Sunday 26 November 2017

FINDING MY (ONLINE) FAM


Well, I lost my faith in YouTube. The people I ran into seemed to border apathy and cynicism. No one seemed to care about anyone else and I felt like I was adrift in the middle of the ocean. I tried hard to fit in, to develop the same strong outer shell that others seemed to display. If I was to survive, I had to be just like them. I had to not care either. Problem is, that wasn't me.


My only experience with livestreams came in the form of the South Park livestreams on YouTube, where people who were at the mental and/or physical age of 10 tried to out-troll each other. This was not my crowd. I have a special dislike of trolls. I don't think they are funny. I don't think they are clever. And I don't think I have any desire to be around them ever again in this life. So when my friend Dale told me about some livestreams he had joined recently, I didn't exactly listen with rapt attention.


Meet The Mitchell Family Reality TV Show. They are a channel on YouTube that regularly does live streams, and they are such a great bunch. They accept everyone around them as family, not just listeners or subscribers. Coming into their live stream that first time, I was a little nervous. Okay - I was a lot nervous. But soon I felt right at home there. And it wasn't just the host that helped me to feel welcome - it was all of the people in there. They were all so warm and polite. Where had these people been for the past 7 1/2 years?? Well, it didn't matter. I was here now.


And it wasn't just the Mitchells' stream. It was the people - people I had never met before - who welcomed me with open arms. And I cannot even begin to express what a wonderful feeling that is around holiday time with no family to speak of. Like the "bee girl" in the Blind Melon video who felt ostracized by everyone and then finds people like her to celebrate life with, I am just coming into my own on YouTube. And it's about time, too.


MOVIE REVIEW Good Time (2017)

Comment Of The Week 1126

Comment Of The Week 1126

POETRY READING Undoing

Tuesday 14 November 2017

NEW CHANNEL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!


If you are familiar with my social media channels, you are already familiar with the many ways in which I explore my creativity. My latest venture is into the world of filmmaking through short independent films in which there is no talking, just a musical soundtrack. When I began I did not know how much I would enjoy this creative outlet. Or the fact that this had been the missing element from my creative stable all along.


I have returned to YouTube in a more limited capacity to create an exciting new channel I like to call Indie Arthouse Films. This channel will showcase my short films using royalty-free music and therefore will not be taken down due to copyright infringement. My short films will still be available for viewing on Vidme and BitChute, but IAF will be the only channel devoted exclusively to my short films.

Please consider subscribing to my new channel, and viewing a sample of my indie films below. And thank you for your continued support and encouragement. It means a great deal to me.


INDIE FILM SHORTS Dark Roast Days

Wednesday 8 November 2017

VLOGGER, THY NAME AIN'T TANYA



My name is Tanya. I am many things to many people, but I am not a vlogger. There is nothing wrong with vlogging; I just don't fall under that particular umbrella. 


I like producing film shorts. How are they different from a vlog, you may ask? Well, the fact that I don't say a single word in them is a good start. The shorts tend to be about a concept, not a concrete happening in reality. And I am not looking to communicate anything in these shorts other than an emotion or idea under the microscope of film.


My thumbnails for these film shorts are misleading. The word "vlog" is featured prominently on every thumbnail. But I am thinking of changing that. How can I expect people to see the difference between my film shorts and a standard vlog if I insist on using the wrong terminology myself?

If you want to check out my film shorts, you can find them here. And if you are a vlogger, way to go, keep doing you. And I will keep doing me.