Author: Robin Russell

I haven’t blogged about music in a while and due to Spotify wrapped coming out this week I feel the urge to talk about music. So that is what this blog is going to be about. I love music but I definitely haven’t been listening to music like I used to. I had a friend that I got a lot of cool music recs from but after a while I kind of just quite listening to music for myself and what I liked and I listened to music, the only way I can explain it is like a zombie. I just lost the love for it. But I have noticed this and have begun to fix it. Music is my world and I feel that I need to nurture that so I have been trying to listen to and find new songs that make me happy and fit my brain. My Spotify wrapped is pretty much all over the place so I won’t be talking a lot about that but I will say a few key things about it. I listened to 45 albums this year, 5,901 songs, and 391 genres. I listened to music for 84,578 minutes which is roughly 58 days. I think that it’s not bad, but it could be better. I also feel like wrapped this year was so random (not in content but in when they released it). Last year there was such a build up to it, which was met with, almost, disappointment by a lot. But this year it was just like whatever. But anyways this isn’t the main point of this blog. I thought since we are now in the time frame where our music isn’t really being tracked right now for wrapped, I would sort of track it here. 

So jumping into artists I’ve been listening to this week. I’ve been listening to Finn Wolfhard (not because of Stranger Things Season 5). I listen to music differently than a lot of people I think. I listen for the vibe and the feeling and what’s being said. I think that that’s what music is for. Not to say “Yeah I listen to (insert artist)”. I feel that listening to music for others approval is pretty pointless. Anyways, I’ve been listening to his “new” album. It’s great. I love the vibe and it is easy to listen to. My top song out of the songs I’ve been listening to by him is probably “Everytown there’s a darling”. Due to listening to Finn Wolfhard, you can infer I have also been listening to Calpurnia a bit (Calpurnia is a band that he is in). If I am listening to Finn Wolfhard nine times out of ten, I’m listening to Calpurnia too. They are so similar that their songs just go together well. 

I have also been listening to Malcom Todd and music like that. His music is very vibey and just easy to listen to. I think Malcom Tod’s songs that have been on repeat this week are definitely “Sweet Boy”, “Chest Pain (I Love)”, and “Roommates”. These all fit a vibe that just feels right (as I said I listen to music differently, I listen biased on feeling I guess. If it doesn’t make me feel then it’s not the song to listen to in that moment, but every moment has a feeling that can be matched with music, the right song just has to be found). But back on the topic of Malcom Tod’s music. I tried to find other artists with the same vibe and I found one that definitely is similar, Jack Murnin. The songs that I found of his were “Back N Forth”, “Terms” (my personal favorite), “Riled up”, and “IcyHot”. I definitely think that they have similar vibes, feelings, and styles. I enjoy finding new music to listen to so when I do it’s definitely a treat.  

Okay the next artist I’ve listened to a good bit is Dominic Fike. He has a new single that came out in November – “White Key” – so I’ve had that on repeat a couple of times. I really like his music. The way it flows and how the lyrics go with the beat is crazy. I think everyone’s style of lyricism is so interesting and unique. I love the lyrics in this song though. It just makes a story out of the words, the beat, the vibe and the feeling. It’s a great song. Due to this I’ve listened to a few of my other favorites from  his older stuff. 

Next is CThruRio. I don’t know how to pronounce his name or even really what it means but the way I found his music was TikTok. I listen to a range of genres as stated previously and this is a genre that I think many don’t think I listen to, hip-hop. Now my favorite song of his is a bit more of a mix of rap and rock, which I find interesting, but still hip-hop. I haven’t listened to any of his newer stuff yet but I have recently went back to his song “Before the Morning” because of the unique style it has. 

And of course I’ve listened to more than that but I listen to so many individual songs that it’s pointless to try and talk about all of them but those are – what I think are- my top artists this week. 

*I watched stranger things season 5 Volume one and will be doing a blog about it, but I feel like I want to wait until the whole season is out so until then it’ll be music and other shows or movies* 

Anyways thanks for reading and until next blog. 

It’s almost time for another season. I am so excited for the new and final season of this show. 

