justeyeballitcommunity

[justeyeballitcommunity]

You’ve got the whole world in your hands.

[justeyeballitcommunity]

When I say I hate country music I DONT mean life is a highway by rascal flatts

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Just writing here to say that I’m doing way better than I was when I wrote my last post here. Despite the inevitable bullshit of life, I feel pretty great. I can laugh at absurdly unpleasant situations rather than being brought down by them. I’ve got a lot of new stuff going on and I know it will benefit me. I’m excited to see what happens next! Peace and love, y’all.

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Week 1 in Social Media by PantsStatusZero

With Balinka’s recent post, I once again feel motivated to breathe life into this community blog. And where my personal involvement in this project has been more than sporadic, I never the least have a lot to offer it and will do my best not let it die down again. But to what I am actually going to be writing about. 

Recently I have started a side business with my roommate. Our model is to produce YouTube content related to Collectible Card Games, while planning to expand into other Geek related service (reviewing loot crate like items and giveaways). In addition to producing YouTube content, we plan to get into the the Collectible Card Game business and may be even one day go pro on the tournament scene. 

My intent with is blog on Community.JustEyeBallIt is to catalog our social media strategy as my company grows. 

 This week in Social Media:

During week 1, we determined our and started creating social media account. Right now we can be found on:

Youtube

Twitter

Tumblr

Facebook

Google+

And Blogger (GamersUnboxed.com)

The main idea right now is just getting our name out there. To be honest if you were to visit GamersUnboxed on tumblr only 5% of the content would be ours, which may seem odd to you but it actual the way to go. My link to other peoples similar related content. We our increasing our social media accounts relevance to that content which will cause our content over time to receive more views.

Are Stats week 1:

0 - Youtube followers 1 - Twitter follower (there have been a complete robo that have come and go) including 4 Favorited, 1 comment, and 8 external links clicks 2 - Tumblr Follower 0 - Facebook followers including 1 like and 18 views 0 - Google+ Circles? (Google+ real isn't for followers) 0 - Blogger Follwers including 216 lifetime page views from 2 different countries

Please like or reply to this post if you think this is stupid. I could always write about something else.

-PantsStatusZero

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Hello Friends

I know this blog has been abandoned, but it doesn’t have to remain so. Life is crazy, y’know, for all of us. We get pulled in so many directions and spread ourselves so thin, there may not be enough energy to go into all areas of life. I’ve become a much happier person than I have been in the past, and it’s because I’ve learned to let go of many things that drag me down. Of course, this is an ongoing process, as life is ever-changing. I am so very grateful for all the wonderful people and circumstances that grace my life. And in the midst of this, I have been sad. I take it in stride and I do my best, but some things punch me right in the heart. All I can do is accept it and grieve, and remind myself that all is not lost and this feeling won’t last forever. I’ve survived much worse, and been strong enough to make it this far. I’m not worried about that. I’m just ready to feel at peace with what’s hurting me. If any of you happen to read this, there’s no pressure to respond. I only ask that you send a thought of peace, love, and happiness my way. Thank you, friends.

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Hey y'all.

I've been doing a lot of traveling, which is quite a change for me. I'm not yet traveling as far and wide as I'd like, but it's more than I've done in many years. I'm also working on projects I've had in mind for sometime now. Some of it is dirty work, but it's been hanging over me for so long, I'm really proud to progress forward. House cleaning, to be specific. It's been a long time coming, and I've put it off for years because it seemed so daunting. I find that as I work on it, it's coming along easier than I anticipated. Isn't that always the way? I know I have this awful habit of blowing things out of proportion and convincing myself that it will all be so much more difficult than it actually turns out to be. Knowing is half the battle, so at least I can remind myself that it's never as bad as I make it out to be. Okay, it is bad, but it isn't unconquerable.

Apart from that, I've also been practicing a bit of self-expression through a photo blog. I've been collecting pictures I've taken for years, and I've really wanted to do something with them. It seemed pointless for them to just sit on a hard drive. So at the beginning of October, I made a secondary tumblr to basically share bits of my life through my own personal pictures from the past and present. I give the backstory on a lot of them. And it's the one place on the internet where I don't feel overindulgent by posting a ton of selfies, and I don't feel self-conscious about mentioning things I don't tend to make public. It's the most candid I've publicly been on the internet since MySpace. That's sounds like a joke, but it's true. The reason for that is because of the nature of MySpace. It was a format that worked for me, and I've really missed those days. It had all these different branches for different purposes (profile, blog, bulletin, messaging, im, etc.), it was fully customizable for people who love to outwardly express themselves, and I didn't have my entire family on there to see all the provocative and illicit shit I posted.

