Life Update! (100 Subs, New Uke and Gigs)

For the past week or so I've been painfully close to 100 subscribers on my YouTube channel and just when I'd told myself to stop obsessively refreshing the page and just patiently wait for an email, the email came.

It is utterly mind-blowing to me that there are 100 people out there in the world who care about my music enough to want a reminder every time I share something new. I started my YouTube channel in January 2012, after being inspired by the likes of Tyler Ward, Boyce Avenue and Savannah Outen, because I'd been writing songs for a while but had kept them to myself and not played them to anyone. I'd also been working on becoming a better singer (and musician in general) and I wanted a way for me personally to track my progress. I never really thought anyone outside my closest friends and family would want to listen to it but here we are, nearly 2 years later with 100 people wanting to listen. I'm aware that to many people 100 subscribers isn't very much (especially when compared to the 'bigger youtubers', many of who have reached 1 million) but to me it is definitely a lot.

In the time since I started my YouTube channel a lot has changed. My musical style has evolved and I'm much closer to finding the type of musician I want to be, although I'm still not quite there. I've had the chance to have feedback from some musicians I really admire and I've even got a few of my friends considering setting up their own YouTube channels because they've seen me do it. The fact that I could have even slightly inspired someone else to follow their dream, even if only a tiny portion of it has been from me, makes me so happy. In September I started at a new school and with that came a massive change in environment. I've left a school where it was considered a 'weird' thing to post videos online of myself singing and I was told to give up because nothing would ever happen from it to an environment where they encourage it. My friends at my new school have all subscribed to my channel (something not many from my old school did), tell me often that they like my music and ask about gigs and are trying to come to as many as possible. This change in environment is amazing and I feel so lucky to be in such a positive, encouraging place surrounded by such supportive and lovely people.

Along with the excitement of reaching 100 subscribers, I also bought a new ukulele yesterday! I've been saving up to get a new one for a while and as I'm starting to get into playing live gigs a lot more than I ever have before now it made sense to get an electric-acoustic one so I don't have to rely on the venue's having enough mics. I went to a lovely music shop in Cardiff (G. M. Music) with 2 very specific ones in mind (both Ibanez) and surprisingly, chose almost straight away when I saw them (this is surprising because when I was buying my guitar about a year and a half ago we were in the shop for an hour and a half with me playing 2 different ones trying to decide. I'm not a very decisive person to say the least).

Lastly, I'm playing a lot more gigs! Although they're all very local it's still progress and although I've played live for a number of years at competitions and such it's very exciting to be asked to play more than one song, especially as it all sort of happened by accident. A friend of mine was helping organise a fundraiser for his rugby team and asked if I'd play and since then I've been asked to play another 3 in the lead up to Christmas. Along with the subscriber milestone, the fact people in my town are starting to talk about me is very exciting because it feels like what I've been working hard at for a few years is starting to pay off. When I was younger I was never much of a singer but it was something I had my heart set on and with hard work (and constant practice!) I feel like I've come a long way. I still have an even longer way to go but looking back on my old videos does make me realise that the hard work is definitely starting to pay off.

All in all, my life seems to be getting crazier by the day! With starting my A-Levels came a work load like I've never known and then adding all of the music things on top of that everything seems a little hectic, but I have to say, as tiring and chaotic as it sometimes seems, I'm loving every minute of it.

Lucy x

Dear Future Me

I've seen a few things like this (mainly YouTube videos) and I always think it's a good idea so I thought I'd give it a shot! I'd like to do more of these in the future but only when I feel like enough has changed for me to want to update my future self on it. Anyway, on to the actual content...

Dear Future Lucy,

You're 16 at the moment. The age when you're no longer a child but not yet an adult. Today is the 1st of September and you've chosen to leave behind the comprehensive school in your town where you never felt like you belonged for a private school in a city, a place you will go to for the first time as a student in 3 days. It is the school you wanted to go to in year 7 and your parents promised you could go for sixth form. You held them to that promise. A lot of thought went into the decision and although inside you're terrified because you've never been 'the new girl' before you're feeling VERY positive about it and can't wait to be back in school with your best friend after 5 years of being apart.

Books are something you seem to love more and more by the day. You've recently fallen in love with the Harry Potter stories (books, films, musicals, the lot!) and it currently means more to you than any other fictional story ever has before, more than you thought possible. You've recently got a kindle and although you thought you'd always chose a physical book over a digital one, that seems to change depending on your mood. You're also running two blogs consistently, both this one and a book one, and you love it, despite not having many people read what you write. You write it for you.

