Guitar Lessons 6: Minimal Progress

I'm still working on making titles interesting.

So, there is yet to be a callus on my index finger from playing my first barre chord. There is another progressive guitar that I talk to sometimes and he said I wasn't pushing hard enough on the strings. I took advice and pushed my thumb into the neck so I would squeeze my finger harder into the strings. And alas, my finger hurt and this weird muscle in my thumb started getting sore. Well if there's one thing I've learned from guitar playing it's if it hurts, you're doing it right.

It's still a work in progress.

But I brought my guitar to school today so I could show my other guitar playing friend how terrible I am. The conclusion we've reached is that he's more of a finger strumming person and I'm more of a chord and pick person. And I can sing. After my hands stopped shaking I started playing "You Belong With Me" for practicing purposes. My friend was getting much more attention because finger strumming sounds way better than regular strumming even if you suck at both. I started getting more comfortable and sang the chorus to the song. It's not like anyone was watching me in particular so it wasn't as nerve racking. Then the person I knew that was sitting next to me turns and says, "I've never heard you sing before!" Then my guitar playing friend says, "I told you she was good."

Little things like that boost my self confidence. At this rate I'll be able to sing in front of small crowds by the age of..what...twenty?

Progress is minimal, but it's still progress.

On another note my eyes itch from allergies and summer started. Woot. Ok, I'm going back to Basshunter now.

I'm Not Getting One

There's one question I get on a regular basis, almost. No, it's not "Wow, I love that shirt, where did you get it?" or "Do you realize how cool you are?" or anything like that. It's always, "Do you have a FaceBook?" And when I promptly answer no, I am then commanded/begged to get one. The answer is always the same. No. So, let's take a break from our lives and take a moment to find out why Michaela is not opening a FaceBook account.

• I Don't Want One
  This is the most obvious and biggest reason I don't haven't opened a FaceBook account. I don't want one. See, the problem is, is that the person who tells me I should open a FaceBook account is someone I probably wouldn't friend anyway. So I say I don't want one, and then they say, "But you could keep in touch with me." I really don't want to have this conversation with a person because there's no way I can word it without sounding like a jerk. But, to put it simply and bluntly: Just because we were friends in school, doesn't mean I want to know what you're doing after we lose touch. Got it? You think I'm being rude? Wait five years and then try to remember who I am. 80% of the people I am "friends" with now, won't know who I am. All FaceBook does is hinder the letting go process that is supposed to take place after high school. There are the few friends you keep in touch with, but everyone else you're supposed to forget. You shouldn't need to read about what that guy you sat next to in English three years ago is having for breakfast. Simple as that. I don't want to be in the position to tell people I don't care about what they do every second.

• I Have Few People to Keep in Touch With
  Ok, so if you're reading this, you might be a person I would like to keep in touch with after high school, at least for a little while. Or for as long as possible if you're a family member. Here's the thing, I love how FaceBook helps people keep in touch with family they hardly ever see and that sort of thing. It's not like I hate FaceBook, although I have said that in the past. It's the misuse of it (i.e. updating statues way too much, posting things no one cares about, etc.) and all the stupid people on it that I hate. There are family members I have that live far away, and it would be great to keep in touch with them. But since I hardly see them, I don't really have this close bond with them, and don't feel really motivated to know what they're doing every minute. I can always call or write to them, which seems much more affectionate anyway. A family member who only talked to me through FaceBook would never really have a real relationship with me. That, and if someone from high school found me on FaceBook and sends me a request, they might be upset if I didn't accept. Some of these people have my phone number and may explicitly ask me why I won't accept their request. I don't want to have this conversation with them, as discussed above. Why? Because this is my answer: If I did open a FaceBook account, I would only be friends with family members, or people I know. So pretty much, if I've only known you for a school year, and/or never associated with you outside of school, I'm not accepting your friend request. Since very few people use FaceBook for people they really know (apparently, considering how many people have asked me to get one), they might take this as that I don't like them or don't care about them. Whether or not that's true doesn't matter. And if I don't accept these people as friends, me having a FaceBook account would be pointless to them anyway because they only wanted me to get one so they could friend me. So what's the point?

