" riff at practice haha

Favorite kind of candy??
Screamin Sour Saucers...I think they took them off the market when they found out all that blue die was carinogenic though...

Do you like Mike n Ikes? haha
I don't think I've ever actually tried them...so sure!

Me: Okay, I'll stop with the random, probably annoying, questions now and get back to the actual interview.. haha Sorry about that..

But, umm..

Me: What are your plans for the future for Halfway to Hollywood? Are you guys gonna be releasing any new music or touring or anything like that anytime soon??

Grant: We're hoping to record an EP this winter and to release it in the Spring. In the meantime there might be a few singles though so stay tuned! Hopefully we'll be hitting the road and at least playing some shows in Western Canada before too long.

Me: And then, I guess this one's kind of the same thing but what are some of your hopes and dreams, or plans, both for the immediate future, as well as long term for the band? And where do you see, or hope to see yourself a few years from now?

Grant: If I could make a living off of music that would be amazing but I know that's a lot to ask. I guess I'd just like to see our music get to as many listeners as possible and see what happens. Apart from taking the band as far as I can I'd also like to finish my BA in Psychology and maybe apply to a few different grad schools and see what happens. But all those plans are pretty at present and the band is my top priority.

Me: And I know you guys are kind of just starting out yourselves but, do you have any advice for any other bands/musicians who may also be just starting out?

Grant: I know this is really cliched but just don't give up and keep at it no matter what anybody says. Writing and playing music are skills and anybody can learn and develop them given enough hard work. Also another cliche "believe in yourself" applies here because if you don't believe in what you're doing you can rest assured no one else will. 

And that's about it! I would like to thank Grant very much for agreeing to do this interview and for taking the time out of his day(s) to answer my questions and providing such wonderful, in depth answers. I really do appreciate it. :) Also, Halfway to Hollywood is on the social media sites too so go follow and "like" them and listen to some of their music while you're at it! :)

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HalfwayToHollywood

Twitter: @HalfwaytoHolly

Follow Grant and the rest of the band too! @GrantAWalker @iuJacob @BrendenWhite and @Joeyjoyride

Thanks again Grant! :)

Oh, I forgot to tell you..

I'm in a band now. kind of.. haha As of July 22 of this year, my friend and I started a band but we haven't really done much with it, we hung out then and decided to start it but havent done much sense, at least not together.. lol We have a YouTube and Twitter and everything though. We decided to call ourselves Small Town Hero and have a YouTube and Twitter and everything though. haha The YouTube is www.youtube.com/user/SmallTownHeroband and then the Twitter is just @SmallTownHero1 you can check it out if you want to.. haha we kind of suck though but yeah, I'm in a band now. :D haha

Wow, it's been a while. haha

Whoa. March 29th. Holy shit, it's been a while.. haha I apologize, I have been busy lately and I just haven't felt the urge to blog much lately.. lol I have been online since then and I have written songs since then. heck. I still have songs from January and February I haven't posted yet. But I just haven't bothered to check or post on my blog at all between then and now and I apologize. haha But anyways, I'm back now (with new music) and that's the important thing. lol I literally just finished writing a new song less than 2 hours ago that I would like to share with you, if I may. haha I still have all the other songs I need to post but I don't feel like digging them out right now so I will just share the newest one with you for now and I'll put the other ones up at a later date. :) haha so yeah, thats whats new with me. lol Anything new with you? Leave a comment below telling me what you've been up to lately, if you want to. haha thank you. :)

New songs!! :D

Hey everybody! soo, now that I finally have some time, I'm going to put some new lyrics up here! haha I hope you like them! :)

Ok, soo I guess I'll start with the newer ones first and work my way down to the older songs. :) haha

So, as I've done with the other songs (I know, it's been months since I've posted any new songs), I'm only going to post a full and a partial per blog post because I don't want to overwhelm you with too many songs at once and it's just easier that way so yeah.. : D haha