You've written a lot of songs in the summer that's just passed. Probably more than you have ever written in that amount of time before. Yes, a lot of them probably aren't very good and yes, 90% of them will probably never be put on the internet or played to people other than super close friends but you enjoyed writing them regardless. You're slowly getting better at guitar and ukulele, even if you don't practice flute or piano as much as you should. Your YouTube channel is slowly growing and you're now lucky enough to have 85 people see your face in their subscription box every time you upload a new video which is crazy.

Your cousins (currently aged 6 and 2) spent 6 weeks in the UK this summer from New Zealand. You spent more time with them than you normally do this time round which meant you got to know them more than in previous years. Although you loved spending time with them and love them so SO much it does mean that now they've gone back home you miss them even more.


You're pretty happy with life right now. Although there are days where you may feel like everything is rubbish you know that it's just something everyone feels from time to time and you know it will all be okay tomorrow. You're very aware of how lucky you are and you try very hard not to take it for granted. You're also feeling determined to work hard for the next 2 years no matter what it takes.

Lucy x

I Set Up A Bandcamp Page!

As some of you may know, music is something I've very passionate about. I've been writing original songs for a good few years now despite only being 16 and I've been posting videos of myself singing on Youtube for just over a year. Although I know that it's highly unlikely that I will ever have a 'career' in music and I will probably never make the majority of my money through music, I've always loved performing and sharing my music with other people. Because of this, I've been thinking a lot lately about ways that I could possibly get more people to hear my music and I decided that if they could download my songs, they might be more likely to share them with friends. So today I decided to set up a bandcamp page. There's currently one song on there which is an original called Sing To Me that I recorded in a professional recording studio about a year ago. It's currently available to download for 50p (in UK pounds) but you can pay more if you'd like to. If you're reading this, I'd appreciate it so much if you could give it a listen and maybe download it or send the link to friends of yours that you think might like my music. Things like that help more than you could imagine. Thank you for reading this! :)

Lucy x

bandcamp page: http://lucytregidon.bandcamp.com/
Check out my Youtube channel here: www.youtube.com/lucytregidon

A Visit to London

Seeing as though last week was our half term break, my best friend and I decided to take a short trip up to London. Living in Wales, very close to Cardiff, it's not too far to go just overnight. Despite the fact we've never been to London without a 'responsible adult' to keep us in check, we decided to just go for it. We talked to friends of her parents and they said we were more than welcome to stay with them in their house near the center so we booked our train tickets and that was that!

We set off on Wednesday morning, getting a train from Cardiff Central to London Paddington so that we arrived around 11am. We went straight to drop our things off then headed out in search of a bookshop that we'd seen on Google that looked like something from Harry Potter. It was called Daunt Books and I can honestly say that it was worth having to use the Google maps app on my phone to find it. Although neither or us ended up buying anything there, it was a great place to have been.

After going to Daunt Books we had a bit of lunch in "Eat" and then got the tube into the more central area of London. We walked through Soho with all it's cute little shops and walked all the way down to Trafalgar Square. By this time it was absolutely freezing so we went in the National Gallery for a bit of warmth and wandered around looking at the paintings for a bit as both of us are currently doing GCSE Art so it made us feel like our visit had been somewhat educational. We then headed over to Waterstones where I picked up a beautiful copy of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen as a souvenir. After a bit more wandering round which lead us to in Covent Garden and a quick drink in Costa, we headed towards The Strand for Pizza Hut for tea and then home for the night.

The following morning we were up and out of the house by about 9.30am, which for someone who is not a morning person, like myself, is pretty good. We headed straight for the area that everyone thinks of when they think of London, the Thames by the London eye, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. We walked from the tube station right along side the Thames all the way up to Westminster Bridge, then back down and to the Tate Modern art Gallery. After a little wander around the Tate, we had a quick look at the Globe theater from the outside, had lunch a bit of lunch and then headed home.

Even though our trip was only overnight, it was an amazing experience and one that I definitely plan to repeat. It was such an easy thing to do, the only thing preventing us from being able to go up and stay in London regularly is the price of the train tickets. My friend and I have already decided the trip will be repeated in the summer and I can't wait. 

