Music is Love

This is my cousin Nick Lefler.
I didn't see him much while I was growing up because he was so much older than me and my family lives in a different town that all my other family.
He's always had a passion for music, much like me, though we have a bit different taste.
He eventually got married and had two kids but somehow a few years later he got intertwined with drugs and his wife divorced him.
He ended up moving back in with his dad and his younger brother in his hometown.
By that time I was grown up, around seventeen, so I wasn't left out of family conversations when we talked about him and his alleged drug problem.
Last Christmas my grandma invited their family (Nick, his brother, and his father) over for presents and dinner.
My mom got Nick a nice pair of jeans.
Sometime later in February or March I happened to be at my grandma's house when he and his aunt came over for a visit.
I'd just gotten back from Mid-America Pom Pon State competition where my squad took second place.
Nick and his aunt watched the competition video and said they were proud and impressed.
Nick looked like he was doing alright.
He looked healthy, not like a drug addict.
He had a job at my uncle's construction business, doing paperwork I believe.
But my uncle had to let him go because Nick was allegedly stealing money.
I thought that Nick had an alright life.
But I suppose he didn't think the did.
Sometime in March or April Nick took his life.
He stepped in front of a truck.
I like to believe it was a semi because that would kill instantly.
I went to his funeral. It was odd to me because he was cremated.
I feel like if I don't look at the body then they're not really dead.
But he was dead.
At the funeral the pastor addressed the fact of suicide. He said that Nick still went to heaven.
He told a story of another family member of Nicks having something odd happen to her.
She was driving to the mall when she saw some street graffiti that said "Nick" and then a song came on (the pastor didn't say which song) which made her think of him. She then got the phone call telling her about Nick's death. That was odd in itself. But it gets weirder. A few days later she was driving the same route to the mall. When she saw the graffiti again and the song came on the radio again. The same song that reminded her of Nick.
I believe that this was Nick's way of saying that he was alright, and goodbye.
After the pastor told us that story he played "Stairway to Heaven"
I thought that song was kind of cliche but apparently it was one of Nick's favorite songs.
I was back at school a few days later in art class. I was drawing in my art book and kind of thinking about doing a page for Nick, when "Stairway to Heaven" came on the radio. I was a bit suprised at first because I'd never heard that song come on that station before, but there it was.
I cried. Right there in class.
Quietly of coarse.
It made me think of Nick. Maybe he played that song to remind me of him.
I then did an art page dedicated to him.
It was song lyrics.

Thanks for reading.

Ed

So I know that I've talked about Ed Sheeran multiple times, but I've never really told you why I like him. So here's this blog.

I first discovered Ed a little after I discovered Imagine Dragons in High School. Probably around my junior year. Yeah it was now that I think of it. His album + (plus) came out in 2011 and I bought it almost a year after it was released just because I liked the song "Give Me Love."
After listening to the album just once, I was hooked. That album became my crack cocaine. I listened to it every single night while I drifted to sleep. I knew every lyric by heart after a couple nights. I was addicted. And even though I was in love with his mind and lyrics, I never took the time to look up a picture of his face.
Eventually I did, however, and I wasn't surprised. He turned out to be oddly handsome, but he doesn't look like he can sing, though he obviously can. His second album X (multiply) came out in June of 2014 and I bought it as soon as it came out. I didn't need new songs, I was perfectly happy with his last album, but I wanted them. I wanted to hear what his beautiful mind had come up with this time around. It didn't disappoint. I was so happy when I had finished listening to every song. It was just as good if not better than his first album.
I'm not quite sure how to explain why I've fell in love with his music. It just fits my personality so well. His lyrics are sometimes sarcastic, but always deep, and you can tell that he's been hurt by a few women, and that he's hurt a few and he's sad about that. His lyrics always tell a story and have a deeper meaning that I love to figure out. I haven't done much research on him because I don't want to be that crazy fan-girl, though I did cry very hard when I saw him in concert, I just couldn't believe that it was finally happening. I was finally seeing the person that I've been listening to for the past two years.
I don't creepily fantasize about some secret love affair with him though. Which is good because I think that's what most fan-girls do.

I encourage you to listen to a song or two of his, and see if you can find the deeper meaning. His lyrics are like puzzles. I'll give you a few more of my favorite songs from him too. Thanks for reading this.

My Old iPod

When I was in middle school, I was best friends with the most popular girl in school. She had one of the first pink iPods when it came out, and I wanted the exact same one. Unfortunately, I wouldn't get mine until a few years later when they didn't even make that kind anymore, so I ended up getting an iPod nano (2007).

Mine was the pink one of coarse, though there was much debate about whether I wanted the blue or pink. Anyhow, I thought this device was the coolest thing EVER. I listened to it every day on the bus rides to and from school, I listened to it in the computer lab when we were allowed to, and I listened to it in gym class when we had "free days." I even got this super girly all glitter case for it. It had the best songs- I thought- at the time. Every Glee soundtrack, Niki Minaj's second album, and even a few- I hate to say it- Justin Bieber songs. This little thing was my life. Until...One Christmas where I begged my mother for a $300 iPod touch. That was the end of an era and the beginning of another.

But this blog isn't about my iPod touch, because that stopped working awhile ago. I never kept track of my old iPod nano, but one day I saw on "the bookshelf of things people don't want" that we have in our house there was an old iHome for the old iPods and iPhones with the iPhone 4 and 4s port. You know, the really wide one. My iPhone is the 5 so I didn't think much of the old iHome, until I opened my desk drawer to see my old iPod nano.

