This summer I have had to learn to deal with a very frustrating issue. No, it's not college algebra, too much work at my job, or any of those normal things that can be frustrating for normal people from time to time. No, what I have dealt with in a way that you cannot comprehend is slow internet.
I grew up in the 1990's, you know back when N'Sync was cool and Justin Timberlake didn't think he was a rapper. The 1990's was also when the internet was emerging. When I was in 5th grade, a good friend of mine had it, and when he showed me MSN chat, and I saw that the potential of me getting a girlfriend could increase with the ability to chat with the ladies online...I was hooked.
Of course that theory never panned out. But still, about a year later I finally convinced my dad to get internet. We got dial-up, which was AWESOME because I didn't know any better. A few years later, I started hearing this term "DSL" and "High Speed Internet that doesn't make an annoying 'dialing up and connecting' sound everytime you go online" So I had to check it out. Around that time online gaming was also emerging, namely x-box live.
However, it wasn't until October of the year of our Lord 2006 that the Griepenstroh home upgraded to high-speed internet, and only because I had a job and told my dad I'd pay half the bill. And as you all know, once your eyes are opened to the world of high-speed internet, you can't imagine going back to dial-up. The funny thing is that when I moved out my dad didn't downgrade, he picked up the rest of the bill because he couldn't go back either.
And over the past few years, my life has become more and more online. I realized today that there are at least 6 websites that I am heavily involved with/desire to check regularly. But here at camp, we have the capacity for around 3 people to use it at the same time and have it be speedy. Unfortunately, at any given time during the daytime in the summer we have 20 people using it. If I try to do anything on the internet during the day I might as well give up before I even start because it is going to be as slow as molasses. Right now it is very late at night, which is when I should be asleep, but instead has become my "internet" time. Even now the internet isn't exactly speedy. There has been talk of getting better internet out here, but it is more the providers fault then ours.
For now, my best option is to deal with it. Maybe I could even become a little less dependent of the internet...maybe. So tell me, how much time do you spend on the internet every day? How many websites do you regularly check? Why are we as a culture becoming so dependent on the internet?
-Bill
Under Construction
Hey everyone! So I've had this blog for a while but haven't really used/promoted it much. However, that's all about to change. I am officially going to switch from xanga to blogger today! All my xanga posts are on facebook anyways.
Part of the reason I'm switching is because I'm a sucker for peer pressure and my friend Truman told me to. Besides, no one is on xanga anymore anyways. And just like everything else I do that my friends do, in about two months they will lose interest and then I will be the only one still on here. Just watch it happen.
This has happened with many things, but video games are the best example. "Hey Bill, buy Battlefield II, it's so fun! Everyone's playing it." Two weeks later... "Hey Bill, buy counterstrike, it's sweet!" Two weeks later... "Hey Bill, buy Team Fortress II, it's way better than counterstrike and Battlefield." So then I have all this crap that I used for two weeks and then no one played with me anymore. Probably about half the games I own are because my friends told me they were fun and to buy them and then my friends lost interest shortly after and I was stuck with these stupid games.
Hopefully it isn't the same with this blog. I'll start promoting it through youtube and maybe, just maybe, enough people will read it to motivate me to continue writing on it. For now though, this site is a work in progress, because I need to update the layout and color scheme because in my opinion it looks like crap right now. It's so not billgrip.
-Bill
Part of the reason I'm switching is because I'm a sucker for peer pressure and my friend Truman told me to. Besides, no one is on xanga anymore anyways. And just like everything else I do that my friends do, in about two months they will lose interest and then I will be the only one still on here. Just watch it happen.
This has happened with many things, but video games are the best example. "Hey Bill, buy Battlefield II, it's so fun! Everyone's playing it." Two weeks later... "Hey Bill, buy counterstrike, it's sweet!" Two weeks later... "Hey Bill, buy Team Fortress II, it's way better than counterstrike and Battlefield." So then I have all this crap that I used for two weeks and then no one played with me anymore. Probably about half the games I own are because my friends told me they were fun and to buy them and then my friends lost interest shortly after and I was stuck with these stupid games.
