Oh God I went through with it!

My face is now plastered on YouTube!

Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh my Gods!

What in all the seven hells of whatever planet did I just do to myself!?

*sigh* I might as well explain what my New Years resolutions were this year:
Get healthy, lulz! Get to Collage, find a job (no success, thus blog), and other things.

But above all, I really really wanted to get into making YouTube videos. I don't know why. I guess it just looked like a lot of fun! And I wanted to make something fun of it, you know? Rant and have you all see my face, if you even exist. This is why I call you my little no-one (or no-ones, at times, when I feel important on the scale of the internet.. . . .or try to feel important, at least. I dunno. "No-ones" invites a bigger audience, don't you think? It's a bit weird. .  . .)

Point is, I greatly enjoy watching some YouTubers I've been mentioning on posts as of late, and I enjoy "spending time" with them (is that a weird way to think about it? "Spending time" with them isn't exactly accurate, since we're not physically next to them, but they all acknowledge we're there. And like any conversation, conversations are struck in the hopes the other party likes what we're talking about. Right?).

So I went on and made a video. And I'm going to keep making videos all week. In hopes of. . . . . reaching someone. Anyone, so long as they're not a creep pedophile or something.

Would you like to see me humiliate myself?

Well. . . . hardly anyone's ever gonna see these videos, so they're not too big of a deal anyways.

Yeah, I think we're good!

With double the love
Nikola Strange

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MY NOTES!
Is it weird Charlie McDonnell and Dan from Danisonfire narrorate all the thoughts in my head?
Yeah, that is a bit weird. Very weird, actually. Too much YouTube! Then again, isn't that the point of this post?

*sigh*


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Understanding the Sequester (and why I love the Vlogbrothers)

 So after a myriad of terribly unclear news coverage, some (unsurprisingly extensive and time-consuming) studies on United States Government and Politics in AP US Gov't, and some . . . .spirited debate with individuals ranging from teachers to fellow students, I've found no greater video clearly explaining the origins of the Sequester, its' importance, and its' long-term effects as well as this one.

I would go so far as to say John and Hank Green are sort of like diluted Richard Feymans (was that rude? That felt rude): they make the same complex topics you've been brow-beaten with your entire life easy to understand, without dumbing down the subject matter. . . .And they still seem to have a lot of fun with it. Hell, it almost feels like their explanations for things just roll off their tongues, mostly on their main channel since you don't see all the cool animations or studios (even though it's absurd to assume they have some sort of genie or magic eight ball implanting knowledge in their minds. . . well, internet, but it's not insta--you get the idea, no ones!).

Back to the point: I feel this video is too important to miss out on for any American citizen and citizen of the world, because economies are global and this Sequester thing is seriously killing the brain cells of millions trying to wrap their heads around it: Similar things have been passed before including the Graham-Rudman-Hollings act (or however it is it's called/spelled) and PayGo, so why didn't those work? The answer's given to you in any US Government class, and in this video: loopholes, like refusing to cut things that actually add up to our national debt. Why would Congress to this? Simple: they like their jobs. And voters like their benefits. Yet despite how simple the answers are, no one can really comprehend them since we're always bombarded with heavy images and loaded diction even in seemingly objective environments (just ask any of my AP Gov't teacher's students. We're hashtaging quotes under "rocketship to 20".)

More importantly, I feel since there are virtually no holistic, objective viewpoints on these types of topics, there's a lack of digessiveness. The topic itself needs to be viewed from a more detached and statistic heavy (and slightly image-saturated) environment for the sake of having it be more digestible to the American public as opposed to being blown up to the size and force of a nuclear bomb falling from the sky in slow, ACME-esque style. We need to see the Sequester and other issues as they are: stupid plans with stupid results future generations will be facepalming at from the comfort of their school desks (like every other major catastrophe in our short but *for lack of better words* impressive history as a nation . . . . . or the history of humanity, which is short in comparison to the rest of the universe).

