Tag Archives: blogging challenge
NaNoPoblano 2022 (Ext.): Creepy and Cringy Songs
#NaNoPoblano Day 13
The more that I dive into social media, the more I find out about things. They are mostly good to know, but sometimes,..Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s backtrack.
I had always wanted to do reaction videos. I’ve done some food product reviews on my YouTube channel. Reviews, not exactly reactions. They are similar but not the same. I did post about rapper EZ Mill’s song PANALO. Still, it did not feel like a reaction. I was planning on reacting to the newer CATS The Musical movie but I haven’t gotten around to it. Full movies posted by YT do not come for free.
Fast-forward to TikTok. When I encountered Greg Foster‘s videos, I decided to finally do reactions on his reactions. Actually, more like do reactions with him. The reason was simple: The songs he features are usually creepy, cringy ones. Thus, he calls it his Creepy Cringy Lyrics Series. He has amusing reactions and it’s good that he already has the songs recommended to him.
The plan was to create one whole video featuring three song reactions that I blindly chose from his list. However, I soon found out that all three together would not meet the 10-minute maximum length allowed. In fact, I had to also split two of the videos in halves.
There are people who actually know the first song. It’s a “kid’s song” after all. The third song wasn’t cringe but could be creepy for those not used to such plots (I knew the plot immediately). It’s the second song that fit the “creepy” and “cringy”definitions to a T.
This is where I now explain what I meant by “bad things”. I’ve been following Greg eversince. People keep suggesting songs that he should react to.
I tell you, I am shocked at the amount of songs out there that if you really listen to, would shock you, too! Surprisingly, there are even songs by famous artists and songwriters we admired during their time. These have made me lose respect for them.
They sing of graphic violence. They sing of child grooming as if it’s okay, pedophilia, child abuse. They sing of abduction, of raping as punishment. They sing of murder like it’s the most natural thing in the world. They sing of beating, chopping off body parts, playing with human entrails…To be honest, they’re much worse than just creepy and cringy!
I am appalled that such songs were created, even recorded and played on radios! It makes you think why no one taught of looking into those songs. If they could simply write such songs like it’s nothing, maybe there’s something there that’s closer to reality. Maybe they should’ve been jailed.
Not all of the songs are that crazy, though. Some are funny. I am sharing the three videos I reacted to below. They are already compiled in one. ENJOY!!!
You might want to visit Greg’s TikTok if you want to hear more.
NaNoPoblano 2022 (Ext.): “Walking the Path”
#NaNoPoblano Day 12
Social media has made access to various things available to us. But suddenly, too, anyone can be an expert.
For instance, I have encountered so many posts related to astrology and horoscopes. They tell me what I am, what I’m not, which signs are the best/worst in this or that, what I should do to find true love or become rich…Etcetera. The funny thing is, those who tell me these are mostly people who are not qualified to talk of such things. If anything, they are delusional enthusiasts pretending on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms, nothing more.
If you don’t know how to identify the legit ones from the fake or wannabes, be careful what information to believe and follow.
This post is not about astrology or horoscopes, though. I only want to emphasize how much easy it is to fall victim to wrong information. So what I do is I take most things with a grain of salt. Once in a while, there are posts that I feel could be true. I take tests, read interpretations, listen to explanations. Then I decide if I should believe.
Below is a psychological test that you, yourself, might want to take. The next one explains what each mentioned item represents. Mind you, I believe this. I had my psychologist-friend, Melany, look into it. The account owner’s professional background does add to her (owner) credibility.
Of course, I had my answers. For fun, my friend interpreted my answers. I have to say, I’m satisfied. Would you like to know her findings?
This is verbatim:
J.Gi. Projective Test Audio
“Backgrounder: I used to profile people using psychological results. I’ve written a lot of personality profiles in my lifetime. One of the tests I use is a projective test similar to the lady’s. But I’ve always done it in pen and paper. So, this verbal recounting is something new to me. But the principles still follow. In my training, ‘House’, ‘Tree’, ‘Path’ and ‘Water’ are all deeply symbolic.
What you recounted:
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House – Western style, big, roomy, comfy
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Trees – Tall, their effect is calming
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Path – leads to concrete, easy access, but not too easy
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Water – you said you played and splashed
Melany’s Take on what it means
Your family life is normal. Somehow, you idealize it. Typically, this means your background is normal. Your marriage and kids are OK. Some ups and downs, but all normal. I do not detect trauma.
