Some of you may know I am a member of a special community. WomANZ offers support for women in Australia and New Zealand in content creation and esports. Everyone from Twitch streamers to professional esport players are welcome to join. You can apply to be a part of the community on their website. Today WomANZ announced that they had partnered with HyperX to give away a Quadcast Microphone. Just recently released in Australia, it retails for $189 at JB Hi-Fi, and is compatable with PC, Mac and Playstation 4. An all-round microphone for someone wanting quality sound, whether it's for podcasts, recorded video or live streaming. It's open for everyone to enter here. Good luck! Nicole
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If you've been keeping up with this blog, you'll notice I haven't posted in a while - since my birthday in fact. I planned to make a vlog, as something different, but I kept putting it off. The sore throat didn't help, and my room is a bit of a mess, but these were all just excuses. So finally, today, I recorded a video. I show how my desk cleaning is going, and two things I got for myself online. You should also notice the website has a new Video tab. So far, there are just two videos - my The Nicole Experience vlog series. The second one is the one I recorded today - the first one was recorded almost a year ago. I decided I wanted to record videos and stream, to gain more confidence in myself. But I kept coming up with excuses not to do it. To be honest, I was scared. Scared of what people would think of me, that I wouldn't be good enough. But, now that I'm being honest and more of myself through this blog, those excuses don't carry weight anymore. One of my best qualities is the fact that I am unique - I've never felt the need to copy the crowd. So what people think doesn't matter so much. If you're reading this though, you've taken the time to read what I have to say, so you do matter, and I appreciate your support. Anyway, enjoy the video, comment on my YouTube channel and so on. NicoleSo, my 39th birthday is today (8th April, 2019). I thought I would do a really interesting blog post for it. I couldn't really think of any idea, so I decided to do a list instead. A list of things I love/like, want to do in the coming year or would like to do in my life at some stage. The Round the World Trip with my Mum - my Mum and I have decided that as I am 40 next year and she'll be 70, we'll take a trip overseas. She wants to go on the Spinning Teacups at Disney Land, and I want to go do the Harry Potter thing at Universal Studios. But, it's expanded to include a trip to the UK to see her family, Chicago to see my sister, New York, Las Vegas and more. I hope we can do it, as we deserve a trip with all we've been through in the past few years. Lose some (a lot!) of weight - I recently weighed myself, and I need to lose a lot of weight. Finding the time to exercise is hard, as I feel tired after work. Mum has been meeting up with me after work three days a week so we can go for a half hour walk, but I really need to stop eating junk food and soft drinks. I've also been taking my lunch to work, to stop me from buying bad stuff. More self confidence - This is a difficult one for me. I was bullied a lot at high school for being "different". Now that I'm older I realise that being different, being my own person and not following the crowd is something to be proud of and celebrated. It's really hard to change thinking patterns that you've lived with for over twenty years. But, I'll be honest. I never thought I would write that much with this blog and now I've made it a regular thing. So anything could happen. Making videos and streaming - These are two things I have done before. But I think I was too ambitious, and not able to keep up. Making videos is hard - YouTubers make it look easy, but it's really not, and it's even harder when you have a day job to keep the money coming in. I would love to have a more creative job than I currently have, but you have to work hard to get to a point where you can make a living from it. Get back into music - I loved music when I was in primary school - I still do. I was in the choir at school, and later on, the dance group. However, when I got to high school, all the doubts of not being good enough set in. Even in my twenties I did a course where I wrote songs and it was put on an album. We performed our songs live, and I won a scholarship. I bought a Mac and some other computer stuff. I took a TAFE course in music as well. After all this, I still didn't feel like I was good enough, even though I still loved music. I don't know what I want to do, but I feel like I can't give up something I love so much. Socialise more - When I went to my first PAX Australia, I felt like I could not only be myself, but also that I socialised a lot more than I usually do. Being accepted just as I am is a wonderful feeling, and one I would like to feel more often. It's hard because, in the past, people would make fun of me having "friends", like it was some kind of joke for me to be liked. It still affects me. But the past shouldn't control my future, and I've forgiven the people who were like that, as they didn't know any better. Get a cat - I would really love to own a cat. I can't be a streamer/gamer without one, apparently. I've always wanted a pet, unfortunately we can't have pets in the place where we live currently. Hopefully, we'll be able to when we move out. While Mum would most likely want a dog, I'd prefer a cat. Getting a mortgage/buying a home - This is scary, adulting stuff. I have saved a lot of money since I started my job over ten years ago. It's possibly enough for a small apartment - big enough for me and Mum to be happy. I guess I'm scared that something will happen and I won't be able to pay it off. Or that I will miss out on stuff because my money would be going straight into paying off the mortgage. I am lucky that I still live with my Mum, and she is more than happy to help me out. We really do need each other and I am so glad I have such a great Mum. NicoleAfter a whole bunch of internal debate, I decided to purchase a planner for the content that I want to create. I managed to find one online - this one. It hasn't arrived yet, however they sent me a template to use for the month of April. My biggest hurdle at the moment is procrastination. I have a sore throat, which started yesterday, and I am using that as an excuse not to make videos or start streaming. It's a fair reason, but deep down I feel kind of scared to put myself out there again. I've made a few videos which I've uploaded to Twitch. I have also streamed a few times, playing Minecraft, Sims 4, Sims Medieval and Stardew Valley. They are all games I would love to play again. Here are the ideas I have for videos so far:-
Nicole |