I am sincerely hoping you all are taking notes or watching and re-watching this video over and over again. Share it with your family. Share it with your friends, or on your own blog or with a teacher: this knowledge--this clarity--has to spread, and unfortunately because the main goal of the media is to make a profit, we have to spread it the old-fashioned way: pestering your acquaintances until they watch and/or give a damn.

This is ridiculously important and will affect everyone's lives to an extent, so arm yourselves with knowledge! As the Doctor said, "Books (or in this case infovideos) are the best weapons in the world!"

With Love,

Nikola Strange

OohCullen! Gotta love YouTube.

Oh YouTube! How I adore you for all the bountiful fun things you give us! May you forever be blessed by the internet Gods, and may I always be blessed with awesome friends whom watch YouTube for me and hand me all the brilliant things they find, like Cullen Cochran!

 From this little beaut on, I was absolutely infatuated with this wonderful person's music!

 I ran my way through most all of his videos and found myself very fond of not just his music but his character. Unlike more *ahem* mainstream artists, YouTube has this brilliant ability of giving average joes--free from all the pressures of record labels and the worries of selling albums--to take on the roll of artist, which leads to a lot of experimentation.

 Creative, fun and genuine experimentation.

 From what limited exposure I've had to this young man's charming personality, I've found him to actually be quite pleasant! Any fan of a good conceit in literature accompanied with an infectious personality would most-likely love this boy.

Good lordy I must sound silly. I don't mean to play cheerleader, here, but this dude is just too damn pleasant!

And intelligent.

And funny.

And all-around talented.















With great taste in music!















And fandoms!

He's also a Nerdfighter.

Check the guy out, man!! If you like his style, he won't disappoint, spare a missed deadline or two. ^ ^"




Huh.. . . .this would be an absolutely useless post considering the amount of praise Cullen's already getting if it wouldn't have brought on a question onto mah noggin': Why is the viewership mostly women?

It should be a no-brainer, considering how I'm passively gushing over the poor man as I type, but it's not just Cullen: Charlie McDonnell, the Vlogbrothers, Nerimon, and other such YouTube vlogs are followed mostly by women--and some of the younger men openly admit they can't understand why this is, or girls in general.

I would say "Take note!" to the men in the audience (maybe one of the five people whom actually read these damn posts), but I'm willing to argue they don't have to.

These men are, roughly, everything a girl's ever wanted, be it in a platonic friendship, a romantic relationship or even in a sibling or cousin or uncle! We see in them what we don't see in the men surrounding us, but why is that? Do they not exist in our own circles? In our schools, or work environments? And if they do, why is it we don't see them?

To get the answer, we'd have to really look at how much of ourselves we put out for the general public online: you're alienated and distanced from the people watching you, listening to you, or reading your blog *ta da!*. How much of yourself do you put out there?

At the same time, how much do you hide after you realize people are reading or watching your things? Especially for the men listed above, whom have methodically thought of ways to engage their audience as Hank Green made clear in a video over vlogging.

I think this brings up another question: Are these vloggers really as pleasant as we believe them to be?
Short answer? Yeah, I think so. These guys do put a lot of themselves out there on the internet, proven time and time again via song lyrics, somber videos, and embarrassing questions answered. And they're courageous enough to post their videos up! I'm a coward in comparison! I spew out my guts and none of ya'll have seen my face!

In the end, it comes down to what side of ourselves we expose on the internet vs. "real life" (if the term is even applicable anymore) interaction: in "real life" (whatever that means), we're too busy worrying about what others think of us, while on the internet, with a level or two distanced and alienated, it's almost like being completely alone in your room--you can be the chipped, rusted, half-functioning, charming, interesting and generally pleasant human being you are without the fear of judgement or name-calling--because your league of fangirls will totally overpower the haters and you can just block negative comments anyways!

So maybe, just maybe, there are a lot more Cullen Cochrans out there in the world. We just can't meet them as easily as we've met this particular one, and probably never will.

With love
Nikola Strange