Ed Sheeran Concert Review

     A few months ago, I had one of the best experiences of my life. I've been to a lot of different concerts before, but this one was definitely the greatest. Ed Sheeran's performance was spectacular and his opening act was not a let-down either.

     Ed Sheeran is a British solo artist who began his career in 2005. Although he started early, his career didn't really take off until last year when his single "The A Team" came out. After that, people around the world began to hear his music and now he's well known almost everywhere. With 3 albums and 6 EPs, Ed Sheeran is not stopping his musical career anytime soon.

Not everyone in the United States has heard of him quite yet, so I was lucky enough to get into the concert a few months ago. On September 9th, I went with my friend Megan to stand outside the venue in line.     

     Although we didn't have tickets, we found someone who was selling three of them. We wasted no time in purchasing two of them before waiting in the long line to get inside. It was general admission and seeing as we came so late, we knew we wouldn't get great spots, but that didn't stop us from trying. We climbed to the second floor and could see the stage pretty well.

     It was a pretty tight squeeze, but that was to be expected with only a limited amount of room. Waiting for almost half an hour, I was getting pretty excited and soon Ed's opening act stepped out. Mike Rosenberg, better known as Passenger, came out with his guitar and played a few songs. The crowd loved him and I quickly became a fan of his song Let Her Go. After the crowd was pumped up, the main act, Ed Sheeran sneaked onto the stage and sung a duet with Passenger. Everyone went crazy for the two after it was over and Mike said his goodbyes.

     The lights dimmed as Ed started the song Give Me Love. Not one person in the crowd was silent as we were all singing along. After that, Ed introduced himself and told a short story about a concert he went to in Suffolk. Then came more singing and in between songs, sometimes he would tell more stories to introduce the next song. This made the crowd feel more relaxed and friendly, almost as if we were all just hanging out with friends and Ed was one of us.

     Of course when it was about time to leave, everyone shouted for an encore and he came back out, singing The A Team and an old Irish song called The Parting Glass. It was a very slow yet beautiful song and even if we didn't know the words, everyone swayed in harmony.

     After it was all over, I had a terrible case of post-concert depression and I wished it hadn't ended. However, I'll never forget this wonderful concert and the next time he comes back to America, I will be sure to buy tickets. I'd recommend this concert for anyone who enjoys music such as his. However, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who is planning on taking young children as some of his songs contain mature language and themes. This was a great way to connect with my friend Megan and enjoy great music. 

Cyber Bullying is a Bigger Problem Than You May Think

     Cyber-bullying is something that's been going on for years, but over the past decade has gotten much worse. Cyber-bullying is the misuse of technology to harass someone else and can be used through internet, email, and even through a cell phone. 80% of teens use their phones on a regular basis now which makes these teens more susceptible to cyber-bullying. In fact, over 1/3 of the population of young adults have been cyber-bullied before. These are distressing numbers and should be, I believe, lowered significantly.
     There is one specific site I would like to focus on in this post that has dramatically increased the amount of teens and young adults that get cyber-bullied. This site, Tumblr, has a feature on i that can allow literally anyone to send someone with a Tumblr account a message. The feature can be a fun and useful tool if used properly, however there is a downfall to it as well. This messaging tool allows people to ask questions or send messages anonymously. Tumblr's anonymous feature is sometimes being overly abused by some . People are sending hate mail to others they may or may not even know, anonymously. It's become a big problem because the people receiving the message don't know who sent it. All they see is a message telling them horrible things like, "Go kill yourself" or even "I hate you" along with many other terrible things. Sadly, these messages are all too common and random, ordinary people receive them. It's not just a one time thing for some Tumblr users. Many get multiple messages in sometimes only one day! Obviously, this is getting way out of hand.
     After getting lots of these messages, there are those that actually take the anonymous' advice and commit suicide. These are young people who have families, are loved, and have their whole lives ahead of them and after simply a couple messages, they feel life isn't worth living anymore, so they commit suicide. It may not seem like it would happen very often, but over 4,400 teens each year take their lives because of cyber-bullying!
     A young teen on Tumblr writes,
"I got anon hate from someone and because of him, I broke my 2 months of not cutting early this year and he's saying awful stuff. Suicide: I've thought about it because of the anon hate, but I can't do it because I can't leave the people I love behind."
     This is only one example of what cyber-bullying can do to a person. Another young girl actually did commit suicide after being overwhelmed with anonymous hate. She left a note for her friend to let her know what had happened. Here is an excerpt from the note:
"I was thinking about not doing this, [committing suicide] but the anon hate was the last straw. I want you [Her friend] to tell them that. Show them this and remind them what words can do."
     Most of the time someone sends hate to a person, they barely know him or her. They don't know what this person is really like, or their beliefs, personalities, values, or the problems they have to face everyday. The bullying gets out of hand and then suddenly an innocent life is taken. It's gone and nothing they can do can bring that person back.
     So before you hit "Send", think about this. Remember how this could affect someone to the point where they want to take their own life.

My First Post!

This is going to be a really fun and exciting project for me. Writing has always been one of my favorite things to do, so this could help me put my thoughts into words and share what I'm feeling with people who read this.
First, a little about me:
Writing is something that has always interested me. Usually what I write are fictional stories or song lyrics. I love writing a lot because I get to create my own little world in a story and choose what happens to the characters. It's a nice way to escape my own life even for just a little while and use my imagination.
Something else I love is music. My all time favorite singer has to be Ed Sheeran and one of my favorite bands is Coldplay.

Second, I've thought long and hard about what my blog will be about. It was a really tough decision and this post was difficult for me to make. It took me forever to think of what I want to actually write about. I wasn't sure what I should say at first and finally I decided that it didn't have to be about one specific thing. This blog is going to be about my life altogether. I'll take you through my day and post observations I make throughout it. I'm not usually very good about sharing my feelings or thoughts with people, but I think this will help me express myself better.

Last, I'd like to thank everyone who is following and reading this. I think I'll have fun writing this blog and I hope you enjoy reading it! Feel free to give me feedback, comments, or anything else to help me with my writing.