Hopefully it isn't the same with this blog. I'll start promoting it through youtube and maybe, just maybe, enough people will read it to motivate me to continue writing on it. For now though, this site is a work in progress, because I need to update the layout and color scheme because in my opinion it looks like crap right now. It's so not billgrip.
-Bill
Spring Time
Ah, I love spring time. Fresh air, green leaves, thunderstorms, and all those wonderful things that aren't cold and horrible begin to occur. Winter in Nebraska is just poopy. Actually, I don't even want to say poopy because I'd rather walk around in poop than walk through winter in Nebraska. But spring and summer in Nebraska I love.
Right now I'm sitting at a coffee shop on my macbook feeling the fresh breeze come in through the door. Could life be any better?
Right now I'm sitting at a coffee shop on my macbook feeling the fresh breeze come in through the door. Could life be any better?
Confessions of a YouTuber
I originally created this blog with the distinct purpose of being a place to write about current videos that I created and to give fans little tid-bits of information about the making of videos and whatever else. Well I wrote a few, and then I stopped because I'm not actually famous enough to have a decent amount of people to read my blogs. At that time, I had a problem relating my significance in life to how famous I was on youtube. Luckily, I snapped out of that stupid mindset. Anyone who is reading this that used to watch my youtube videos has probably noticed that I have slowed down tremendously in my production of them, and this blog is going to fully explain why. To warn you, I write this with passion because this is a very passionate subject for me.
*Ahem
So here's the deal, everyone who makes videos on youtube consistently has a goal in mind, and that goal is to become famous. Even if you don't really think that is the reason you are on youtube, subconsciously it most likely is. It's like an open-mic and its your chance to get up in front of the world and show them why they should love you to death. But what is your definition of love? My definition of love is much different from the world's definition of love. To be famous, especially on youtube, you either have to get lucky or you have to prostitute yourself.
Brett Favre once said "You are only as good as your last pass." Guess what? That concept applies to a much bigger spectrum than football. Singers are only as good as their last album, actors are only as good as their last movie. Basically, as a famous person, your fame is as stable as a bridge made out of twigs on the San Andres Fault. Look at youtube celebrities of old. There are a few that were once top-dog, and now have been replaced by untalented retards like Chris Crocker who cried about Brittany Spears and got on TV for it. Sure, some are talented, but they are only as good as their last pass. The second someone gets discovered that is funnier or has more talent, they will go down.
When I see the way some people on youtube behave, I honestly want to throw up. As I write this, I could literally run into the bathroom and puik up all the contents of my stomach including vital organs. I see it happen again and again where the desire for fame makes a person simply pretend to be friends with people until they get ahead. I know because I have done this myself. People with 100 subscribers talk to people with 100 subscribers and more. People with 10000 subscribers talk to the people at their level and anyone below them isn't worth their time. Rarely do I encounter someone who doesn't think that they are better than people with fewer subscribers. Another thing that makes me sick is how people, as I said, prostitute themselves. They'll use cleavage thumbnails, make videos that create drama, and SPAM SPAM SPAM. They pretend to be friends with someone for the sake of self-promotion. EVERYONE ON YOUTUBE IS SELFISH! EVERYONE WANTS TO BE AT THE TOP! AHHHH! *Bill puiks to himself.
Okay, deep breaths. So...what is it that drives a person to desire fame? The core of it is the need to feel loved. But perhaps it is other things, like having money or the concept of doing something great with your life. Whatever it is, you must realize that being famous will not make you happy. In fact, it will most likely add to the problems that you already have. You won't be fulfilled, and you will want more. It is an empty pursuit. Guess what, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow doesn't exist.