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

Title: Out of Sight, Out of Time
Author: Ally Carter
323 Pages

This is book five in the Gallagher Girls Series

Rating 4.5/5

I read the other Gallagher Girls books last summer after getting one of them free with a magazine and I fell in love with them, so when I saw this one a few months ago I had to buy it. I didn't get around to reading it until this week but I finished it in about 3 days, despite the fact I seem to be reading slowly at the moment. It's an amazing book and it reminded me of how much I loved the first 4 so I plan to go back and re-read them sometime next year!

This series focuses on a girl named Cammie Morgan who goes to the Gallagher Academy, a school which to the outside world is for 'exceptional young women' but to the people in the know is a school for training spies. When this book begins Cammie wakes up in a convent in Austria with no memory of how or why she got there. She soon learns that it is October, yet she can not remember anything past June. The novel follows Cammie and her friends Bex, Liz, Macey and Zach, along with her Mother and Aunt as they try to piece together the few clues they have and help Cammie remember her summer. But is remembering the summer the right thing to do or are there parts that are better left forgotten?

*SPOILERS* I have to say, at the beginning of the book I was a little confused as to what was going on when Cammie woke up in the convent but not in a bad way. I found that that confusion just made the reader feel a similar confusion as Cammie was meant to be feeling in that moment, as neither had any idea what had lead up to this moment. I found the music in Cammie's head was really clever, however all through the book I found myself thinking that it was obvious that this was going to be something key to her remembering something. Other than that, everything in the book was totally unexpected, especially the bit where they are at the castle in Ireland and Zach's mother turns up. Also, the ending where Dr Steve manages to hypnotize her into almost jumping off the roof and the fact that he turns out to be working against her I found was very clever. *END OF SPOILERS*

I would recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of YA. It's probably more of a girls book than a boys book but I still think it could be enjoyed by either. The other books in the series do need to be read first in order to understand a few little sections but it is well worth the time! I loved this book and I can't wait for book 6 to come out!

My Superhero (My new song!)

I just uploaded another YouTube video. This is one of my newer songs called My Superhero. Please don't hesitate to let me know what you think! :)

To see my YouTube channel click here :)

Teach Me - Lucy Tregidon (New original song!)

I wrote this the other day and want to get some feedback on it. I'm going to record it and put it on YouTube at some point but I seem to be so busy at the moment so thought I'd put the lyrics up here to see what you guys think. As soon as it's on YouTube I'll add a link to the bottom of this post so if you like the lyrics, please listen to it! :)

We met on a Tuesday,

And you said hey,

In your own little way,

I thought it’d be nice,

If I smile,

And you keep it for a while,

Keep it for a while,

And I’ll just say, I’ll just say,

Teach me to love,

Show me you care,

Tell me, that I’m the one,

And there’s no one,

Who can beat me there,

Teach me to see,

All that I can be,

In the end, it’s all pretend,

And no one really cares,

There we are in the moonlight,

I said alright,

I’ll dance if I have to,

You say, you say,

Teach me to love,

Show me you care,

Tell me, that I’m the one,

And there’s no one,

Who can beat me there,

Teach me to see,

All that I can be,

In the end, it’s all pretend,

And no one really cares,

No one really cares,

Teach me to love,

Show me you care,

Tell me, that I’m the one,

Teach me to love,

Show me you care,

Tell me, that I’m the one,

And there’s no one,

Who can beat me there,

Teach me to see,

All that I can be,

In the end, it’s all pretend,

And no one really cares.

My YouTube channel : www.youtube.com/lucytregidon

Uglies by Scott Westerfled

Title: Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfeld
425 Pages

Rating 3/5

I thought this book was great, however it didn't really live up to the expectations I had of it. From what I've seen online everyone loved this book and I have to say I don't really get why. It's a fantastic book, don't get me wrong, and the story line is really original and the writing is good but there's just something about it that meant it took me ages to read. Usually books in this sort of genre I love and read in a few days but this one I read on and off for nearly 3 months because I just couldn't get into it.

Uglies is the story of a girl named Tally Youngblood who lives in a world where when you turn 16 you have an operation to turn you pretty. When you go from being an Ugly to being a Pretty you also move over to New Pretty Town and 'your only job is to have a really great time.' Tally makes a new friend Shay just before she turns Pretty and Shay doesn't want to become a Pretty so decides to run away. The authorities then offer Tally the choice of finding Shay and turning her in or never becoming Pretty at all. The novel follows Tally's journey of trying to find Shay and her discovering things about the city that no one else knows.