• Teens Have Their Own Stereotype On FaceBook
  This is a pretty small reason, but it's almost a stereotype for teens to open a FaceBook account. And the reputation we have is not good. If a teen tells an adult they have a FaceBook account it's more like "Oh you're one of those teens." But if an adult tells another adult they have a FaceBook account, it's more likely they use it in a professional way (although not always) and so it is more "accepted." I don't really want to be cast as one of those teens. I tried Twitter, and it didn't end well, because I became that stereotype. Even though I'm not thirteen anymore, I still don't want that to happen again.

Conclusion: What? You missed the entire rant and skipped to the conclusion? You ruined the experience. Well, fine, I'll humor you. I'd open a FaceBook account to keep in touch with people I really know, which does not include people I only knew in school. Since the only people that want me to get one are people I know in school, I see no point because I wouldn't friend them anyway.

Questions? Comments? Fine, you can comment on this post if you want and go on and on about how I need a FaceBook account. But you probably won't change my mind. Once I'm set on something, only undying logic can change me. And I see few things logical about me opening a FaceBook account. I have a place for my thoughts. That's what this is.

Ok, if I sent you here because you won't stop asking me about opening a FaceBook account, then I really don't want to have this discussion again. Now that we're on the same page, we can move on.

Right?

Look Squidward, Money!

All I think about at a time like this is Spongebob. How sad is that?

This week I started my first real job. Minus the tax deduction. I still think it counts because it isn't for family or anything. It's for my parents' massage therapist. What I have to do is record financial information in a program called Quickbook...or Quicknote. Something like that. It's pretty simple, I only work a couple times a wekk for about an hour or so, and I get paid eight bucks an hour. And when you're my age without a car, that's a lot. I mean, I feel like I'll start bragging after awhile.

"No please, allow me to pay for your coffee."

On the first real day of the job, I had a pretty good day. Despite the fact people seem to never look for pedestrians anymore. It's really irritating. But, I walked down to this little coffee place that's connected to Snohomish Fitness and ordered an Italian Soda. If you've never had one, they are amazing. So I started talking to the cashier about my job. Hey, cut me some slack, I was bursting with excitement. It's like when you find out you're pregnant and you want to tell everyone you see that you're going to have a baby. Not that I've been pregnant before. I'm starting to regret this analogy. Anyway.

I'm going on about my job and when the cashier hands me my drink she says, "It's on me, congrats on your new job." Double score for that. I mean, first day on my first real job and I don't have to pay for my Italian Soda?? What's next? Raining chocolate?

"Chocolate is falling from the sky! It is getting in my eye! Time for some more chocolate pie! My oh my oh my oh...my...."

After a long week (not really, I started on Tuesday and only worked for five minutes on Thursday) I arrive at my job to get my paycheck. My paycheck. Paycheck. This is all new to me. I didn't think I'd be saying these things until I was at least eighteen. Actually, I thought I was going to get paid in cash, but then she prints a check and signs it.

"This is a real check? That I deposit? And I can spend? What do I do?!"

With the lovely features on the internet I was able to deposit it online.

"That's the total in my checking account? Really? What do I do now?!"

This means I have even more things to ramble on about. I can't ramble on about how much I hate work, but these things are, but are not limited to:

• Things I See Walking to Work
• How Much I HATE it When People Don't Look Before I Cross the Street
• Interesting Coffee Shop Experiences
• How Many Times I Almost Get Hit By a Car
• Paychecks
• How Stupid People Are for Not Looking for Pedestrians
• How Many Hours I Worked That Week
• People That Have to Slam on Their Breaks in the Middle of the Intersection Because They Didn't See Me and How Much I Hate That

And so it goes. You may see a recurring theme here. We all make mistakes, yes. But seriously, watch for people crossing the street.

Because how can I try to sound more important than I am by saying I have a job when you hit me with your car? Now, that would just ruin everyone's weekend.

Congratulations! Your Nerdy Points Have Been Increased by 10%

When I tell people I'm a geek and/or nerd (yes, there is a difference), they won't believe me unless I was previously talking about something computer or Star Wars related. Now I have a badge of nerdiness plastered on my face: glasses.

