No Watching YouTube for 31 Days

I’m going to try a personal challenge – no watching YouTube for the next 31 days.

That’s right. For the month of May, I’m going to make the effort to NOT watch YouTube. (This likely means no new YouTube videos on my channel, either. Apologies in advance to my YouTube channel subscribers. I will, however, be doing workshops with the Cartoonist Co-op as part of Nib and Ink Fest, and those workshops will be up on their YouTube channel. I’ll post links to those workshops in the next few days.)

“But WHY?” You might ask. “YouTube is everywhere! How can you possibly do no YouTube for the month of May?!”

So, before I get into the How, let me tell you the Why.

Why #1 – May is a BUSY month for me.

I mentioned the workshops I’m doing with the Cartoonist Co-op as part of Nib and Ink Fest. I will also be packing up and preparing to move to a new apartment before the end of the month.

“You could just put YouTube on in the background – “

No. That’s part of my next Why.

Why #2 – YouTube is More Distraction Than Helpful.

I need to keep my hands busy, usually with making comics and art, or packing my apartment up for the move. I can’t be distracted with shiny visuals. Also, I have caught myself – multiple times – scrolling YouTube to try to find *something* to turn on, but realizing that nothing is catching my interest.

This leads me to…

Why #3 – YouTube isn’t FUN anymore.

collage of my frustrations with YouTube as a platform

I made this collage yesterday to make art out of my frustration with YouTube. Because YouTube used to be fun.

Used to be.

Now, because of its algorithms prioritizing the same content delivered in roughly 1700 different ways (seriously, HOW MANY videos are there talking about “productivity” or “things I do to stop doomscrolling” – on a platform formulated for doomscrolling). There’s also the sponsors who are 99% of the time scams, the ads, and my once-favorite YouTube creators no longer being favorites…

Well, it’s time that I take a break from YouTube.

So, HOW am I not going to watch YouTube?

How #1 – the Unhook extension.

The Unhook extension built for Firefox has commands for when you *do* end up on YouTube. Unhook does things like turning off Shorts, bringing you to your subscription feed instead of the front page, turning off the comments section, and other quality of life fixes.

I’m leaving this extension on in case I have a moment of weakness and end up on YouTube. That way, Unhook makes sure I only see what’s in my subscription feed. Which, right now, is looking slim, since I unsubscribed from a lot of people who stopped being fun for me to watch.

How #2 – audiobooks.

I have a long-ass TBR list of audiobooks on hoopla, an app available from my public library. It’s basically free Audible (so stop paying for Audible. You literally get hoopla and Libby – two audiobook apps – free thanks to your tax dollars). So instead of turning on YouTube, I’ll turn on an audiobook.

OR, I’ll turn on…

How #3 – podcasts.

This one might be trickier for me, as I’m trying to cut down on the number of apps on my phone. Podcast apps are freaking storage hogs. Also, as it turns out, a lot of podcasts I listen to don’t have episodes available on their websites. Their websites are basically place holders to tell people, “Listen to us on Spotify!” Which does nothing to help me.

Still, some podcasts have their episodes on their websites, and those will be super helpful this month. I also have some of my favorite episodes downloaded onto my laptop, which I don’t mind listening to The Dollop talking about the 1904 New York to Paris Car Race for the 17th time.

How #4 – music.

Y’all. My music playlist on my hard drive is entirely too big and I don’t play it enough. I gotta turn on some tunes!

Also, my library offers an app called Freegal, where you can download 5 songs a month – for free – that you can keep forever on your devices. Freegal’s music library is a little tricksy to navigate, and they don’t have everything. Still, I like that they have some of my favorite bands on there.

If Freegal’s not your speed, hoopla also has music. Hoopla has a lot of songs that Freegal does not, like Chapelle Roan.

So here’s something I’d love to hear from you: how do you listen to podcasts? Let me know in the comments, because I really want to listen to more podcasts!

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

LIVE STREAM – Holiday Art-Making Stream

Today at 6 pm, it’s time for a Holiday Art-Making Stream! Let’s draw some comics and art. (Feel free to lurk while I work, either here or on YouTube.)

Be sure to check out the LIVE STREAM BINGO CARDS, which are available for free download.

Join my email newsletter to get the ROXIE Christmas special in your inbox!

💜 Leave a tip on Ko-fi!

🖌️ I’m available for commissions. Check this board for more info.

🎨 Tools Used:

Music: Kevin MacLeod, Louie Zong, and Streamyard

Streaming – Streamyard

Mic – Blue Snowball

Drawing – Clip Studio Paint

👏 THANK YOU TO MY CLUB SUBSCRIBERS! 👏

To get your name added to this list, join one of my clubs on Ko-fi.