I did have a blog that I wrote for a while after the MySpace heyday, but it eventually fell by the wayside. I was so depressed during the time of both of those, I can't blame anyone for not wanting to read what I had on my mind. I never deleted my profile on MySpace, but most everything was lost when the site was reformatted. Maybe that's for the best, as I remember some of the topics that were reoccurring. Now, I have a much brighter state of mind. I feel so much better about what I have to share than what I've shared in the past. If you have any interest in random and unabashed me, then it can be found at blinkistuff.tumblr.com

I'm very excited that I've just made plans with a friend to work on some music projects. This is a huge deal to me. Music is the answer, and I've always known it. Time to stop avoiding it, and let myself be free.

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Pat's Picks Issue #4: Megan Oakley

I'll be honest, my memory's a little fuzzy as to how Megan and I met. It had something to do with me being depressed and then out of nowhere she contacted me to make sure I was okay. Something like that. Either way it speaks volumes as to what Megan is like.

Now, every issue of Pat's Picks is about a cool person doing something cool (okay, fine, Adam Sakellarides (See Pat's Picks Issue #2) is a geeky guy doing a geeky thing, but in my books it's the same thing). So what does Megan do? Megan does poetry, and it's very often very beautiful. She's been doing poetry since she was 10 and since February she's been doing slam poetry as part of the Vancouver Slam Poetry Community.

I also like to ask our subjects how they find their community. I want you guys (the readers) to be unafraid of venturing out and exploring and meeting new folks who do different things; things that you've been thinking about trying but never really got around to. Megan has found the Slam Poetry Community to be incredibly supportive with so many people giving compliments and feedback.

Here, you can listen to the latest video of her slam poetry at the Annual Vancouver Poetry Slam QUEER SLAM in which she placed 8th.

  And if you like what you hear perhaps you'll like what you read. More of Megan's poetry can be found on her tumblr at meganoakley14

Remember, if you guys have someone cool outside of the JusteyeballIt community send me a link and I will write up a piece about them.

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Stefan is a person I know, yes.

10/1000

At first I’m pretty sure Stefan hated me. Maybe he thought I hated him, who knows, but our friendship started really slowly. I saw him on a Montreal collab channel called The Unexpected Fellowship, and I thought he seemed pretty cool. I didn’t actually know what collab channels were at that point (I was a YouTube toddler) and I thought that meant they were super popular people who probably wouldn’t want to talk to me. I ended up messaging all of them asking if I could meet them and we did, in a sketchy bar, except Stefan wasn’t there at all.

I went to a Nerdfighter gathering and he was there. We probably said Hi and then never spoke again. For a while anyway. Then eventually we talked some more, made a few videos together and yeah, we’re friends now. I think the moral of this story is, don’t assume that someone hates you for no reason. Also, that picture of Stefan is like 3000 year old. He ages REALLY well! He’s going to actually hate me when he realizes I’ve written so little about him though.

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Quite sometime ago, Jonathan posted this video to facebook. I started writing a comment on his post. But it became lengthy and involved, so I felt it was better shared here. I've been meaning to do this ever since.

As a child, I liked girl's toys, boy's toys, and neutral toys. Things that were gender specific were never thrust upon me during my upbringing, I was allowed freedom in that area. I liked all different sorts of things.

But getting older often means falling into that marketing trap, as conditioning takes hold, and personal care requirements become more specific. I recall just beginning to look outside the box when I was in my mid- to late-teens. I read a blurb in a magazine that suggested using plain shaving cream instead of those marketed toward women. The perks listed were the much lower cost in a much larger volume and simply better results. I realized how blind I'd been, and my eyes were now opened! I may be a sucker for nice smells, but who really needs scented shave gel?! Not I.

Over the years, I know there were still many instances of me buying into gender marketing. I think I've now gained the awareness to see through it altogether. In fact, I'm usually impervious to all types of marketing these days. I was freed, in part, by avoiding the media, especially television. But there was still the matter of having to shop and to choose from all this different merchandise.

Analyzing the psychology of marketing often keeps me on track because it allows me to see through the veil. Honestly though, the thing that impacted my purchases the most were health concerns regarding the ingredients in personal care items. I began to look into alternatives, but I was still being targeted by marketing.

