Blogical Righting

I've always enjoyed playing tennis. My sister, my dad, and I used to play together a lot when I was younger. I remember a lot of late school nights spent on the court goofing around but also playing seriously until the lights turned off at the park. At that time I took lessons at Atkins Tennis Center, but stopped before middle school because however much I liked tennis, the sport was always second to soccer in my mind. When I came to Uni, though, my feelings changed. This is not to say that I became more passionate about tennis, because that was not the case, but I came to appreciate and enjoy the sport more. A few years after I stopped playing and trying to improve seriously at Atkins is when my soccer team became much more serious. We got a new coach in particular that worked us, scolded us, and screamed at us more intensely than anyone had before. Our team then became on ice, and where before every soccer practice for IFC (the local soccer club I was in) was enjoyable and prod

Today's blog will be a funny story about the first time I ever got obsessed with a song. It all started on a trip to "Lil Porgy's" barbecue restaurant with my dad to pick up some lunch. We had just finished playing some tennis together, and I was so hungry I felt as if my stomach was going to implode. Taking a long swig of the classic yellow Gatorade my dad brings when we play tennis, I heard a quiet flute melody begin to sound from radio. Instantly recognizing the song, my dad turned the volume way up. "Have you heard this song before?" he asked through the loud Australian-accented singing. When I shook my said he replied with a grin: "Really? It's is a classic, just listen." Parking the car in front of Lil Porgy's, he began to shimmy and shake in the driver's seat, throwing out jazz hands to the beat of the music. Feeling the urge to join in on the fun, I started jamming out with him, following his off-pitch, but enthusiastic sing

Coming into Junior year with all of the horror stories I've heard of the workload and pressure, I wasn't quite sure how I was going to manage my activities. In previous years the pressure was easily bearable, because I didn't have much work to do, but this year will be different. Since the summer I've been thinking of what I need to do to conquer junior year, and so far my plans have been working out. Organization was one of my top priorities. In subbie year and in middle school I remember being forced to write in my planner and I hated it. What was the point of writing down one assignment due the next day, when I barely got any homework anyways? Did they really believe I couldn't remember the few things I needed to do? That's why I resented and never used my planner afterwards. I trusted my memory enough, but now I'm not so confident. There are so many things I want and need to do, both long-term and short-term this year, that it seems ludicrous to keep i

Over my countless hours browsing YouTube, and making my own YouTube videos, I've gathered some interesting, questionable, and hilarious stories. Today I will describe my adventures in getting banned from Google Adsense, and what it was like to have a collaborative channel with Martin Dalling. Keep in mind that most of this happened a while ago, and I've had a hard time not cringing as I write this because I made some bizarre decisions. When I was just starting YouTube I had immediate dreams of grandeur and wealth, as I'm sure we've all had at some point. The videos I created were horrible, to say the least, but I was still confused as to why they weren't getting the views I wanted, because we all knew: views = cash money. Being the young foolish lad that I was, I didn't comprehend that using a view bot would be illegal. So, I went ahead and downloaded a program that would view my videos automatically (a view bot) and earn me that dough. To my astonishment, my

If you decide that you want to make a youtube channel and develop a following, then there's a lot of work you'll need to put in before you can make it all happen. Hopefully, after reading this post you'll have a little bit better of an understanding of how channels become successful, and you'll be inspired to make your own. Before you even make your channel it will help to have some background knowledge and skill in image editing, and in video editing. You will need image manipulation for a lot of things, especially channel art and thumbnails, so you should be familiar with photoshop/ gimp (I prefer gimp because it is free). Additionally, you should have a good video editor (generally one that isn't free) because that is where you will need a lot of tools and features that aren't available in Windows Movie Maker or iMovie. Also, if you need any equipment, such as a camera, a better computer, a drone, etc. (video editors count), then you should invest in them.

We've all been there. It's 1am, there's chemistry homework due the next morning, our parents are fast asleep in the adjacent room, and we're watching YouTube videos. We know we're procrastinating, but we can't help it. Something about the accessible, relatable, and bingeable content sucks us in and won't let go. The website has a reputation for time warping, as you can wake up, watch "a couple" videos, and then it's magically dark outside. Parents (at least mine) are known for saying that the computer screen sucks us in, but in youtube videos I feel like this is actually true. Good content creators have a knack for creating thought provoking, comedic, cool, or any other type of video that catch our attention. After a while of watching addicting videos and spending an unhealthy amount of time on the platform, I began to get interested in how YouTubers became successful. I wanted to make my own channel, develop a viewer base, and benefit off of