Stranger things is a show written by the Duffer Brothers. Stanger Things encapsulates D&D, fantasy, and 80’s in one show. It is highly thought-out, and each detail has a reason and a planned-out storyline and it’s just an incredibly made show. 

The show currently has 4 seasons and each season took about a year to film. The new season took about a year to film, making it the longest to film. The episodes of the new season are rumored to be at least an hour long each. This makes me super excited to see how they end the show. The first season was released in 2016 when most of the main cast was 10 or 11, now they are all roughly in their 20s. This has been a huge production and the new season had a huge budget, roughly $480 million. This makes it one of the most expensive TV series to ever be produced. 

They are releasing the first four episodes of the new season on the 26th and the runtime for those four episodes alone is roughly 4hrs and 30mins. this is an insane start to the finale of the show.   

I have many, many theories and thoughts about how they could end the show and wrap up the whole thing but I won’t go into all of them. One of them though i would like to talk about for a second is my theory about the character Mike Wheeler.

———–Might be spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the show———-

I have been rewatching the series in preparation for the new season and noticed that Mike seems to be the middle of a lot of storylines, action, and conflict. He also seems to be wanted for some reason. Will before he was abducted by Vecna was best friends with mike, what if Vecna saw this and was trying to get closer to mike to get what he wanted. I also noticed that they seem to be setting up a storyline for his mother where maybe she is Vecna’s sister. I also think this theory about mike could be pretty accurate due to how fast him and El clicked. I think maybe he could be wanted due to him being the dungeon master for their party or maybe he is wanted due to him being a sort of power source. Like a regenerator for the powers both Vecna and El have. I haven’t really heard anyone else talk about this theory, so I am curious to see if it is somewhat accurate. 

Anyways this was my mini rant about stranger things due to the new season being released next week. I will be blogging about the new season once I have seen it. Anyways until next time. 

Due to Thanksgiving being next week and we are going to be out of school I wanted to do a blog about things I am thankful for. 

To start off with everything I am thankful for I am definitely thankful to be in this creativity filled environment and have the opportunity to go to such a great school. I am thankful for all of the friends I have made here as well. I am thankful for the things I have learned and areas I’ve grown in due to this school. 

I am thankful for all my friends back home and I miss all of them so much. I am thankful for every memory they have given me, good or bad lol. 

I am thankful for this past summer. I had the best opportunity to work at a summer camp. I loved it. It was a really great opportunity to help others and just be useful to others. It helped me to see how fun a summer can be. Normally my summers include staying at home a lot and I am thankful for this past summer because it showed me how great having an eventful but not busy summer can be. I am also thankful for this past summer due to how many great people and friends I made. They are all so great and I am grateful I have them as friends. 

I am also just thankful for everything. I think we take a lot for granted as not just Americans but as human beings. due to life and business, I think people often move too fast to even acknowledge their blessings.  I think it’s a very important thing to do though. It helps you see what a cool world we live in and how privileged we are in general. 

During this time many jump straight to thinking about Christmas and presents, but i think thanksgiving is so important to celebrate. We need to acknowledge our gifts not just want gifts. We as a society in today’s day in age seem to want something every day and get wants confused with needs. Which not saying wanting things is bad but putting a limit on how much you want is a great idea in my opinion. Acknowledging one’s blessings and how much you have already received makes it much easier to be content as well. 

So, this holiday break give thanks and not wish lists. 

I myself love the spider-verse saga. What is the spider-verse saga you may be asking due to there being a lot of different spiderman movies. The Spider-verse saga is a soon to be three movie series. The movies out so far are Into the Spider-verse and Across the Spider-verse. The upcoming movie is Beyond the spider-verse. It is scheduled to come out in 2027. The production of these movies has been long and strenuous.  According to many sources, Phil Lord (The writer and producer) is very creatively indecisive. He has scrapped nearly finished scenes which take weeks to finish and have great detail. This has made a lot of the animators mad and ready to give up. But I think his Creative indecisiveness shows through the films a bit which adds a nice touch. Everything has a purpose, and everything is greatly detailed. I am not siding with him by no means, but I do see how creative indecisiveness could play a positive role in some scenarios, but I will say a deadline isn’t one of them. The movies due to this have taken year and years to release. But in turn have become some of the most acclaimed animated films. 