Your attitude towards life is live and let live. You’re not highly anxious. You have a good sense of self. You know you can do things, you’re capable. Self-confidence is at an average level. When you encounter difficulties, you just see them as something that can be overcome. No drama about it being too hard for you. You tend to be hardworking. This is related to the last point.
You are open-minded. You are attracted to the arts, as you tend to be idealistic. You have a good aesthetic sense. You have a growth-oriented mindset.
But you are very practical and down-to-earth. I saw this with your choice of container (same as mine). As I mentioned, you tend to be industrious. You like to touch and see the results of your labor. And physical objects matter to you to some degree. In the end, you balance practicality with your idealism. Your tendency is to be a productive member of society. Family-oriented. Pleasant person to be with generally
Well, that’s all!
Tell me if any of what I wrote hits the mark!”
I think she got me perfectly!
NaNoPoblano 2022 (Ext.): Me as a Fashion Endorser
#NaNoPoblano Day 11
Let me tell you about the time I got an offer to endorse a brand (that was actually last week, heee…). I was surprised — more like shocked, really — to receive this message on Instagram:
Say whaaat?
Three questions came to mind.
1. What gave them the idea that I’m into gothic fashion?
2, What gave them the idea that I’m actually into anything-fashion?
3. What gave them the idea that I’d be a good fashion influencer AT ALL?!!!
I thought hard and realized they just got alerted by keywords that I (and others) used.
The rambunctious spirit tries to trick the little girl
From me, they picked up “gothy”, I think. I remember sharing the Girl Scout (My Name is Sky) video on IG. You’ve probably seen it here. It is a song from the musical Beetlejuice. The lyrics include the word “gothy” to describe a main character.
It was my first attempt at various things related to video-making for social media. That included my first attempt at making a character using a filter, which I have now mastered so that it doesn’t look that weird anymore…
Anyway, maybe also, for some reason, they saw the duet video, traced it back to TikTok, then reached the little girl’s solo. In the comments, I said,
“Context in the musical, if you don’t know: Beetlejuice, a rambunctious spirit, makes Goth teen Lydia lure in unsuspecting little girl, Sky.”
And,
“I just finished doing a duet of THIS duet so I can add Lydia the Goth Teen.”
My work has helped me learn to recognize truth from fallacy online. That message looked like something that could be sent randomly, or a template to send to people who are likely to say yes. In other words, I wasn’t really special. OUCH.
So, okay. I didn’t appreciate the strategy. But it could be a legit offer, nonetheless (do people still use this word?). Free is free! And it’s still a little boost to the ego.
However, how gothic was gothic going to be? ‘Cause we all know with what we usually associate the word “goth”. Darkness. Evil. I didn’t want that!
I just wanted cute gothy clothes like those worn by my fave NCIS character, Forensics scientist Abby Sciuto, and comedienne Gen X’er Janeane Garofalo in various films. Heck, add Jenna Ortega‘s It Goth, Wednesday, on the list.
Janeane Garofalo as The Bowler in the film Mystery Men
Pauley Perrette as the cutest goth Forensics girl Abby Sciuto in the NCIS series
I checked the brand’s IG accoumt. Being a fair person, I wanted to see if I might like them, and to send a proper reply regardless of my eventual answer. I am not a rude person.
The photos were dark (well, a given) and, frankly, not of good quality. In fact, there didn’t seem to be a consistency in the quality of shots. There were jewelry also, but as expected, they were designs normally associated with darkness — skulls, snakes, coffins, the ram head, weird crucifixes, and the likes.
There were a few supposedly religion-related jewelry possibly meant to make the more religious clientele more trusting of them. I maybe wrong, but anyway, I have long ago sworn off wearing religious items as accessories, because they aren’t. The only accessory I want that is wrongfully associated with goth is the ankh. I didn’t even see any.
I did more digging and looked at the comments. Woooow…the amount of comments saying “Scam”/”Scammer” was overwhelming. I found these, too:
Needless to say, I will not take their offer. In fact, I have decided that I see no point in sending them any response after finding all of these.
So, yeah, just like that, I lost the chance to be a model (HA HA!!!). Model, my foot.
