Today I introduce the first 5 episodes of my newest video series, Manly Vegan…
The stereotypical assumption from most people when they learn that I’ve been a vegan for nearly 3 and a half years is, “Well are you sure you’re getting enough protein?” However, no one has yet to address this issue: “Well are you getting enough cholesterol?”
The fact is, I’ve consumed less than 1% of my daily cholesterol allowance since April 2013; when I became a vegan. Sure, it’s true that even vegan food contains cholesterol…
Avocados, cashews, and even vegetable oil contain a high amount of fat and therefore, some cholesterol.
But even then, it’s never enough to register as 1% or higher on the food labels.
Prove me right by going right now to your pantry or refrigerator. Look on the back of a jar of peanut butter. Check out the high fat content yet the 0% amount of cholesterol.
Now look at the carton of eggs in your refrigerator. Check out how much of your daily cholesterol is in just one egg. The least amount I’ve ever seen is 56%, but most are closer to at least 65%.
Imagine that. My vegan lifestyle prohibits me from ever being able to consume even just 1% of my daily cholesterol; yet just one egg equates to over half of a person’s daily cholesterol.
However, I’m still eating plenty of fat from plants.
Therefore, it is undeniable that vegans have an advantage in that while we still do consume a minuscule amount of cholesterol most days, it never amounts to even 1% of our daily allowance.
So what’s the difference between good fat and bad fat? That’s easy:
If it came from a plant, meaning it contains less than 1% of your daily cholesterol allowance, it’s good fat.
If it came from an animal, meaning that it likely contains more than 1% of your daily cholesterol allowance, it’s bad fat.
Sunday afternoon after you woke up from your nap, I sloppily picked you up in your blanket, as it flopped over on top of your head.
I could tell you were in the mood to be walked around the house; looking out windows and at wall decorations. Obviously, the most interesting thing going on in our house is typically your brother Jack.
He was busy this time making a plane out of the couch, covered with his tent as well as blankets and pillows. He explained to me that the motor is the sword he made out of blocks.
Then he looked up and saw you: “Daddy, how can she even see with that blanket over her eyes?”
I hadn’t noticed that the blanket had fallen from on top of your head into the form of a hood, leaving just enough room for you to see.
As I continued walking you around our house, I was surprised that you hadn’t made a peep; even though your diaper was wet, since you had just woken up from your nap.
But I wasn’t going to stop the show. If you were happy in your strange condition, I wouldn’t be the one to interfere.
By the time 30 minutes had passed, and you were still quiet and content under your homemade hood, I developed a likely theory:
You believed that the hood from the blanket made you invisible.
And I say this because I’ve never seen you go so long while in need of a diaper change, without making a sound. It was as if you felt if you did, it would expire your superpower of invisibility.
In the end, you went about an hour before finally choosing to expire your ability to be unseen by the rest of the world.
After we saw the premiere of the movie Pup Star last Saturday, we decided to walk around the Opry Mills Mall since we were already there. With that mall being about an hour from our house in Spring Hill, it’s not a place we get to go to often.
Nearly immediately after leaving the theatre and entering the main hall of the mall, you and were pleasantly surprised yet confused to see smiling children riding these giant stuffed animals.
They reminded me of blurry memories I have from my first summer teaching English in Thailand back in 2004. I remember seeing something like this in the bottom floor of a mall, but I think it just rocked back and forth a little bit after you put in a coin.
What you and I saw, though… it was different. Kids were actually driving these animals like a motorized scooter or something, but the vehicles were completely quiet.
Within a few minutes, we had walked far enough in the mall for the mystery to be solved. We had discovered the station for Those Animals; a service that enables children 6 and older to drive electric scooters around the mall.
Since you are 3 months shy of your 6th birthday, I had to ride with you, but it was more fun I did. With a 500 pound weight limit on the vehicle, my 162 pound body wasn’t a threat.
You managed the throttle and I handled the steering. We made the perfect team!
Out of the dozen or so animals to choose from, you quickly chose the red and black dragon. Perhaps the most amazing thing about this experience is how affordable it was.
It only cost $6 for a 10 minute ride.
After we got home and told Mommy about it, we decided that we’re taking you back to Opry Mills Mall for your 6th birthday in November.
We’re going to tour the mall, giving you an allowance for Build-a-Bear and The Lego Store, as well as at The Rainforest Café where we’ll be having lunch.
And of course, I’m sure we’ll take another ride on one of Those Animals. Maybe this time, we’ll ride longer than 10 minutes.
