I tend to film for both of my YouTube channels in one sitting if I have time to film more than a single video, and here are the latest pair: a very quick shopping haul and a discussion of accidents I had in my childhood. Not the most complementary pair, perhaps, but there you are!
First of all, the haul, to which there isn’t anything further to add:
And the chatty video:
I’m quite naturally clumsy – I can’t remember if I mentioned it in the video or not, but my childhood nickname in my family was Butterfingers! Even now I find myself sometimes poorly co-ordinated and holding/doing stuff in the weirdest of ways; maybe being left-handed has something to do with it? I was left a teensy bit underwhelmed when I realized my major accidents tailed off around the age of 12, but I can assure you I do stupid little things almost every day! I’m not the most graceful in movements 😛
Are you a clumsy person? Is it something you have never experienced or simply grew out of? A big thank you for reading and watching, and until next time,
I’ve noticed, especially since the beginning of this year, when my twin brother received the dreaded diagnosis of lupus, that there’s a lot of ignorance about the disease – indeed, a few years ago I didn’t really know what it was either. It doesn’t get much coverage except amongst support groups, which makes it a big problem when you suffer from lupus and your friends and family don’t really have a clue. It’s a lot of work to repeatedly explain to people what lupus even is, let alone explain the effects on everyday life, and I think there’s a lot of room, and opportunity, to spread awareness of lupus, so that the next time you mention it to someone, the answer isn’t simply “what’s that?”
(I apologize in advance for the parts of the video where the audio doesn’t quite match up with the video!) Since I’m posting up a video, I don’t want to simply regurgitate what’s in there, but I’ll write for those who don’t want to undertake the watching of a nearly twenty-minute video of me rambling without a plan (and I don’t blame you either!). May is Lupus Awareness Month. Maybe the order of the items I discussed in the video is a testament to just how much awareness is needed; I found I couldn’t be satisfied talking about my plans to support charities such as Lupus UK without going into what lupus is and what it does. Because Joe Average really doesn’t have a clue. And it’s not your fault if you don’t.
In fact, what we call ‘lupus’ is actually a specific form of it: Systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE. (You can read about SLE in particular here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemic_lupus_erythematosus, or about the different types of lupus here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupus_erythematosus. These links are quite scientifically inclined, but the NHS site – http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lupus/Pages/Introduction.aspx is a very good simple introduction for those who don’t understand it at all.) Put simply: with lupus, the immune system attacks the body’s healthy cells as if they were pathogens. It can affect every organ and tissue in the body, especially the kidneys. Most lupus-related deaths involve the kidneys failing. (Something I’ve kept in my mind; I view donating my kidney to my brother in the event that we’re a match as a very likely possibility.) The hallmark of the disease is essentially pain; it’s everyday and relentless, though many sufferers have flares and remission periods. Everyday activity can be affected; in the case of my brother, he can’t work, walk far, or even get of bed some days.
The worst thing about lupus, perhaps, is that there’s NO CURE. Once you’ve got lupus, you’ve got it for life. In fact, something I view as worse than that, is that it tends to progress throughout life; it gets worse as you age. In fact, someone who has had lupus for 20 years has a 1 in 4 chance of dying of it. My brother will have a 25% chance of dying by the time he’s in his forties, and that’s ignoring the risks and probabilities related to everything else: lifestyle, diet, habits, etc. The mortality risk is fivefold compared to ‘normal’ people when sufferers are in their 60s, and, according to the Wikipedia article, the leading cause of death is actually the consequences of corticosteroid therapy – the drugs used to help. It might not sound like a lot, but to know you have something inside you ravaging at your body every single day that will get a lot worse and eventually most likely kill you, well, that isn’t good news.
Some lupus sufferers, and indeed those suffering from other chronic and/or autoimmune conditions, have said they wish they had cancer instead. It’s not to be dismissive of the suffering and fatality of cancer, but to wistfully think about the chance of a cure. My brother had a leukaemia scare in the initial stages – it’s now been over eight years – and often he wonders why it couldn’t have just been leukaemia and not lupus. It’s a strong wish and something that really drives home how awful living with lupus can really be.