Here’s why. The animation style isn’t confined to one specific style. Each scene showcases many different styles. This is partly due to the concept of different dimensions coming together. All of these different styles meshed together in the right way though create amazing art and animations. I won’t nerd out too much about the animation though because normally that’s all people talk about when talking about these incredible movies. The color scheme of these movies is also unmatched in my opinion. The colors flow, contrast, and just work so beautifully together in a way that speaks volumes. 

The soundtrack. Oh my gosh where do I begin. The soundtrack fits with the movies and senses to a tee. Metro Boomin did the most recent soundtrack, and it was amazing. It tells the story in and of itself. The first soundtrack is also such a masterpiece and guides you through the story as well. Each song helps you to better feel and understand Miles’s feelings (the main spiderman throughout these movies) in my opinion. This is what makes them so great. 

I think these movies are great also due to how it showcases Stan Lee’s work. It shows how many characters he made and how diverse everyone is. In recent years certain franchises have taken his characters and stories and warped them for intentions that aren’t great in my opinion. They have taken it upon themselves to try and create diverse characters and inclusive stories, but they end up ruining the stories. I feel that it’s a good thing to have diversity and inclusivity in media but why create stories out of need for money and wanting to appeal to everyone when Stan Lee already wrote some of the most diverse characters and story lines in the superhero world. They were also not stereotypical characters or stories. They are each individual and very distinct characters. I think these movies showcase this due to how many spiderman characters he made. It makes you think about how many characters he made, and how many stories he wrote for each one and how very different each one is. Of course, some of the characters they had to make up to fill the screen but overall, every spiderman seen in the movies are in Stan Lee’s comics. This is a topic I think about a lot. It is so prominent not only in superhero movies but also just in the entertainment industry. People try to be inclusive by making up stories and characters that center around race and stereotypes. This makes me mad, honestly. Don’t get me wrong I think we need individuality in entertainment but not like this. Stories that all center around the same stereotypes mesh together and aren’t original in my opinion, it’s not art, nor is it entertaining. 

Anyways back to talking about spider-verse. It is such an awesome trilogy, and it has a great story line as well. Its writing is amazing as well. I definitely think that the production process is insane due to over 150 animators alone working on the first movie and more than 1,000 animators on the second. The animation team for these movies is one of the biggest Imageworks has ever had on one project. So, you can imagine how much of a big deal these movies are. Although they have had about 100 animators quite due to the strenuous atmosphere it’s still a huge project.

In-between the release of the last movie and the upcoming movie, Beyond the spider-verse, they have announced works on another film. A new movie solely focused on Hobie Brown, a spiderman who makes a few appearances in Across the spider-verse. Most know him as Spider-punk. The new movie has some excited while others are skeptical. Hobie is very punk, as his name suggests, and due to this fans think that they might not encapsulate the punk subculture. Punk is a great and complex subculture. It goes against authority, this is what makes people skeptical of the movie. People are scared of such a big company like Sony overseeing the project and dulling the punk aspect of the character. I think though that if they do this movie in the right way it will be great.  

This was one big dump of random facts about the Spider-verse movies, but I am excited to see the new movies and can’t wait for my next blog. 

Since it’s been a minute since my last blog I thought I would do a little life recap of fall breck and last week.

Over fall break I went to my first concert. I have a list of bands/singers that I want to see live. Well I get to make the number one band off my list-Rainbow Kitten Suprise. They are/were at the top of my list due to how their music feels and is made. Their music is made to be listened to live. When i saw they were doing a show in Hattiesburg I was thrilled. My dad and I went, and it was really a great show, even the opener was amazing.

