For the last couple of months I have been writing little blurbs for the Turn Up the Volume Newsletter, a fan-run newsletter for the band Heffron Drive. This shouldn't be all that surprising since I have written about seeing them in concert twice. (Don't remember? New reader and missed it? You can find those posts here and here.)
For the last issue of the newsletter, I wanted to buy some of the new merchandise to give away to our readers as a way of saying thanks for all of their support. We could run a contest in the newsletter, and I would get the prizes. Everyone was cool with the idea, so we did it. Huzzah!
Today it was time to pick the winners. Friends, I'm not really sure what possessed me to make the next decision. I'm choosing to blame it on an early morning staff meeting and a lack of coffee.
I got the idea in my head that I should make a video of choosing the winner. No one could argue about the legitimacy of the drawing then. Everyone will see that the beanies truly exist, they would see the random drawing. Besides, I figured it couldn't be too hard to make a simple video, right?
Ha!
I rarely even take selfies, so shooting video of myself just doesn't happen. I should probably also mention that this was, in fact, the first time I have ever attempted to use the webcam on my laptop. How hard can it be?
Pretty damn hard, as it turns out.
Come, Friends! Let's explore all my failed attempts before finally managing to get a video recorded that would not be a total train wreck.
Trying to figure out where I'm even supposed to be looking
Attempt #1 -- still haven't got the hang of this yet
Attempt #2 -- Still surprised by when the countdown ends and the recording actually begins
Attempt #3 -- Third time's the charm, right? No.
Attempt #4 -- in which I realize I have no idea what the hell I am going to say
Attempt #6 -- foiled by my own coffee cup
Attempt #7 -- still not sure where I'm going with what I want to say
At this point, Friends, you'll notice a small wardrobe change. Why? Because I was getting incredibly frustrated with myself and needed to step away. Also, my sweater was too hot.
Attempt #8 -- Now I can't even get through a coherent sentence. Progress in the wrong direction!
Attempt #9 -- Why yes, the beanies contest would be giving away beanies. Let's try that again without sounding quite so redundant
You would think, after all of the many ways in which I failed, that the finished product would be flawless, right?
Nope.
Apparently I can't even make a video -- less than 2 minutes in length -- with cursing. Yeah. Just kind of slipped out. No way was I starting over again at that point.
Seriously, pretty much my entire evening had been spent trying to make this damn thing. I just finished it up and posted it. I left it up to Melly to decide whether she wanted to post the video or just announce the winners.
Being awesome, she decided to post it! Want to see the finished product? I know you do.
Things I probably should have considered ahead of time:
--Did I think about the lighting before hand?
Nope. Just decided to do it while sitting on my couch.
--Did I even stop to fix my hair, or gussy myself up ahead of time?
Nope. I call this look "I've been at work since 8 am, and 12 hours later I'm trying to make a video. Hair and makeup from this morning are going to be good enough."
There you have it, Friends. I don't think vlogging is something I am going to take up right away. So much harder than you would think.
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