Ok, so here's the first song. This one is literally brand new, I actually just wrote it tonight and this one is actually an exception to the songposting rule, in that I'm gonna post two (different) partials (of the same song) because normally with my songs, I just go with the direction the song's going in and just accept the new ideas and wind up with a (hopefully) great song. but for some reason with this one I just decided I was straying too far from the "original" ideas and kept trying to put the original ideas into it but everytime I would try to do that, I would just keep writing and wind up not knowing where to put the original ideas. So I stopped writing for a second to write down the original idea on a seperate sheet of paper. And then after I did that, I just kind of lost where I was going with the "new" song and just wasn't able to keep writing. So I just walked away. haha This is the first time I've ever actually "walked away" from a song before, besides the partials, but those were only cause I didn't have time to finish writing atm and just wanted to get the ideas down. So I did and wound up with a few partials. haha but anyways, this is the first time I've ever really walked away from a song, willingly and on purpose (not because of time issues), the first time I've ever really said to myself, "You know what? I really have no idea where this is going anymore and I think it's straying too far from the original but I don't know for sure right now because my ideas are too scattered now. So I think I need to walk away and come back later.", it's the first time I've ever really told myself "I think you need to walk away now because you have no idea where this is going anymore." And so that's what I did. Which I guess is a good thing because with all of my other songs, I just had an idea and then I went to write it down and thought of all sorts of other things to add and just kept writing till I wound up with a full song, I kind of edited and added stuff to it along the way and never really hit any roadblock's with it, or if I did, it wouldnt last long and I would fix it right there and then continue writing till I "finished" it. So, I guess, this writer's block thing is a good thing because for once, it is not just smooth sailing with my songs. I am learning how to walk away and come back  later (With a clear head to, hopefully, write a better song than I would have before). So, I guess it is a good thing that I hit this roadblock because by hitting this roadblock, I am probably learning valuable skills and learning that everything doesn't always go your own way or go right the first time, sometimes it takes multiple tries to get it right. In fact, that is usually the case. So I think I am also growing as a songwriter and as a musician and gaining experience as well. Because while, yes, it is frustrating getting writer's block, I am learning and hopefully, I will come back with a better song when I go back later. I don't know, maybe I'm exaggerating this a bit. I mean, it's just writer's block, right? But I do think this is good for me though because up till now, everything's pretty much been smooth sailing, as far as the songwriting goes, so it's a good experience for me. : D It's frustrating though cause I can't decide what I want to do with the original, whether I wanna add it in as the chorus or completely omit it or what but either way, this is probably a great learning experience for me. :) haha

So anyways, enough rambling. haha I'm sorry, I'll stop rambling now.

Here is the new song. I'm gonna post the "new" version first and then the "original" idea.. haha I haven't decided on a title though yet but yeah, new song.. : D haha

"new" version of new song

     Well, I don't know how things are now.
But I know how they were bere.
But they've probably changed now
Cause it's been a while since I've been here/there.
So I know how things were before.
But I don't know how they are now.
Cause things have changed.
But you're still the same. And you still live there.
So darling, can you please tell me how things are now?
Tell me how things have changed. What's different now?
It's been a while since I've been here.
I know you probably hate me. But it's been a while.
So can you please refresh my memory?
Are things still the same as they were or are they different now?
Cause I don't know.
So darling please, can you tell me how things have changed?
Are things much different now that I'm gone or are they still the same as they were before/when I was here?
Well, I'm here now so tell me. Has a lot changed since I've been gone (or not really)?


ok, that's it for the "new" version. here's the "old/original" version.. haha

    Well, I don't know how things are now.
But, I know how they were before.
But they've probably changed now cause it's been a while since I've been there.
But you still live there and you're still the same.
So darling, can you please tell me how things have changed/are now?
Are they much different w/o me there/now that I'm gone or are they still the same as they were before?
I don't know.
So darling, can you please tell me how things have changed/are now?
Cause I don't know.

And that's it. haha As you can see, the "original" isn't all that much different than the "new" one, but it's a little different and a big difference is that the new one is just more spoofed up and with a lot more "fluff" in between the lines, the original is simpler, it just says it all in one verse.. haha so, I don't know which version I like better yet, I like both so maybe I'll incorporate the original in as the chorus or something but idk for sure yet so yeah... haha

Anyways, I hope you liked that one. I'll also be posting more songs up soon so be on the look out for those. haha but yeah, hope you liked it. :)

As always, if you have read this far, THANK YOU!!! : D

Thanks a lot,

Kelsey

Exciting News!! :D

I just realized that last post was my first post in March!! : D haha I know it's kind of late but Happy March! lol And guess what?! My birthday's in 5 days!!!! haha I'm so excited about it, can't wait!! :)  So DEFINATELY Happy March!! :D haha

Oh andddd.. I have new music to put up as well!! :) haha I wrote a bunch of new songs last weekend/week so I'll have to put them up. I think I have enough for an album or an EP or something now, if I came up with (and recorded) music for it cause right now it's just lyrics but if I did that that'd be pretty cool, maybe I'll figure something out for my birthday.. haha