  • magicalgirlkyra
  • All Unka
  • Raiden
  • Ella Q
  • Andrew Balch
  • Adam Vazquez
  • Maya Smith
  • Pat Jade
  • JessicaMcIntosh
  • RPZ
  • Bryce Bargar
  • Heidi Allison
  • Saphronia Maple
  • Cakes

And thank YOU for watching!

You. Are. Awesome.

Updates and Drawing Marathons!

Time for some updates and a drawing marathon!

This marathon is actually a replay of Saturday’s livestream, which you can watch now. Feel free to turn it on while you do your thing – drawing, chores, whatever you need to do, let this video be your body double.

Spoilers: in the stream there will be cryptids in booty shorts.

Now For Some Updates!

Over on KickStarter, I have updates for backers of Reprinting The Legend of Jamie Roberts. In short – I’m having a back and forth with the printers about the proofs.

Also, this weekend you can find me (along with my buddies Ben Wright-Heuman and Chloe Rose) at Akron Comicon! We’re at table C26 as Fantasyville Productions.

New Works on Ko-fi!

I updated my Ko-fi shop and commissions! There are now new books like Fwishi’shi and New Punk Signal, as well as original art and digital art packs for you to check out.

For commissions, there are two new offerings – one for the more budget-minded and one for the big spenders. $5 can now get you a kitty doodle, while $200 gets you a fully rendered, full-figure character of your choice – in Copic markers! More info on commissions can be found on the Commission Board.

And A New Shop??

That’s right – I’m opening a new shop on BigCartel THIS Friday!

This shop is not like the Ko-fi shop. Instead, it’s a collaboration with Printful – they do the printing, shipping, and handling. All I need to do is design the art going on the products!

The livestream replay shows *two* of the four or five products coming to the shop. Here’s a sneak peek at one of my favorites…

the fresno nightcrawler, mothman, and bigfoot all wear booty shorts. Nightcrawler is also dressed with long eyelashes and thigh-high platform shoes

More details are coming this Friday on my email newsletter, so be sure to sign up!

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

It’s the Final Day for The Legend of Jamie Roberts on KickStarter

Today is the FINAL DAY for Reprinting The Legend of Jamie Roberts on KickStarter. So let’s talk about the campaign – what worked, what can be improved, and what’s next one way or the other.

You have UNTIL 11:59 PM EDT to back the campaign.

LIVE STREAM BINGO CARDS free download is on Ko-fi.

Join my email newsletter.

🖌️ For commissions, check this Trello board

🎨 Tools Used:

  • Music: Kevin MacLeod, Streamyard, Louie Zong
  • Streaming: Streamyard
  • Drawing Program: Clip Studio Paint
  • Microphone: Blue Snowball

👏 THANK YOU TO MY CLUB SUBSCRIBERS! 👏

To get your name added to this list, join one of my clubs on Ko-fi.

  • magicalgirlkyra
  • All Unka
  • Raiden
  • Ella Q
  • Andrew Balch
  • Adam Vazquez
  • Maya Smith
  • Pat Jade
  • JessicaMcIntosh
  • RPZ
  • Bryce Bargar
  • Heidi Allison
  • Saphronia Maple
  • Cakes

And thank YOU for watching!

You. Are. Awesome.

I Have 3 Books Coming Soon

Today, I’m announcing not one, not two, but THREE books coming soon!

Canonwrite Productions announced their newest book, The Universal Flaws of Robotics. Watch the trailer on YouTube now.

Failure to Launch, a book I contributed to, is coming soon (if it’s not already out now)!

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO:

⭐ Join my email newsletter to stay up-to-date on these new book releases.

Here is more info on Zero Draft July.

To get zines and stickers and other rewards – join my clubs, yo.

I mentioned last week’s video, which you can watch on YouTube.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

IF YOU LIKED THIS VIDEO…

💜 Leave a tip on Ko-fi!

🖌️ I’m available for commissions! Check out my Commission Trello board.

🎨 TOOLS USED:

Video Editing – Olive Video Editor

Drawing Program – Clip Studio Paint

Microphone – Blue Snowball

👏 THANK YOU TO MY CLUB SUBSCRIBERS! 👏

To get your name added to this list, join one of my clubs.

  • magicalgirlkyra
  • All Unka
  • Raiden
  • Ella Q
  • Andrew Balch
  • Adam Vazquez
  • Maya Smith
  • Pat Jade
  • JessicaMcIntosh
  • RPZ
  • Bryce Bargar
  • Heidi Allison
  • Saphronia Maple
  • GustyBV
  • Cakes
  • Isaiah Broussard Art
  • C McClain
  • Rainer Kannenstine

And thank YOU for watching!

You. Are. Awesome.