Jelani Aryeh was the opener for their tour, Thanks for coming, he toured with them and brought some musicians along with him, bennytheghost (a guitarist during the tour but he makes his own music as well), Trevor Zemtseff (a drummer for the tour), and a bass player, Cooper Holzman. They were amazingly talented and did an amazing job. Jelani’s music doesn’t really fit into just one genre but is a mix of indie rock, R&B, hip-hop, po, and sometimes post-punk. His songs are crafted in such a beautiful way, they feel almost ethereal and have a summer or travel feel. I got to meet him and get a picture as well as a signed shirt.

Jelani and his “band” were supper nice when people when meeting them as well. Some people were being really demanding of them and weren’t really in my opinion respecting them, but they were great and handled the crowd well. They have now been added to the very very very long list of musicians I listen too.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise was amazing as well. Their stage presence is so thought out, blocked, and colorful that it adds to the music. You really get to see the story of some of the songs. Their stage lights are mind blowing and were so beautiful; pictures don’t do it justice sadly. They are an alt rock indie band. RKS is made up of Ela Melo (lead vocals and writer), Darrick “Bozzy” Keller (guitar and backup vocals), Ethan Goodpaster (Electric guitar), and the great Jess Haney on drums. They played older and newer songs at this concert. 

I also went to camp this Saturday. I worked at a Christian summer camp this past summer and it was great. I loved it and can’t wait to go back. I made so many friends and was able to have such a great impact on so many kids lives. But anyways this past Saturday I got to go and help with concessions at a soccer tournament and then help with high ropes. High ropes is a tower which reaches about 30ft. up in the air. It is an obstacle course in the air basically. You are harnessed up and were helmets, so you are completely safe and it’s a great experience. It’s one of my favorite things to do at camp. 

My next blog will be back to normal and on topic. Here’s some extra pictures too. Until next blog <3

This blog, if you couldn’t tell, is going to be about Ratatouille, the movie not the food. This movie is one of my favorite Disney movies. I love how the animation is done and how the colors work so well together.  

Ratatouille is not just a cute kids movie made by Disney. It is a movie about a rat who has synesthesia(taste-to-color). Its visuals portray this due to Michel Gangne, the person who was put in charge of portraying Remy’s synesthesia in the film due to his own experience with synesthesia. He designed the colors and patterns Remy saw throughout the movie to depict what it is like to experience flavors through synesthesia. This made the film so much better. I honestly can’t imagine Ratatouille without the vivid colors, patterns, and just overall animation and cinematography. 

Ratatouille is a movie about a rat who as we have established has synesthesia and is obsessed with food due to this. He thinks that rats should steal real food rather than trash if they are going to steal. He eventually is put over smelling food, trash, for rat poison. He does good at his job but one day he goes into the house beside where they live and causes the whole population of rats to flee. Remi gets separated and inevitably finds a restaurant he used to watch at the house near his and decides to go in and try to steal food but ends up befriending a man named Alfredo Linguini, who tries to become a garbage boy for the restaurant but ends up becoming a chef thanks to Remy.

Now that you are all caught up on the overall gist of the movie let’s talk about the cinematography, I guess you would call it, of this movie. Ratatouille is a masterpiece. Its animation is beautifully done, and its subject is well portrayed.  It’s an artistic movie really. The movie consists of a very bright light color scheme throughout the majority. The movie does use darker color schemes when needed but it’s an overall pastel color scheme. The color scheme was the work of Harley Jessup (production designer) and Sharon Calahan (director of photography). They used more restrained colors in backgrounds throughout the movie to give more contrast with the bright deep colors used in the food. They used lighting as well. They used it to guide the films visual mood to evoke emotions and support the story throughout the movie. They use these aspects in such a way that the two blind together to make the movie. It flows together adding to the film in a very positive way. 

The animation also adds to the film. It was animated by Pixar. The film uses a trad frame by frame animation method rather than motion capture. It took a lot of research and time to get every detail right. The animation is a 3d computer      animation style. Its animation is slick,      precise and well developed. 

The movie was followed by a short film called “your friend the rat”. I personally have never seen this film. It is done in 2d animation and is a film where Remy and Emile (Remy’s older brother) tell the history of rats and argue the case of their species. It’s roughly 11 minutes long. 

