Update

This is just a quick update. I've got a few things I want to share.

First, happy New Year's!!!!!!!!!! I hope everyone has a great new year's, no matter what you're doing!

Second, I posted a playlist of party songs on my "Music" page, so check that out.

Third, one of my resolutions for next year is to put up a post at least once a week, so if anyone notices that I haven't posted in a while, please remind me.

That's all folks! So, again, have a happy new year, and goodbye!

Weather?

I live in New England, where the weather is often crazy. One year, there was snow on the ground in April. This year, there was a snowstorm in October (and two snow days due to a lack of power in my town), but we don't get snow for Christmas. Seriously!? What's up with that? We get a white Halloween but not a white Christmas? Anyone else agree that this is just crazy?

Update! and Questions

Hey guys, so as you can see I added a new page up at the top there, and I'm going to be updating with music. My plan is to put up a "favorites" playlist about every month, and do other playlists, like "country songs" or "love songs", in between. If anyone has requests for songs, or for a playlist, I will gladly do it.
Also, I'm still kinda new to blogspot, so if anyone has any tips or tricks to improve my blog and/or my blogging experience, feel free to leave a comment or something.

Something to Think About

Somebody has to say it, nothing you write is 100% original. In fact, most of it, you got from somewhere else. I think everybody knows this, but no one likes to admit that they got their inspiration for a story from someone else's story, or that they took a line from a song, and put in their own. But, I will that brave person who will admit to such things, in hopes that people will join them.
So, what did I do? Well, I decided to write a vampire novel. The problem with that is, it's been done. A lot. And I can try to put my own spin on it, but how many ways can you spin one subject. There's Stephanie Meyers sparkle-in-the-sun, vegetarian vampires, there's the Blue Bloods series, where the vampires have roots in Christian mythology, and reincarnation plays a large role, as well as Anne Rice, who's books I've never read, and a lot of authors. And lets not forget TV shows (like Buffy), and movies (Underworld). What's left? To me, nothing. I'm sure, someone, somewhere, may have a different take on vampires, then what has been done, but I've got nothing.
So, what's my point? It's hard to come up with something original. It's even harder to take a popular subject and try to do something with it, that's never been done before. What do you do?
Well, my guitar teacher told me that the most successful songwriters are thieves. Think about, that means that if something works, people don't care if they've heard it before, or read it before. Think about this way - chicken is still chicken, if you grill or fry it, but, it tastes different. Think about it.

I Think Too Much

It's been a month. A month. I'm sorry I've been away for so long, but I haven't had any ideas for a post. So, I decided that today I would put up an idea I had on my computer for a while. I believe it's called the Song Shuffle Challenge, or something like that. Basically, it's a list of questions, and to answer them, I put my iPod on shuffle, and the first song that comes on answers the first question, the second song answers the second question, and so on. So, here's mine, and feel free to do your own.

1. Whats your motto?

Temporary Insanity - Alexz Johnson (true)

2. What do your friends think of you?

Contagious - Avril Lavigne

3. What do you think about a lot?

Time to Wake Up - Carly Patterson ( I actually love to sleep in)

4. What do you think of your friends?

Live It Up - Jeannie Ortega (yup. They're crazy)

5. What do you think about the person that you like?

I Think I Love You - Kaci Battaglia (hahaha. that's a good one)

6. What is your life story?

Beat of My Heart - Hilary Duff

7. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Remember When - Avril Lavigne

8. What do you think when you see the person that you like?

Read Between the Lines - KSM

9. What do your parents think of you?

If No One Will Listen - Kelly Clarkson (actually, i'm not sure that they listen)

10. What will they play at your wedding?

Why is Love So Hard to Find - Jesse McCartney (ummm. not sure what to say)

11. What will they play at your funeral?

Here With Me - Michelle Branch

12. Whats your hobby/interest?

Four Walls - Cheyenne Kimball

13. Whats your biggest secret?

Sharada - Skye Sweetnam (not really a secret)

14. What do you think of your friends?

Magic - B.O.B.

