The #Kympaign Part II

Are you READY?
It's been a fantastic relaxing month, but now it's November and it is just about my time to run again!

For those of you who don't know my reasoning, this is what's up:
I was planning to attend Wheelock College in Boston this semester.
However, less than a month before I was to go, I discovered I needed a cosigner for loans and I had no one who was able to do that. So, I couldn't go.
Rather than take a break, I came to Central Maine Community College.
Now I'm trying to get to another school (one that I will like better and is more challenging, most likely Boise State) but I am currently completely without income, despite my UNYIELDING efforts to get a job.

My YouTube story: I had been watching for about a year and a half and suddenly began thinking "No one here actually knows who I am." so I decided to fix it!
I began making videos on September 11th, 2010 and I have made more than 85 videos on mine and other pages.
I have been a regular member in two collab channels as well as numerous collab videos.
I am a friend and member of #Grannyyy, and I was even featured on Michael Buckley's Buck Factor.
In June I was made a YouTube partner, something I am extremely proud of. I'm pretty much expecting to make videos forever.

The Kympaign Plan: Save your earned votes! If we save them until the end of the month, then people won't know exactly where we are in the competition. Vote EVERY DAY but keep those precious earned votes!

Man, I'm long winded. I'm proud of you for making it this long in this spiel!
I hope you consider me a good candidate!
-Kym, aka themunchkym

I Am Happy.

I feel like being confident is wrong.
Everyone's goal is to be confident. Everyone. What you want is to be happy about where you are in life.
You want to have things to aspire to while still liking how things are.
You want to look in the mirror and smile because you know you're beautiful.
But the truth is that most people don't.
And that is the norm.
So when I'm confident about who I am, people see it as being cocky.
When I proudly say that I rewatch my old videos because I think I'm funny, people find me strange.
When I have trouble relating to those who hate editing because they hate how they look and hate their voice, I'm the one that no one understands.
When I am proud of nails I've painted or a poem I've written and repeatedly mention it, people unfollow or unfriend saying that I was "annoying" and "self promoting". I really just love what I do and want to share it with the world.
I'm the one that's disliked because I like who I am.

And it hurts.

I'm sorry that I'm happy.
I'm sorry that I feel beautiful.
I'm sorry that I think I'm funny.
I'm sorry that I know I'm good at schoolwork.

I'm sorry that you aren't like me.
I wish you were.

I hope that one day you can love yourself like I love myself.
I hope that one day you can love yourself like I love you.

My Opinion On SlashFiction

I'm going to keep this brief, but I just had some things I needed to get out.

Because of the recent increase in #Grannyyy slashfic, I felt I should tell you WHY I am opposed to it.

SlashFiction, by definition, is creepy. However, it is an art in some way and those who want to partake are welcome to! But I feel it should be done with characters. Characters cannot be hurt by slashfiction or made uncomfortable. However, people can.

It is because of this opinion that I think that #Grannyyy members should have to give approval for SlashFic before it is written. I do not think that it is right to just assume that people will be okay with it or, even worse, not care if they are okay with it or not.

I don't care if GrannyyySlashFic is written. I do care if it is written about unwilling participants.

Banners and Backgrounds!

Since becoming partnered I decided that my channel was in need of a makeover. So I held a contest!
I asked my viewers to send in banners and backgrounds that they had made and I got some fantastic submissions! In no particular order, here they are.
(Note: I am only including the banners because there were only four backgrounds and three of them came with banners.)

Adrelinen:

Christina:

Josh:

Swaneet:

Christina:

Psaul:

Kimber:

And the winner! Sama!

Thank you all! They look fantastic. :)

Should Evolution Be Taught in Schools?

I was watching my normal YouTube subscriptions today and one came up by a very wonderfully brilliant girl who has very strong opinions and tackles controversial world issues. This was a video response to an interview in which every Miss America candidate was asked the question "Should evolution be taught in schools?"
Now, Miss America candidates have been known to say some pretty dumb things. Miss Teen South Carolina, for example.