As of this week, I hit the 500 mark for my number of subscribers. To me, that’s a big deal and it’s something I’m very proud of. However, getting here means dealing with a steady stream of trolls and hecklers along the way.
However, I feel very confident in how I deal with them. I feel that my 7 step formula allows me to remain in a positive position of authority and victory, as opposed to oppression and victimization. Today I would like to share my tips with you, assuming you’re looking for the best way to handle trolls and hecklers.
Here are my 7 tips, which I apply on a regular basis:
1- Don’t allow yourself to be offended. Keep in mind that only you can give another person the ability and power over you to offend you. The moment you allow yourself to be offended by anything anyone says, you automatically lose and the troll or heckler wins. Remember that responding with undeniable sarcasm makes you appear to be defending yourself while being emotionally wounded.
This is a video I made about that:
2- Be consistent in following up on every comment they leavefor you; which if done correctly, keeps them from being motivated to continue trolling or heckling.
3- In your comment response to their attempt at insulting you, thank them for spending the exact amount of time to watch your video. (Ex. “Thank you for spending 4 minutes and 53 minutes of your time today to watch my video. That means a lot to me.”) This helps the troll or heckler to acknowledge that despite their destructive criticism, they ultimately made a choice to spend a designated amount of their time to watch a video that they ultimately did not enjoy.
4- Next in your comment, acknowledge thatthe comment they left ultimately helps draw in new potential viewers of the video, since videos that already have comments tend to seem more intriguing than those without. As they say, “Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd.”
5- The next thing to mention in the comment response is to assuming they are a subscriber to your channel. Thank them for their continued support, which actually generates income for you as a YouTuber.
6- Next, if this is their 2nd or 3rd time to troll or heckle you, assign them a consistent, responsible role on your channel. For example, I had a kid who kept mocking my thumbnails for each video, in a suggestive, 1996 Adam Sandler sort of way. I complimented him on his creative talents, asking him to make a funny caption for each new video I make. He stopped after the first assignment and has yet to leave any kind of comment since.
7- Lastly, let them know they are “welcome here” on your YouTube channel. (It is assumed that many of the people of have time, energy, and creativity to troll or heckle you are likely lost teenage boys looking for a place to belong.)
In closing, I will leave you with a stock response that you can begin using for any new troll or heckler in the future. I suggest just sticking with the script; don’t go into details with them as to why. That’s because If they fully recognize that you are attempting to outsmart them, they will take it as a victory against you. Being subtle, unemotional, and factual in your approach is the key:
“Thanks for watching my video today. You spent (exact number of minutes and seconds of the length of the video) of your time today to support me. Not only does your comment draw more attention to this particular video, therefore possibly bringing in more traffic, but you also helped contribute to my income as well. Thanks so much for being one of my (number of subscribers you have) subscribers. Please feel free to continue leaving comments on each of my videos. It really helps me out. Here on my YouTube channel, you have a place to belong. Please know that you are welcome here.”
I hope you found this blog post helpful and useful. Let me know how it goes!
Also, I made a video version of this blog post if you would like to see it:
The marketing team behind the upcoming movie Pup Star reached out to us, inviting you and me to see the movie this past Saturday morning, before its official release tomorrow on August 30th.
As much as you and I go to see movies together, we obviously jumped at the chance to drive to Opry Mills to see Pup Star during its limited theatrical release.
We had such a great time seeing the movie together! Pup Star is a family friendly road movie which features the adventures of a talking Yorkie who must reunite with her human family while also making it to the finals of a TV competition; like American Idol or The Voice, for dogs.
Your favorite character was Dog Marley. At church yesterday, you and your classmates were instructed to make something out of clay that you had never made before. What did you make?
Dog Marley.
This movie is part of the “Air Bud Universe”, which you are quite familiar with; having seen movie of these movies on Netflix before, like Air Bud: Spikes Back, Spooky Buddies, and Russell Madness.
Pup Star takes place in Chicago, New Orleans, New York City, Newark, and…
Nashville!
It was so cool seeing our city featured in the movie; having just passed the “Batman building” 30 minutes prior on the drive to the theatre.
After the movie ended, we were given some Pup Star-related souvenirs including a bag of doggie treats- the kind featured in the movie.
That evening, while Mommy was working on dinner, you and I took your baby sister Holly on a walk around our neighborhood, offering the doggie treats to neighbors walking their dogs.
I have a feeling we’ll be watching Pup Star again at some point. Hopefully, we’ll be invited back to see more Air Bud Entertainment movies as well.
Family Friendly Daddy Blog 