It sounds pretty much like the plot of any dystopian book so I'm not really sure why I didn't enjoy it much. I guess it was because I've recently read things like The Hunger Games and Divergent so I have high standards for dystopian books and this one just didn't seem as good. I stuck with it because I was determined to finish it to see what all the rave reviews I read were all about and I found that just over half-way through it did become a lot more interesting and fast-paced but until then I found it dragged a little.

*SPOILERS* I found that once Tally had actually got to the smoke it was a lot better and then got better again when she got closer to David and his parents told her more about the operation. I thought the end of the book was great as well with Tally and David having to go back to the city and rescue the others from the Specials and I think I might read the next book, more than anything just to see where Scott Westerfeld went with the story line from there. *END OF SPOILERS*

If you've read this book and are one of the people that think it was really good I've love to hear your opinion of why it's so fantastic because to me, it was just average. Not bad at all, but just not amazing either. Also, let me know if you think it's worth it to read the other books in the series or not. :)

Sing To Me - Lucy Tregidon (lyrics and video)

The summer air,

Blows through my hair,

And reminds me that I miss you,

The winter snow,

Makes me feel so cold,

But I still miss you,

Sing to me,

Like that summer day,

With our heads on the grass,

And sing to me,

With your hands round my waist,
And this feeling that could last,

Sing to me,

The autumn leaves,

Fall from the trees,

And tell me how I miss you,

The spring left its mark,

Like this scar on my heart,

I still miss you,

Sing to me,

Like that summer day,

With our heads on the grass,

And sing to me,

With your hands round my waist,
And this feeling that could last,

Sing to me,

Sing those words I long to hear,

The words that take away my fears,

Sing, sing, sing,

Sing to me,

Sing the words,

To help me get through,

Sing the words,

To help me get through to you,

But don’t forget, what we had,

Is always in my heart,

Sing to me,

Like that summer day,

With our heads on the grass,

And sing to me,

With your hands round my waist,
And this feeling that could last,

Sing to me,

Like that summer day,

With our heads on the grass,

And sing to me,

With your hands round my waist,
And this feeling that could last,

Sing to me,

Sing those words I long to hear,

The words that take away my fears,

Sing, sing, sing,

Sing to me,

Sing to me,

Sing to me.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Title: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth
525 Pages

Rating: 5/5

To see my review of Divergent click here

I absolutely loved this book. I actually find it difficult putting into words how good it is! For the last 250 pages particularly I just couldn't put it down! I've seen some reviews say that they felt the same story could have been portrayed in less words but I disagree. I feel like everything that was in this book was there for a reason and I don't think the story as a whole would make as much as an impact if any of it was missing.

*Divergent spoilers from here on*

Tris has managed to survive an attack on Abnegation, her former faction, and has escaped from the Erudite leaders, all while avoiding being put under simulation. But for how much longer can she run from Erudite? Insurgent follows Tris and Tobias in their attempts to save the people of the remaining factions and bring down the Erudite leader, but will they succeed?

*SPOILERS* I loved how the factionless were used throughout the book. I liked the fact that they always seemed to be there in the back ground and just as you forget about them being there a little they appear. I absolutely loved the ending too. I thought the last 3 pages or so were perfect and the whole idea is amazing. The fact that the book ends with them finding out what's outside 'the fence' just left me wanting to read the next book in the series straight away! I also thought the whole idea that there is a 'normal' world outside of the world we've learnt about in Divergent and Insurgent leaves the plot of the next book open to almost anything. I can't wait to discover whether they will venture outside of the gate and explore the world that they know nothing of or whether they will stay inside and try to fix some of the mess that Erudite created in this war. As soon as the next book comes out, I will be buying it! *END OF SPOILERS*

Overall, I loved this book so much and would definitely recommend reading this and Divergent. One of my favourite books I've read this year and I have read a lot of good books this year!

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Macker

Title: The Future of Us
Authors: Jay Asher and Carolyn Macker
356 Pages

Rating: 3/5

I saw this book in the library and I've got 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher at home ready to read so I thought I'd pick this one up and see what it's like. Mostly, I enjoyed however I didn't find that I wanted to read a lot in one go but I'm not quite sure why. The plot was really good and clever and I loved the idea of it but I couldn't help but feel it could've been better.

