vinnieharned

[vinnieharned]

Preptober Thoughts and a Defense of Sucking

New Blogpost: Preptober Thoughts & A Defense of Sucking

Hey, Hi, & Hello Friends! As I write this, I am currently in the midst of my annual fall creative marathon. Basically, every summer, I get busy with work or home projects and soon forgo all creative endeavors. Then, whenever cooler weather starts to come around, I decide to make up for it by taking on as many bonus projects as I can physically muster over the course of two months. This usually…

[vinnieharned]

SuperMega & Justice

New Blogpost: SuperMega & Justice

Content Warning: This post contains references to sexual assault, amongst other things. If that’s something you find triggering or upsetting, you may want to skip over this one. A couple of months ago, one of my favorite channels ‘SuperMega’ went through a bit of a tumult when one of their former employees accused Matt and Ryan, the duo behind the channel, of at the very least covering up sexual…

[vinnieharned]

Can you be creative while still adulting?

New blogpost: Can you be creative while still adulting?

Creativity is one of the biggest driving forces behind societal advancement; just look at the Renaissance! Nowadays, we tend to look at art as a part of the side hustle movement. “Maybe if you work your ass off, someday you’ll be able to quit your day job and do art for a living!” However, I tend to be of the mind that everyone should be creative in some aspect, whether that’s music, drawing,…

[vinnieharned]

In Defense of Ambivalence

New Blogpost: In Defense of Ambivalence

With the recent news out of Israel, there’s been a lot on my mind recently. Hearing about these kinds of egregious human rights violations is always difficult; I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for the families of people affected by the attacks. Nonetheless, this situation has been especially tricky as I more or less feel that the U.S. has historically overstepped its bounds in…

[vinnieharned]

Stuff sure does happen...

New Blogpost: Stuff sure does happen...

Every now and then, I feel the need to take a break from the news and avoid social media. Usually, this doesn’t last me more than a week, but every time I do, I’m always shocked at how much seems to happen over a week. Don’t get me wrong, I think that most of the news that the 24/7 news media companies choose to focus on isn’t worthy of much of our serious attention, but gosh dang, if American…

[vinnieharned]

Personality Types are Probably Bunk...

New blogpost: Some thoughts on personality tests.

I’ve always had an inexplicable attraction to personality tests. Part of this is probably part of my inclinations to want to ‘hack my productivity’ by figuring out new ways to make my brain work better, harder, and faster. But I think when it comes to a lot of tests, I just really like the idea of having a label for my tendencies whether that’s introvert/extrovert, or type A type B…

[vinnieharned]

An Unplanned Break...

I'm finally back to writing blog posts! Here's my first one since my unplanned break:

A few months ago I suddenly stopped posting any blog posts for quite a while. This break wasn’t specifically planned, and I honestly was planning on getting right back to the semi-weekly schedule. However, as the spring semester continued I found myself more and more burnt out to the point that I couldn’t even think about trying to post content on here. Even so, I thought now would be a good time…

[vinnieharned]

But what about the good?

New blogpost: But what about the good?

As some of you may know, I became a dad back in 2020 and then again in early 2022. I would go into the normal tirade of how being a dad is the best thing that ever happened to me, and that I didn’t know love until I had these kids, but that’s just not true for me. To be honest, becoming a father at the age of 22 was not something that was on my vision board at any point in my life. At the time,…

[vinnieharned]

Vlogging in 2023

New blogpost: Vlogging in 2023

Over the past two months, I’ve regularly recorded and posted short 3-4 minute videos on my YouTube channel. This format is very different from the more highly-edited longer videos I’ve traditionally made on YouTube over the course of the last 10 years. As such, I’ve been watching similar YouTube channels in search of inspiration which eventually led me down the rabbit hole of checking out some of…

[vinnieharned]

Things might not work out...

New blogpost: Things might not work out...

Growing up, I didn’t know my extended family super well. Part of being homeschooled in a large family is you don’t really consider that you need any connections outside of that main family group—so most of the things I know about my aunts, uncles, and cousins are from stories I heard from my parents. One such story was about a relative who had a reputation of being a serial divorcee—like he’d…

[vinnieharned]

men don't cry.

I saw him floating ominously overhead A dark cloud of emotion. Standing on the plain, I thought he might cry just for a moment but the cloud passed on “big boys don’t cry.” The dry prairie seemed to beg him to let go to cry out to appease the dry and cracked soil hardened by months of neglect but the cloud was strong he held it in he didn’t cry Unwilling for the ground to feel his…

[vinnieharned]

On Being Self-Destructive

New blogpost: On Being Self-Destructive

Those of you who’ve been reading my recent blog posts will know that I have a series of mental illnesses that have the tendency to fuck me up sometimes. Of course, ADHD is the obvious one, but I’ve also got a bit of chronic anxiety and possibly depression. I’m always hesitant to say I have any of the more serious mental health problems as I’ve never been diagnosed by a professional. I think it’s…

[vinnieharned]

Why I Still Write in 2023

Once again, I wrote about writing... how original.

I’m often surprised by how many of the pastimes I enjoyed as a child have come back later into my life later. When I was young, I went through a phase where I enjoyed writing poetry—a few years ago I started writing songs. My early interest in Astronomy and Astrophysics is a big part of why I’m currently majoring in Physics. And of course, after years of not writing hardly at all, I suddenly find…

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Oh me of little faith...

New blogpost: Oh Me of Little Faith

In the gospel of John, there’s a famous story that Christian teachers love to reference. Shortly after Jesus’ crucifixion, some of the disciples are gathered together in a room. As should be expected, these individuals were afraid; their leader had just been put to death, and many of them feared they would be next. So, as one is wont to do when isolated from the outside world, they began…

[vinnieharned]

The Last Visit

New Blogpost: The Last Visit

Small-towns suck. Growing up in one pretty much establishes your place in the world as either a worker in the town’s factory or one of the farmers who own 90% of the land outside city limits. In the event that neither of these options suits you, you’ll find yourself looking for a place elsewhere. For me, this came in my heroes and idols, usually scientists, actors, and the occasional parkour…

[vinnieharned]

Why Highlighting Doesn't Help

New blogpost: Why highlighting doesn't help

I love books. I don’t know if it’s the prospect of the knowledge that is contained in these books or just a romanticization of the aesthetic of physical books, but one way or another, ever since I was young, I’ve wanted to own as many books as possible. This has continued into my adult life, although admittedly, there were times when this obsession was financially inadvisable. Still, several…

[vinnieharned]

When Things are Bad

New Blogpost: When Things get Bad

This week has been bad. Well, maybe not the whole week… I very often try to get myself to focus on the good things in life. After all, I’m in a position where I’ve been able to go back to school to pursue a different career in spite of my already being a father of two. Not a lot of people are in a position to do what I’m doing now, and I’m eternally grateful to all the people who are actively…