That actually leads me to my next point though, I'm probably not gonna be able to find band members, get/fix instruments, come up with, and/or record music for 10-14 songs in 5 days (before my bday) but maybe I'll write and/or post some new songs for my birthday as a special birthday present/gift to all you guys but I don't know yet so we'll see. But yeah, so I haven't figured out exactly what I'm gonna do for my birthday yet, regarding my music and whatnot, but there will definately be some sort of musical surprise involved with whatever I decide to do, maybe I'll do a contest or something, that'd be kinda cool, but I really don't know yet. So yeah, definately stay tuned and be on the lookout for something special on, or around, my birthday and/or April Fool's Day (because it falls right after), because there will definately be something and it's most likely gonna be pretty awesome! So stay tuned! : D haha

Andddd... I think that's pretty much all I really have. So basically, Happy March, I have new music to put up so be on the lookout for that, and also stay tuned and be on the lookout for a very special musical surprise on my birthday (March 31st) and possibly April 1st (April Fool's Day)! And that about sums it up.

So as always, if you have read this far, THANK YOU!!! I appreciate it!

And STAY TUNED!!!! : D haha

Thank you. :)
Until next time,

Kelsey.

So Tired..

i am sooo tired tho. i went outside for like an hour then came back in (to get the Rocky theme song stuck in my head and put sneakers on to prep for more of my yard running), then I went back out. then at like 7ish, maybe a lil later, my mom and I went to Olive Garden. the wait was like 15-20 min so we got in at like 7:30, 7:40ish and just got back a little bit ago.

im so outta shape tho. like when I went outside, basically all I did was run around kicking a giant rubber bouncy ball thing around the yard. so literally, running from one end of the yard and back, i was out of breath. sure, it's a big yard and part of it was uphill and i zig zagged across the yard on the way back and i was running like full speed across the yard but still, its not that big of a yard, i shouldnt be that tired. haha

im gonna crash, and crash hard, tonight. im gonna be out like a light after all that exercise today.. haha after getting the rocky theme song in my head, i went back out and ran around the house twice, the second time running backwards some of the time, all while kicking this ball around. im so tired lol

i just made music. :D haha

I just made a guitar tab, my first. :D haha it's pretty short&kinda dumb but its kinda cool.. haha I was trying to remember the tabs to another song and came up with this so I have no idea if it's original or not. but I think it is and it's pretty cool. it's just kinda a short little Halloween/spooky-ish theme thingy, just replayed a couple of times but I thought it was pretty neat so I wrote it down, tabs are really the only thing I understand, atm.... hahahaha I kinda get chords but I mainly get tabs cause its literally like a drawing of the strings w/numbers as to where to put ur fingers&such, which u probably know, but im more of a visual learner type person so it works for me, chords? not so much.. but im workin on it.. hahaha but yeah, now i dont just have lyrics, I finally have actual music so Im pretty proud, however stupid that music may be.. lol but yeah, im pretty proud of this. :D ahahaha

 

I think it is original though but idk. but even if it's not, Im just proud i was able to come up with something, finally.. haha :D i may make a vid of me playin it and post it up on YouTube or something, Im that proud. :D hahhaa

 

As always, thanks for reading this and I hope you'll stick along for the ride. :)

 

Thank You,

 

-Kelsey

12 Track Radio street team - challenge 1

Im making this blog post cause Im on the 12 Track Radio street team and this was part of challenge 1, we're trying to get 12 Track Radio to 2011 fans by April 2nd. they have 300 now.. haha I know, that's a pretty big leap but its cause of the year. so please help us get there. Check this band out and if you like them, click "I'm A Fan!" http://www.jango.com/music/12+Track+Radio?l=0 if we get there, there might be a free show and street teamers will get VIP. so please help us get there. thanks. :)

My English Essay - The American Dream Project

Hey everybody! I had to write this essay for english. We had to find a song, poem, or news story that we feel best represents the American dream, either in the present or in the past and write 2-3 paragraphs discussing the poem, song, or news story. she gave us some questions that we could frame our response around and stuff on the direction sheet but I'm not gonna bother listing them or copying the entire set of directions, you get the gist of it from what I've told you, hopefully. lol Anyways, I just figured I'd put it up here just for kicks and to see what people think of it, and also cause it's somewhat musical.. haha I chose to do a song and the song I chose for this was Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer", good song. :) haha Anyways, I hope you like my essay, and I'm also gonna attach the link to the song here soo, enjoy! :) haha

 

The American Dream Project

      

                 To many people, the American dream is simply, opportunity, self invention, possibility, freedom, the idea of the self made man, the idea that if you are an honest, hardworking person, nothing will stop you. To me, it is more than that. It is all of that plus, going from rags to riches, working hard to get from the bottom to the top. It is going from having nothing to having everything you want, all through hard work and dedication. It is living your dream and doing what you truly want to do and being where you really want to be in life. It is working hard to succeed and living life to the fullest to get where you truly want to be in life. That is the American dream, at least to me. Of course, it is so much more than that and the definition of the American dream is defined differently by most people and tends to change a lot but that is at least part of my definition of the American dream.