So, we know that slip ups are constantly being made, and it is a lot of pressure. But this is a completely different setting than the normal spur of the moment questions in front of a live audience. These girls are being asked in a closed environment in front of just a camera and probably a few crew members, and yet they still manage to blow me away with their not-thought-though answers. Most of them immediately went to the safe answer of "Yes, evolution should be taught, but so should religion. They should be able to see both sides and choose for themselves."
However, this statement has quite a few issues with it. The first and most important one to me is the close-mindedness many of them show towards religion. Although they say that all should be taught, this is a very clouded position to hold. When you say "all" do you really mean all? You mean every form of religion available and practiced? Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, ect? And what about the religions seen as madness by most, for example the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster? (And, yes, this does exist. Google it.) Do you also want to include scientific theories that are considered nonsensical? For example, the belief that we live in a computer game. There are people (usually considered to be conspiracy theorists) who believe that we are in a simulated world. Are you suggesting that we teach this as well? On a less ridiculous scale, should hypnotism (seen both as fact and as made-up) be taught in schools?
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that we should not be teaching religion as fact in any public school setting. It doesn't matter what you believe, school is paid for by the state and we all know that church and state are separate. Another issue with that statement is the assumption that there are two sides to the argument. There are infinite opinions, so you can't limit the "sides" to just creationism and evolution.
I suppose the next problem to look at is the fact that this is a question at all. What is taught in school is NOT a moral issue and beliefs such as religion should never be brought up. Never. And before anyone goes thinking "Oh, well evolution is a theory and therefore not fact," to you I say, yes. So is gravity. Everything is a theory. That's science.
There were a few quotes that stood out to me. For example, Miss Indiana said

I think we should leave that up to the government. I'm not sure. I think a lot of people would have issues if evolution was taught in school, I think we should just leave that out of the equation.

This is just... Leave it out of the equation? Leave the entirety of the evolutionary theory, including natural selection which is very important for understanding animal and human behaviors, out of the equation? Or do you just mean you don't want to give an answer that will reflect negatively on you as a Miss America candidate? And might I point out that our government is controlled entirely by people like you. Yes, you do trust them to take care of your country and make certain decisions so you don't have to, but that doesn't mean you should hold no opinion on it!
Now, Miss Kentucky really blew me away, here.

I honestly don't think you can ever have too much knowledge on any subject. That's my personal view, but I do feel that evolution shouldn't be taught in school just because there's so many different views on it. So many different definitions on it. Like, how do you teach a child the true meaning of evolution when so many different cultures have their different beliefs. Sciences have their different theories. It's just not a good subject that I feel everyone will agree on in classrooms when kids come from all different backgrounds, different cultures, different beliefs so I just personally don't think it's a good topic for a school subject. At all.

So what you're saying is that you can't ever learn too much, but it's better if you didn't learn things that could be controversial. Do I even have to explain why that makes no sense?

The more learning you can get, the more educated you are and the more educated you are the better you come off.

Oh, alright Miss Massachusetts. So it's all about how others perceive you, then? I see.
I have like 30 good quotes I could reference and discuss, but... I just don't want to. All I know is that my kids will certainly be learning about evolution and they'd better not be taught religion in any public school unless as an elective that they chose in an unbiased learning environment. There are churches and private schools for religious discussions and preachings. I'd prefer the lines didn't cross.

Video in question:
Parody video by ZOMGitsCriss (note: I did not watch this until after writing this blog as I did not want other opinions to vary my reaction) :

Stressed Out - PEDM IX

Fourth grade Kym was stressed out. But I’m pretty sure this poem was actually written in third grade because that’s when we moved, my sister moved, my other sister came out, and my big sister from Big Brothers/Big Sisters moved away.
So, yeah.
Here is a low quality little-kid-Kym poem that makes little sense. It is the epitome of telling, not showing.


Stressed Out

That’s it!
I can’t take it any more!
This is just too much!

I’m a mouse
hiding from a cat.

My sister is moving to Georgia,
I’ve got to pack, we’re moving.

I’m a rabbit,
sprinting away from a fox.

I’m going to scream!
My life’s too hard.

Haikuuuu! - PEDM VIII

Today is a Haiku day! I love Haiku days! :D

Haiku

Birds are polka dots
On the cotton candy sky
As the red sun sets.

