This is my response to a comment asking if I was afraid of the "cops, or robbers," as the reason for keeping my camera out of people's faces in my videos. It is an unexpected opportunity to explain this, which I cannot resist.

So...

In my opinion, a camera/phone TOTALLY DESTROYS the interesting interaction with another person, which is why no such videos exist on my channel. I've had my share of fun, inspiring relationships of which there is NO record; maybe, one or 2 random photos exist, maybe. I do like to document a particular town or street, my daily/weekly walk through the interesting place, but THE VIDEO ITSELF serves no other purpose than to remind me of any given place or season. The memory does the fun part. And then, maybe, I'll write about it. Life is not something you do for show, it's what you're in, and in my opinion, turning on a camera destroys the experience. The camera's entire purpose is to remind me of the setting. YouTube is basically a photo album for videos, as far as I'm concerned. If people enjoy the videos, great, but I'm not making them for anybody else's benefit.

Sometimes, I will have something to say, but it's generally not for anybody else's benefit I'm saying it. For whatever reason, I just need to say it.

15 years ago, I made "video blog" style travelogue videos of a particular trip, and in the end, all I saw of value was a music video. The video for "Certain Stratospheres" is compromised of all the travel vlogs I made of thousands of miles of driving. I do enjoy the travel vlogger, the guy who films his hand opening the door of the cab, and edits it into a TV-show-style presentation. I subscribe to several channels like that. It just isn't for me.

p.s. This includes music videos themselves, anything spoken word, any of it. I believe songs that resonate with the most people (all of whom are individuals) are written for an audience of ONE, and that the attempt to please everybody is an artless, disingenuous act. The most honest expression is personal, not universal, because nobody can speak for everybody. They can, however, speak for themselves. 

In my opinion, the manufactured desire to please everybody is among the greatest unspoken travesties of our time. I don't actually care what you think of my work, because I made it for my own reasons, and its merits are not dependent on anyone else. If you can't say the same thing about what you do, I'm not interested in it. Unless it really is CONTENT, and the Internet version of a TV show. But art? Music? Writing? Film?

If you're not making it for yourself, don't even start. There's enough filler in this culture as it is.

This is one of 2 examples off the top of my head, that I would say are the exception that proves the rule. This guy, and a guy in Mexico City, who came up to me while I was already filming. Not much else.

And this is take 2. Take 1 was better, but didn't actually record. It just isn't in my nature to film real life. I move through it, absorb and observe, and write about it later. Songs, poems, articles, but not content. Life is not content intended for consumption by anyone, including the person living it. It's life. We only get one shot. Stop cheapening it.

Exhibitionism is cheap.

This video, for example, I forced myself to make, for no other reason than to document the neighborhood I lived in during the 2024 holiday season. The thumbnail is a screenshot of the one or 2 accidentally-interesting shots in the whole video, and in hindsight I'm glad I shot it, though it's a boring video and was a chore to make. 

I also wanted to remember the English language school I trained at, but couldn't afford to stay in town long enough to work in. Maybe someday I'll write the story of this season in more detail. Maybe not. Either way, it comes out in its own way through other things, eventually. Including but not limited to my now-terminal disinterest in most things Gringoland. I would never have come back if not for my cat, and if I outlive him, I will be aggressively disinclined to stay here longer than it takes to sell a van and get on a plane. I get it: it's about you, and your need to be entertained. Content over culture, creators over artists. You're so deeply embedded in the Matrix, you believe you're offering support by subscribing and hitting a like button. It's not a secret. And like this video, it isn't interesting either.  I subscribe to anything that contains even the slightest interest for me. I don't believe I am deigning to help someone by doing so.

Do you?

By the grace of God, I don't see myself as a "creator." Allow me to encourage you to reconsider it yourself. "Creator." Such a self-important title for someone who makes cat videos.

Don't you think?