The worst part is, famous people are slaves. They have to perform. They have to be top-notch all the time because, as I said, they are only as good as their last pass. Even with around 1000 subscribers, I felt that pressure sometimes, and it made me so upset. That pressure sucked all of the fun out of making videos for youtube, and now I can't find joy in it anymore no matter how hard I try. The constant pressure to get 5 stars and good comments is ridiculous. And that is just with 1000 subscribers on a stupid website, imagine the really famous people who have paparazzi following them around and if they get a zit on their face it makes the cover of the national enquirer. You still want to be famous?
Now, as a youtuber, you also need to remember your audience. Not to insult my subscribers, but there are a lot of people who are on youtube a lot who can't even spell their own name, let alone a decent comment. They are hungry fools, who simply watch featured videos and the ones that have the most views. It disgusts me how much of a band-wagon mentality there is on youtube. I swear that less than 10 percent are actually on there to find decent videos. They just want to see an overfed cat fall into a tub of water. If I could strangle every person who posts a cat video and shoot the cats in the face that are in the video I would gladly do it in a second. And besides the cat people, perverts exist everywhere on youtube. I have seen comments written to innocent 12 year old girls that would make the devil cringe. These people have no shame, and get on youtube to find videos of chicks making out and who knows what else. It is a very sad thing. The worst part is that youtube actually recognizes and embraces this filthy audience and promotes explicit videos such as Victoria secret ads and porn sites use youtube to spam constantly.
Why would anyone respect the audience that is on youtube? There is also the haters who have never even made a video in their life and go around telling other people that they suck and saying horribly filthy things. But guess what? They can do it behind their computer screen, and these losers probably got picked on in junior high, live in their mom's basement, haven't seen the sun for 8 years, and cry themselves to sleep every night. Sometimes I read hater comments and I just laugh at the stupidity. Honestly, if you are going to insult me, can you please spell some words right? Losers.
YouTube is a stupid website. Now maybe some of you read this and think, "Wow, Bill must be bitter or something." I guarantee you that I am not bitter. The reason I am so frustrated is because I am on the outside looking in, and I see people in the same place I was at before, thinking that they could be famous on youtube. Luckily, I stopped before it got too out of hand. I am a Christian, and I realized that I was trying to find my fulfillment in life by seeking fame, but as a Christian I don't need that at all because I have Jesus Christ. Now if you are a Christian or if you aren't a Christian, I don't really care at the moment, my goal in the blog is to convince you to see youtube for what it really is.
In 100 years, who will remember our names? Maybe direct decendents, but probably no one else. There are 7 billion people in this world, whose names will stand out? Remember, I said 7 billion. Now those who really want to be famous say, "Well hopefully everyone will remember my name." But honestly, who will? Are you going to get your name in the history books by making videos for youtube? YouTubers who desire fame generally try to entertain people. Name for me some entertainers from 100 years ago? You know, the people who wrote colorful stories for national newspapers (that was one form of entertainment then). Can you think of one? NO WAY! In 100 years, will youtube exist? Most likely not, the internet might, but if youtube exists it will be in a much different form. Quit counting on your hard work to get you there, because it is simply your enslavement to the entertainment of people. Don't count on luck either, because then you are simply gambling on your entire life.
Slavery for nothing. Why do we want people to remember our name? It is really a meaningless cause. I will die someday, and so will you. We will all die. When you're dead, I'm pretty sure you aren't going to be down in your grave somehow knowing that people are remembering you or forgetting you. We remember Abe Lincolns name, but what good does it do him? He is dead and can no longer contribute to society. Only when you realize how insignificant you actually are can you ever hope to find significance. We are all simply like a grain of sand on an endless beach. Now unless you have a personally relationship with God who promises us heaven if we trust Him, your life is meaningless. So quit trying to find meaning through fame on youtube.