Sorry, not sorry. Thank you, but no thank you.
NaNoPoblano 2022 (Ext.): I Joined a Video-Poem Marathon
#NaNoPoblano Day 10
Last December, I read a call for poets:
It sounded like a really relevant project. Naturally, I decided to join. I wanted to be a part of something this special, and I wanted to represent my country! Good thing that I already had a poem in mind, something that I also translated already. All I had to do was record.
Fast-forward to today. Well, actually, I posted about it on my Facebook writer’s page right before midnight here. I’ll just copy-paste, I hope you won’t mind.
HERE IT IS!!! I honestly did not expect to be included. Hoped, but did not expect.
For one, they already received so many entries when I submitted ON THE LAST DAY. I really forgot about recording it! So in the wee hours of the morning, I combed my hair well and let it down, powdered my face and put on a little lipstick (that’s my idea of wearing makeup), and prayed to God I looked decent enough.
I’m not into poetry-reading (and might never do it again), but this was required. I had to write down the poem because I hadn’t memorized it perfectly. Tried so hard not to be that obvious that I was reading it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t record using the preferred sizes but was told my output was okay.
So fast-forward to today. I followed/subscribed to them because I do want to check out the other entries. Most importantly, I wanted to see in case I got included. Guess what? After a few weeks, I FORGOT to check! I also wasn’t checking my notifications in my private account. I just happened to NOW. Guess what again–somebody ACTUALLY tagged me 2 days ago!
So yeah, here is my entry. Sorry in case it seems the voice is not in sync with my lip movements. Some may remember this poem. I’d like to say “Enjoy” but I don’t Know if you will, HA HA HAAA!!! That said, I’m really just glad to represent! I dunno yet if there are more Pinoys there (I won’t be surprised). Oh, and special thanks to Sir Santiago Villafania 
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY!
HAPPY WORLD POETRY DAY!
MyPoem #FloresDeMayo #FlowersOfMay #Filipino #Tagalog #Poetry #SpokenWord #VideoPoem #TLRC #TranslationandLinguistic #PENInternational #InternationalMotherLanguageDay #WorldPoetryDay #IMLD2023
NaNoPoblano 2022 (Ext.): I Love to Eat My Cats and Write
#NaNoPoblano Day 9
I found something on Facebook the other day. And it reminded me not to slack off from writing. I saw a post about the importance of punctuations but I lost it in the newsfeed. It said something like “I like to do three things. I enjoy eating my cats and…” doing something else that I don’t remember…I just laughed out really loud!!!
I’m also glad that I understood immediately. Quite frankly, I’m kind of a stickler to the Oxford comma. It’s that “comma used after the penultimate item in a list of three or more items, before ‘and’ or ‘or’ (e.g. an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect ).” The definition is from the Oxford Languages site. I also only Googled it.
When I write, I often find myself deciding if I should use it or not. I don’t often feel right not using it and that bothers me. The shorter sentences give me that dilemma. I always think twice about adding it or not. These modern times, not adding it is acceptable. Hard to accept for someone like me.
It’s a lot easier for me if they are made of phrases — putting a comma before the last phrase makes sense. You want to use the Oxford comma to better send your message across, not confuse people. It makes your sentences readable, too.
Would you or would you rather not use the Oxford comma?
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UPDATE: FOUND THE IMAGE from The Language Nerds FB page!!!
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NaNoPoblano 2022 (Ext.): Have I Forgotten?
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#NaNoPoblano Day 8 (Please don’t make me explain) I have NOT forgotten. Just was not up to posting. I am now, though, so… HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! How have your first eight days of the year been? Mine, well, other than the usual things going on, social media played a part in making my days more […]
NaNoPoblano 2022: Creep Creeping In
#NaNoPoblano Day 7
Social media is never in want of jerks, trolls, and a-holes. They’re everywhere. And if you’re “lucky”, you’ll get the special kind, the creep. I had one the other day.
I made a comment on someone’s photo posted on YouTube 6 days ago. Days after, I got a response, but it was not one I expected. He started with an intro, then a declaration of love with an invitation to be “friends”, then an invitation for a voice call…Ha! What a joke. I’m sure I was just a random target. I didn’t get picked for my character and very pleasing personality, that’s for sure.