I started out with products that were labeled as "natural" or whatever, and didn't contain ingredients I was looking to avoid. A lot of it just didn't suit me, so I researched making my own. It seemed so impossible, as I logically believed if people could do it themselves, there was no need for the ready-made products to exist. I obviously wasn't considering the fact that pre-made crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have been on the scene for years, and people actually buy them. That fact has brought me a sense of extreme distaste since I first learned of their unholy existence.

So I set out on making what I need. It was just one thing here and there over a long span of time. However, I found it to be so easy and so cheap, that I've never wanted to go back. And I can customize everything! I made friends with a local lady who makes natural soaps. I liked them better than anything I'd tried from the store. Now she has her own store because everyone loves what she makes! I haven't tried to learn it myself yet, it is a somewhat involved process. But the simpler things I make or have made include toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant/antiperspirant, moisturizer, and possibly other things I'm not thinking of right now.

Things can often be made with only 2 or 3 ingredients. In the case of moisturizer, you can just use one type of natural oil. Or you can create a blend of different types, and even add essential oil for fragrance. Homemade deodorant/antiperspirant works far better for me than the manufactured stuff ever did.

If you want to avoid target marketing and high prices, I urge you to find a soap maker (or learn it, yourself). And start looking up recipes for whatever you need (this is the internet, for crying out loud).

Go forth and be free!

-Balinka

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Actually back this time (promise)

9/1000

I hate it when vloggers make those videos being all like "sorry I didn't make a video in 67 years, but I'm back now, for sure. 90% of the time they will never be seen again, and I had a bit of a brushing with that lately. I never wanted to be that kind of person, but then I moved, and organized a conference, and then just felt emotionally and physically drained for a month. It sucked, and the fact that I hadn't posted one of these or worked on some of my other projects actually made me kind of depressed and unmotivated. Well I'm back motherf–ers, with a vengeance!

Today we're going to talk about my friend Adrian, who I met at VidCon this year. I'm not going to talk so much about him, because as I'd told him I'm feeling really tired tonight and don't really want to write about anyone, but I do want you to know about something that he's doing!

Adrian has a YouTube channel where he's doing something called Octo-tober (no that is not a typo) Basically he's going to be collaborating with 8 different YouTubers in the month of October (and he's still looking for other people so if you're in the LA area ;) ) The project is meant to be for fun, but it's also a great means to grow a channel! As we're all quite aware, YouTubers with smaller audiences barely get any promotion from YouTube, regardless of the quality of their content, but they can promote eachother!

I'm actually one of the guests for Octo-tober (our collab involves kitchen appliances and DIY, but I won't say any more!) and I can't wait for you guys to see it! Octo-tober was actually our friend Tyler's idea, so I probably should have talked to her about this, but I didn't really ask those questions before doing this!

Have a great day, and here's to keeping up this project! 

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Pat's Picks Issue #3: Kimberly G

The first time I had seen Kim was on Hannah Hart's episode of My Drunk Kitchen (http://youtu.be/1Ul6PlrNGxU). At the end of the video Hannah recommended to check out Kim's "dope rapping".

So I did.

And I wasn't disappointed. Now, I'm not big into rap but there are a few songs I don't mind listening to (mostly geek related or straight from Jeff William's songs for RoosterTeeth ... so ... more ... geek ... stuff ... yeahANYWAY), but Kim's videos were able to get me interested a little more into rap music. Before her video for Hannah's contest she hadn't done too much playing around with music.

In the video above Kim raps, "y'all give me the topic too. We can talk about life, we can talk about you" and as a result has been able to build a very supportive and friendly community that has a strong "give and take" vibe between the viewers and creator; while they're there for her, she's there for them too. Even though she doesn't post content frequently (I am also guilty of this) the majority of her community doesn't mind and continues to support her; to be fair, she's gotta put her studies first (she's currently pursuing a degree in Visual Art/History).

On top of that Kimberly is also an actress on the side who has been in a couple of film/television projects in recent years. Most recently she has been on the web series Kid's Town (http://kidstown.tv/) for one episode as the character Heather Clarence.

You can find her on youtube and twitter as "Kimberly G" and tumblr as kimberly-a-g

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Ryan! We're back!

