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For this week, I really just felt like writing a light and cheerful post. I’m currently down with a cold, and in the process of moving (!!!), so I thought, why not write a post about something that makes me happy and never ceases to entertain me? That’s right. The beautiful and magical place called YouTube (YT).
I obviously have favorites, but I do watch a bit of this and that. Recently I’ve been watching The Hollywood Reporter: Roundtables, especially those with some of the most amazing actresses on this planet, talking about different subjects, light and heavy. Here’s an example: Actresses Roundtable
This is a list of some of the channels that I really love. Some I follow religiously. It’s in no particular order, except for the first three – those are my top addictions.
Enjoy!
Jenna Marbles
The Queen of YouTube, according to many, is just fucking hilarious, weird and wonderful. If there was one YouTuber I could meet in this world, it would be Jenna. Her energy, persona, humor, and view on life resonates with me on so many levels. She’s a fabulous 32-year-old ladyyyy (watch her videos and get the reference), who simply wants to chill, play PUBG, do weird, fucked up stuff in her weekly videos, and spend as much time with her dogs as she possibly can. Oh, and don’t even get me STARTED on the dogs, Kermit, Peach, and Marbles. She’s a virgo to the maxxxx and has a basketball game tomorroooow.
Her boyfriend, Julien Solomita, is just as fantastic. Here’s why:
Julien Solomita
This guy. This guy right here. Seriously, everyone needs a Julien in their lives. He cracks me up. Running around with his aries energy, driving Jenna crazy yet killing her with his charms, and shooting beautiful, aesthetically pleasing videos, are just some of his many talents. I’m literally sitting here chuckling just thinking about some of the shit he gets up to. And he is so freaking adorable. He’ll do anything for Jenna – including letting her dye his beard, turn him into a Bratz doll, helping her achieve her dream of growing 7 inches taller, cutting and coloring his hair… Jenna names it, he’ll do it. And it is hilarious. His comments, his jokes, his facial expressions… okay, just, just go watch his channel. Now. Like, right now. Leave. Go now. GO.
Jenna+Julien Podcast
So this is probably my biggest addiction to a YT channel to date. Yes, these two have basically taken over my life. And I am here. For. It.
I don’t really listen to any other podcasts, just this one. A new episode comes out once a week – every Monday – and I wait impatiently for it all week. When it’s finally out, I try my best not to watch it right away, so that my withdrawals won’t get too bad. Not logical, I know. And I fail almost every time.
In order to control my withdrawals, I often go back and scrool through their older podcasts, just so I can get my fix. It’s probably gotten to a place where it’s not healthy, but I don’t care!!! I don’t know what I would do without my weekly Jenna+Julien podcast.
Lilly Singh
If Jenna is the Queen of YT, Lilly Singh is definitely the rightful heir to the throne. However, Lilly is queen in soooo many other ways. Here’s why:
“Lilly Singh (aka iiSuperwomanii) is a multi-faceted comedian, entertainer, actress and the founder of #GirlLove. She has found worldwide fame through her comedic and inspirational YT videos, amassing 12 million subscribers. In March 2017, she released her debut book HOW TO BE A BAWSE: A Guide to Surviving Conquering Life, which became a #1 New York Times Best Seller. As a role-model to women and girls around the globe, Singh created her #GirlLove initiative to break the cycle of girl-on-girl hate and encourage women to build each other up.” Source
She also creates music, she’s a really good rapper and song-writer, and makes fantastic music videos. I love her sense of humor, her mannerism, her content, and last, but not least, her cute little dog, Scarbro.
Pewdiepie
The King of YT!!! …. who is – and has been for some time now – in a “subscriber-war” with a channel called T-Series, which is some sort of Indian music coorporation or something. It’s a whole deal on YT – I’m sure many of you will even have seen, heard, or read something about it in traditional media.
After T-Series passed Pewdiepie substantially recently, Pewdiepie made a song together with two other YouTubers, Roomie and Dave, called “Congratulations”:
“PewDiePie links with Roomie and Boyinaband for “Congratulations,” a bittersweet track in which they congratulate T-Series for overcoming PewDiePie’s channel and becoming the most subscribed-to YT channel in the world.” Source.
Here’s the live sub-count. Since the song came out, Pewdiepie has been back in the lead!
Anyway… so… Pewdiepie makes funny videos about stupid things. Sometimes he makes serious videos where he intelligently explains different issues going on. But most of the time he’s just… silly. Love it!
I’ve been subscribed to Pewds for many years now. His content has changed over and over again, so I’ve been watching him on-off. These days, I really enjoy watching his videos, especially PewNews. His humor is quite Scandinavian, I think, which is why I might enjoy it more than some. So yeah, still a loyal subscriber to Pewds!
YouTuber News
I’m so happy I discovered this channel. Benedict Townsend is my spirit animal.
A news channel that gives you the latest news on what’s happening in YouTube-land, with the most magnificent host, Benedict Townsend! He has an amazing weekly segment called “YouTuber watch,” where he picks out a random youtuber every week and talk about what that youtuber has been up to recently. It’s such a fun and interesting way to get to know different youtubers. Thank you, Benedict!
And a big salute to the editors and special-effects people. 10/10!!!
Beckie Jane Brown
Rebecca Jane Brown, commonly known as Beckie, is a smart, beautiful young woman, who uses YT and other platforms to talk about mental health.
