Role Model

I've never had what anyone would call role models, discounting people I actually know, until very recently. It's hard to recall what directed my moral compass when I was a child, but I expect a lot of it came from parents and teachers. I do remember one stage in Primary School where I asked myself what a Princess would do, before doing anything. As I was growing up I would take advice to the letter from the book I was reading at the time, but it was always unlikely that those paper protagonists would stick around on my shoulder for any substantial length of time.

I'm not sure if this is different for me as it is for others or not. I remember often feeling terribly ignorant at the end of Primary School/beginning of Secondary school because I knew the names of virtually no actors or musical artists, and from my observation I concluded that these were the figures my peers were looking up to. In year 7 we had to write a letter to a famous person, anyone we liked, as long as they were English. I chose Stephen Fry, because he narrated the audio books of the Harry Potter series.

This is the first quantifiable moment I can think of, which indicated I would be a nerdfighter in future life.

In a nutshell, nerdfighters are a community of people who follow the vlogbrothers, Hank and John Green, on Youtube, who share and celebrate their nerdiness together, and use the power of it to decrease World-Suck. As it appears I am almost constantly blogging about Youtubers these days, I'm certain it will come as no surprise to readers that it is there that I found the first individuals I would label as my role models.

The Green bros. have created a conversation between themselves across the internet, whose videos are thought-provoking and intelligent. They've created other channels to explore the ways Youtube can be used as an educational tool, and show that young people are still inquisitive, and eager, and creative. John Green is an award-winning novelist, and I have not yet met a reader of his books who have said they haven't cried whilst reading them at least once.

John and Hank are more relatable for me than any celebrity because the connection generated is genuine. There is no costume and make-up department, no producer, no higher power pulling the strings above their videos, manufacturing the response. Even when their audience was comparatively tiny back in 2007, they made their videos to the highest possible standard, on subjects they were passionate about. In 2013, with over 900,000 subscribers, their subject matter interests me, and their advice is relevant to me.

It was these brothers, who I met last night.

John's latest work The Fault in Our Stars is on tour in the UK, celebrating the release of it on our little island. Yesterday around 900 people gathered in Cadogan Hall, London, on just one of the days of the tour. I've never experienced anything like what happened to me there. Finding myself in a whole hall full of like-minded individuals, meeting in person others who also drink in every well-articulated word of the vlogbrothers, and attempting to sing along with Hank's fast-paced tunes about quarks and deep-sea angler fish, was electrifying and unbelievable.

The evening included a book-signing by both brothers, and though we had to wait about an hour and a half for our turn, it could not have been more worth it. John said they wouldn't be offended if we left early and skipped the 2 seconds of awkward conversation we would get with them, but I wouldn't have passed up that 2 seconds for the world. Though they won't remember, it seemed important to tell them in person how much I appreciate what they do, and how much I hope they continue doing it. Plus, I now own things covered in their sharpie squiggles.

Though I've tried, meeting role models in person is indescribable. I'm glad that the Pixar film The Incredibles was wrong on that count. For me, February 3rd will be known as Annual Vlogbrothers Day, so that I can recall the night I met two of the most influential figures of my life at this point, and so that I Don't Forget To Be Awesome.

Yours, star-struck,
Abby

Lifescouts: Sunrise badge

Can we all pretend that I remembered to post this yesterday? Thank you, thanks.

There is a reason that Mount Fuji, Tokyo, is always drawn with clouds surrounding it, like this:



And that is because it is rare to see Fujisan on a completely clear day. (Of course a google search will provide you with every exception).

When I visited Japan in the Autumn of 2008 my class and I travelled on a pirate ship (no jokes) around a lake, to get a good view of the impressive mountain. On an average day viewing Mount Fuji, the snow-cap is obscured by clouds, making it look terribly ethereal and mysterious. Which makes sense, given that that's where the gods live.

A little more unusual was the sight which greeted those lucky enough to be awake on the flight back to London after a week and a half in Japan.

I will never forget the sight of the tip of Mount Fuji poking through the clouds beneath us, while the sunrise drenched the scene in a painfully bright golden-orange glow.

And so I claim the Sunrise badge.



There are other occasions I have seen the sun-rise too, but that was by far the most impressive, and the one I am least likely to forget.