15. Whats to worst thing that could happen?

Never Grow Up - Taylor Swift

16. How will you die?

Good Riddance - Green Day (oh, god, I hope not)

17. What is the one thing that you regret?

You're Not Sorry - Taylor Swift

18. What makes you laugh?

Crush - David Archuleta

19. What makes you cry?

Chasing Pavements - ADELE

20. Will you ever get married?

Ridin' Solo - Jason Derulo (not true, but very funny)

21. What scares you the most?

With Love - Hilary Duff

22. Does anybody like you?

Love Song - Sara Bareilles

23. If you could go back in time, what would you change?

Summer's Not Hot - Selena Gomez & The Scene (oh, yeah!)

24. What hurts right now?

Teardrops On My Guitar - Taylor Swift

25. What will I post this as?

I Think Too Much - Kristy Lee Cook

Looking Back

Hello to whom it may concern (and maybe this post won't concern anyone, but I wanted post it anyway).
So, it's Thursday, and I have a four-day weekend coming up (Teacher Professional Development Day and Columbus Day) so I don't really have much to do. Out of boredom, I decided to count how many songs I've written. Now, keep in mind, I have tossed out many songs, so there are more songs than the ones counted.
The total was fifty. I am not bragging. Or at least I'm not trying to brag - call it what you will. About 1/10 of these songs was written in elementary school, and  therefore are mainly Cheetah Girl rip-offs (don't ask), and really stupid ones. Also, about 1/4 of them were written in middle school, so they are better than the elementary school songs. but still no good.
So why am I telling you all this, you ask? I am telling you this because, when you are passionate about something - anything - and you have been doing it for a while, it can be fun to see how far you've come. Granted, I'm not a paid songwriter, nor am I a famous singer, but I have come a long way from writing about Tiger Girls in a Jungle and turning ten.
Doing this let me know that even though I'm not famous or a professional, I'm still good at what I do. My songs are a lot better now. I write about experiences, things teen girls can relate to. And, just so we're clear, I don't want to be famous. I don't even like that word. To me fame means money and publicity. I don't care about that stuff. I just want to be able to play my songs for lots people, because if there's one teenage girl out there, who can take my experiences, and learn from them, then I've achieved my goal.
So, I guess the lesson is, be happy with what you're doing, even if you think you should be getting more recognition than you are. I've written probably sixty-something songs, counting the ones I've tossed. If I have to write 100, before I get recognized, then I'll do it, because it's something I love. And I really believe that my music could speak to a lot of girls. So, if you're good at something, stick to it. Worst thing that happens, you spent a lot of time doing something you love. And if you're bad something, but truly love it, embrace the concept of privacy and keep at it. Maybe you'll find a new way of taking that works better for you. Again, at least you'll have done something you love.
So, peace, goodbye for now, hasta la vista, all that stuff.

It Whispers, So Listen

Two years ago, a young girl who had recently graduated from my school was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer. She was popular at my school, and she was the captain of the volleyball team, so that year, the volleyball played a special game, where all the money that was made (from concessions and such) went to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.
The girl watched the game from her computer, in her hospital room, with her best friend next to her. This was one of the last things she saw. She died a couple days later. An announcement over the PA told the whole school, and we had a moment of silence. A bench was put on school grounds, with a plaque, to remember the girl.
I was at the volley ball game, because the captains of my swim team had known the girl, when they were freshman, and her best friend was a swim team captain. Every year since then, we have a volley ball around this time to raise awareness, and donate money to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.
A lot of people my age think that cancer is something that only old people can get, and it's not going to happen to them. Think again. I'm sure that girl didn't think she would die from ovarian cancer when she was a college sophomore.Go to http://www.ovarian.org/ to read the symptoms. They are not all so obvious. Feel free to make a donation or purchase something from their Marketplace. And remember, it whispers, so listen.

