It’s nice to start the new year with a sponsored video. The video published on January 7 (covering Jackson Heights) was sponsored by italki.
Potential sponsors reach out all the time. Majority of them are not quality leads. Some are even scams or contain some sort of malware.
But when quality inquiries do come i...
2023-01-12 15:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
In case you never go out of your home, the weather in January is FRIGID. And frigid weather calls for warm food. The best thing to eat during this time of year in New York are soup dumplings.
Like everything else, there are so many places to get soup dumplings in the city. A dependable option is Joe’s Shanghai. The re...
2023-01-10 15:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
First wallpaper of the year!
2023-01-07 15:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Every post is a datapoint. If a video is successful, there needs to be a debrief on what made it a success so it can be repeated. And if a video flops, a debrief is even more important in order to avoid a pattern of failure.
It’s hard to see a video fail to meet the mark because of all the work and resources poured in...
2023-01-05 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Everyone knows that Broadway shows are intrinsically New York. But so is stand-up comedy. And stand-up comedy in the city comes in all shapes and sizes. They range anywhere from free to $$$.
Free
The free ones are usually hosted by a local community and attendance is around 20 or less people. The ...
2023-01-03 15:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Not all videos share the same amount of time needed to create. But all of them require a substantial amount of time. Here’s the time allowance I give for a typical 6 to 8-minute video.
8-12 hours = script
8-12 hours = create graphics or capture broll
2 hours = voice record and edit
12 -18 hours = ass...
2022-12-29 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Every year during this time, I make it a point to buy my year supply of maple syrup at a stall in Bryant Park. This is the only time of year I can get these syrups since the vendor doesn’t have a shop in the city.
The “bourbon barrel aged” syrup has a scotch taste to it and does well on French toast and pancakes.<...
2022-12-27 15:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Not all people celebrate Christmas. But everyone gets a day off. So whether you celebrate or not, I hope you all have a nice day off.
Thank you for being part of the Urban Caffeine journey! Happy holidays!
2022-12-25 15:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Need an IKEA bag?
Buy it here: https://amzn.to/3Yp43Zk
(This is an affiliate link meaning I get a commission.)
2022-12-24 15:15:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi all! If there's a size not working for your device, let me know what device it is and I can resize appropriately (feel free to send a screenshot too if you like). Enjoy!
2022-12-24 15:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
There was a post on Reddit once that said it makes no difference if a person was an early worm or night owl. You gotta do what works for you. As Dan Pink would say, a person is are either a Lark or an Owl. Either way, everyone shares the same energy cycle. You can start out your day at 5am or 5pm, the cycle is still the same....
2022-12-22 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
A couple of weeks ago, I went to the House of Showfields in Brooklyn. It’s a shop that carries unique brands in beautiful showroom displays.
I was there for a free strawberry tasting event and ate the most expensive strawberry I’ve ever known. They go for roughly over a dollar each. You can buy a box of 9 for $10 (w...
2022-12-20 15:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Today everyone takes pictures and videos. But our phones can only store so much before we run out of memory for all the pictures we take over the years. Some people pay for cloud storage and move their photos and videos online from their phones. For some time, this worked out for me for personal photos and videos. But ever si...
2022-12-15 15:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
I will never turn down arepas. Arepas are generally South American but the ones I find in New York are usually Venezuelan or Colombian. Arepas are made from ground maize or maize meal and stuffed with a variety of ingredients which can be savory or sweet. My favorite arepa is stuffed with sweet plantains and white cheese.
... 2022-12-13 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy weekend!
2022-12-10 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
How do I write for YouTube videos?
To give some background, I used to work for an ad agency. One of my roles was to be a storyboard artist for commercials. Since storyboards were used to sell ideas to clients and later passed on to another team to film, they were very elaborate and fleshed out. But since I'm not s...
2022-12-08 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
The Museum of the Moving Image is dedicated to film. It’s tucked away in Astoria, Queens. Compared to all the museums in Manhattan, this one is pretty small but fascinating.
It has special sections dedicated to The Walking Dead and Jim Henson's muppets with artifacts from countless classic films. There are exhibits th...
2022-12-06 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Believe it or not, I’m still attempting to finish this video. I've been trying since 2020. I already had the graphics made and all I had to do was put it all together.
What I hadn’t expected was for my computer to not be able to handle the size of the graphics. There’s a function in Adobe Premiere that when I use ...
2022-12-01 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post
I don’t know if all libraries outside NYC are like this, but one of the best things I like about borrowing digital books from the NY Public Library is that I can keep them beyond the two-week limit… by turning off wifi.
Once I’ve downloaded a borrowed book, I simply turn off the wifi so my Kindle can’t connect t...
2022-11-29 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Have a great holiday season!
Link to video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lKytSwPbL7c
2022-11-26 16:40:42 +0000 UTC View Post
Have a great holiday season!
2022-11-26 14:57:00 +0000 UTC View Post
The time tested cheat code for productive people is batching and automating. This is how I multiply my time and energy. When possible I batch as much work as I can, then automate its distribution.
Here are some examples of batching and automating.
Social Media
All social media posts are crea...
2022-11-24 15:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is about being thankful. So I didn't want to let the day go by without saying thank you to you—loyal patrons of Urban Caffeine. You commitment is deeply appreciated.
I wish you all a great holiday season and here's a toast in your honor. Cheers!🥂
In the picture...
2022-11-24 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Traditions can be a good thing. Someone once told me that it’s important to have traditions because they are the certainties that we can expect in a world of uncertainty.
The holidays are coming up and I wanted to share some of my New York holiday traditions that I do every year.
Mulled Cider ...
2022-11-22 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
A few weeks ago I talked about the importance of having hobbies and interest outside your focus.
I finished reading this last week and I feel that everyone needs to read it too for the sake of personal, national, and international security; and (more accurately) world order.
The book is about the history of North ...
2022-11-17 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
There’s this donut place in Queens that I just can’t seem to get any donuts from. They’re always sold you. And at some point, they had an online wait list of about 10,000 people. They open up online orders on Monday at 3pm, then you have to physically pick it up on either a Thursday or Friday. And I can never remember t...
2022-11-15 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
What is missing middle housing? What does a missing middle neighborhood look like? Find out in this week's video as we visit Astoria.
2022-11-12 15:15:01 +0000 UTC View Post