The Future of Us is set in 1996, when the internet was just begging to become popular and Facebook wouldn't be invented for another 8 years. When Josh gets an AOL CD-ROM in the post he takes it straight to his next-door neighbor/best friend's house to put on her new computer. Emma then creates an email account and gets taken to a website called 'Facebook' that asks for her email and password. She enters them both and finds her Facebook page from 15 years in the future. She and Josh can see what not only their own lives will turn out like, but also the lives of their Facebook friends.

*SPOILERS* I have to admit, you could see Josh and Emma ending up together a mile off. I would have liked to read more about them at the end though, maybe a little epilogue of what their future actually turns out like or something. I found a lot of this book predictable, like the fact that once Josh finally manages to win over Sydney, he doesn't want to be with her and the same with Emma and Cody. *END OF SPOILERS*

I would recommend this book if you're looking for something with quite a unique story line to it, however be prepared to know what's going to happen next all the way through it. I'm not sure if it was the dual-narrator of Jay Asher and Carolyn Macker that made me not that interested in it but there was just something about it I wasn't quite sure on. Overall however I did think it was a good book, I just wouldn't re-read it.

Something About Your Smile (A song by me)

This is a song I wrote and posted a ukulele version of on YouTube about 3 weeks ago. I haven't had much feedback on it so if you could, please let me know what you think. :)

This is one of the few songs I've written that doesn't really have a meaning behind it. I mean other than the obvious, there's nothing hidden in there, no one who inspired it, I just sat down with my guitar and the song seemed to just happen without me thinking about anyone or anything. I guess that's why I quite like it and I like to play it. Unlike my other songs, it's quite upbeat and happy which is part of the reason I wanted to do a ukulele version of it, to show that it's not just sad songs I can write and I can write upbeat ones too.

Like I said before, I'd be really grateful if you could let me know what you think of it. If I don't have any constructive feedback on my music I won't know what needs to be improved and what should stay as it is.
Thanks
Lucy :)

Theodore Boone by John Grisham

Title: Theodore Boone
Author: John Grisham
263 Pages

Rating: 3/5

I picked this book up at the library, more because I couldn't really find anything else I wanted to read and I thought I may as well give a different kind of book a go but I didn't really enjoy it. It was well written but wasn't particularly gripping and I didn't feel like I wanted to read it all the time like I usually feel with books.

Theodore Boone comes from a family where both of his parents are lawyers, and he plans to follow in their footsteps. At only 13, Theodore already has his future planned out, although he often changes his mind about whether to be a judge or a lawyer. The novel follows Theo as he finds himself in the middle of the biggest murder trial his town has seen for decades with a vital piece of evidence that could be the difference between someone getting convicted and someone walking free.

*SPOILERS* I found the fact that Theo's friends go to him for legal advice and the fact he knows the solution to anything they ask him ever so slightly unrealistic. I understand that this is his character and it doesn't necessarily need to be believable because at the end of the day it is a work of fiction but I felt that the rest of the novel was written in a naturalistic way, other than this aspect of his character. *END OF SPOILERS*

Overall I thought the book was well written although I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who enjoys similar books to me. I almost feel like it was a waste of time me reading it when I could've been reading something else. The only real reason I gave it a 3/5 is because the writing style was good.

Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen

Title: Along For The Ride
Author: Sarah Dessen
424 Pages

Rating 4/5

I really enjoyed this book however it took me a while to get into it properly. Once I was into it I thought it was a lovely book and I would definitely read one of Sarah Dessen's books again.

When Auden finally has enough of things at her Mother's house she packs up and moves to her Dad's for the summer. While at her Dad's she gradually becomes less of the studious bookworm she's always been and begins to get to know herself a little more. She also meets a mysterious boy that she can't help but want to get to know more about. Along For The Ride follows Auden and Eli as they spend their nights together, keeping each other company and getting to know each other, due to the fact neither of them sleep.

*SPOILERS* I found that the reason it took so long for me to get into it is because at the start it seems to be all to do with the baby and it got kind of boring after a while. I wouldn't have minded if it showed at some point in the story that this was essential but it didn't really. I did find that I was totally in love with Eli and fell more and more in love with him as we got to know him more. I thought the way Sarah Dessen brought the whole plot to life was beautiful and everything from her relationship with her Mother and Father to the way she is kind of socially awkward until she gets to her Dad's adds to the story and makes it a wonderful read. *END OF SPOILERS*

I would recommend this book as a summer read for people looking to try Sarah Dessen books. I've heard a lot about her and this is the first book I read by her and I really liked it.