Sunset - PEDM 7

Last poem for today.
This one is also from little-kid-Kym.
It's called Sunset. I don't think I've watched very many sunsets and certainly didn't watch one when writing this. I just had a good imagination.

Sunset

I watch the sun
sink behind the mountains
The sky turns pink
and purple with a streak of indigo.

A bird flaps out of a tree,
glides over the white tipped mountains
and slowly vanishes with the colors.

(Yup. I pretended I watched a poem fly until it went over a mountain. That would be a very long time. Haha.)

My Sister - PEDM 6

This poem is kind of dumb.
But it's important because it's a certain time in my life which had a huge significance on me because I lost my sister, my house, my cat, and my big sister from Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
It was a tough year for me.
Anyway, here is little kid Kym writing about My Sister.

My Sister

My sister moved away.
She rarely writes or calls me.
I wish she would more often.

I used to cry every day,
But now I rarely do.
I want her back because
She's my sister.

P.S. If you're my mother reading this, please don't post it places. And don't make a big deal about it. And don't read it to people. It'll annoy my greatly.
Thanks.

The Cycle of Poetry - PEDM 5

Another poem by 5th-grade-Kym. This one is about poetry. I have a few of those. :)

Anyway, I kind of love this poem. Even though it is a bit too wordy.

The Cycle of Poetry

Poetry isn't simple
the words upon the page.
It's deeper
Look inside of you
There you'll find the meaning
Each word is a clue;
Solve the mysteries of life
discover poet's thoughts,
the secrets of her heart,
the gifts of knowledge
she passes on to you.

Sunset - PEDM 4

I'm going to be posting to catch up. It's been a busy week. It'll be a busy month. This COULD happen a lot...
Anyway, this is a poem I wrote in 5th grade.
It pretends to be a haiku because it's 3 lines.
It's not a haiku.

Sunset

Snow tipped hills
are painted pink
to match the tinted sky

Sneaker. - PEDM 3

This is another poem from fifth grade Kym. This is one of my funnier poems. I quite like it, but it makes me feel weird reading it out loud. Like it’s not my words?
I’m not sure. That makes no sense.
Anyway, here it is.
Note: My feet are not smelly.

Sneaker

A white sneaker hibernates
underneath my bed,
not moving, silent,
as if hiding
from my smelly foot

Snowglobe

Well, I failed PEDM already! Completely forgot yesterday.
But that's alright! I'll post one tonight as well. :)
Anyway, here is a poem from 5th grade Kym.
Note: I don't think I've ever owned or spent much time looking at a snowglobe.

Snowglobe

The great bluster has ended
Houses an treetops
glistening with snow
as the last flurry settles.
But, a quick flick of my wrist
and the blizzard begins again.

My Personal Definition of Poetry - PEDM I

I have been a poet for as long as I can remember. I was put into the "Gifted and Talented" program when I was extremely young (although, I think it might just be because I was a disturbed little child and they figured I should get out of the room more.) This program worked like this:

7:50-8:00 : Regular morning class.
8:00-10:30 : Sit in front of a computer and pretend to write poetry for the first 2.4 hours. Write a few lines in the last .1 of the time.
10:30-11:30 : Get poetry looked at by teacher. Be intimidated. Possibly cry. Go back to computer in corner of room and edit. Try to steal lollipop from closet next to you.
11:30-12:00 : Lunch
12:00-2:00 : Do math problems. Be confused.

I was in this program for four years, as I started my 2nd grade year and continued until I went to middle school. At middle school I had a similar situation, but I wasn't allowed to do both math and poetry, so I dropped the math.
Getting off topic, here. My point is: I wrote poems from a very young age. It has always been a part of me. When I'm inspired, I drop what I'm doing and write down a few lines or just an idea and pick it up in a few days, or sometimes weeks, when it has sat in the back of my mind long enough for something to be formulated.
Anyway, on to what this blog was supposed to be about.
I'm currently doing a unit in poetry in AP Language and Literature. One of the short answer prompts was "Your personal definition of what poetry is and a short paragraph explaining."
So this is what I wrote:


“Poetry is a form of expression that uses rhythm, pauses, emphasis,
and sometimes rhyme to convey a story or emotion to its reader.”

