Tag: youtube

culture · Uncategorized

5 Easy Ways to Support Your Favorite Content Creators

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Happy Wednesday! I hope you all are enjoying your hump day and making it a great one.

I recently have been consuming a lot of motivational/inspirational content on social media. I really needed to tap into the encouraging words of some of my favorite content creators, as well as learn about products and programs that could support me in accomplishing my dreams in 2019.

As I watched videos, checked out Instagram stories, and listened to podcasts, I realized that it’s important to support these content creators, who pour out their hearts and souls for our consumption. There are a lot of ways to support them, but I wanted to share 5 easy ways that you can give them support that doesn’t require a lot of time or money. ‘Tis the season to be generous, right? Here are some ways that you can do that.

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  • Watch the advertisements at the beginning of YouTube videos.

It’s almost instinctual to click through the advertisements and get right to the content. However, I’ve been making it a point to allow the advertisement to play at the beginning of YouTube videos. It’s a little way that I can support content creators, and it doesn’t cost me a thing.

  • Purchase a program/training/book/product from them.

This is obvious, but if you’ve been consuming a lot of material from a particular content creator, it stands to reason that you may want to invest in one of their products or programs. If the investment is within your budget, it would be great to support in such a clear, tangible way.

  • Share the content with your social network.

Saw a video that you really enjoyed? Listened to a podcast that got you fired up (in a good way)? Read a post that really helped you get clear on something? Share it with others! You never know who is looking for that information. Even if you’re not on social media, share it with someone that you know offline: send a link to a friend, family member, coworker, whoever.

  • Like, comment, subscribe, follow, join: get involved with the content creator’s groups and social media outlets.

If you really want to support content creator’s, it’s as simple as pressing “like”, subscribing, joining their free groups, following their fan pages, etc.,. Having a strong social media following is important for content creators, and since it’s free, why not do it? Besides, it’s the best way to stay current with these creator’s latest offerings.

  • Give them positive reviews.

While you’re joining your favorite content creators’ groups, why not post reviews of their content? Reviews are pretty easy to do on podcasting platforms like iTunes and Stitcher, and can be done on other platforms, too. It’s a simple, easy way to let the world know who you support.

Can you all think of any other ways to support content creators? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

style

The Only Two YouTube Style Gurus That You Need to Know About

Mstldelano2 Comments

Happy Friday, friends! I’ve recently spent a lot of time on YouTube, getting additional style ideas for this fall/winter transition. I have a good sense of the major items that I want to incorporate into my wardrobe, but I love getting additional inspiration so that I can look my best during the cooler months.

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Through the many videos I’ve watched, I’ve learned that there are only two YouTube gurus that I’ve seen who have extremely comprehensive information that can apply to anyone. These YT creators are informative, thorough, and engaging. If you need a basic style education, I recommend these two ladies highly.

Aly Art

Aly is a favorite because her channel explains the Kibbe typing system in detail, and extends the concepts from clothing to hair, makeup and accessories. This Russian cutie makes content that really delves in how style can be used to flatter and enhance our natural attributes. She’s charming and stylish, and I love how her channel makes sure that a wide variety of women are well represented.

One of my favorite Aly Art’s favorite videos is the one about signature looks for the different body types:

 

Justine Leconte

I don’t know if it’s her French sensibility or her actual content that I love more, but I adore Justine. She is a fashion designer so she has a professional background in the style industry, and she, like Aly, has a flair for breaking down fashion concepts for regular folks like us. She covers fashion, color theory, beauty, and cultural concepts on her channel. There’s a lot of good information here, so visit when you have a good amount of time on your hands. Justine also has a website that you can check out here.

This video about planning your capsule wardrobe is great:

These two YouTubers are my go-tos for style information. Listen to these two ladies and you can’t go wrong!

That’s all for today. I look forward to chatting with you all tomorrow. Take care!

culture · Uncategorized

I’m Coming to YouTube!

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One of my big “surprises” for the blog is that I will starting makng YouTube videos in the next couple of weeks! I’ve thought about it long and hard, and some messages are best communicated verbally as opposed to the written word. I won’t be posting videos every day, but for some topics, I think a video supplement is the best way to get the point across.

