A Return to YouTube?

It’s been 8 years since my last video on the Long Countdown YouTube channel, and I’m sorely tempted to post something new. Living where I do, in central Japan, I’m well positioned to make my own lifestyle/travel/adventure videos, and I’m not that far off the magic 1,000 subscriber mark. That said, if I did return to YouTube, I’d have to set some ground rules: Be authentic Just be me. That […]

Keeping Life Interesting

In my last blog post I talked about how lazy I’ve become since I stopped trying to impress people. But no matter how I spin it, sitting around watching YouTube is no way to live life. Ironically, it’s people on YouTube that inspire me the most. I’ve become fascinated by adventurous and brave young women building a tiny house in the mountains, living in a Prius or traveling the world […]

Having Nothing to Prove Leads to Laziness

I’ve noticed a change in myself, something that’s clearly apparent as type this from my bed on a Friday afternoon: I’m lazy. I’m lazy, I’m lazy, I’m lazy. There. I said it. I do occasionally drag myself out of bed for a little bit of exercise, and it was just yesterday that I had a revelation while doing just that: I no longer seek the approval of anyone. That’s it. […]

Monetized on YouTube and More

Since we’re halfway through 2022, it’s time for a blog update, don’t you think? Building my Eiken Empire It doesn’t really excite me much, but there’s a strong demand for Eiken (English test) material in Japan, so I’ve continued to add to the worksheets on my school’s website, and recently made more interview practice videos for YouTube. In my last post, I told you that I had reached 400 subscribers. […]

Checking In

Let’s start with the negative so we can finish with the good stuff. Teaching on the side I gave up teaching on DMM Eikaiwa. It was okay, but when so many people around me told me I could do better, I began to resent working for such a low wage. I decided to try Cafetalk, where I could set my own rates and… hardly any students have booked my classes. […]

Instant Gratification

I long believed that happiness was a long term goal, something to strive for, something you achieve after studying hard, landing a good job, starting a family and settling down in your own home. The American Dream, if you will. But that’s all nonsense! What it really boils down to is brain chemistry. There are a bunch of neurotransmitters in the brain that trigger feelings of happiness, such as serotonin, […]

Ramsay Ramblings – August 10th, 2021

Ramsay Ramblings is back after a 10 year absence – woohoo! This is where I clear my head of all the things I want to say, smashed together in a single blog post. Let’s get started: The Covid Olympics Like 80% of Japan, I was opposed to hosting the Olympics in the middle of a pandemic. The Coronavirus outbreak, days after the closing ceremony, is currently the worst it has […]

Betty Botter Bought a Bit of Bitcoin

When I first started taking an interest in Bitcoin, I thought, “Hmm… maybe I could just buy one Bitcoin.” Little did I know that a single Bitcoin costs a year’s salary! A few days, and a little research later, I was gung ho about earning my first satoshi instead. A “satoshi” is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, worth one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin, or 0.00000001 BTC. Apparently, it was […]