Much of her YT content has been about her struggles with trichotillomania, also known as hair pulling disorder. That’s this channel here: Trich Journal
On her main channel, she talks about a myriad of topics. Some of my favorite videos are her throw-out videos (she suffers from hoarding disorder) and her life-updates.
She’s also an artist, and she has an etsy account: Beckie’s art store
and an art channel on YT: Beckie Jane Brown Art
Shane Dawson
The KWEEN of YT. Heheh. Shane has been on YT, like, always. As far back as I can remember. He was one of – if not the first youtuber I started really following. His main channel used to be ShaneDawsonTV. Back in the day, he used to make sketches, parodies, songs, etc. He had different personas, such like the iconic Shanaynay, Aunt Hilda, Paris Hilton, Switch etc. He made a Christmas song back in 2012, called “Maybe This Christmas,” that I listen to every December. Some of my favorite parodies of his are those of Taylor Swift. Here’s one: Taylor Swift SPOOF. (Warning: explicit language and “violence.”)
Shane has managed to re-brand himself time and time again. Now, he’s ruling YT with his documentaries and his conspiracy theories. The site breaks when Shane uploads. He’s so talented, funny, smart, and entertaining. Go check him out!
Anna Akana
Anna Akana is such a good rolemodel and advocate of therapy and working on ones mental health. She deals with depression, low self-esteem, high expectations, self-worth etc. Her videos are always so cute, with fun animations and stuff. They’re so aesthetically pleasing to watch. And her content is just super relevant to me.
She’s also a very good and caring cat-mom.
Mr. Kate
I loooove watching Mr. Kate! This married duo, Kate and Joey, bring interior decoration dreams to life. One of my favorite things about this channel is that Kate loves thrifting – and so do I! So I get so much inspiration from this, without feeling like I’d go broke if I tried something similar to what they’re doing. As I’ve just moved (post about that next week!), I’m definitely taking in a lot of their tips and tricks on interior decor. They’re cute, funny, creative, and they love a good rug cuddle. If you’re even the slightest bit interested in interior design, you should definitely check them out!!!
Colleen Ballinger
Colleen Ballinger became famous yeeeaars ago for her character Miranda Sings. Although I never really watched Miranda Sings, I’ve fallen in love with watching Colleen on her own channel and her vlog channel. Especially when she got pregnant, because she was 100% honest about what was happening, how she was feeling, and she made a point out of breaking with the taboo of talking about the negative sides of being pregnant. She’s been told by hundreds and hundreds of people to just be grateful that she can even get pregnant, that she shouldn’t complain, etc. etc. I respect and appreciate her so, so much for being open about her experience, especially because it’s helped so many women out there, who felt they couldn’t talk to anyone about what they were going through without people guilt-tripping her. Pregnancy isn’t always magical or a bed of roses; some women are hospitalized throughout their pregnancy!! And Colleen definitely had her share of ailments and pains.
I’ve learned a hundred times more about pregnancy from her videos than I ever did in school. I feel much more educated on my own body and what it does through to grow a human. It’s incredible what this woman went through, and what every woman on Earth who’s given birth has gone through. It just seems insane to me. Interestingly enough, it hasn’t scared me away from having children one day. I actually feel a lot better about it, because I feel more prepared and informed for what might happen.
Oh, and she’s a singer, performer, entertainer… so many talents. She also has adorable pets. And an adorable baby.
Intomore
THIS. THIS RIGHT HERE. A channel that focuses on telling stories from the LGBTQ+ community, and I am here for it. Especially the two series they have: Old Lesbians and Old gays. Like, Old Gays play Cards Against Humanity, or Old Lesbians React to Lesbian Commercials. They are so freaking fantastic and wholesome and wonderful and gaaaaah I love them so much. ❤
Waffsicle
I’ve never seen another channel like this before. You may recognize the guy on the left. It’s Julien. Julien Solomita. Again. And the guy on the right? His name is Collin Duddy. Together, they started their company, Waffsicle. Collin loves waffles, Julien loves popsicles. Hence the name. Innovative, right?
So what do they do? They have created an amazing concept called Last Minute Trips. They each throw a dart (while blindfolded) at a map of the US and Canada, live on YT. Then they put up and online poll, and the viewers get to vote on which of the places they will go to. Immediately. Like, they’ll book plane tickets when the destination has been decided and basically head off to the airport right away. Last Minute Trips, ya’ll!
They get to see places that they’d probably never have gone to if it hadn’t been for a random throw of a dart. They meet interesting new people, and have random experiences. The videos are beautifully shot, almost like short documentaries. Super fun, go have a look!
Community Channel
Yes. I have used this exact image in a previous post. I just like it so much. And this woman, Natalie Tran, is a genius. Why did I put her last on the list? Because she hasn’t made a new videos in years. Why? She suffers from severe OCD, and it became so bad that she had to quit making videoes indefinitely. She’s really been struggling for the last few years, but I think she’s getting better.
She has made so many hilarious videos, and I return to them again and again. She’s so relatable, funny, and downright loveable. I dare you not to love her.
That’s it for this week! I hope you’ll get into one or more of these fantastic YT channels. Enjoy!
Next week: I moved into my own place!
The Elephants in the Room 