                 I chose to do a song for this project and the song that I chose was “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi. This song is basically about a fair couple that have been working hard to try to make a better life for themselves but they say, it doesn’t really matter if they make it or not because they’ve got each other, which is enough for them, although they would still like to have a better life for themselves and are working hard to attain it. The song was written and released in late 1986. At the time, there were a lot of hard working families working to attain better lives for themselves and the couple mentioned in this song is no exception. The song sort of exemplifies the American dream because it is about this couple who have been working hard to attain better lives for themselves. This kind of exemplifies the American dream because the American dream is basically all about working hard to attain your own American dream and to get to where you want to be in life. The American dream basically says that if you’re an honest, hardworking person, then, nothing will stop you. This song sort of shows that the American dream is attainable with a lot of hard work but it also kind of shows the illusion side of the American dream, the idea that you might not always make it, because in the song they say “It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not..” which kind of shows that there’s a big IF there and that not everything in life is so predictable or such a sure thing. However, I believe that the American dream is, eventually, attainable with enough hard work and determination. With hard work and determination, you can pretty much pull anything off, including the American dream, if you so desire. Also, I think that although the song is more of a modern song (written in the 80’s), the American dream from the 1920’s to then, had not really changed much and was still basically the same. Even now, it’s basically the same as it was and has not changed much over the years. That American dream is still basically, opportunity, self invention, possibility, freedom, the idea of the self made man, and the idea that if you are an honest, hardworking person, nothing will stop you. This has remained basically the same over the years and is still just as attainable now as it was in the 1920’s or any other time, with a lot of hard work and determination.

Thanks for taking the time to read that, I hope you enjoyed it. :) 

Thanks again for reading that and if you've read this far, THANK YOU!!!! Again. lol 

thanks, 

Kelsey. 

 

I dont think my my parent's friends dog likes guitars very much, if at all... :/ haha

My parents went out to dinner with their friends and left the dog w/me.. lol but I dont think this dog likes guitars very much.. haha Maybe it was just cause I kinda came at him with a strange object and as i held it up to him was like "What is it, Truman?" so he may have thought I was attacking him and had every right to do what he did. but either way, I still held it up to him cause he did the bow thing, which I stupidly assumed was a play bow, but then he backed up and barked a little defensively. but then I put it down on the couch and was like "no, Truman!" and he backed off and I was like "Truman its ok", etc. I wasnt scared but just a little shocked cause he's normally such a good dog but dogs sense fear so I shut the doors and stayed in the living room till I calmed down enough to go back out (it happened on the edge of the doorway).. haha I'm still a little shaken up but only a little and hes basically back to normal now and I won him back over by giving him another of his dog biscuits.. haha He's now asleep in the hall and is normally such a good dog, which is why I was so shocked, but hes a little riled up tonight for some reason anyways and had every right to do that. and wasn't even aggressive, just a few defensive/investigative barks directed at the guitar, not me i dont think, and he had every right to do so if he thought i was coming at him, which in his world, i was. So i dont blame him for it and I'm not still mad at him, just a little surprised still, but dogs will be dogs and he's a good dog plus no one got hurt so im cool with it.. haha :/

Just went and picked up the guitars!!

OMG!! My mom just went and picked up the guitars! She just got back and they look and sound AMAAAAZING!!! :D haha It was a little more expensive than we thought, I think the bass needed 1 string, but it wasn't much more expensive. But they sound awesome! :) haha The strings on the acoustic are kinda reddish/goldish so I think they put copper strings on it, all new strings. :) haha Better than before, before it only had 3 strings and one of them was steel and the other two were nylon... :/ hahaha but now it has all new copper strings. :) And my mom says the big guy there's wicked nice, he like played a little song or something for my mom (on the acoustic one) to show her how good it sounded. :) haha and they look kinda shiny and/or cleaner too, like they cleaned em or something.. haha Anywho, the acoustic has all new copper strings and the bass has a new tuning key and I think a new string too.. haha A little more expensive than we thought, but not by much, only like 5 bucks (bass strings are more expensive which is part of why we didnt just get them all replaced.. haha). It was funny cause I was reading the service slip thing on the guitars and it was like 5 bucks for ONE bass string and like $7.99 for an entire set of brand new copper strings on a 6 string acoustic, plus all the labor.. but still, a little over a dollar a string for guitars but like 5 BUCKS for ONE bass string, guess they are more expensive... hahaah Anyways, it was a smidge more expensive than we thought but WELL worth it!!!! haha I'm SO excited to start playing, I'll probably play all weekend and maybe even get off the computer and play guitar instead, for a change... haha I'm like on the computer all the time, like hours on end, it's not good.. lol but now I'll be playing guitar for hours on end instead, with the exception of maybe looking up tabs and playing tips/lessons and stuff online, my fingers are gonna hurt... haha Im so, so excited to start playing though! :D ha
Thanks for reading this. :)

