"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician.  I often think in music.  I live my daydreams in music.  I see my life in terms of music."
--Albert Einstein
My name is Kristen.  I live in Lincoln, Nebraska.  I am studying education at the University of Nebraska.  I want to be an elementary school teacher.
I think I'm the only person in the United States who doesn't watch TV.  I have a television, but I don't get any channels, not even the local ones.  When I feel like watching TV, I rent a movie.
So what do I do with myself instead of watching TV?  I write music and I play in bands. 
Music is universal.  Even if you don't understand the words, a song will make you feel a certain way.  Music is a huge part of my life.  If I couldn't listen to music or play music, I would probably go crazy!
On the next three pages, you will hear a song from each of these bands and you will be able to read the lyrics.  When you are finished, you will find an assignment that I hope you will enjoy!
Start here!
I have been in six bands.  On this website, I have included songs and lyrics by three of these bands: Mister Baby, Suzy Dreamer & Her Nightmares, and Uncle Jesus.
This is Mister Baby.  It was an all-girl band.  All of our songs were about monsters and hot rods. Some of our songs were "Cadillac Hearse," "Rhonda Don't Know She's Dead," and "Teenage Monster."  Mister Baby was a very fun band to be in!
This is Suzy Dreamer & Her Nightmares.  This is the first band I played a guitar in.  I taught myself to play using a web site that shows chord fingering.  At first, I didn't know what kind of songs I wanted to write. I had been writing down my dreams for a long time, and I decided to write songs about my dreams.  Some of the songs are "Dead & Frozen in JC Penney," "Boy of Bones," and "Purple Floating Mathematical Lizards."  The song I have included in this website is the only song Suzy Dreamer & Her Nightmares played that wasn't from a dream.  The reason is that all of the other songs are VERY LONG because my dreams are long!
The third band I am including in this web site is Uncle Jesus.  Uncle Jesus started out as me and my boyfriend.  He is in a band as well, and they travelled to Europe this summer to play some festivals.  We are both musicians, but had never played together.  So we decided to write some songs.  Now we have a bass player, a drummer, and a pedal steel guitar player.  It's fun to be in a band with my boyfriend, but it isn't always easy to write songs together.  Sometimes we get into arguments because we both think we're right.  But then we work it out, and end up with great songs! The whole process has been very good for our relationship.
UPDATE! Click here to go directly to the songs whose lyrics were written by high school students in China.  If you're unfamiliar with this project, proceed above and click on the link on the last page to see how it all turned out!