Most teenagers I encountered when I announced when I was getting glasses were pretty happy for me, like I was. Glasses are cool, and now I'll finally be able to see properly. However, most adults I told felt sorry for me. When I told them I was excited to get them, they looked at me and said, "Why?" And to that I answer, "Why not?"

I tend to like physical change. Not bad change, like getting leprosy or having a giant burn on my face. Just interesting change. Like, if my eye color decided to change on me or if I were to get my hair chopped off, I'd be pretty excited. The only exception is braces, because braces cause much physical pain and get in the way more often than not. And though I really like my long hair, if it were to get cut short again like it is in my current profile picture, I wouldn't be that upset. It's kind of hard to explain why I was so excited to get glasses, but I was. Trying to explain this is like explaining why I watched the entire game of Portal 2 on YouTube before actually playing the whole thing myself. I just like things that way. Don't judge. ;)

Anyway, first impressions are good. They are bent way over my ears, like at a ninety-degree angle pretty much, which is a little weird, but whatever. They aren't supposed to come off easy anyway. I still can't get over how I look in them, but considering it's only been about twenty minutes since I got them, that feeling should pass soon. It's almost overwhelming how everything looks now. When I first put them on I thought, "So this is what everything's supposed to look like!" I was pretty giddy. Until I saw myself in the mirror, then I thought "Wow...I look...different." I think they look good, just different.

So far so good. Want to see what I look like in them? No? Then don't scroll down.

I look more like a librarian. Or a geek. Both are good things.

There I am. The new me. Or something like that.

Things I'll Never Get: "Coolness" Points

It's a common dilemma I'm sure we've all been through before. There's an unknown band/singer we love because they're "edgy" and "real." What comments do we give this band? We all want them to become popular so it gets the attention it deserves. It's almost funny how you have your own little "club" of people that know about this unknown band.

Then the long wait is over. This unknown band signs the contract and has a hit song.

Suddenly, all your friends know about this band. Unknown Band no longer writes their own music, they have someone do that for them. To reach a higher audience, the songs are about love and breakups; things they never wrote about before. The songs are no longer "edgy" or "real." Unknown Band has become just like the others. Popular.

What comments do we have to say now? Do we commend them on their success? Possibly. But in this more likely scenario, we do the exact opposite. We bash them for losing their "edge" and becoming famous. We become angry because our little "club" is non-existent. Why? Because they did exactly what we told them to do.

The usual epilogue is that this band lurks back into the unknown, but not because it became edgy again. Because another band took its place with younger, more attractive stars. True, most of these bands rarely hit zero people who like them. There's always those few that still think the songs are cool. But the cooler songs were the ones they wrote before they were famous.

This is something us humans have been doing for quite sometime that quite irritates me. Then again, many things that humans do irritates me.

Things such as bands, books, songs, movies, etc. are much much cooler when they are in the unknown. But not the bad kind of unknown. The kind of "indie" unknown where they record songs in their basement and write "real" music and the entertainment they bring to others is "original." This is not wrong in any way, and is a correct statement. Something that only you and your friends can rave about is much better than something everyone raves about. It's like someone invaded in your own personal club.

But it only makes sense in the band's perspective. Who has time to write their own music when your fans are expecting a new album every year? Writing songs is not easy, even for someone who gets paid to do so. Besides, these bands want one thing: money. So they don't really care if their original fan base who thought they were edgy hates them, because they have a bigger, much broader fan base now.

This isn't what angers me. What angers me is when these few fans of this band go on and on about how they should expand and sign a contract so they get the attention they deserve. Because they should. Right? Someone once told me that once you start getting paid to do a hobby, it stops becoming a hobby. Then you only start doing it for money. I agree with this analysis. Nothing takes the fun out of something more than putting a deadline and rules on it. Instead of writing songs when you want and how you want, you need to write songs by this time, and since you don't have time for that, someone gets hired to do that for you.

So how do these original fans react? Apparently, none of them know how bands change when they become well-known. All the fans have to say is complaints about how the band isn't "cool" anymore. There's that word. Cool. Its meaning is way too broad in my opinion, yet probably the worst thing a band can be called is "uncool." That, and "sucky." You know, as a side note, I would really appreciate if people (teens especially) expended they're vocabulary a little bit more. I am guilty of saying words such as "like" and "awesome" much too often. But learning new words is interesting to me, and I wouldn't mind expanding it more. But I digress. Again. I've been doing that quite a bit in recent blog posts.