I like making videos for fun. But I hate trying to live up to a standard when I only find enjoyment in it when it is for fun. The quest for fame changes people and will ultimately depress them when they find out that it is not all that they thought it would be. Don't give up anything for the sake of youtube. It is a stupid website, and will only bring hardships on your life if you make it your life. To those of you who simply exist on youtube for the sake of consuming the content rather than creating it- please be smarter than every other dummy who just watches what everyone else watches. Use the site properly and respect those who are actually creating content.
Man it feels good to write all of that out! Please keep in mind that there are some people on youtube that I have met that I actually like. And there are others that I have been nice to just because I didn't want anyone to think I was a jerk, and that was my bad. In the future I will be more real with people on the site, and if I make videos I will do it on my own time and I will make them however I want, I'm not a slave to my subscribers like so many others.
-billgrip
*if that wasn't enough for you, there is also a different version of my explanation that is shorter on my xanga blog- http://www.xanga.com/billgrip/679758858/my-video-tank-is-empty.html
*Ahem
So here's the deal, everyone who makes videos on youtube consistently has a goal in mind, and that goal is to become famous. Even if you don't really think that is the reason you are on youtube, subconsciously it most likely is. It's like an open-mic and its your chance to get up in front of the world and show them why they should love you to death. But what is your definition of love? My definition of love is much different from the world's definition of love. To be famous, especially on youtube, you either have to get lucky or you have to prostitute yourself.
Brett Favre once said "You are only as good as your last pass." Guess what? That concept applies to a much bigger spectrum than football. Singers are only as good as their last album, actors are only as good as their last movie. Basically, as a famous person, your fame is as stable as a bridge made out of twigs on the San Andres Fault. Look at youtube celebrities of old. There are a few that were once top-dog, and now have been replaced by untalented retards like Chris Crocker who cried about Brittany Spears and got on TV for it. Sure, some are talented, but they are only as good as their last pass. The second someone gets discovered that is funnier or has more talent, they will go down.
When I see the way some people on youtube behave, I honestly want to throw up. As I write this, I could literally run into the bathroom and puik up all the contents of my stomach including vital organs. I see it happen again and again where the desire for fame makes a person simply pretend to be friends with people until they get ahead. I know because I have done this myself. People with 100 subscribers talk to people with 100 subscribers and more. People with 10000 subscribers talk to the people at their level and anyone below them isn't worth their time. Rarely do I encounter someone who doesn't think that they are better than people with fewer subscribers. Another thing that makes me sick is how people, as I said, prostitute themselves. They'll use cleavage thumbnails, make videos that create drama, and SPAM SPAM SPAM. They pretend to be friends with someone for the sake of self-promotion. EVERYONE ON YOUTUBE IS SELFISH! EVERYONE WANTS TO BE AT THE TOP! AHHHH! *Bill puiks to himself.
Okay, deep breaths. So...what is it that drives a person to desire fame? The core of it is the need to feel loved. But perhaps it is other things, like having money or the concept of doing something great with your life. Whatever it is, you must realize that being famous will not make you happy. In fact, it will most likely add to the problems that you already have. You won't be fulfilled, and you will want more. It is an empty pursuit. Guess what, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow doesn't exist.
The worst part is, famous people are slaves. They have to perform. They have to be top-notch all the time because, as I said, they are only as good as their last pass. Even with around 1000 subscribers, I felt that pressure sometimes, and it made me so upset. That pressure sucked all of the fun out of making videos for youtube, and now I can't find joy in it anymore no matter how hard I try. The constant pressure to get 5 stars and good comments is ridiculous. And that is just with 1000 subscribers on a stupid website, imagine the really famous people who have paparazzi following them around and if they get a zit on their face it makes the cover of the national enquirer. You still want to be famous?
