Ever have a task you know for sure needs to be done, but you just can't bring yourself to do it? Yep. Me too. Good old procrastination. Back in the day, I read a book on the subject called Eat That Frog. A musing on prioritization, the book's hypothesis is simple. If the first thing you do each day is eat a frog, the rest of the day should be considerably easier. Obviously, the lesson wasn't taken to heart.

This week's frog? Finally editing and publishing audio for the last 7(!) podcast episodes. In the interest of getting more done, I skipped the hourlong process of recording an intro, photoshopping a thumbnail and compiling/formatting show notes ONCE. Then I did the same thing every week for two months, opting to prioritize YouTube video uploads for maximum visibility.

But if a podcast isn't on Spotify, does it still count as a podcast?

I finally bit the bullet frog and fixed all 7 pending episodes today. I like to think this experience taught me a valuable lesson. But I'm currently typing this email instead of clearing out my backlogged inbox, so... yeah.

Fun Fact: Besides this section, everything in this email was typed nearly a month ago. I never pressed send because I was STILL procrastinating on those stupid podcast audio posts. Don't be like me. Be better.

Another Heroes in the Books

Last Saturday, I made my 4th annual trip to Charlotte for HeroesCon. It's my favorite comic convention and there's not a close second. This year was special because I brought my oldest daughter along for the ride. I got to introduce her to several comic creators I've befriended over the years, and even a few YouTubers she's been watching with me forever. She's not much into superheroes anymore, but it was cool to share with her a few moments where she could feel the impact of what we've been building online all these years.

It was also cool to co-host my first convention panel, a joint podcast taping with Badr of The Short Box and Eli from Cosmic Lion Productions. I was crazy nervous, so it was really helpful to see familiar faces in the crowd. HUGE thank you to everyone who attended the panel, and everyone who stopped me at some point in the day to tell me how the channel has impacted you. I never really thought people would follow me for real or care about my recommendations. I just wanted to talk about comics all the time without seeming like a weirdo to people in my life who don't read them. Thanks for indulging me.

Don't Feed the Trolls

Besides a major headache from a lack of sleep, I woke up the Sunday after Heroes to a disgusting comment on YouTube. I had recently published a video highlighting 5 comic books that each profiled an important figure in Black History. Typically, I ignore racist trolling. But something about the comment captured me. The assertion that I 'don't belong'. It was a particularly crazy thought, especially the day after I met so many people who clearly believed otherwise. Not 1s and 0s translated into words and pictures on a screen... but real life, flesh and blood human beings. Readers who appreciated my recommendations. Creators who appreciated the spotlight I put on their works. So against better judgment, I decided to break my rule and give the troll some public attention. I didn't post the interaction for attention or sympathy. I just got tired of dealing with it in silence, and acted out of frustration.

I started on YouTube partly to be a positive buoy in an ocean of negativity. There were plently of nice people online before me. But far too often, I'd start watching what seemed like a normal comic review; only to be smacked with some snide remark about the creator's race or gender. I never really set out to be the 'black comics' guy. But not many people talk about the books that excite me; so the more I come across these hidden gems, the more I want to shine a light on them. They don't perform as well as my videos about Batman, but I'm happy to have them as part of my content library for likeminded readers to discover.

If you like those types of videos, I HIGHLY recommend you check out the Black Comic Lords channel. They cover content and creators I've never heard of, keep an ear to the streets for anything new, and do some of the most in depth interviews I've ever seen of Black comics luminaries. The fact that they only have 5,000 subscribers (even while boasting over 85k members in their Facebook group) is absolutely criminal.

The Final Word

Perhaps starting the Summer Sprint right before a convention wasn't the smartest thing I've done this year. I came home, assembled a shelf from IKEA, and accomplished not much else this week. I'm slowly getting back in the groove, with a couple of amazing interview guests coming up on the podcast. Next week should be much more productive overall, so stay tuned to see what's coming.

Read Something Dope Today,

BJ KICKS

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