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Video Blogs That I Spend Too Much Time Watching

Every night after my wife goes to bed, I should be at the computer writing. If I had the level of discipline I truly needed, it would be a no brainer. I’d become tied to the keyboard for somewhere between 1-2 hours every night. I’d have so much written after a few weeks, it would be staggering. But sadly, there are days when I can’t get my brain into the correct headspace to do any of that. And it isn’t a writer’s block type of thing. It is more of the: life is kicking my ass/I’m tired/can I just veg out for a little while.

I’ll be good and write tomorrow night.

I promise.

In the meantime, these are the Video Blogs/Series (whatever you want to call them) that end up taking too much of my attention these days:

Pitch Meeting

If there was a Mount Rushmoor of Youtube videos, this series would have to be the very first on the mountain for me. The basic premise is of a writer “pitching” his next movie to a producer. Through the magic of green screens, Ryan George plays both parts as he goes through the various plot points and characters of a movie and makes you question (truly) if any movie actually thought about exactly what kind of story they were telling. Too many times I find myself going “Oh, yeah, I guess that didn’t make ANY sense.” After a few episodes you might even start saying things like:

“Super easy, barely an inconvience.”

“Tight”

“Wow wow wow wow.”

One of the classics is the one he did for Back to the Future, check it out here me.

 

Julie Nolke

I discovered her during the Pandemic through her video “Explaining the Pandemic to my Past Self” where a future version of Julie goes back in time to talk to her slightly younger self about what’s about to happen to her (and the whole world). And then because that one was a hit, she has done a bunch more. However, her channel is also various comedy skits including her getting advice from a drunk fairy godmother, dealing with a roomate who is randomly upset about various things, and so on. Think if you were watching Saturday Night Live except all the skits were by one woman (and the vast majority are very, very good).

Viva La Dirt League

When a group of New Zealanders (is that the word?) get together and make a bunch of various series that point out the oddities within online roleplaying games, first person shooters, and even horror games. I came upon it through their Epic NPC Man, which focused on one of the NPCs from a video game and the various PCs who play the game. They tackle a ton of things that have become cliches over the years such as why do the women in games always have skimpy armor that only seem to cover their naughty bits and nothing else? I typically laugh mutliple times through their videos.

(I feel like this is the worst summary of something I’ve ever written. I really think it is excellent.)

 

Ashley Sleeth

Every night my wife and I try to watch at least one poker video. It’s our way of “studying” in an attempt to get incrimentally better at the crazy game we supposedly play for “fun” (though sometimes the line between fun and frustrating is very blurry). Ashley has only been doing her video blog for a little over a year so it feels good to join her on her journey to become a better player. This is one of those that if you aren’t a poker player, I’m not sure you would get as much out of it, but Ashely clearly puts a ton of time and effort into her videos and game which makes it a great blog to watch.

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John McGuire is the writer of the sci-fi novel: The Echo Effect.

He is also the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!

Click here to join John’s mailing list and receive preview chapters of upcoming novels, behind the scenes looks at new comics, and free short stories.

His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, Tales from Vigilante City, Beyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.

He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com

How to Make Me

Sometimes the best way to inspire yourself is to look back at the archives of this very site and see what you’ve written before. I’ve done that over the last couple of years, doing repost blogs since there are likely more than a few people who might not have ever seen some of my earliest tales of fun and woe. But sometimes it is also worth it to take a look back at what others were doing and then steal the idea and make it your own.

So as I was doing so, I glanced in the “Drafts” folder for Tessera and found something that Chad Shonk (who wrote for this site many years ago) wrote up, but never actually published. The idea of “How to Make a Me” where he posted these images of things that he felt contributed to who he was at the time of the blog post (or would have been at the time of the blog post). I like this idea of trying to Frankenstein’s Monster myself

 

Comics

Comics are the great, singular passion for me. I couldn’t quit them if I tried. And while much of my collection is focused on the superheroes, that doesn’t mean my love doesn’t extend to the independents. If you have a compelling story, I’m in.

Blast from the past: Comics Are My Time Machine

Music

I’ve written about my love affair with Pearl Jam, but like so many people, music has been the time machine of my life. A song can signify a period that I might have long since forgotten. The nostalgia for those old memories and feelings are a great drug.

Blast from the past: I Like To Swim… Into the Mosh…

Movies

I joke that had I not seen Jaws, I would have gone into Marine Biology. But with my family getting HBO when I was around 10 years old, watching movies was just one of those things I always did. And rewatching your favorites give me a certain level of comfort.

Blast from the Past – My Top Ten Horror Movies

Sports

A long time I wrote about how my two main teams had only delivered one World Title while I’d been a fan (and that was probably one of the years I hadn’t paid as much attention to the Braves). If you aren’t a Lakers/Yankees/Patriots fan, it can be a bit of slim pickings. Of course, with the Braves winning the World Series last year, I finally got to experience that ultimate joy as a fan.

Blast from the Past – Finally!!! Atlanta Braves Win!!!

Books

Jack London was the first author I really recognized from name alone. Call of the Wild was one of the few books, as a young kid, that I’d read and reread. Over the years I’m not sure I’ve found anyone to replace him at the top of my pantheon.

Blast from the Past – Books That Changed Me – Part 2

Poker

Courtney and I play poker. We strategize. We watch Youtube videos. It is one of our great bonding pieces of our relationship. And it is one of those things we can always get better in through practice.

 

Pets

I’ve had cats my whole life. Something about pets overall helps fill in the pieces of your soul. But these two knuckleheads are the best I’ve ever had. And while Westley passed away last year, Inigo has been a rock since.

Blast from the Past – COVID Through the Eyes of a Cat

 

***

Of course, there are other pieces of me not reflected here (family, the beach trips, the travels), but these all consist of the bigger things.

***

John McGuire is the writer of the sci-fi novel: The Echo Effect.

He is also the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!

Click here to join John’s mailing list and receive preview chapters of upcoming novels, behind the scenes looks at new comics, and free short stories.

His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, Tales from Vigilante City, Beyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.

He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com