This all happened about three days ago. Obviously I plugged the nano into the iHome and jammed out to some old tunes in my room. I laughed so hard at some of the songs I had on there. Some even from American Idol (I don't even remember liking American Idol.) I even texted the lyrics of "Best I Ever Had" by Drake to my boyfriend and he had no idea what I was talking about. Listening to that old iPod was really cool and I can't wait to explore it even more.

Peppa Pig

Every Tuesday and Sunday I babysit two adorable little girls named Liberty and Trinity. Liberty is about three and potty training, and Trinity just turned two. I ALWAYS confuse their names because they sound the same! 

Anyhow, the girls are in love with Peppa Pig. Shes a British pig that dosen't really teach the girls anything but social skills, which I suppose is a good thing. Well, they have this Peppa Pig DVD that they watch every night I babysit them before bedtime. Last night I had put the older one, Libby, to sleep and I was waiting for the little one, Trinity, to fall asleep as well. I had put Libby in bed and told Trinny to be quiet because her sister was sleeping, and of coarse I put in the Peppa Pig DVD on for her to watch in their room.

I went and sat out in the living room with the TV on the Jewelry channel (don't judge me) and I waited until the whispers of baby talk subsided, but they never did. After about ten more minutes of hearing Trinity talking to herself, I went in to her room. She was still wide-eyed and standing in front of the TV. But she wasn't just standing, she was dancing. Peppa's theme song was playing on repeat because I never pushed play on the DVD and she was just wiggling her little hips to it. It was the cutest thing ever. I didn't even ask her to go to sleep, I just pushed play on the DVD and walked out. Other nights I probably would have told her to go to sleep, but her dancing was just so cute that I couldn't.

She can understand the words of the theme song because it's simply "Peppa pig. Oink Oink...Peppa Pig. Oink Oink..." and so on. Trinny was feeling the power of the music that night and it got her out of going to bed.

It's Never too Early

The day before Halloween, work was really busy. It was a typical Thursday, people thinking they're going to beat the weekend rush, but jokes on them: they are the weekend rush. Our store was so crazy and my store manager was complaining over the headset walkie-talkie that the music wasn't loud enough and that we couldn't find the regular CD so we were playing the after-hours CD. I suggested that we pop in the Christmas CD, you know, just to see what's on it and to get people thinking about Christmas coming up.

She actually took my suggestion for once and popped that bad boy into the CD player and two seconds later the joyful noise of bells and singing of snow filled the air. I was delighted. I am a fan of a good Christmas classing playing over the P.A. system. Little did I know, once that Christmas CD started playing, it wasn't going to stop. 

Every day. Every single day at work I have to hear Christmas music for nine hours straight. I don't work every day, but it is still super annoying. I get that it's a religious holiday and I'm not disrespecting Jesus or anything, but hearing happy people singing on the loudspeaker is too much sometimes. My managers like to turn the music up so loud that people have to YELL to talk. I can't stand it. It doesn't feel like music anymore, it just feels like background noise.

I always had the motto: "It's never too early to start playing Christmas music!" but after what I have endured for the past few weeks, I now beg to differ.

T-Swizzle

Okay, so I get it that everyone thinks that all Taylor Swift does is sing songs about her past relationships, which she does without a doubt, but her new album 1989 is different. This album is really only half about past relationships. I purchased this song on iTunes two days after it came out, because I am faithful to my lady Taylor. She didn't disappoint me at all with this new album. She completely exceeded my expectations. This album is about her growing up as a person and as an artist. In an interview that I listened to on the radio, she said that the thing she was most proud of with this album is how the tone of her voice goes with the lyrics. For example, the song "Out of the Woods" is about a relationship that has up's and downs and when something happens that brings them closer together (like in the song they get into a car accident together and one of them ends up getting 20 stitches) then they wonder if they are out of the woods, and if they are okay in their relationship now. In that song she sounds a little panicked and frantic and indecisive. I think this shows how creative and artistic Taylor is. 

I wanted to post a video of "Out of the Woods" but the only one I could find was of her performing live and she is such an awkward performer that it distracts from the song. I love Taylor Swift but it's a bit painful to watch her try to dance. [Sorry Taylor if you're reading this don't hate me, just maybe get a choreographer.] Anyhow, I would usually post a video or two of songs from this album, but YouTube doesn't have any so you're just going to have to buy the album yourself!

Church Music

This past Sunday, I went to my dad's church in his hometown because it was hosting a choir concert. This wasn't like any other church choir concert; this one consisted of a choir/band from each church in the town. There were about seven different groups performing, and my grandma was singing in one. We don't get to see my grandparents often since they live about thirty-five minutes away, so it was nice to gather with them at their church. 

My grandma's choir sang first. All songs about God of coarse. My dad, brother and I sat quietly as we listened to them all sing. Grandma's choir had about fifteen people, all of them were pretty old. The next few groups were honestly a bit boring. Christmas music played on the piano, a soloist singing a slow song; I almost fell asleep. But then this one group came on of five big men singing in their deep voices. They sang really upbeat songs. That woke me up for sure. It was nice to see a bunch of men get up in front of many other people and show their faith to God through song. I could feel the power in the music that day. Everyone's faith was strengthened. There is a book titled  "Heaven is For Real" and in it the little boy can see the Holy Spirit touching his pastor father as he reads his sermons. Sunday at the church I could feel the Holy Spirit touching those men when they stood up and sang. 

I encourage you to attend church and try to feel the power in the music. It was so cool to imagine the Holy Spirit with us.