Yours, reminiscently,
Abby

Lifescouts: Nerimon

I've mentioned before about my addiction to Youtube, and it is still going strong. Although currently subscribed to 91 channels, I most definitely have my favourites, with content I will never miss. One of these favourites is Alex Day, aka nerimon, house-mate to charlieissocoollike, and straight-talker extraordinaire. Despite their closeness geographically, in my opinion the nature of their videos couldn't be further away from each other. Charlie is often described as 'cute' and 'likeable' and although I'm sure these words are not oft used to describe Alex, he has no trouble gaining followers either (who call themselves the Nermie Army).

The charm of Alex is that he won't pussy-foot around a topic. He just turns a camera on, and talks to it about whatever is on his mind. If his audience is being stupid about something, he has no qualms in telling them so:

He never owns more than four T-shirts and two pairs of trousers at a time, because he said fairly recently that that's all he needs, and he likes to appreciate what he has. These items of clothing are usually faintly outlandish, and it should be becoming clearer why I am an admirer of his...

However, he's not one of these people who takes advantage of the internet and free speech just to spout whatever he's thinking and create controversy. He also creates things which he really cares about. Oftentimes  don't need real words this is his music. His fame has come solely from his Youtube channel, which means he has broken records by entering the charts on three occasions. His highest reaching single was 'Forever Yours' which got to No. 4 in the UK top 40, and has an accompanying music video featuring himself and Charlie.

But, and I am arriving at my point here, music is not all that Alex creates. He has recently launched 'Lifescouts', an online version of scouts badges, but with more relevance to the real world. He's chosen topics that might not usually come up in conversation, so that people can share new stories with each other, even if you think you know someone quite well.

I think this is a wonderful idea, not least because the internet has taught me that quieter people often have the best stories to tell, and they are more likely to share them online.

A new badge goes live every day, and it's been running for 21 days already! I'd like to share my badges and their stories with my readers, so I'm going to start posting those I have earned, hopefully on a daily basis so that I can catch up.

Check in with me tomorrow, to read the first of my stories.

Yours, adventurously,
Abby

Charlie Charlie Charlie

Something happened recently, and I'm not entirely sure where I want to go with this blog post, but we'll see where we end up.

Charlie Mcdonnell is a Youtuber from Bath who currently has 1.68 million subscribers. When I first truly discovered the potential of Youtube - how completely this little site is a community - the nature of Charlie's skill became apparent. He has a magnetic personality, which shines through in everything he makes. He is cheery, and creative, and genuine, as well as funny, sensitive, and doesn't take himself too seriously. Also Stephen Fry voices his outros. It never comes as a surprise to me to see multiple comments asking for Charlie's hand in the comments of his videos.

Part of the follow-ability (who needs real words? Whatever.) of Charlie is his willingness to share his audience. I've become something of a Youtube addict, subscribed to over 80 channels, and many of these are people Charlie has collaborated with or mentioned in his videos, and the rest are people those people have mentioned. It's a slippery slope. (Actually, I lie, I small portion is due to my odd and eclectic music tastes). I am aware it's my opinion, as there are many influential Youtubers out there, but to me, Charlie is the centre of the Youniverse.

Therefore, as time went on, and I noticed a distinct lack of content from Charlie's channel, charlieissocoollike, I was not the only one. Because the quality of his work is so high, and the effort which goes in so entirely apparent, I for one assumed he was just putting that much time into each video, and that he had a life to get on with outside of Youtube as well. But after about a year of less and less of Charlie's face in the 'most viewed' section of Youtube's front page, I and his other millions of viewers were faced with this heart-wrenching video:

And his followers responded. All over the internet there are people rallying for Charlie to get back to being comfortable enough to entertain us. On the video, on his website, on twitter, and in video responses. The latter is where I was most impressed. The sheer number of friends from the community who know him personally, as well as those who don't, showed how empathetic humans will be when someone lays their heart bare. And because we all understand. Of course we do. The terror of putting yourself out there, trying to make people laugh, or think, or lead better lives, only to be beaten down and criticised is a feeling we all have known. To some people this is felt by posting their opinions on the internet, but to others it can be felt in as small an action as raising their hand in class.

One of my favourite reactions is from another Youtuber who doesn't post so often, but when he does, wow. I can go into this another time, for now I just want you to listen to Michael Aranda, and his wise, wise words:

Without being falsely complimentary of covering up the truth, he makes me feel so much better about my problems, and the video wasn't even directed at me.

I think this is something which has made me love people a little bit more over this past week. We're all different, and that's wonderful. But we are a little bit the same too, and when we realise this, and put the plea for help out there, friends, family and strangers will respond. Even just the knowledge of the potential for support can help me through a difficult time.

Yours, lovingly,

Abby