Jenna McDougall

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Jenna McDougall is someone who is very important to me. She is the singer of one of my favorite bands, Tonight Alive. She has unknowingly changed my life. The first time I heard their music, something just spoke to me. I think it was her lyrics. Everything she writes is heartfelt and compassionate. When I listen to her singing its like she is giving me a hug and telling me that everything is going to be okay. When I see Tonight Alive on my birthday I want to try to meet her because I have so much to tell her. She has helped me through so many obstacles in life. She helped show me that I am worth it, and I am allowed to be sad, but I can also be happy and that is okay. She showed me that I should be who I am regardless of what other people think because one day I will rise above them. Jenna was bullied through all of middle and high school, and now look at her! She’s been on the Vans Warped Tour two years in a row, and is on her third co-headlining tour in the U.S. after multiple headliners in Australia, her home country. Something else that I love about her is that she doesn’t take a single fan for granted because she knows that without them she wouldn’t be where she is today. She also knows what it’s like to have music there as a support system, to have music when you have nobody else. One of my favorite songs that she wrote is called Amelia. This song is about a close friend of hers from her childhood, I believe they were neighbors, who had committed suicide. In the song she talks about how she meant so much to so many people and that even though she didn’t see it there were so many people who loved her and they will never forget her. This song alone kept me going through the toughest times because I knew that someone somewhere cares about me and would not be able to say goodbye.
She really is a true inspiration and hero to me. I hope I can meet her and tell her how much she’s helped me.

Be thankful

Lately I’ve been finding more and more friends in my life. By this I mean that I am finding a lot of people who care about me. But, in turn, some people have been leaving my life, as well as old friends coming back into my life. I had a friendship “breakup” recently and the person was telling me that I was a terrible person because of my feelings on a certain situation. I’ve noticed a lot of people have hurt me, or I have hurt them, neither being intentional. My true friends are being revealed. I have had a tight knit group of friends who have loved me and are always there for me no matter what and I am beyond thankful for them. But something I have learned through all of this is that people will come and go from our lives, but we need to be thankful for them. Each person that comes into our life, whether it be an elderly woman at the grocery store, a small child in the library, someone you sit by and talk to occasionally in a class, or your best friend in the entire world, will teach you something. Each of these people (even if you only know them for five minutes) is either a lesson or a blessing. If this person is a lesson they may only stay in your life for a short time, and that could be a whole year, but they will provide for you something that nobody else could. Knowledge. They will give you knowledge of how to protect yourself, or mistakes that you won’t make again. These lessons give you the strength to grow into a more positive human than you were yesterday.
If this person is a blessing they will stay in your life for a very long time, and they will teach you compassion, love, and kindness. They will also give you strength to grow into a better human, but they will grow with you. Lesson or blessing, you will grow, you will become stronger, either with them or on your own. Everything happens for a reason and that reason may not come along to reveal itself until much later, but you will have become a stronger person because of it.
Even if this person made you cry for days on end, you must be thankful for them. You will never find any other person just like them. Nobody else in the world can teach you the lessons they taught you. and nobody can ever make you feel the way they made you feel.
Be thankful. Be kind. Be loving. Be respectful.
Be thankful because of the opportunities you had.
Be thankful for the time you had with that person.
and don’t ever wish negativity on them, as it will only come back to you.
Wish them the best, and be thankful for them.

Centuries

I don’t have much to talk about this time, but I heard this really amazing new fall out boy song called centuries. This is what I’m going to write about because it is so perfect! Being what is probably the best song I’ve ever heard, I listen to it A LOT! It samples the hook of Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner” which adds a great fluidity to the lyrics.
“Some legends are told
Some turn to dust or to gold
But you will remember me
Remember me for centuries
And just one mistake
Is all it will take.
We’ll go down in history
Remember me for centuries
Remember me for centuries”
This song was a tribute to Chicago which is the band’s hometown.
Someone asked me why I like this song and I told them that it can be used for any one of the following: marching into battle, sitting in the corner with a blanket and a book, partying with friends, crying yourself to sleep, riding your skateboard downtown, eating ice cream, cuddling with your significant other, and doing school work.
I just really love this song so much. It makes me feel very happy. Hopefully I will be able to see Fall Out Boy at Next Big Thing in December! I’m going to try to get tickets since seeing them would mean the world to me!
I will remember that night for centuries..

