Voting? Do I even care?

I remember how big of a deal election day was, and how I was so sick of hearing about John McCain and Barrack Obama. I just wanted it to be done with already. And I'm so glad it's finally said and done, I couldn't be happier!

I never cared for politics, honestly. Yes, I looked into both McCain and Obama a little, but do you know how much work it is to keep tabs on everything? Way too much, let me tell you. It's so stressful and just wears me out! It got to the point where I was just like, "I don't care who wins anymore!"

I wasn't old enough to vote anyways...
But if I could have, I don't even know if I would have voted. I feel like my vote wouldn't matter, but then again, if everyone thought like that, would we have a president? Don't get me wrong, I think it's important for people to vote, only if they stand strong on their beliefs, and want things to change in this world. If you honestly don't care, then hey, do what you please!

Let me just put it this way, if you don't vote, don't complain about who wins. I find it extremely annoying when people don't vote, but then when a certain person wins the election, they are all up in arms about it. If you have a say in something, use it. You could possibly change things...

I guess what I'm trying to say is, even though I may not be much into politics, voting can still be important and make a difference. I'm not saying you HAVE to vote, but if you really think a person can make this country a better place, be involved. In the future when I'm able to vote and if I really like someone, I probably will vote. But as of now, it's not something I'm interested in.

Downloading, good or bad...

I remember thinking, "well, if people I know can get away with it, then I can." So, I started doing it and thought nothing wrong of it. It was simple and the best part was, it was FREE. I knew there had to be thousands and thousands of people doing it everyday, so I didn't think it was a big deal, or I would get caught. And I never did, but then I learned how much damage it really does...

I'm just going to get to the point. Downloading music, or even movies illegally is selfish. Bottom line. Many people don't know how much it effects other people, like the artists for instance. If you enjoy a singer or bands music, then why are you downloading it and causing them to lose money? Maybe you didn't know you were, either way, you did know you were doing something illegal.

I knew what I was doing when I first started downloading music, but I didn't care to think about how it was wrong or how I could be causing people to lose money. I just did it because 1) it was easy, 2) it was free, and 3) I wanted music.

I recently learned how many people do it, what the consequences are, and how it effects people and businesses. When I found that out, I was so surprised. People who download are making artists and businesses lose money. Not cool. And if you get caught downloading illegally, you could get charged almost $10,000 for EACH song you downloaded. Unfair? Well, no. Because you shouldn't have been doing it in the first place. Stealing is wrong, period.

If we could find a solution to fix this problem, it could really make a difference. I think it would be a good idea to have people from music businesses talk to schools and colleges about the effects and damages downloading does. I think once people know how big of a deal it really is, this might be able to change. I can only hope...

Me and Music

The big hair, crazy make-up, and piercings, yep that was me! To be honest, I used to dress and look so ridiculous because of the music I listened to and when I look back I wonder what I was thinking, haha, embarrassing much? Yes, just a little. I thought I was pretty cool though, at the time. But little did I know...

If it wasn't for my brother, I probably wouldn't have been into the heavy, screamo, hardcore, metal music, but it grew on me. That kind of music wasn't very popular at the time, maybe that's why people thought it was different and I was weird looking. Which I totally was. But my best friend Mallory and I loved the music, it was different and was bringing music to a whole new level.

My life back then consisted of going to band shows almost every weekend, finding "creative" different ways to do my hair, and piercing things on my body. I was thirteen years old when I pierced my lip with a safety pin, smart idea, I know. But it didn't get infected! That would have been miserable, and real attractive. It was nice to be able to look how I wanted because my parents didn't mind, at all. They let me and my brothers be who we wanted to be, they understood how teenagers are.

Heavy music and metal was around before my generation, of course. But it wasn't anything like it used to be. It became heavier, with a different style and sound to it. Older generations didn't get it, they thought it was full of hate, and that's just because it wasn't like the bands they listened to as teenagers. It's crazy how times change.

In my teenage years music genres were expanding immensely. As I grew up, I wasn't surprised with all the music that has been created. There's so many types, it's really crazy. I finally got out of that "style" though, and I decided to like what I like and not worry about being a certain way because of the music I was into. Although I still like hardcore music, I expanded my music interests and now listen to everything. Seriously. Everything from Metal to country.