Wow, that was fast.. haha

Ok, so as you know, we like just took the guitars in to be fixed yesterday and they just called like 40 minutes ago to say that they're ready. Wow, that was fast.. :/ haha I'm not complaining, I'm GLAD they're done, I didn't WANT it to take forever but wow, I thought it'd be like at least a week... haha I figured they'd have the strings there but I assumed they'd have to order the tuning key cause my mom asked about that, like if they had it there or what and he said he wasn't sure if they had it in stock. So I thought they'd have to order it and it'd take at least a week, or at least more than a day, but apparently not... :/ haha So I guess they had it in stock. I suppose they coulda just done overnight shipping or something but I dont think so, I think they had it in stock... haha Anyways, Im glad they're done so soon cause that just means I can start playing even sooner. :D haha It's probably too late now, they probably close at 9and it's 9:24pm here now, they just called at 8:50. haha We'll probably go after school tommorow to get them which is even better cause tommorow's a Friday so I can play all weekend then February Vacation isn't next week, but the week after so I can play all vaca too, it's so perfect! : D haha I'm so excited! : D

I got my guitars tuned and stuff today!! :D

Hey guys! Guess what? I actually have some pretty exciting news today! :D haha ok soo... You probably don't really care buuut... We just took the guitars to the music store down the street to be looked at and tuned and stuff. They all work but he said they could all probably use a better set up and stuff to make them better playing instruments or whatever but they're playable now so we're just getting the bare minimum stuff. The electric was fine, he tuned it and we took it home with us but we left the acoustic and the bass there. The acoustic needs some new strings and the bass needs a new tuning key and they all need to be tuned soo yeaah.. :D haha I can finally start playing now. :D lol oh and I'm gonna start taking lessons too so yeah. :) ha oh and, you're gonna think I'm an idiot buuut... They sound SO much different and much cooler when they're actually plugged in!! ahaha We have an amp for the electric guitar that came with it but idk what my mom did with the cord so I've never plugged it in. I mean, I knew it was an electric and would probably make cool sounds when plugged in but when its not plugged in, it almost kinda sounds like an acoustic or just a regular guitar or something. So then he plugs it in to test it and tune and stuff and I'm just like thinking "holy shit, hes wicked good! that sounds SO cool and soo much different when it's actually plugged in..." I was trying not to smirk/smile too much and was trying to hide my face at how cool it was.. I dont think he saw me, but I was just like humbled by how cool it sounded and how he was like actually rocking out and stuff, compared to what I do w/o it plugged it and was occasionally smiling soo much, it was embarrassing.... :/ hahahaaah but so anyways, we're getting the guitars fixed and I might start taking lessons so I'm finally gonna be able to play, I'm SO excited!! :D haha thanks for reading this. :)

ok soo, I know you probably don't really care buuuut.... I have kind of a dilemma right now. And I don't know what I should do about it.. :/ haha i dont know if I should go to my venture crew's party tommorow or a concert in Fall River for a local bands CD release cause I missed the one last night in Boston. I would lo...ve to go to the concert but our crew's hosting the party and I knew about that first so I kinda feel like I'm obligated to go.. :/ haha The party's at 6:30 but we have to be there at 5:30 to help set up and stuff. the concert's at 8 but Fall River is like an hour away so I don't know what I should do about it.. :/ haha

Youtube annoys me. It pisses me off how they change the mixes like every 30 seconds or taylor them to you. its like no, the mixes are the one thing that doesnt need changing so leave it alone! i dont wanna go back and save every artists mix like 10 times cause you changed it and theres good, or different, stuff in all of them. Darn it YouTube, just leave the freaking mixes alone!!!!!! hahha gaaaaaahh, YouTube is so frustrating sometimes! lol