Here’s the exchange. I didn’t erase or cover the name, username and email. He made the comment public so there’s no privacy being violated. Chances are they’re all fake anyway. It’s clearly a scam.
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UPDATE: Once I reported the account, I received a new response,a supposedly religious kind, from what may have seemed like a different account. But one look told me it was the same account, just a different name. I paid it no mind anymore.
NaNoPoblano 2022: Kick Me!
#NaNoPoblano2022 Day 6
The excuse is somewhere at the level of “My dog ate my homework.” But I assure you, this one is real: “I thought I saved the file.” After I posted the Day 2 entry for the NaNoPoblano challenge, I was gone again for days. The truth was I was so frustrated!
I already had three posts drafted. Where? On Word file. I was very much pleased with myself, to be honest. All I had to do next was to copy-paste, edit, schedule, then voila! DONE! But I was already very sleepy. I stopped writing and tried to exit the file. It hung a bit. I couldn’t wait and shut down the laptop.
You know when your computer asks you if you’re sure about shutting down even when certain things are still open, right? I thought, Nah, and clicked on “SHUT DOWN ANYWAY”. So it did. I mean, I already saved the changes, right?
WRONG. I opened the file the next day and got my rude awakening. All the new drafts were gone! Kaput! Zilch! Bye forever! All my hard work that I poured into them, gone! And all because I couldn’t wait a darn minute being patient.
It made me mad and disappointed at myself. I just didn’t have the energy to start over. And truthfully, I still haven’t started re-writing any of them. I’m still annoyed. I’m a writer and I ignored to make sure I cover the most basic of the rules: ALWAYS SAVE YOUR WORK!
If I could only kick myself.
NaNoPoblano 2022: Don’t Use Me!
#NaNoPoblano2022 Day 5
I was just about to create my new post when something made me panic. As always, I check new notifications and what do I see? THIS!!!
What the effin’ H is THAT?!!! Why was Coin Market linking my YouTube video to my WordPress post…?!!! Granted that they are related. In fact, I just edited the descriptions of three videos last night to include the link to the feature ANDREA’S MULTIVERSE (PART 3): THEIR FATHERS’ DAUGHTERS. (The first two parts were already linked there.) Coin Market was, however, linking to Part 1, THE CREATOR’S POINTS OF VIEW.
Did I accidentally click on something on either platform? Was I unwittingly made to, though I couldn’t remember an instant of it happening? Was I getting hacked? Was it a spam comment ’cause it appeared like a comment that I still had to approve? I checked the page, it’s not in the comment threads. So I went to the dashboard.
Well, thank goodness to Akismet, it was held for approval. Of course, I sent it to the trash bin.
I also realized that it might have had something to do with the name of my channel, THE SANDBOX SHOW JGi. There is a cryptocurrency called The Sandbox. It’s the real reason I added the word “SHOW” and retained a name, to distinguish it from the digital coin. I even added a disclaimer on the homepage to say that I am not, in any way, connected to it. Unfortunately, it seems like none of those steps helped.
And it seems like I’m correct, judging from the site itself. On the left is my video with the description below it, just like it is on YouTube. On the right, that’s where the cryptos are listed down. I recognize most of them because I used to tweet news about them.
I honestly could not say if it was spam since the website did seem legit. (I later happened to check my email and there was a notification asking for a pingback). If you click on the video, it plays. The channel name above it, though, does not redirect to my YouTube account. Just here:
How is that supposed to promote my channel? It’s really promoting the crypto. This site finds blog accounts and video channels that just happen to mention words that are the same as the name of currencies. Then they do this. Nevermind that those do not have anything to do with crypto at all. I know. I saw the others. Talk about piggy-backing. I just happened to post various links in the description and they’re clickable, except for TikTok. Good thing, eh?
Well, sorry. It pretends that it’s a great deal, It’s not. They can delete it from their page, for all I care. I just don’t want to be used.
[UPDATE: I just happened to check on that page and scrolled down to the bottom. That’s where I saw a link that said “SOURCE”. I clicked on it and confirmed what I thought, that it led to my YouTube channel. Well, okay, my bad. HOWEVER, I still don’t agree to be used. It still doesn’t change the fact that the video, my channel, even my blog are NOT AFFILIATED with the crypto.]
The End Justifies the Journey 