Disney World

I couldn’t think of anything to write about, so I figured why not write about my favorite place in the world? Disney World. I may be a seventeen year old senior, but that in no way changes my love for Disney.
I think the first time my family took me to Disney I was about 18 months old. There were picture of me in the newspaper with my family where I was waving goodbye to ‘Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride’ before it was shut down to be replaced with ‘Winnie The Poo’. I was quoted in the paper saying “Bye bye Toad-y!” My family waited the entire day to be the last group to go through the ride. We ended up being the second to last car to go through, the last being one of the builders of the ride. Of course I have no real memory of the day, but I have seen pictures and read the article.
The first vivid memory I have is at 5 years old. My parents surprised me for my birthday by taking my sister and I to Disney for 4 days, with 3 nights at a resort. Since then I have been to Disney uncountable times. I’ve gone with friends for birthday celebrations, and random trips.
Of course, as everyone does, I have my few top favorite things to do at Disney. I love doing the princess meet and greets because no matter how old I get I will always believe that I am in fact, a princess! I always ride space mountain, the tea cups, and Peter Pan. At Epcot, I always Journey into the future with spaceship earth, Adventure into the imagination with Figment, and travel the world in the world showcase! At Hollywood Studios I always ride Rockin’-roller coaster, Tower of Terror, and the great movie ride. Those are all classic adventures! I love the new stuff too, such as The Little Mermaid: Voyage Under the Sea, and Toy Story Mania.
Disney has always been my happy place. Even in the darkest times in my life, the one place I found true happiness was in this magical place where dreams come true.
More recently it has kept me positive. I know that no matter how tough a day is, I’m one day closer to my next visit.
The last time I went to Disney I had a very deep moment. It may sound silly at first, but, I was feeling down because I was with my nephew all day, and his mom picked him up earlier than planned so I was a little bit upset. I decided to go see my favorite princess, Rapunzel, to make me feel better! After our picture, I stepped outside and the firework show was just ending. I looked up and there were gold shimmery fireworks sprinkling down and the music was playing ‘A dream is a wish your heart makes’ and the narrator says “with a little faith, trust, and pixie dust, your dreams will come true!” I felt such a strong warmth in my heart and in all honesty I started to cry. I felt like I had made a personal connection with Walt Disney or something!
Disney really is the happiest place on earth. It’s completely magical.
It really is the place where dreams come true…

Robin Williams

Well, the topic of Robin Williams has come up a lot recently. Of course, as expected with any dramatic event involving a celebrity, the event brought up a lot of awareness for suicide prevention. For those who don’t know, Robin Williams, a beloved actor and role model, committed suicide a few weeks ago. This opened a lot of peoples eyes to suicide. Many people are just now beginning to see that suicide whether it be teen or adult, is an extreme problem in this generation and needs to be treated as such. I can’t believe it took such a tragedy for people to see this. Suicide is something that I’ve always tried to make people aware of. I think the hardest thing for people to grasp about this situation is how someone who was loved by millions felt so alone and unloved. A few days ago while at work, a man was checking out at the register next to me while I was doing paperwork and I overheard him say “I hate when millionaires claim they’re depressed.” Immediately I turned to him and I told him that the amount of money someone has doesn’t dictate whether or not they can be depressed. He then followed this statement with saying that they have no right to commit suicide when they have so much money. Now, I do agree that if you can seek treatments and help and can afford it, you should. However, I did tell him that just because they have a lot of money that doesn’t mean they can’t feel alone. He said “They should step down into our shoes and realize that so many people have it way worse.” To this statement I replies “Telling someone they can’t be sad because someone else has it worse is just like telling someone that they can’t be happy because someone else may have it better.” He then disregarded my existence and carried on with his day. The bottom line here is that we need to love everyone we are close to and make sure that they know that someone will always be there for them. I can’t stress this topic enough, just be there for them. If anyone you are close to shows signs of being depressed, just make sure they know how much you love them and try to encourage them to find help. Suicide is something that thousands of people struggle with everyday. Nobody should EVER feel bad enough about themselves to feel the need to end their life.

Four Year Strong – Go Down In History

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I used to really dig Four Year Strong. It was 2007, I think, a few months before their second LP came out and the band had all the things I want from pop punk. The ingredients were the standard guitar / bass / drums / vocals and my personal favourite; keyboard. I dug the super-chuggy guitars in the early demos and the dual harmonies for sure but what really got my pop punk heart beating was the way the keyboards wove in and out of the tunes. If you can track down Heroes Fade Kid, Legends Never Die you can throw it on and see what Four Year Strong had to offer back in the day. Then they kicked the keyboard player out of the band and it all went to hell.

“And I don’t like to use the word pathetic
But I call it like I see.” – Four…

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Real Friends- Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing – 7/10

Literally favorite album

Skeplunk

real-friends-maybe-this-place-is-the-same-and-were-just-changingThis is the first full length from Real Friends, and they’ve busted a gut to get here. They’ve released five E.P’s since 2011, and have steadily building up a following. All that hard work seems to have paid off. ‘Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing’ is pop-punk through and through, a story of heartbreak and recovery. It’s full of angsty self examination, but in the end it’s about moving on and moving forwards. The first song on the album Maybe This Place Is The Same… is short and sweet, and pulled me in straight away, and promises good things on the rest of the album. However, the next song kind of put me off. I Don’t Love You Anymore is full of whiny lyrics about an ex-girlfriend, and musically I think it’s one of the weakest on the album. Over the next few songs however the…

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Wander release music video for Thanks a Lot off their self titled album

holy wow. omg they are really great!

Music Junkie Press

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Wander from Maryland have recently released their new music video for their song, Thanks a Lot which is off their self titled album which was released just last week. The album was released through We Are Triumphant and has been garnering a lot of attention. They are in the pop punk, power pop style yet their music cannot be defined by genre lines. They have fans from all spans of the music spectrum and it is due to the fact that they have solid well written songs.  Check out their new video here:

Band Members: 

  • Andy Cizek – Vocals
  • Jack Rentschler – Guitar/Vocals
  • Mack Gallagher – Guitar/Vocals
  • Brett Schleicher – Drums

Their new album is a must have and you can pick it up by visiting here: www.wandermd.bandcamp.com.  Also the album artwork is spectacular and was done by Bradley F. Edwards.

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You can also check out another of the songs…

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