Sunday, September 24, 2017
What I Read in Summer 2017
My new video is out, and it basically just counts as my summer reading recap. Curious about all the books I read from June to August? Take a look!
Monday, August 28, 2017
What's in Store for 2017-2018
Hi, everyone! I apologize yet again for not keeping things up to date here. Senior year has started for me, and I'm going to be busy once again. I will try and update this blog periodically with updates, reviews (and links), stories from my personal life, and interesting YouTube videos I've worked on. It may be a challenge with me on newspaper staff, theatre, and in choir/show choir at school, but I'm gonna try. I don't want to leave this blog in the dust with no explanation.
For my writing, I'm going to be working on two things: The Power of Three (TPoT) and revising Duet. Hopefully I will continue posting TPoT to Quotev and Wattpad and start getting the improved Duet out soon. In the meantime, I'm a reporter for my school's newspaper. If you're interested in reading the reviews and articles I've written on staff, you can look here.
For everything else, you can check out my YouTube channel.
Until next time!
For my writing, I'm going to be working on two things: The Power of Three (TPoT) and revising Duet. Hopefully I will continue posting TPoT to Quotev and Wattpad and start getting the improved Duet out soon. In the meantime, I'm a reporter for my school's newspaper. If you're interested in reading the reviews and articles I've written on staff, you can look here.
For everything else, you can check out my YouTube channel.
Until next time!
Sunday, July 9, 2017
My YouTube Debut
I know I've been the worst at updating this blog, but I'm back for a quick second to say that I'm officially on YouTube! It's been a couple years, and now it's time to make my official introduction! See me for real for the first time as I tell you 10 facts you may not know about me.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
The Best of 2016
Well, there goes another year. 2016 was perhaps the craziest and most toxic 12 months in this decade for various reasons (namely all having to do with the US presidential election). However, there was still some legitimate fun to be had. Although I read less than I normally do, I read some absolutely wonderful books (and even started reading advanced reader copies thanks to a really good friend of mine). Even though pop music was kind of a dud in the mainstream, I still found some great stuff to listen to. And, to top it off, the anime I watched are definitely going to be cherished for some time (primarily regarding one character we'll talk about later). Also, Zootopia was amazing. It's easily one of the best Disney movies I have ever seen, and it included such a positive and inclusive message right when we needed it.
It wasn't even the material stuff that made my year. I made some new friends, was on stage for two plays at my school (one student-directed, one through the school's theatre, and another student-directed one to come in January), and have finally accepted my identity and am going to roll with it (I'M GAY! YAY!).
So why don't we get started and shine some positive light for 2017's sake? Here are the best things to come out of 2016.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Luke's Music Reviews #6: Beautiful Lies by Birdy
Have you ever thought something was effortless? Maybe it was a piece of art somebody drew or painted, maybe it was someone singing a solo at a choir concert, or maybe it was a video someone edited that looks amazing. You know that it took them ages to master what they do, but you still can't quite fathom how easy it looks. It may elicit jealousy, but, really, you're more amazed than envious because OMG THEY'RE SO AMAZING!
That was my reaction when I first caught wind of Birdy at 14. A girl who went to my junior high (and who also goes to my high school) sang her rendition of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" at the talent show my 8th grade year while two dancers accompanied it, and I was blown away by it all. I had to find the original source, and when I did, I couldn't believe it. Birdy had first recorded that cover when she was only 14? She played piano on most of her material? She wrote her own songs, one that was even featured on The Hunger Games soundtrack? I had found my dream artist right here!
Later that spring I got the treat to listening to her second release and debut album of all original songs (aside from "Skinny Love" and another cover, "People Help the People", because if you didn't buy the first album, look, bonus goodies!), Fire Within, on iTunes Radio's First Play (back when that still existed), a week before it was supposed to be released in the US. I was blown away by the way she wrote love songs and by her absolutely beautiful voice that was delicate and strong. There were sad pieces, there were happy ones, and some not even focused on couples but rather on family and friends, and it pretty much made me happy for a while and inspired my songwriting. Of course, revisiting it later raised my appreciation for it, but I kept Birdy in the back of my mind to turn to whenever I needed to play Pandora. Her appearances in The Fault in Our Stars movie were met with praise by me in the meantime.
However, that all changed when, just as 2015 ended, a new single announcement came that I wasn't expecting. "Keeping Your Head Up" was officially released on the first day of the new year, and I was completely floored. Sure, the production was more pop-flavored and packed to the brim with explosive percussion, but it was still Birdy. Her voice had matured and was more powerful than ever, the piano came back with a vengeance, and there was something more distinctly uplifting with the lyrics that I had never heard before. It was a taste of what was to come, and I couldn't wait to see what would happen.
Fast forward a couple weeks later and we had an album announcement, two months later there was a sampler on Apple Music at the end of spring break (which I still think was the work of God itself), and a week later, the album was here and I listened to it all gleefully. Now that it's been out for half a year already, articulating my thoughts instead of earlier (whoops), what did I think of Beautiful Lies? Was it the worst of a deceitful lie, or was it straightforward and actually beautiful?
That was my reaction when I first caught wind of Birdy at 14. A girl who went to my junior high (and who also goes to my high school) sang her rendition of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" at the talent show my 8th grade year while two dancers accompanied it, and I was blown away by it all. I had to find the original source, and when I did, I couldn't believe it. Birdy had first recorded that cover when she was only 14? She played piano on most of her material? She wrote her own songs, one that was even featured on The Hunger Games soundtrack? I had found my dream artist right here!
Later that spring I got the treat to listening to her second release and debut album of all original songs (aside from "Skinny Love" and another cover, "People Help the People", because if you didn't buy the first album, look, bonus goodies!), Fire Within, on iTunes Radio's First Play (back when that still existed), a week before it was supposed to be released in the US. I was blown away by the way she wrote love songs and by her absolutely beautiful voice that was delicate and strong. There were sad pieces, there were happy ones, and some not even focused on couples but rather on family and friends, and it pretty much made me happy for a while and inspired my songwriting. Of course, revisiting it later raised my appreciation for it, but I kept Birdy in the back of my mind to turn to whenever I needed to play Pandora. Her appearances in The Fault in Our Stars movie were met with praise by me in the meantime.
However, that all changed when, just as 2015 ended, a new single announcement came that I wasn't expecting. "Keeping Your Head Up" was officially released on the first day of the new year, and I was completely floored. Sure, the production was more pop-flavored and packed to the brim with explosive percussion, but it was still Birdy. Her voice had matured and was more powerful than ever, the piano came back with a vengeance, and there was something more distinctly uplifting with the lyrics that I had never heard before. It was a taste of what was to come, and I couldn't wait to see what would happen.
Fast forward a couple weeks later and we had an album announcement, two months later there was a sampler on Apple Music at the end of spring break (which I still think was the work of God itself), and a week later, the album was here and I listened to it all gleefully. Now that it's been out for half a year already, articulating my thoughts instead of earlier (whoops), what did I think of Beautiful Lies? Was it the worst of a deceitful lie, or was it straightforward and actually beautiful?
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