Luckily, there are online support groups that can really help lupus sufferers feel less alone: Lupus and Me (www.facebook.com/LupusAndMe), for example, welcomes people from all walks of life to share their stories and support each other. Suddenly you realize those pins and needles you’ve been getting aren’t just you; you’re not alone in all the little weird things you didn’t realize were typical of lupus. You can ask questions and not feel like an idiot. Often, family and friends need support too, and I’m pretty certain support groups like Lupus and Me are happy to help with any queries about being a good supporter and help for your friend. It’s not only the one with lupus who is affected.
All that and more are discussed in the video! Do feel free to ask any questions you may have, and I, or my brother, will be happy to answer them! May is Lupus Awareness Month, so become aware! Banish the days where you’ll ask “what’s lupus?” It affects around only 20 to 150 cases per 100000, but to any one sufferer, the stats almost don’t matter – their whole life is still affected regardless of how many are affected beside them. Remember the universality of the disease within the body, so that you don’t end up like the ignorant people who simply refuse to believe someone with lupus must be exaggerating when they list their symptoms and ailments. Remember there’s no cure. Remember the lifelong struggle. Remember lupus.
Visit the Lupus UK site here: http://www.lupusuk.org.uk or leave any comments or questions below or in the comment section on YouTube.
The first time I filmed a What’s In My Bag video, I hadn’t long started my channel. The video was dull because I was sitting in a place with crappy lighting, my hair was wet and in the way, and I was using a lot of stuff I’m not now using regularly. So with all that in mind, I decided to film a new one!
I find these videos interesting to watch, because I’m nosy like that; I like seeing what other people carry around with them daily, whether they use a small or large bag, handbag or backpack, etc. I like seeing whether people carry a whole load of makeup around or none at all. I like that they’re an ordinary peek into people’s lives, and I get to see the variety in what people deem necessary to lug around on a daily basis.
With all that philosophizing out the way, here’s my video. 🙂
Thank you, as ever, for reading my blog and watching my videos; it’s nice to know people out there are at least clicking over, if not watching or reading the entire post. I know I just do this blog just for fun, but it’s nice all the same whenever someone registers interest. 🙂
This is a short blog post to accompany my most recent vlog; I realize now I could’ve inserted some photos into the video itself, but I’d rather just post them up here. I won’t discuss the vlog too much, or any suspense (ha) would be ruined, beyond what is given away in the title, but I did promise to post some photos of the museum visit, so here they are. There are only a few of them – about six. The only thing is that I didn’t take notes about what each thing is – oops!
First of all, here’s the vlog! :
And that’s the University of Glasgow in the background.
I hope you like those!
The next post should be a DOTK one (i.e. Dance of the Knights, my makeup/fashion channel) – I’ll put in each post title either DOTK or FRV so you can see from the off which YouTube channel it concerns. 🙂
I realized recently that the Dance of the Knights channel, the one I generally refer to as my “beauty and fashion channel”, features only really haul videos and OOTDs (outfit of the day videos). I started feeling a little insecure, I guess?, because I then felt subpar compared to the beauty blogs and YouTubes I am subscribed to. I felt like a wannabe. In comparison, I feel boring, ‘meh’, and ‘why aren’t you uploading other stuff yet?’.
And then I remembered that I started this channel for fun; actually, to be more specific, I wanted to conquer my fear and embarrassment of being filmed, so I began YouTubing, starting with the sort of stuff I was watching, that I could do too: hauls! For this channel to remain makeup, beauty, and fashion-related, I can either keep up what I’m doing and that’s it, expand a little, or expand a lot. That last one doesn’t feel possible or appealing: I can’t do makeup tutorials (I don’t wear a lot of makeup anyway), for example.
So I will be expanding only a little – to give you an idea, I’m planning some collection videos, some product reviews, and hopefully in the future, “_____ does my makeup” videos and silly ones like that. But the main bulk of my uploads on this channel will remain hauls and OOTDs, because really, that’s what I end up doing. I will try not to keep it monotonous, however.
It seems silly to put out this little caveat, or disclaimer, when I have currently only 18 subscribers and not even 2,000 views, plus I know from seeing the stats that a lot of people are watching the first five seconds of my videos, but not the rest, but the day I filmed the video I just started rambling apologetically because I felt insecure and bad so there you have it. Anyway, I might as well let any potential subscribers or viewers know what they’re in for, I suppose!