Now, as a youtuber, you also need to remember your audience. Not to insult my subscribers, but there are a lot of people who are on youtube a lot who can't even spell their own name, let alone a decent comment. They are hungry fools, who simply watch featured videos and the ones that have the most views. It disgusts me how much of a band-wagon mentality there is on youtube. I swear that less than 10 percent are actually on there to find decent videos. They just want to see an overfed cat fall into a tub of water. If I could strangle every person who posts a cat video and shoot the cats in the face that are in the video I would gladly do it in a second. And besides the cat people, perverts exist everywhere on youtube. I have seen comments written to innocent 12 year old girls that would make the devil cringe. These people have no shame, and get on youtube to find videos of chicks making out and who knows what else. It is a very sad thing. The worst part is that youtube actually recognizes and embraces this filthy audience and promotes explicit videos such as Victoria secret ads and porn sites use youtube to spam constantly.
Why would anyone respect the audience that is on youtube? There is also the haters who have never even made a video in their life and go around telling other people that they suck and saying horribly filthy things. But guess what? They can do it behind their computer screen, and these losers probably got picked on in junior high, live in their mom's basement, haven't seen the sun for 8 years, and cry themselves to sleep every night. Sometimes I read hater comments and I just laugh at the stupidity. Honestly, if you are going to insult me, can you please spell some words right? Losers.
YouTube is a stupid website. Now maybe some of you read this and think, "Wow, Bill must be bitter or something." I guarantee you that I am not bitter. The reason I am so frustrated is because I am on the outside looking in, and I see people in the same place I was at before, thinking that they could be famous on youtube. Luckily, I stopped before it got too out of hand. I am a Christian, and I realized that I was trying to find my fulfillment in life by seeking fame, but as a Christian I don't need that at all because I have Jesus Christ. Now if you are a Christian or if you aren't a Christian, I don't really care at the moment, my goal in the blog is to convince you to see youtube for what it really is.
In 100 years, who will remember our names? Maybe direct decendents, but probably no one else. There are 7 billion people in this world, whose names will stand out? Remember, I said 7 billion. Now those who really want to be famous say, "Well hopefully everyone will remember my name." But honestly, who will? Are you going to get your name in the history books by making videos for youtube? YouTubers who desire fame generally try to entertain people. Name for me some entertainers from 100 years ago? You know, the people who wrote colorful stories for national newspapers (that was one form of entertainment then). Can you think of one? NO WAY! In 100 years, will youtube exist? Most likely not, the internet might, but if youtube exists it will be in a much different form. Quit counting on your hard work to get you there, because it is simply your enslavement to the entertainment of people. Don't count on luck either, because then you are simply gambling on your entire life.
Slavery for nothing. Why do we want people to remember our name? It is really a meaningless cause. I will die someday, and so will you. We will all die. When you're dead, I'm pretty sure you aren't going to be down in your grave somehow knowing that people are remembering you or forgetting you. We remember Abe Lincolns name, but what good does it do him? He is dead and can no longer contribute to society. Only when you realize how insignificant you actually are can you ever hope to find significance. We are all simply like a grain of sand on an endless beach. Now unless you have a personally relationship with God who promises us heaven if we trust Him, your life is meaningless. So quit trying to find meaning through fame on youtube.
I like making videos for fun. But I hate trying to live up to a standard when I only find enjoyment in it when it is for fun. The quest for fame changes people and will ultimately depress them when they find out that it is not all that they thought it would be. Don't give up anything for the sake of youtube. It is a stupid website, and will only bring hardships on your life if you make it your life. To those of you who simply exist on youtube for the sake of consuming the content rather than creating it- please be smarter than every other dummy who just watches what everyone else watches. Use the site properly and respect those who are actually creating content.
Man it feels good to write all of that out! Please keep in mind that there are some people on youtube that I have met that I actually like. And there are others that I have been nice to just because I didn't want anyone to think I was a jerk, and that was my bad. In the future I will be more real with people on the site, and if I make videos I will do it on my own time and I will make them however I want, I'm not a slave to my subscribers like so many others.
-billgrip
*if that wasn't enough for you, there is also a different version of my explanation that is shorter on my xanga blog- http://www.xanga.com/billgrip/679758858/my-video-tank-is-empty.html
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