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I have some short videos up right now, and I’ll be re-filming a video that I posted to my Instagram account last week. Here’s a video from my time at the Embassy of Ireland several months ago:

 

There will be lots of travel, cooking, art and cultural videos on my channel. In other words, it will be an extension of this website. I’m so excited for this new chapter, and I hope you all will enjoy the content I create!

culture · international

Fun With Portuguese

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I slacked with my Portuguese studies but I recently got back into my routine and I’m excited about learning more of the language. For the record, I’m learning European Portuguese, since I expect to go to Portugal before I travel to Brazil. But let’s be honest: I’d take either location: I’m not picky about which one I visit first!

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Portuguese has a lot of words and definitions shared with Spanish, but make no mistake: studying Spanish isn’t enough to get by in Portuguese. Familiarity with any Romance language will help with Portuguese comprehension. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I see or hear a word and it means what I *think* it means.

Pronunciation, on the other hand, is a completely different animal. I’ve taken French and Spanish, and certain tricks of pronunciation elude me: the same occurs while I’m practicing Portuguese, too. I really love is the tendency to add a subtle “sh” sound at the end of some words ending in the letter “s”. It almost sounds like what most Americans would consider a lisp, though it’s actually a completely acceptable sound. In fact, disregarding the subtle “sh” would likely make it clear to any native speaker that you aren’t one of them.

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All of that being said, I love the sound of Portuguese, and I’m excited that I’m learning little phrases here and there. If I didn’t mention it before, I’ll mention it now: I’ll be sharing my language learning tools on this blog. For this post, I’ll be sharing one podcast that I’ve used to help me with learning Portuguese.

Portuguese with Carla has incredibly thorough language instruction and the lessons are long enough where you can really start “training your ear” to the language. Carla and her husband Marlon not only teach Portuguese but they also give neuroscientific tips, offering research and techniques related to improved language learning. I’ve been having a lot of fun listening to them and practicing along. I generally listen to the podcast but I also have checked out their companion YT channel, since I occasionally need to see what is being said so that I can get a better “feel” of the conversation. If you’re interested in learning Portuguese, I highly recommend this website/podcast/YT channel!

Here’s one of Carla’s videos, for your enjoyment:

life curation

Currently Watching . . .

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Happy Saturday, darlings! A series of related YouTube videos led me to this TED talk from 2015 (yes, it’s an older video). The term “multipotentialite” was new to me, but I quickly identified with the traits ascribed to this label.

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Emilie Wapnick’s discussion about why some of us lack “one true calling” really spoke to me. I have had several successful “careers” (paralegal, tax analyst, financial analyst) but never felt that I was in my “sweet spot”, that one place I was meant to occupy. I enjoyed aspects about each career but nothing felt like a “calling” to me.

I appreciate everything I learned throughout my careers and I’m in awe that I was able to transition effortlessly from job to job. My current position is my favorite and feels more like a dream job than any other I’ve had. And yet, I’m preparing for the next transition, because I’m being drawn to a career in the art world. But my calling? I don’t know that I have a singular one. And that’s okay.

If you haven’t found your “calling”, take heart. You may just be one of “us”, the multipotentialites. Talk to you all soon!

music

Currently Listening To . . .

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A few days ago, I was on YouTube listening to 90s and early 2000s RnB. I find myself missing the smooth ballads sung by talented vocalists. I was listening to Eric Benet’s “Femininity” when I came across this classic. I remember when it was released and how much I loved it, so I could’t resist listening to it again:

I remember hearing that there were actually two previous versions of the song “Georgy Porgy”, so I looked for those. As always, YouTube didn’t disappoint. The original version was sung by Toto, and then remade a few years later by Side Effect. Eric Benet’s version was released nearly two decades later.

After comparing all three, I’m pretty sure I love the Side Effect arrangement best, though I think Eric was the strongest lead vocalist out of all of the versions. However, there’s a softer, more romantic feel to the the male vocalist in Toto’s version; he sounds more authentically lovesick than the other lead vocalists. As far as the female backing vocal, Mikki Howard (in Side Effect’s version) was by far my favorite.

Do you have a favorite version? Let me know in the comments below!