8/1000

Doing something every day is not easy. Be it exercising, or vlogging, or just waking up early, it takes a while for something daily to become just a normal part of your day. As it turns out, organizing a conference and moving at the same time is not conducive to establishing "normal days." You might be in lots of meetings one day, cleaning the next , and the schedule; what schedule?! You have to be able to adapt really quickly to anything that might come up, so the whole idea of anything in your life becoming "normal" isn't really present. I missed a few weeks, which I'm not happy about considering how excited I am about this project, but I'm back now! I won't be doing this daily right away, but I will once the conference is done.

Anyway, on to the real reason you're here, Ryan! I met him at VidCon, and I thought he was pretty great! At the same time, he discovered my videos and very quickly became an active part of the community! He even writes for this blog! Most people don't dive into a community headfirst, but I'm really glad he did. Moving right ahead, I asked him a bunch of questions because it's hard to write about someone if you don't know a whole lot about them. You can always stalk their social media for the past seven years, but that's kind of creepy.

What are you passionate about? This is a question that keeps coming up, and Ryan told me it's "helping people." He's often that person people go to if they need someone to talk to, and it's just something he does. Sometimes it's to the detriment of his own wellbeing though, and unfortunately he hasn't figured out how to make up for that. This is a suggestion for Ryan's friends: if you find out that he's helped lots of people with stuff, randomly do something nice for him!

What would you do if you won the lottery? The first thing he said was put money away for his niece's college fund, followed by paying for his mom's house and his grandma's bills and there was quite a list. Most people think of something they'd do for themselves first! I want him to sponsor ViralCon with it! When pressed for things he might do with a ton of cash if he had it, he confessed that he would get better internet, but also a better computer. Money isn't really important for him, which is good.

What's something that you're really good at? "Since I am good at helping people, I have this weird thing where people need to tell me their problems constantly." He went on to tell me about a few times when he spoke to people who don't normally reveal much who ended up telling him everything that they felt they need help with. He wants to go into psychology, so this is a great skill to have. To help people you have to be disarming, in the good way.

I had a blast interviewing Ryan, and I hope we get to chat more at some point soon!

Jonathan

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Pat's Picks Issue #2: Adam Sakellarides

When I had first heard of Adam Sackuh...Adam Sackeel...Seckuh..."Sack-ulla-ree-deez", it was for last year's Hijinks Ensue fan art contest (http://hijinksensue.com/2013/05/21/hijinks-ensue-6th-anniversary-fancy-bastard-fancy-fan-art-contest-winners/). He whipped up a whimsical tune that managed to encapture Joel Watson's webcomic magnificently. In the same contest I had been an honorable mention and Adam wasted no time to compliment me on my entry. After that we began following each other's work to much delight (well he hasn't unfollowed me yet).

According to Adam and Adam's mom he had begun his venture into the world of music when he began singing in a grocery store line up where he was complimented by Bernadette Peters (Broadway star / voice of Rita on Animaniacs) on his singing. Otherwise, says Sakellarides, "music has just always been a thing to which [he's] gravitated."

Being raised on music like the Beatles, "oldies" and classical music, Adam manages to blend tones and genres while adding meaningful and/or heartfelt lyrics in producing his own alt/nerd rock music. One of my favourites is his latest song "Like To Go Karting":

Adam has found the nerd-music community has been a pleasure to work in, being "very supportive and loving". So if this kind of stuff is your thing, don't be too wary in giving it a shot.

Adam is followable on tumblr via adamsak, on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/user/adamsakellarides) and on Bandcamp (http://adamsakellarides.bandcamp.com/)

A native southern-Californian, Adam started writing songs on an old guitar from the 70s that his parents won in a raffle. He sings about science, politics, socially-awkward people, and things like that. Now armed with clever lyrics, catchy melodies, and a bunch of mediocre jokes, he’s ready to entertain you. If you still want to know more about him you can check out his website over at http://adamsak.com

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Spotted Joi

So I was watching TheCameraHatesMe's most recent YouVivor video. The very same contest a certain Prince of the Internet was in. And while reviewing the source material for TheCameraHatesMe's video, Good YouTuber by Gunnarolla. Look who I spotted:

That's right it's Joi from Project 1000: #3. Such Joi!!!

Bonus: If you are interested, Joi has a behind the scenes video post on her channel.  

[justeyeballitcommunity]

Horror Nightmare Funtime Yeah!