Some people believe that poems are just stories broken up in weird ways, and to some extent, that is true. However, if a poem means more to you than just words, or if you study poetry, you’ll see that there’s a bit more behind it. I happened to write a poem about what poetry meant to me in seventh grade.

Poetry

A way to express my feelings,
To let it all out.
A way to tell everything,
To those willing to think.

To me a poem is more than the words. It’s what you don’t say. It’s the hidden meanings. It’s the emotion someone feels when reading it. It’s the way the rhythm works to make you look at one word, and have it mean more than what a dictionary can tell you about it. Poetry is hidden expression.

Soo... I Got Interviewed!

I got interviewed last Thursday for the local paper! It was fine and I taped it so that'll probably go up on my second channel once VEDA is all over with. We'll see.
Anyway, I have a picture of the article here.
And, let me just say, I was NOT expecting my nicknames for the selectmen to be in there... That is really embarrassing...

I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to tell me what you think on twitter or YouTube!
http://www.twitter.com/themunchkym
http://www.youtube.com/themunchkym

Help Laura Send A Message.

Laura Cuthbert (http://www.youtube.com/lauracuthbert) sent this to me.
Basically, what she wants is people to read the thing down there so that she can make it into a collab video! You can either read the whole thing (so she can choose whichever part she wants for it) or you can just select one line, but since she needs it tonight, it might be better to do the whole thing so then you know you didn't do the same one as someone else!
Thanks for helping out guys!! :D

Laura's words begin here:

I am making a response to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apr0w...el_video_title

I want to explain the importance of community in my video response. It is one thing to say there is community on youtube, but a bigger piece to actually show it. If any of you would like to send me a clip of you reading this (not looking at the paper), it would be appreciated. You can add pieces, bring in props, anything. If you want to be a part of the video just let me know and send me a video through sendspace.com Laura_cuthbert@yahoo.ca asap. I am going to upload on Thursday.



We are
The little guys
We make content
Extreme content
Because we see the world as a
Beautiful
Important
Inspirational
Awesome
Creative
Place
And YouTube is our venue
So we need to Rebuild
Because it isn’t just one big
Advertisement
Sales pitch
Moneymaking
Scheme
It is our way of sharing
Our lives
Our perspectives,
Our songs
Our defeats
And our victories
It is our community
And we’re taking it back.

WHAT Has Kym Been Posting?

Note: This is aimed at my Facebook friends. You being mostly my twitter friends, some of this doesn't apply. Like I probably don't have to explain that I make videos.... :)

You've seen the links and I know you're probably confused, so let me explain.
I make videos on YouTube. If you don't know that by now, you live under a rock. Or at least have more of a life than me.

Another person who makes videos on YouTube (and has since 2005 when the website began) is Michael Buckley. He posts (I think) three videos a week and every Friday he posts what is known as BuckFactor. BuckFactor is when he chooses 5 or so small YouTubers that he likes to highlight and promote.

Michael Buckley has 1,000,000 subscribers.
So, he has said on numerous occasions that, although it is not the only way to get noticed, it really does help if someone's video has a lot of likes/comments on the Buck Factor fanpage.
So, what I'm asking is for you to like the post and possibly leave a comment. You could even share it to other Facebook members if you'd like!
The way to do it is to first like the page called BuckFactor (it is completely necessary or you won't be able to like my post). ----> http://dft.ba/-buckfactor
Then to like/comment on my post that I have conveniently made a short link for here: http://dft.ba/-tmkymbf
If you DO choose to share, make sure to include BOTH links or else the person you send to it will not be able to do one or the other.

YouTube is more than a hobby for me. It's something I really care about. I've really built a community and made a lot of friends, which I know is hard for you guys to understand sometimes.

But please consider helping me get out here.
Thank you.
I love you all.
-Kym.

Together In One

Although this isn't the best poem I've ever written, it really means a lot to me. Not because of the writing, the topic, or the time period it's written in. Really, because of the people I was thinking of when I wrote it.
I love you all.
I hope you like it.

URL is IRL

There are people whom I know
Who I see every day
In a box I carry around.
When it’s closed, it’s just plastic
But open, it’s my world.
This world is not one place.
It’s many places
Together in one.