Anyway, after the band has had their hit songs they slowly fade into oblivion once more, just as they came. No one remembers them, except the few that were there all along. But even then, those fans only listen to the "cool" songs.

This is why I admire people like Johnathan Coulton, who has never signed a contract, and writes songs as he pleases. Sure he wrote both of the credit songs for Portal and Portal 2, which will bring in some money for him. But he does all of his songs himself. He isn't super popular either, so he still has that "edgy" feel to his music I suppose.

Fans begging for more and then complaining when you do what they want is a concept I will never understand. Even if I go through that myself, I won't understand it. I'm keeping my hobbies, hobbies. Future careers will involve technology. I'm not about to go design a website for fun. Because it's a job for me still.

Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's discuss things I need to work on in this blog:

1. Conclusions

That is all.

Summer Time! ...Almost

I am having a hard time believing that the school year is coming to its end. Usually, this wouldn't be a big deal, but the fact that so many of my friends are seniors and that I'm graduating next year kind of makes it a deal of the big kind.

But first on the agenda of summer related activities is: Sun! Yes, the sun is out! The big yellow ball in the sky is paying Washington a visit. For how long? About four days. That's about as good as it gets over here. Lack of sun pretty much ruins any summer plans I have. True, many of my summer plans involve TV, the Internet, and talking on the phone, but it'd be much nicer to look out the window and comment on the gorgeous day outside while I'm browsing YouTube. Although, I wouldn't mind sitting outside reading once in awhile.

It's actually interesting to sit and remember how I viewed summer when I was still in elementary school. Back then, school lacked much homework, and I actually had fun there. Summer was always viewed with high hopes because it involved spending time with good friends of mine. A couple weeks before school ended, I'd be spending my free-time calling up these friends, making plans to spend the night at their house or something along those lines. I would think "How many sleepovers can I go to this year?" about every June.

Then things changed, as they always do, around middle school. My mindset didn't change, but my friends did. They became busier with life and didn't have time to have me over as much. I used to think that I was the one left behind, but I realize that I had become busy too. It was around this time I took up learning another language and had dedicated more and more time to that. There was still a desire to spend time with friends burning in my head, and I would sometimes. There may be one sleepover. That should have been enough. But I was disappointed, nonetheless.

High school is where my viewpoint on life changes the most. And even though this happened early in high school, I'll be lectured if I write in past tense, so I won't. These are the years that actually matter. These are the years that actually will help me acquire skills for future jobs. This means a lot of work. Hence, summer is always too far away. Even at the end of the year, when summer is less than a month away, all people can talk about is how it should start tomorrow. The end of the year is when all the final projects and exams are, so even though summer gets closer by the day, so does stress. Everyone (well, seniors mostly) are concerned about getting their grades up. I've even seen people concerned about grades when they have straight A's, because they're so worried they'll bomb the exam and no longer have their straight A's. Actually, the only students I've seen that aren't concerned about their final grades are the ones who are failing and don't care anymore. I've always found that funny. I'm not particularly pressured about constantly having all A's, but I still want to graduate. I still want good grades. I've never really been able to understand people who don't care about their grades at all. Like, they are literally failing every class and they act like that doesn't matter. But I digress.

Although summer is viewed with much happiness, there's always the sad part that people cling to as well. I know plenty of seniors this year, more than I've known any other year, so I'm going to be a little sad they're leaving. But, really, it's not like I have no way of contacting anyone I would want to keep in touch with. Despite this, I'll no doubt feel some sadness after the seniors are gone. It's going to be strangely quiet without the seven or so seniors in my Sno-Isle class. It's going to be even quieter on the bus since pretty much everyone I talk to there is a senior. Then, of course, I'll be going on and on with my friends about how quickly time passes and how excited we all are to be seniors next year. It all seems so silly now, but that's exactly what's going to happen.