The bottom line is: I won’t be the most diverse in terms of different types of video on this channel, but I will strive not to make it extremely boring! I will be focusing much more on my other channel, Fanciful Reality Vlogs, when I get it properly off its feet – I feel much more at home with more ‘bloggy’ type videos, discussions about several topics of a huge variety than I do excitedly showing what I bought last week! I will NOT be stopping DOTK; if there is any reduction in the frequency of uploads, it will be because I’m currently very lacking in funds, even as frugal as I am!
Despite all of this, I want to say a big thank you to my little group of subscribers – you’ve upped my confidence and knowledge that my videos are getting out there somewhere! You encourage me to keep going, and even though I don’t intend or expect DOTK to become very well-known or indeed very-well liked – it’s simply too basic to have massive appeal, in my opinion, and I don’t mind this! – I still enjoy it, and won’t stop even though I am no longer afraid or embarrassed to film myself or publish videos to the public!
Here’s the video I uploaded – I couldn’t even remember anything I’d said till I watched it back later! – which is basically all of this reworded, haha. Thank you for watching, reading, and generally supporting me – I appreciate every single view and subscriber!
It’s 12th January, so it seems very late on for me to be posting about my New Year’s Resolutions. However, contrary to how they are usually fulfilled (or rather unfulfilled), they’re intended to be year-long, and even life-long resolutions, so 12 days in is really not too late at all! I never normally make resolutions, but since graduating university last June, I’ve been neglecting my hobbies a fair bit, which might seem weird, seeing as I now have more free time, but I’m just coming out of that post-uni funk which has taken over my life for the past seven months.
This means that along with the usual resolutions – drink more water, exercise more, better skincare routine – I’m focusing on what is really getting all my hobbies back up and running. I’ve managed to make numerical goals for each one, to be attained every month, but they’re arbitrary, really; it’s just something I can work towards, since I’m a very goal-oriented person. The goals are very low, which was deliberate – I didn’t want to put so much pressure on myself that I would simply give up three days in. Thus I believe my goals are very achievable, and I’ve been steadily working on them since the New Year began. I’m only 26% through so far (yes, I count these things), which for more than a third of the way through the month is falling behind, but again, I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t beat the goals exactly. It’s something to work towards, and see my monthly progress.
Anyway, you guys have the video to watch, so I will list the areas of my life that I’m intending to boost always – getting back into my hobbies as a complete lifestyle change. If you want to know more about each section, I do elaborate in the video 🙂
I have provided links to the mentioned websites in the information bar on YouTube, but if you just Google them, it’s simple enough. Here’s the video itself:
Anyway, I hope that this was a bit of a twist on usual NYRs, and that you’re all following the resolutions you’ve made, if you made them! On that note, you can leave a comment telling me what your resolutions are this year, and if you’ve been sticking to them so far! 😀
On Tuesday I filmed three videos, which you’ll see in due course. The first that I’m posting up today is just an introduction to the Fanciful Reality YouTube channel – in complete oversight I’d forgotten that it was actually the second video I posted up there, not the first! – but I tried simply to explain what I intend to do with the new channel. I also gave a little advice to those of you who either want to begin vlogging, but are too afraid to begin, or those of you who have already started but are feeling insecure about it. I’m rambling as ever on the video, but that’s partly because I’ve been away for so long! Anyway, I’ll leave the video here, and you’ll see another one tomorrow! (I wouldn’t normally upload two in such quick succession, but the time of year demands I do.)
I’m not altogether positive that I’ll be using this page all too often, as I plan to only use it for when videos are simply not enough to include everything on the subject at hand (for example, to post travel photos to accompany a travel vlog or discussion). However, this plan may change, so keep your eyes peeled!
Danceoftheknights is my beauty and fashion page, primarily. It was originally my hub for everything, and as such it contains some tag videos with facts about me, and some vlog videos. It shall go on ahead as a fashion page. Not that I’m too knowledgable about fashion – I like to keep things simple and ‘my’ way. I don’t personally post about fashion shows or designers or anything like that, but I do talk about make up and skincare products. It’s not a very serious endeavor, but just something silly that I started to get more confidence with filming, and continue to do for fun. 🙂
Fanciful Reality will include the type of ‘bloggy’ videos that I had planned to revamp Danceoftheknights with – non-beauty and -fashion related topics of discussion, from current events to travel diaries, and much more!
I hope to find my feet with this very soon, and I hope that you like what you find, stick around, and enjoy the experience too! See you soon,
Fanciful Reality 