A theory some have made about the movie is that the old women who lives in the house at the beginning of the movie is the food critic Anton Ego’s mother. They support this with the decor showing in both his childhood home and her house being the same or similar.

My favorite character in this movie is obviously Remy, but Anton Ego is a close second and Alfredo is third followed by the great Colette Tatou. The character creation and development in this movie is amazing, and the plot is so well written. The movie was released in 2007. It was pretty amazing for the time. I suggest everyone watch Ratatouille it’s a great movie with so many good themes and lessons. It shaped my childhood, and it will always be one of my favorite movies. I could go on and on about this movie, but I think this is a good stopping point. Can’t wait for next week’s blog. 

“Anyone can cook, but a great artist can come from anywhere” – Chef Gusteau

Due to the season of fall almost being upon us and Halloween fast approaching, I would like to talk about one of my favorite film makers and artists: Tim Burton. Tim burton is an amazing filmmaker; he often directs movies and shows in the gothic horror and dark fantasy realm. Some of his more popular works include Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Frankenweenie. His latest work was the Netflix show Wednesday, a spin-off of the Addams Family.

Tim burton started filmmaking at a young age. He started in 1985. He became known for a very particular style which combined gothic style, dark fantasy, and specific feelings of macabre quirkiness and eccentricity. He doesn’t just film make or direct. He also draws and imagines these ideas before anything is ever put into motion. He has a very specific artistic view and wants everything a certain way. He also has a very loyal crew. 

His films usually consist of the same actors; once he finds someone that sees his artistic visions and portrays them in the way he wishes then he sticks with them. Some examples of this are Jonny Depp, Helena Bonham, and Danny Elfman (who does almost all the soundtracks for the films). 

Tim Burton has a very blunt personality and due to this he can come across mean and stern at times, but he is really just saying what he thinks and feels. Artists must be truly authentic and real; this is something I think he accomplishes well. He speaks his mind. He doesn’t really care what others think about him or his style. This is what makes his art even better because he is the only one who can see his artistic vision.  

                                                                              Tim Burton is the type of artist that makes masterpieces but it takes him ages to  do projects. His last thing before the new Beetlejuice Beetlejuice movie was the movie Dumbo in 2019 and he worked on the music videos Bones and Here with me for the band The Killers. He wasn’t really heard from a lot from the period between 2019 and 2022. He works in waves. Kind of like hibernation. 

Another thing that is very interesting about Tim Burton is how diverse his selection of films are. His first movie was Pee-wee’s Big Adventure which is very off brand for him. It wasn’t very dark and it a comedy. I have never personally seen this film but it surprised me that he was a part of this film. Another film I was shocked to hear he worked on was a few of the Batman movies. It makes sense but i just wouldn’t have put the two together. He also worked on Mars Attacks and Planet of the Apes (2001). 

My favorite Films by Tim Burton are hard to choose but i do have a list. 

1. All of his earlier short films, (most of which you can find on YouTube). My favorite is a film called Vincent (1982). 
2. Alice in wonderland (2009)
3. Sweeney Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
4. Corpse Bride (2005)
5. Beetlejuice ( 1988)
6. Charlie and the Chocolate factory (2005)
7. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Now this list is of the movies I have seen and I love all of these movies so so much but i ranked them by which are my favorites to the ones I just like. 

Recently he has announced he is working on a new project. He said it will be an animated film. I’m really excited for this new release and the possibilities of what it could be. Me personally, I would love to see a film linking The Nightmare Before Christmas, Frankenweenie, and Corpse Bride together, making it a full story. It’s been rumored that the stories are all connected. I do think that if he stays true to his later projects I will be happy with what ever he produces and can’t wait to see it. What are you hoping the new film will be about ? 

I wrote a poem for our persona poem assignment about Jeff Buckley (as most of you should already know). Due to this I found out a lot of you don’t know who Jeff Buckley is, so I am deciding to write a bit more about him in this blog post. 