I've never been a big fan of recollecting things, because it always makes me so sad. But summer seems to be known for just that. Even in elementary school, kids always say stuff like, "Remember that funny thing that happened at the beginning of the year?" or "Remember how shy I was the first day of school?" Then, in middle school, the buzz around the halls is things like, "Remember that super creepy guy that, like, was, like, obviously hitting on me on, like, the first day of school? Yeah, that was, like, so weird." or "OMG remember how long your hair was at the beginning of the year? It's, like, so weird now because I can't even picture you with it anymore!" Finally, in high school, it seems people are slightly more sentimental so they stay stuff such as, "I'm going to miss you so much! I remember when we met at lunch and you did that thing and I knew we were going to be friends forever!" or "Oh my gosh! Text me every day, ok? We totally need to hang out next month or whatever. I'll see you later! *hugs*"

This usually results in me becoming down at the start of summer. Not really down, because I'm still pumped by the fact I have no homework or anything. But in the back of my head I still miss all the friends I made. Then one of them calls me or texts me and I'm all right. Then, slowly, I get used to the summer routine. I start getting used to sleeping in, not having homework, and the sunshine (hopefully. I've stopped trusting Washington).

Then, right around that time, school starts again.

Those are my thoughts on summer. Even though summer has yet to come, I wanted to get this down now before my mind becomes nostalgic and sentimental. Then I'd just keep going. "And then in sixth grade...don't even get me started..." Yeah. I doubt anyone would read that. So, let's name this my summer post and call it good.

Guitar Lessons 5: Burst of Inspiration?

So, I'm not really sure if this happens to all great artists or just the weird ones, but when I was playing my guitar a line of a song popped in my head. An original line. It came out of nowhere, it just hit me.

I've always been the type of person who would stare at a blank sheet of paper until I would get too frustrated to think. I wanted to write a song, but all I could come up with is a poem. Poems are nice and all that, but only a few can actually be turned into songs.

So anyway, I started forming this song in my head. It was actually a pretty common theme. It was about a girl (spoken of in third person) who was never told she was beautiful, so she feels worthless. This person isn't supposed to be me, but I get mad at the fact that the media has screwed everyone up. Lots of girls and guys alike feel worthless. I hate that. So this is a subject that has been on my mind a long time.

The lines to the song came really easy to me. Which was exciting, but also kind of freaked me out. I mean, would I feel the same about this song in twenty-four hours? I've also been the type of person to write songs in a couple hours and then hate it the next day. So when the lines just started flowing (and rhyming), all I could think was, "Is this going to sound really stupid tomorrow?" However, I wrote everything down anyway, tweaked it a little, and added simple chords to make a tune. Then I went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and immediately looked at these lyrics I wrote down in a frenzy. Surprisingly, they still looked decent. I redid the tune of the bridge (which I still think sounds...off) and played through it a couple of times. The song didn't sound terrible. It wasn't the best song because I can barely play guitar, but it was better than other songs I wrote as a twelve/thirteen year old (don't ask...those are terrible). I kept playing through it, making minor changes until I was totally happy with it, for the most part.

So then at school on Monday, these lyrics were still circling my brain because I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell people or not. I'm not sure why, it's not like it was a secret. But not all reactions I would get would really motivate me to have them listen to it. So I kept quiet until sixth period. Then I just told this friend of mine randomly that I wrote a song in ten minutes. He asked what it was about, so I told him. He knows my style of writing, so he said, "Why does everything you write have to be so depressing?" For some reason, I laughed, and talked with him about how girls felt worthless even though they shouldn't be. He totally agreed with me, and talking with him made fury toward that attitude of girls rise again. Then I wanted to record it.

So I did.

It took me a good fifteen tries before I got it right. Twice I dropped the pick. That was embarrassing. And the final recording is in two parts because I ad to redo the ending and I did not want to start over. Again.

Anywho, I emailed the sound file to myself and am going to show it to a girl in my Sno-Isle class who also plays guitar and complimented me on my voice when I had her listen to my Jar of Hearts cover. For the record, I didn't tell her I was singing before she listened to it, so I'm assuming the compliment was genuine.

I wish I could post sound files on here, but alas! I cannot. So to all five of you who read this thing, I'll have to force you to listen to my sucky guitar playing individually. Wait...I think I just proved the theme of the song I just wrote. Well, what do you expect?

This is me we're talking about.