Best Websites for Songwriters (or Any Kind of Writers)

Hey guys! So, if you've read the "About Me" box, you'll know that I love writing and playing guitar, and I also write songs. Sometimes, when I write a song, it's really easy, and it just comes out without having to look up rhymes or synonyms, but sometimes, I can't find the right words to say something. I've come up with a list of websites that I use most often when I need help with a song. Some of these you can also use if you're a poet or story writer. Additionally, I've added a couple websites that have really great advice on how to write songs. 

1)http://www.rhymezone.com/

Rhymezone is great for finding words that rhyme. If you're writing a song (or poem) and don't know how to rhyme a certain word, you type into the search box, and it gives you a list of words, sorted by either the number of syllables, or letters, you pick. You can also find near rhymes (words that sort of rhyme, but not exactly (like orange and door hinge - weird example, I know, it was the first thing that came to my mind), as well as synonyms, similar sounding words, related words and more. It's probably one of the websites I use most often.

2)http://dictionary.reference.com/ / http://thesaurus.com/

These are two websites wrapped in one. I'm pretty sure almost everyone has heard of dictionary.com, and its sister site, thesaurus.com, but I use these so often, I thought I'd mention them anyway. I probably use thesaurus.com more than dictionary.com, especially for songwriting. It's great for finding synonyms, and it has a ton more words that rhymezone. Since I bet everyone knows what it is, I won't go in depth. 

3)http://www.rhymer.com/

This site I only use if rhymezone isn't cutting it, and I'm desperate and have hit a dead end. It works kind of like rhymezone, but it gives you options of looking for end-rhymes, last syllable rhymes, triple rhymes, and others. (If you don't know what any of those are, go to the site. It explains it really well.)

Here are some sites that have really good songwriting advice. I don't use these anymore, but I used to, so I decided to list them.

http://www.ultimatesongwriting.com/songwriting-tips.html

http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/songwritingtips.htm

http://www.bloggingmuses.com/songwriting_tips/

http://www.makeitinmusic.com/what-makes-a-great-song/

http://www.makeitinmusic.com/how-to-write-a-great-song-%E2%80%93-you-must-learn-this-above-all-else/

Until next time!

My Day: Monday September 19

Okay, so for my first post, I decided to write about my day at school. First of all, why on Earth would the bus drivers decide to pick the students up at seven in the morning? I just don't get it. Someone please explain that to me. I'm getting up at six in the morning to go to school, which starts at 7:45.
Second, I have a question directed to all the teenage girls out there: don't you think life would be much simpler if we could read guys' minds? I really think so. We would never have to guess what they're thinking. So, for example, if I was wondering if the cute guy in my chem class liked me (and whether or not he thought I was weird for pointing out that he looks like the guy in Lady Antebellum's Just A Kiss music video) I could just read his mind to find out. (By the way, if you haven't seen that video, it's at the bottom of this post. Check it out, it's so sweet, and makes me emotional each time I watch it.)
Third, I think that if my school is going to have free blocks for juniors and seniors, instead of study halls, they create a room, other than the nurses' office, where students can go, and eat, sleep or do whatever they need to do to relax and de-stress. Seriously, I had a free last block, and I went to the library, but the whole time, all I wanted to do was sleep, and I didn't really want to have to explain any reasons for this to the school nurses.
Uhh, what else? Oh, right! Lady Antebellum - Just A Kiss music video, here it is:

All right, well, I guess that's it for now. Read, comment, share if you want.

Matters of the Teen Heart Blog

Hi! I'm just a teenage girl who loves music, writing and fashion, so I thought I'd blog about those things. I live a pretty normal life right now, except for my parents, who are kinda crazy, but don't most teens think their parents are crazy? Anyway, I'm really just writing about my life, and my thoughts, and anything else that I feel like writing about. I may post a poem or short story every now and then, or a drawing, so have fun reading!