It isn't so much that there's some unusually macabre story or terrifying threat at work here, there is only the fact that this exists in real life. Knowing that, you can form your own fascination or phobia according to your preferences. It is my duty to spread the word of this curiosity to those who may wish to delve further. At any rate this pressing matter needs to be addressed. Y'all, there is a clown-themed motel next to an abandoned graveyard in the Nevada desert. Now, I can certainly see the creep factor here. But I'll be honest with you, I'm entirely intrigued, perhaps because of said creep factor. Contrary to what may be going through your head right now, the clown motel isn't the scene of anything sinister. However, I suppose that's subjective, depending on your feelings regarding clowns. It's just a little motel that's decorated with everything clown-related. That's it. Still, it's enough to drive a lot of people over the edge. My oldest niece would not be a fan. (On a side note, my brother is a tireless prankster and has a life-size Ronald McDonald cardboard cutout. You can see where this is going. Yes, Ronnie has turned up in such places as the shower, her closet, behind her door, and so on. It's surprising their family hasn't crumbled hopelessly by now.) Being on the edge of the empty desert, the motel sees mostly travelers who are driving seemingly aimless long distances through the area. That means you could experience the added whimsy of having your breakfast alongside colorful bikers and truckers, all while being under the watchful eye of a thousand various clowns. And as if it couldn't get any more magical, there's the bonus amenity of the old graveyard just out the door. Once again, there are no specific bone-chilling tales to tell; there are graveyards everywhere. They surely all have some level of hauntedness about them, but this may be one of the less active. It does have that eerie, barren, old west appearance going for it, though. It hasn't been used for over 100 years, which technically constitutes it as being abandoned, although the historical society seems to keep it kempt enough. It's a bit of a novelty that the graveyard was only used for 10 years before another plot of land in a different location was allotted for the town's deceased. There's not a lot to speak of otherwise. I feel that the main draw is the close proximity of the clown motel and the abandoned graveyard to one another. It simply sounds like the kind of word that needs to be spread, a topic that begs to be discussed. Atlas Obscura provides me with a plethora of bizarre and wondrous places to ponder. There is an article specifically about the clown motel, and one specifically about the graveyard. Sweet dreams. Balinka

[justeyeballitcommunity]

How to make Cruzan Confusion

Things you will need 

If you can't find this you can use this 

 next you will need 

and if you can't find this you can use this 

you will also need this 

and the last thing of all is the glass your going to use to drink it 

. 1 part cruzan coconut rum ( malibu rum works just as good if u cant find cruzan coconut rum ) . 1 part cruzan mango rum ( malibu mango rum works just as good to if you can find cruzan mango rum ) . 1 splash(es) pineapple juice

optional fresh pineapples and orangesto garnish you drink

combine ingredients together with ice in a lowball glass

[justeyeballitcommunity]

IT'S ELECTRIFYIN'! (...lectrifyin, lectrifyin...)

Alright now, being the avid admirer of Nikola Tesla that I am, I got really jazzed when I first ran across this news. I meant to write about it immediately, but my life's been weirdly and unexpectedly eventful. So a couple of weeks later, here we are. Some Russian physicists plan to rebuild the Wardenclyffe tower! They are consulting Tesla's original design to create a modern version, using updated materials and technology. The group has launched a campaign on indiegogo, but have only reached 5% of their goal with about a week left. Fortunately, they will receive the funds they have raised, even if the goal isn't met. I must say, $800,000 seems a small price for something so remarkable! Taking inflation into account, that's only a fraction of the investment that was put into Tesla's project, and it was never even fully financed. By comparison, just think of the multi-million dollar endeavors that amount to virtually nothing, or are even works of destruction rather than creation. Construction for the original Wardenclyffe tower began in 1901. The purpose was to create a transmitter that could provide free, unlimited, safe electricity, broadcasting, and telecommunications to be accessed wirelessly by everyone everywhere. The world just wasn't ready to accept all that good ol' Nikola worked so hard to provide, and funding was revoked. When rich people invest, they expect to make a profit. It doesn't quite work that way when a service becomes free and impossible to regulate. Although, in all actuality, it would have done everyone a favor and created more general abundance. The tower was never fully utilized as intended, and was used less and less until it was shut down. The structure was demolished in 1917. I don't know how much the group in Russia will be able to achieve with the money they've raised. They seem very confident in their plans, so I'm sure they will keep at it until the new tower becomes a reality. I can't even begin to fathom how much this will change everything! It's wonderful how many people are now embracing Nikola Tesla's work, I think that's exactly what the world needs. I mean, who doesn't love Nikola Tesla? I wish I could have known him, and his pigeons too. Balinka