an open letter to taylor swift

today, you released your second album. it's called "fearless."

you are four years younger than me...but i really kind of want to be your best friend.

based on everything i've seen and read about you, you're pretty much exactly where i wish i could have been at your age. i mean personally and "spiritually". i mean...fearless. when you know something and believe in something bigger than yourself, and you chase after it because your intuition tells you it's the right thing. i'm a few years behind you in that department, but i'm on my way. your youth and humor and passion all inspire me to keep going...with hopes that one day i'll build something a quarter as great as what you've built so far.

when i was 11, i really could have used your balls. i mean, you walked into record labels practically demanding a deal when you were 11. i was climbing trees, rollerblading in the driveway and pretending to figure skate, hoping someone might see me and think i was cool. i was watching "roundhouse" on nickelodeon and "kids incorporated" on the disney channel, secretly wanting to be on them. i was laying in a bed, crying to my mom about how i felt like something was missing from my 11-year-old life, and i didn't know what it was. but i DID know. i knew way back then that being a musician was it for me. i was too scared to say something.

you write songs and you say what you want. you tell stories of an 18-year old girl, and that's why so many people like you. we can all relate to being 18. i think most of us feel like we ARE 18.

and you are so blatantly honest about your understanding of love. how badly you want it to be what you hope it will be, but at such a young age, there's a lot that still lies ahead. and you're cool with that. but you'll throw yourself fully into anything and everything that comes your way until then. because you're full of a passion for life, and you're pretty effing fearless.

so anyway, i bought your album. and i'll listen to it a lot. and when i meet you someday, i'll tell you that one day i wrote a really nerdy blog about how cool you were.

also, i'm sad because your myspace contest doesn't work for mac users :( i would have belted the crap out of "love story" if i could have.

entirely yours and not ashamed one bit,

Lauren