I meet these people in my box
We talk and we joke
We hang out.
Just not in houses or malls.
We hang out in boxes.
Each in our own.
Many places
Together in one.

People call life outside the box “real life”
But both are real.
These people in my box are real
They’re just real somewhere else.
They’re real for someone else.
But we’re all here in my box
Many places
Together in one.

#grannyyy

There has recently been some stemming confusion around the title of #grannyyy.
There has also been some complaints within #grannyyy about adding new members, feeling left out, and becoming a label.
Now, although I understand the concerns, I do not share them.
The first thing I'm going to address is my line that I wrote on the grannyyy group in your pants that states "you must be friends with all members of grannyyy".
Now, I completely understand that this could come as some confusion as everyone has their own interpretation of the word "friend". I believe more what I was going for was "you must be friendly with all members of grannyyy" or "you must be civil to" or "nice to". My point was just that we do not attack within the group and we do not want any disrespect.
I don't expect everyone in grannyyy to have the same feelings about what grannyyy is. I've heard from many different members what it means to them. Whether it be a group of friends, a support group, or just the name given to a set of very different relationships, we are all very different people and therefore see it differently.
As for people feeling left out, this is something that cannot be helped. There is no reason anyone should feel that way because grannyyy is an open and loving relationship between friends. It is true that I can't say I feel the same about some of you as I feel about others, but can anyone say that about any group of friends? Of course not! And it's madness to expect that! If you feel left out in grannyyy, just talk to some more people! Tweet at them! Leave a comment on their video! Skype! There's literally infinite possibilities as we are all very internet-obsessed people. :P
Ruth (irissel2007 / @rutheday) is a very recent member of grannyyy and she gave her opinion on what grannyyy means to her:
"I feel like I'm a bit of an outsider since I haven't been here since the beginning, but I just thought that the name GRANNYYY was just a name we used to identify ourselves with this group of friends and to help us organize to get bigger things done. Like, I might meet someone that doesn't know who I am but if someone mentions that they are a part of GRANNYYY then we know that we have a lot of the same friends. Also, it's a name that can become recognizable to people outside the group.... Does that all make sense? Basically, I didn't feel like the label mattered internally, but was more useful as an external tool/way of identifying ourselves to people who don't already know us."
In my opinion, this is how grannyyy started. This is what it means.
I'm sorry that that meaning is getting lost.
And I wish I could fix the unhappy feelings you guys are having about the name.
But there's nothing I can do.
Not that there should be, because this battle that is happening about unhappiness in grannyyy? It's a personal thing. I still feel the same about all of you. Nothing has changed. I love each of you individually, in your own way, and collectively as a group.
Grannyyy is, after all, just a name.
My relationships with each of you are what really matter.
So stop fretting over it. :)

*These are my OWN opinions. I cannot speak for the rest of the group. Nor am I trying to change anyone else's opinions. Just expressing my own.

Smoke Town

I live in a town with a paper mill.
I've lived in this town* my entire life.
During the course of my life, the mill has changed names at least three or four times, but it has always stayed the same.
This town is 100% dependent on the mill to keep it running. It was built with the mill in mind. There are walking bridges put up that lead you directly to the mill, our main attraction for tourists (the falls) has a dam which generates power for the mill, and there is even a section of the town known as the "Brick Park" which is four streets of houses made completely of brick that were built by contractors as a place for mill-workers to live in order to be close to the mill.
At least two (and possibly more as I just don't know their occupations) of the five selectmen in Rumford are employees of the mill.
I am extremely torn about the paper mill because I have been watching it emit constant fumes from the smoke towers my entire life, and when I think about every time I have seen it let out gases, it hurts me because I know it is hurting the earth.
Even so, I am extremely aware that if it were not for the paper mill, this town would have an even lower population (which currently is at 5,500 as of the recent census), the stores would all close down, and it would become another lost ghost town.
As much as I care about the town and want to see it continue, it is hard for me to watch the smoke come from those towers every day.
And even harder is knowing that after this summer, I will no longer be living in this town and probably will never come back and live full time.
As much as removing the mill would be a problem, the fact that most people do, in the end, leave is just as big of an issue.
So, anyway, Erich and I were in his car or driving or something. I don't even remember, but he looked at the smoke above the trees and said "it looks like the town is on fire".
Needless to say, I didn't talk to Erich for about ten minutes as I was formulating this poem in my head.

