The Evolution of Me Singing

For this blog, I chose to do compilation of videos about me. I called it-

"The Evolution of Me Singing"

Basically, it is a series of videos that will take you from the time I was age 11 to the me almost age 18.

THE VIDEO:

The video will start off with me when I first discovered a camera. At this age, I was 11, and I held the camera right in front of my face... (Dear Lord!).

I even have my sister sing with me. At this point, she was 8.

Then I discovered the beauty of a camera stand, and I started singing without having to hold the camera. At this point, I was 12.

But as I hit 8th grade, I became determined to learn to play guitar. When I first picked up the guitar, it was January 13th, 2011. Though the first video I took of myself actually playing it was February 25th, 2011. In this video, which is captured in the video, I am singing Taylor Swift's "Our Song".

The beginning was tough. That is all I can say. But I loved every minute of it. Oh, and my sister sings once with me... You can't miss it though- our harmony sucked! The first time we tried it.... I was 13, and she was 10.


So now, after a rocky beginning, I will turn 14, and my skills will heighten. Once again, I am singing a Taylor Swift song, but in the video, I will improve-majorly. (I think you'll be able to pinpoint this!).

Now, freshmen year has started, and I start to perfect my fingering and chord progression. I got a new guitar (Luna- with dragonflies),  I learn how to pick a song (Safe and Sound... hehehe Taylor Swift), and I even sing front of my first crowd of people.

Then I turn 15. The first video I take is of me singing with my sister. I am 15, and she is 12. Guess what? We still cannot harmonize.

By this point, two years have passed, and I can play well. I taught myself, so I give myself that much credit. I pretty much joke around and play songs without even listening to them... just to see what I can do.

Then, my sister and I hit the turning point. I am nearly 16, and she has just turned 13. Guess what? We finally learn to harmonize.

This is the year I also get another guitar- Of course it's by the same guitar company (Luna), but this time it has a butterfly on it. My dog is a papillon, and in french, papillon means butterfly, so I thought it was fitting.

Also, 16 years old is also the time when I start learning how to pick more songs, and start learning songs in foreign languages, and start a YouTube channel, even though I rarely update it. I also find a Martin guitar to which I really want, and decide to get a job to buy it.

Finally, I am 17. I have played guitar for 4 years.  I get more creative with the songs I play (not Taylor Swift- But I love her though!!!). I listen to foreign artists such as Gabrielle Aplin, Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, Jake Bugg, Rasmus Walter, and Lewis Watson. I sing more in front of crowds- I even mess up with them too! I also get a job, and I buy the Martin guitar that I really wanted. I even have my sister singing foreign songs as well.

In the last few videos, it is me in the present. My sister is a week away from being 15, and I am 40 days shy of being 18.

AFTER THE VIDEO:

What I love about this video is that it definitely showcases the evolution of my voice, the evolution of me and my sister singing and trying to harmonize, and the evolution of me playing, learning, and perfecting the guitar.

This Evolution also makes me vulnerable. It shows everybody which areas I obviously lacked in when I was younger, but it also shows that I am capable of surpassing my vulnerability.

Most importantly, it shows the evolution of time within me. I start a few months roughly after I turn 11 and end the video 37 days before I turn 18. Almost 7 years have passed in between that.

Simply I began thinking, you know, as we tie ends with high school, that I need to remember who I am....Who I was, and what I came to be. What will I become? I don't know, but it sure will be interesting to continue the video and add more as I increase skill.

(Really) Weally, Whitman?

Below I have written little captions under the pictures in Whitman's book that caught my attention. And, while they're not in a harmonious, comprehensible order, they seem to be telling a story to me.

The last war. Is the "last war" coming,
or has it happened? Is it talking about America?
I think America thought that the American Revolution
would be the last quarrel. It also makes sense because of
the picture of Washington.

I can't read some of the crucial words, but
it looks like the person wants somebody to walk the plank
 and get what they deserve from doing something. 

It looks like this photo reads: Blow man, rage, and love.
Therefore, I'd reckon that somebody is angry,
and wants revenge. 

"Tho/The crash" it reads.  Something obviously happened
between two things. I am taking a wild guess that
it could be related to a ship or some war in America.

Washington as a skeleton with a big heart.
I think that he was loved by many, but
 somebody wants him killed. Or somebody is trying
to prove a point about some issue.

Ship of Freedom. I can't tell what the last word is,
but it looks like the first letters are L, I, B, E, R, T, which
would mean liberty?

By the looks of this man's face, he wants to keep
 something out or in. 

This man appears to have no eyes,  sad eyes,
or has his eyes on a* prize*.

It appears to be a man is looking down.
His eyes look sad, but I think he is a pirate. He's
wearing an earring.                        

What is significant about his book at first glance is that it all runs back to the idea of being free- I think. Despite the word I have yet uncovered, it shows Washington, who was the first president of the United States; it makes references to ships as well, and ships take people to other places. At sea, people have a choice at where they want to be.

He was surely obsessed with boats, and drawings. His depictions- maybe of himself- are disturbing, and all look like the same man. If it is indeed the same man, then the man wants something, yet he is regretful for it.

So, after looking at some of these photos, I would say that something was bothering Whitman, or he felt some deep admiration to his country.


AFTER:

I am pleased to say that a few of my accusations seem to be correct. Whitman's book focuses on freedom, and the idea of tranquility. But- like how did I miss libertad? I am in spanish class! That is the word for freedom! But my municipal mind did pick on the fact that it resinates with freedom.

The sketchings, undoubtedly, are of Whitman, though he didn't draw them himself, or so thought. But when I said pirate,  the drawings were in fact (?) drawn by some of Whitman's drinking buddies, and we all know that pirates love to drink (eh-hemm- Captain Hook on Once Upon a Time!).

To add to my earlier comments about the book, something caught me off guard. One of the comments about the skeleton chained up in the sky said, "suspended between day and night, life and death." It was posed as potential metaphor for America, and it has made me very curious about the intentions of it. I think this directly correlates with Whitman's believe that America would fail or succeed with the democratic experiment; it could outlive the darkness, outlive death.  Also, because Whitman was supposedly conjuring up a fake conversation with Abraham Lincoln, he was mad to an extent. But it doesn't take away from the drawing, because Whitman believed had ties to the country.

I learned that Whitman lived in a crowded home in New York with a family of five or more all together; things were tight. He yearned and desired for a better life....more freedom. This could potentially have influenced his writings and perceptions about what he discusses. Why, for a fact that he choses to spark an imaginative conversation with Abraham Lincoln, I am not sure. He could have talked with other people. So, obviously he felt a connection with Lincoln, who fought for freedom of the slaves. Maybe that is how he connects with him.