Youtube. I don’t know what to make of Youtube anymore. In the “old” days, I loved Youtube for all of its egalitarian grandeur. You have something to share with the world? Just post it to Youtube. You know how to fix a heating element in a dryer? Youtube it. You figured out how to fix the drift on your Switch Joy Cons? Youtube it. You problem solved how to get a redstone machine to function across chunk borders in Minecraft? Youtube it!
Likewise, if ever I needed highly specialized knowledge, or even some rather general advise, I could be sure to find something helpful on Youtube. Confounding instruction manuals written in Asia by enterprising individuals who lie about their English proficiency are virtually a thing of the past. Many companies have figured out all they need is a polished (or not so polished) Youtube video showing someone assembling their Chinese-built-American-sold-item. No talking (therefore translating) necessary!
Oh the glorious potential of a free and uninhibited Youtube! One not obsessed with the human lust for glory and riches. One not shackled by sleazy advertising dollars. Alas, on most days, I no longer recognize my beloved Youtube. Nay. Most days, I see Youtube as the social teat used to wean a new generation of relationship foundering youth more likely to relate to their favorite “tubers” than to kids in the neighborhood. I see Youtube as a time toilet flushing my children’s learning potential down the virtual drain.
Over the course of this last week, I attempted to keep track of what my youngest son ogled on Youtube. On one occasion, I found him watching a video of ice melting. Ice melting!? He then proceeded to watch a video of some teenage twit crushing a series of random items with a pneumatic press. (Okay, I have to admit this would have been a fun thing to do if I had had access to such a tool when I was a teenage twit.) Lastly, and certainly most ridiculously, I found my youngest son watching a video of someone playing a cleaning simulator. Yeah. Take a minute to wrap your brain around that one. The game simulated washing stuff off with a power washer. My kid was watching someone else simulate a common, oft maligned household chore. I asked him why he wasn’t outside washing the house or the car. Inexplicably, he shook his head and said, “Dad, that isn’t nearly as satisfying.”
Not nearly as satisfying? Getting actual work done is now less satisfying than watching someone else on Youtube simulate work via a video game? I mean, pardon my French, but what the bleep is happening here?
I guess there is nobody else to blame but…everyone other than myself! I blame you, Youtube! How am I supposed to know what to do about this? I’ve spent the last three hours watching Youtube videos about how to break Youtube addition, and I’m only making the matter worse! Ah heck, I guess I’ll just click on this video of some dude simulating how to make a knife with his virtual angle grinder. Yeah, that’ll be satisfying.
At the Desk This Week
I’m still trying to finish up the editing/rewrite process for the third season of The Green Ones. I got a little distracted this week with some thought exercises on how to fix the increasingly ugly affordable housing problem in the United States. Each week I hear of more and more people in my community who are living in their cars or in a singe bedroom of a relative’s house. It just got me thinking about what sort of problems housing should address, what we should expect from a residence, and how we can reform a system that is failing so many of us. Anyway, I think I exercised enough of the demons to keep my creative work moving forward in the coming days. Sometimes my inspiration for fiction is driven by understanding the real life pressures and predicaments we find ourselves pressing up against. By taking some time to think, wrestle, and pray through real life crap, I find myself better able to help the people around me. This, in turn, leads to better fiction due to having a richer human experience. It’s sorta all connected.
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Thanks so much for taking the time to read these scenes of Boundaries, Season 2 of The Green Ones. I’ll be publishing FREE daily scenes from The Green Ones until…I die…or something terrible happens. Seriously, I’ve got over 100 scenes written so far, and I’ll be writing more until the story reaches its natural ending. You are totally welcome to read the entire story for FREE! If at any point you decide you would rather finish the story in ebook or print format, just click the buttons below and you can do that as well. If you enjoy reading the serial releases, BUT you would also like to support me as a writer (my kids need wine!) please subscribe to my premium content for bonus scenes, exclusives, and insider access to my process. And of course, I’d be grateful if you would share this post with any of your reader friends who you think would enjoy The Green Ones. Happy reading!