New Medium Article: It’s the Perfect Time for a 70/30 Sub Split on Twitch

Long story short: there's been...a lot to discuss around monetization on Twitch. With a recent "miscommunication" on sponsorship guidelines for creators (which was apparently meant for 3rd party advertisers looking to Twitch for ad space) and the whiplash coming from their correction coming just a few hours after the initial announcement, it's one too many straws on the camel's back for streamers who use Twitch as means for a career.

What I’ve Learned from 6 Years of Twitch Streaming

If you're a new Twitch streamer, or thinking about diving into it, my biggest advice to you is to love it. You have to love what you do with your channel, because if you don't, you won't find success the way you want to find it, regardless of what's happening on the screen.

M3GAN is Exactly As Fun as it Looks

There’s just something about an artificially intelligent robot meant to be a kids’ toy, that looks like a young girl, but with the witty, comedic timing of a full-grown adult, that made the movie fun, even if the uncanny look in her eyes was enough to want to throw her to the wood-chipper.

Life after Moving 1,100 Miles from Home

I don’t know what my future holds here, to be honest, all I know is this is definitely somewhere I’d rather live than anywhere I've been in my home state. I don’t know if the novelty of Washington will eventually wear off, and I’ll feel the need to move yet again, but right now, it’s exciting. Right now, I’m feeling like I have a place here. Right now, I’m excited to see more of what it has to offer. Everything here is new. Everyone here is new. And everything about that is just so exciting.

Ready to Spread Queer Joy for Pride Month!

Happy Pride Month to all my beautiful queer friendos, out there!

This year, I wanted to do something that could be simultaneously important for the queer community, while also not taking discussions around our liberation and empowerment too seriously. When Pride Month or discussions around LGBTQIA+ topics come around, it almost always has a tendency to become a drag, a reminder that we're still second class citizens. While it's important to shed light on our oppression, because we are still VERY MUCH targeted by those in power for having our rights stripped away, being queer isn't all doom and gloom. We have so much to be joyous about as queer people, and I wanted to give that joy the spotlight this month.

Escaping the Desert

I've lived in the Phoenix, Arizona area all my life. Aside from four years of living in Flagstaff for university, which is just over 100 miles north of Phoenix, I've spent my whole life evaporating away in this hellscape of a desert. So doing the math, that's a grand total of 25 years of being roasted alive by how much the sun spites us, here. Plus side? I'm still alive, so take that, Mother Nature.

Where I live was never much of a thought in my life until I started getting closer to 30, feeling the desire to create more stable connections, and feel like I have roots in the place I want to call home. I always knew Phoenix wouldn't be home forever, but the thoughts of leaving became too loud to ignore when I moved to an area in the city where I thought I'd be happier, and I'm still...not happy. Don't get me wrong, I love the friends I've made here, and the family members (that I still talk to) that still live here. However, I can't shake the feeling that I don't have a foundation, here. I've had to fight tooth and nail to feel like I even have some sort of tie to this city, and even then, most days, I feel incredibly isolated.

"But Jeff, have you tried-" yes, I have. "Okay but why don't you-" yep, already did that. "Have you considered that-" dear reader, I've tried it all. Even my therapist said something along the lines of "I've watched you try so hard to fit in here and none of it has gone the way you want it to." I'm not here to justify why leaving my hometown is the correct choice, and I'm not here to (entirely) talk crap about where I grew up. This city is gorgeous in all its own ways, but I'm not here to explain to anyone why it's no longer for me.

I'm here to talk about Seattle.

Celebrating 5 Years On Twitch!

It's absolutely bonkers to me that I've been streaming on Twitch for a whole 5 years, now. Five years of one of the hardest jobs I've done, but also the most rewarding, and most revealing when it comes to my work ethic, how I deal with setbacks, and adapting on the fly. I can't picture myself doing anything else right now (except perhaps doing narrative work for video games...hint hint nudge nudge, game devs) and this job has definitely given me so, so much to be grateful for, as well as help me rack up accomplishments I never thought I could attain.