This is the poem as it will appear in the 2011 Rumford poetry reading.

*Note* In saying "my town" I am actually referring to Rumford, Maine. Although you all know me to live in Mexico, the towns are connected in almost every way and I consider my home to be both Rumford and Mexico. I have lived in both towns.

#Grannyyy FAQs

    I’ve been noticing as #grannyyy gets more recognition that we all seem to be answering the same questions about it over and over. So, I decided I would create a #grannyyy FAQ blog post to fix this problem. Without further ado, here it is!

What is #grannyyy?!

    #grannyyy (also called just “grannyyy”) is a group of friends who met through YouTube and like to do awesome things together, hangout on Google Plus, and start projects to decrease worldsuck.

Who is in #grannyyy?

    Granny currently is an unknown number of people. We YouTubers who chat on skype, occationally have blogTV shows, do G+ hangouts, and make videos. I’m not going to put a list because it would have to be constantly updated. The best count we currently have is the list of 40 members attending Vidcon 2012, but there are probably 20 or more that are not on that list. (If you are in #Grannyyy and are not on that list, fix it here.)

What does #grannyyy actually do?

    Essentially, we have no designated reason for being together as a group. Since grannyyy is just the name we gave our group of friends, we could continue on just being friends! However, we have been known to do projects. It started with #danplan (where we became friends with an awesome guy named Dan) and has grown as far as project #bennifriend (the goal of which was to contact Benni Cinkle from the “Friday” video). To this day, there has not been a #grannyyy plan that has failed.
    Excluding the projects, though, #grannyyy is support. We all talk (mainly on Skype, Twitter, and G+ hangouts), comment on each other’s videos, and tweet incessantly at each other. We support each other however we can and are constantly opening the eyes of our friends to the wonders of the internet.

Is ______ the leader of #grannyyy???

    NO. There is no leader of #grannyyy. I don’t know how to make this more clear. Although there are people in #grannyyy who do a lot of organizing, that is a character trait. It is not because they hold some sort of special office in #grannyyy. Everyone in #grannyyy can start projects and there is not one person who is superior in any way! Even the 13 original #grannyyy members hold absolutely no superiority. All people are created equal and all members of #grannyyy will treat others with respect and like an equal or they will face serious talks from their friends.

Where did the name come from?

    The name was a joke from a JonGarcia live show. There was an attender in the chat whose name was “GRANNYYY”. JonGarcia greeted them and tried to get them to talk, but they did not speak the entire show! However, everyone took it upon themselves to start saying “GRANNYYY” nonstop. It soon became an in-community meme, if you will. When I began creating a group for our circle of friends in Your Pants, I asked on a live show what our name should be. The response was an overwhelming amount of “GRANNYYY”. And so it was!

Can I join #grannyyy?

    Absolutely! Being a member of #grannyyy is similar to being a nerdfighter in that if you want to be, you are. However, it does take a little more than that. You cannot just start saying you’re a member without having friends in Grannyyy. A member of #grannyyy is expected to:
Be friends with other members of Grannyyy.
Be a content creator or an active viewer.
And care about others in the group.
If you can meet all of those qualifications, then you are a member of #grannyyy! Welcome! Now go meet everyone!

I Decided I Wanted To Share Poetry

This blog isn't really going to be too exciting, but I wrote a few poems I liked recently and decided I wanted a place to share them.
I used to keep a blog on myspace (HA. Who uses myspace?) back the day and, although I will probably never get back into regular blogging since most of what I want to say, I say to a camera, I do still enjoy writing.
So, anyway. Here is the first of hopefully many poems I share on this blog.
It's about living in a mill town.


Smoke Town

The town is on fire
Smoke billowing into the sky
from tall metal trees
day and night
infected

Trucks loaded with logs
and toothed monsters
Leaving smoke trails
as the fire inside them burns

The town is on fire
yet no one puts it out
because if they did
there would be no town left
to save