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