Jeff Buckley was born in 1966 and died at the age of 30 in 1997. His father was also a musician, but they only met once. Jeffs’ dad, Tim Buckley, died when he was eight. Jeff Buckley resented his dad and wished to have nothing to do with him. He wanted to make his own name, and he did. He was raised by his mother, Mary Guilbert, and stepfather, Ron Moorhead. He went to school and graduated high school as well as attending the Musicians Institute in Hollywood for a one-year course. He often said he found it a waste of time, but he did say that he appreciated studying music theory. 

Jeff Buckleys public career started in the late 90’s. He stared as a session guitarist, but his singing publicly debuted at his father’s tribute concert in 1991. He started out playing guitar for different bands and studios, playing jazz, reggae, and heavy metal. He then, in the early 90s, joined the band Gods and Monsters after moving to New York. Jeff and the founder of the band, Gary Lucus co-wrote Jeffs songs “Grace” and “Mojo pin”, which appear in his first and only studio album “Grace”. 

The album was released in 1994. He left the band in 1991 to peruse a solo career.  At this point in his life, he gained a following by preforming in coffee houses and clubs. His first commercial record was an EP live at the sin-e. Jeff Buckley did many interviews, and you can find a few videos of these on YouTube. 

Jeff Buckley had many diverse inspirations for his work. Buckley drew inspiration from legendary artists like Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Leonard Cohen, The Smiths, Patti Smith, Billie holiday, Siouxsie Sioux, Bob Dylan, The Cocteau Twins, and the classical Indian singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Jeff was also inspired by a deeper influence. He drew inspiration from emotional artistic concepts like love, anger, joy, dreams, and the power of literary and musical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. Jeff Buckleys music challenged conventional ideas about genres and sound inspiring many people like Tom Yorke of Radiohead and Matt Bellamy from Muse. He broke the barrier between genres and inspired many to think and feel deeply. He inspired a deeper emotional connection to the music and lyrics being made. 

So, what happened to him? Well in 1997 on May 29th he died. His cause of death was an accidental drowning in the Wolf River in Memphis, Tennessee. His body was found six days later, and they did an autopsy report on his body. No drugs were found in his system. He was found fully clothed. 

The story is that he was in Memphis to record his second album and went swimming in the river with his friend Keith Foti. Keith said that Jeff swam into the water singing the chorus of “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zepplin. Keith looked away and Buckly disappeared in wake of a passing boat, which is a “common occurrence” for the river. I however find this story odd. It just doesn’t seem right to me. I honestly couldn’t tell you why, but I just don’t think this is the real story. It’s just an intuition thing. Why would he have all his clothes while swimming, including his shoes? He was carefree and seemed to just go with the flow, but I highly doubt he would just swim fully clothed with jeans, a shirt, and a pair of combat boots, due to how excited he was for his second album and how much common sense he seemed to have.

After his death, his mother now handles his posthumous legacy due to him not having a will. Some support her while others dislike her. Some commend her for her effort to protect his work. I however disagree. I think she has done nothing to protect his work or to abide by his artistic wishes. She published excerpts from his PERSONAL diary in a book to the WHOLE world. She released unfinished work. A year after his death, she released his second album he was working on before he died, “Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk”. This album consists of demos and raw sessions he had scrapped and wished to rerecord in Memphis. He didn’t want any of the raw sessions or demos to be released. She turned down numerous biopics about Jeff due to them being “too personal” or “straying from reality”. Many believe this was her way of preventing an authentic story to be told.  It has also been rumored that she asked for money from Jeff after he signed to Columbia Records, and he didn’t want anything to do with her after that. I however don’t know what my opinion is of her, and it doesn’t really matter, but I definitely think she has commercialized her son’s life for her own gain. 

So why did I decide to write a persona poem about him? Well, I wanted to write about someone who I look up to. I also figured it would be nice to write during the time that I did due to a movie being released in movie theatres. Yes, they finally released a documentary about him after 28 years. I won’t rant about that, but I will say how can we have documentaries about some of the more mainstream people come out the day after their death but for Jeff we had to wait 28 years, it just doesn’t seem right. But I will be watching it when it comes out and I will definitely write a blog about it. 

Anyways thanks for reading my blog. 

I have been listening to an album on repeat ever since it came out. I think I’ve listened to it enough to have a good grasp on it and so I want to talk a little bit about it. 

