It’s been ages since I posted anything here. I’ve been meaning to overhaul the site and get away from WordPress, but that’s on the back burner until I can make up my mind what tech stack I want to use.
Anyway, here are some long-overdue updates. (This is looking to be a long post, but please bear with me, as getting all of this out is actually proving to be somewhat therapeutic.)
Until Next Time, Clever Tagline
With the exception of one video (which I’ll mention below), I stopped producing HitFilm tutorials for my Clever Tagline channel a few years ago. That change occurred for a couple of reasons.
First, I began having issues running the software after Artlist bought out FXHome and released their first update. Unable to work in HitFilm, I felt my interests in side projects going in different directions.
I eventually got HitFilm working again, but by that point the desire to keep doing stuff with it was pretty much gone. For a while I played around with DaVinci Resolve, and I did post one brief walkthrough (mentioned previously) showing how I’d recreated an effect that I saw elsewhere. However, not long after that was done, I realized that my interest in the whole genre of motion graphics tutorials was just kinda gone in general, and I haven’t opened Resolve in quite a while.
That said, some OCD compulsion in me feels the need to “close the loop” on the Resolve stuff, so I’ll likely post some tests that I was running shortly before stepping away from it. In the interest of getting that stuff out more quickly (and in a way that doesn’t lead to the stress that I began to feel with every video that I produced for YouTube), they’ll likely just be blog posts with embedded video snippets.
No Longer All About That Base
At about the same time, I stopped producing Airtable tutorials on the All About That Base channel. Part of that was stress-related (similar to the Clever Tagline videos), and part was because I set aside my Airtable freelancing efforts—one of the biggest reasons for starting the channel in the first place—once I started working full-time for Lights Over Atlanta.
Another motivator for that change (or maybe demotivator if you really think about it) was Airtable itself. Specifically, I found myself less inspired by it, and more turned-off by the company’s changes to the product and its pricing scheme.
When I first started using Airtable, it was a scrappy youngster in the database-as-a-service scene, and you could do quite a bit with it for a fairly affordable price, or even free. Over the next couple of years, new features were added that felt like the company still cared about people who wanted a solid database without the high price tag. There came a time, though, when the company’s priorities clearly shifted towards “enterprise” customers, and features and costs began to shift accordingly.
Compared to what it was when I first signed up, the current free tier features are so crippled that really only useful for the simplest of use cases. I had the Pro plan (later renamed the Team plan) while I was working as a freelance Airtable consultant, but I dropped to the free tier myself a little while after I stopped freelancing. Unfortunately that left some of my bases in a state where I could no longer add records, and consequently left a pretty nasty taste in my mouth.
There’s more that I could say, but I don’t want to turn this into a rant. In short, while I still feel like Airtable is a good fit in some cases, I don’t recommend it nearly as readily as I used to.
All About a Different Base
These days my go-to database is Convex. Granted, it’s not in the same category as Airtable, and it’s actually more than just a database. Convex is a robust backend for developers, including a reactive database, cron jobs, serverless functions, etc. It does provide a basic dashboard, but unlike Airtable, it’s not really designed to be used that way. When combining Convex and a React-based library/framework (React Router is my current favorite), I can build apps very quickly. Combine that with a well-designed UI library like Mantine, and the web development experience is so much more enjoyable than it used to be.
Side note: notice that I said “web apps.” I’m very careful to call myself a “web developer” and not a “website designer.” I’ve got an okay eye for basic design stuff, but my strengths are in solving problems by creating apps that allow people to get things done efficiently. As such, I lean pretty heavily on Mantine for the visual side of things. (“Why don’t you just use Tailwind?” Because it literally gives me anxiety. End of story.)
Setting Aside the Suits
Another thing I’ve had to set aside is mascot work. (Yes, “had to.” It’s definitely not something that I wanted to remove from my life, but I was kinda forced out of it thanks to an injury. More on that later.)
For some reading this post, it’ll be the first time you’ve ever known that I worked as a mascot. There’s a good reason behind that.
One of the elements of the unwritten “mascot code” is secrecy. Everyone knows that mascots are just people in costumes (we call them “suits” sometimes), and mascot performers do everything in their power to behave like a completely different character when they’re in costume. This helps people seeing and engaging with the character to “overlook” the person-in-a-suit reality. They can just enjoy interacting with a fun character instead of knowing anything about who’s inside.
Because of that desire to maintain secrecy, only a handful of people were in my personal “inner circle” when I was actively performing, and knew the characters that I portrayed. Now that mascot work is pretty much in the rear view mirror, I feel like I can pull back the curtain…but only a little bit.
For example, I have no issues telling folks that I portrayed Tony the Tiger a few times, or that I did one-off gigs as Donkey Kong and LEGO Shaggy. I also worked for Chick-fil-A, as both a solo cow performer and with larger herds for bigger events. I was also fortunate to land a recurring seasonal position performing as Dreamworks characters, with the majority of my time spent as either Po from Kung Fu Panda, or Gloria from Madagascar.
When it comes to the sports side of things, though, I still prefer to speak in fairly generic terms out of respect for the teams that I had the privilege of working for. I won’t share names, but I had the immense fortune of working in both minor and major leagues across many popular sports, including football, baseball, hockey, and soccer. At the peak of this work, I performed at over 300 events in a single year, with 200 of those being for a single team.
As you can imagine, all of that work was incredibly taxing. Considering that I got into it at the age of 42, ended just over 10 years later, and performed a couple dozen unique characters in that time, I feel blessed that I lasted so long.
So what ended it all?
While performing in costume at a public event, I was doing something surprisingly simple—just stepping up onto a short stage—and that’s when my left ACL decided to completely tear.
Because I was in suit for a team, the surgery and subsequent physical therapy were fully covered. While I was able to regain some of my former strength and flexibility through that PT, it was unfortunately interrupted due to a cross-country move, so I never got back to a point where I could suit up again. I kept up basic PT exercises on my own as best I could after the move, and while I can walk fairly smoothly now, that knee does get achy if I do too much, and I’ve struggled to strengthen it sufficiently.
Wrapping up
Anyway, that covers everything that I felt compelled to share. I feel especially bad for leaving my YouTube audiences in limbo for so long. At the very least I hope that this clarifies the reason for the sudden departure.
Like I said above, there will probably be some posts wrapping up the Resolve side of things. I can’t promise how soon they’ll come out, but most likely it’ll be fairly soon, as getting those things out of my head will help to provide some closure.
I might also write some more personal posts. I want to keep this blog thing going, but at this point in my life I’m no longer really sure who my audience is. It might just become a place to share random things that I feel like sharing.
Yeah, that sounds like a plan.
Totally relatable post Justin.