I have listened to all of Conan Greys music (not an over exaggeration). I love the way he writes. He makes words flow and fit together in the best way possible. Now he has had a new album come out. This album is called “Wishbone”. 

He named the album wishbone after the 30ft wishbone in the Dallas airport. I thought this was an important fact due to how it shows this album is personal to him. I think it shows how he let himself be free of others through this album.

His first album I ever listened to was “Kid Krow” (this is also his first album ever also known as a debut album

As soon as I heard his lyrics, I knew i had to listen to more of his music. I went back and listened to some of his earlier singles. He had a second album come out in 2022, called “Superache”.

This album was okay in my opinion. He also released a third album called “Found Heaven”.

I think this album was okay too. I personally think that these two albums weren’t him. I think it was more of what he thought people wanted him to create and not what he wanted to create. He in my opinion was creating for others rather than himself. Don’t get me wrong I love Conan Greys music, but these albums just didn’t feel like him. The new, most recent album, “Wishbone” however is a different store. It feels like he wrote it for him.

Wishbone I feel has more raw and real emotion than his previous two, more in line with “Kid Krow”. His lyrics are deeper and go beyond surface level. His imagery is back on track. He paints pictures and stories with his words in each song.  I don’t want to go too in-depth about each song, but I am going to talk about my favorite song out of the new album, and I will give my ranking of the songs. 

My favorite song in this album is “Eleven Eleven”, closely followed by “Romeo”.  “Eleven Eleven” captures the wishbone aspect of the album. It has imagery of what people wish on like stars, angel numbers, and clovers. It also references to quite a few superstitious actions which add even more to the wishing aspect of this album. This song also has a great beat and his words all fit together and flow. He uses words like puzzle pieces to create a picture; each word is intentionally placed. Each rhyme is thought out. Conan Grey also has a way with creating bridges that is perfect. Most of his bridges are incredible.

My ranking of the songs in “Wishbone” are 

1. Eleven Eleven
2. Romeo
3. Nauseous
4. Connell
5. This Song
6. Caremel 
7. Actor 
8. Vodka Cranberry
9. Class Clown
10. Care
11. Sunset Tower
12. My World 

This list was very hard to make and will probably change over time but as of right now that is my rough list of the songs from my favorite to least favorite. (This is of course an opinion, not everyone feels or will feel the same)

So, I think Conan Grey, just like most people, had to lose himself and explore before finding himself. 

Writing is my way of expression (along with drawing and listening to music). I write because it’s what I do. I picked up my pencil and decided to put “creative writing” on my schedule. After that it was history. 

For as long as I can remember I have written stories. I have progressed a lot. I was put into creative writing class at my old school. I took it for two years (my 7th and 8th grade years). I learned and grew through my writing. My teacher believed in me. This in turn helped me to believe in myself. When I didn’t believe in myself or like my stories, she did. She showed me how to write. She introduced me to writing poetry and helped me understand how to write a poem. She showed me how to write in a way others could understand not just me. 

I write like I speak, or how I speak in my head. I am sometimes not very understandable due to this, but she helped me to realize this. She helped me to fix my errors. She helped me enter and win my first writing contest. 

So, when I write I think of her.

I write how I think. I write my thoughts. I write to clear my head. I write to clear my head of what others think. I write to tell stories. To tell my story. To tell others stories. I write to say what I can’t say out loud. 

I write to have an output. I heard someone (I can’t remember who) say we all have outputs and it’s true. We all have output mine just happen to be writing and drawing. We all have outputs due to how much we have input into our brain. Due to technology, we get a lottttttttt more input than output and it overloads our brain making it harder to think creatively.

A lot of people think writing is boring, exhausting, a waste of time, or even just horrible. This is not the case for me. I have heard how boring and horrible writing is my whole life and I have never really understood the hate that comes with writing. Writing is my release and it’s a great thing todo. It helps you think clearly and see things in your perspective or others. It is also historical in a way. You can read a story written by someone centuries ago and centuries from now people will read our stories. I say that but I don’t write for others I write for myself. I write because it’s what makes me happy.