^{I've been on a bit of a break from everything lately.}

^{Damn. Hitting these keys while inside the fog makes it hard to blog. I thought about posting some old work but haven't been here in six days. Doing that might make me look like a jerk.}

Moderation in all things.

^{Yet for the past four months all I did was this and now it stings.}

I have a confession to make.

I cheated on you. I've been seeing other people.

Being a producer of the content, daily, means eventually, I need to relax.

Normally I'll avoid most forms of entertainment when I'm producing my own, for you, so what I'm producing doesn't become a product of outside influences.

While I was away, relaxing, I enjoyed a few movies, videos, articles, whatevers, from the dreaded land of elsewhere.

Please don't hate me.

^{I became bored with the Steem related content.}

I like to stay informed but I can only handle so many posts about current events on the platform. Keep doing what you do. I just needed a break.

To all those around here producing your own style: Keep doing what you do, too.

I don't need to complain.

^{What you do pays you, not me.}

Unless I vote for it.

After venturing out into the land of other content from elsewhere, consuming hours worth of content, I noticed how, after about six days, I hit an actual 'like button' only a few times. Usually I'd 'upvote' music, because that action was adding that song to my playlist.

If there wasn't anything in it for me, there was no reason to upvote anything outside of this place before, during, or after consuming it.

Upvoting or 'liking' content on Youtube, for instance, only diminishes my chances of finding content I didn't know I'd be interested in before consuming it. The more I 'like' things there, the more of the same old crap shows up in my feeds and suggested videos sections. That's okay at first, but after spending almost a week enjoying some down time, those suggestions constantly popping up became annoying.

Youtube is jam-packed with content, produced by copycat artists.

Public pranks and street humor is great. Then you get these suggestions and notice others do the exact same thing. Some even fake it. There's nothing funny about a bad actor pretending to be pranked yet these jokers are somehow laughing all the way to the bank.

Saw some bogus random acts of kindness as well. Content producers playing on the viewer's heartstrings for a potential payday and a few more subscribers to dupe again later is despicable.

It slightly pisses me off I got sucked into consuming content I didn't enjoy and the simple act of being there is what pays the producer, whether I like it or not.

The consumers aren't idiots either. Reading the comment section under some of those shit posts proved a lot.

I'm trying to make a point.

^{From the consumer's perspective.}

I've been a content consumer my entire life. So have you.

What we do here on Steem is far superior to these other business models I see around the internet. My vote supports the content and producers I like, plus I get something out of the deal, so I want to do it more.

If I'm going to sit here, on my ass, being lazy, I want that downtime to be productive and beneficial as well, since that's an option now.

Time is money.

^{And this is nothing new.}

If only everyone bought a ticket...

It's hockey season time again so of course I found myself three beers in, enjoying some puck, performed live.

Going out to enjoy a hockey game, that's me consuming some content.

Later on I had drinks with a young lady who's on the board. Quite a few steps down from general manager but still enough to be in the know.

I worked with her back in the day so we had a lot of catching up to do. I mentioned what I'm doing here, explained a few things, or at least tried. I was getting the blank stare until I said something along the lines of, "It's much like your 50/50 lottery you folks sell every game."

A lot of the sporting events I've been to offer the 50/50 draw. Buy a ticket and there's your chance to win half of the ticket revenue generated that day. It's a sweet deal, if you win.

She liked my idea. Wouldn't it be interesting if everyone who bought a ticket got a share, and that share depends on when they bought the ticket, and how much they paid for their seat?
^{Similar to our reward system here.}

We were both buzzing hard but agreed more consumers would purchase a ticket, and more would feel comfortable spending a bit more for a better seat, if that meant they'd get a return on that investment, plus they'd rush to purchase tickets, hoping to get the biggest share of the rewards pool.

I hope this catches on,

^eventually.

I thought about this place a lot while on break. Talked about it while away, doing my thing.

It bugs me.

I've been thinking and talking/writing about it for months. Consumers. Provide consumers with a variety of actual entertainment then show them how to make a purchase that allows them to tip producers forever without costing more, plus the consumer earns as well. They spend the money on entertainment anyway, to the tune of billions annually.

None of this get rich quick bullshit either. This platform and all tribes would benefit greatly if thousands of consumers bought tokens so they could contribute to the curation process, plus treat themselves to a new toy years down the road or a cheap bottle of wine and be happy with that. They're getting a better deal here than anywhere else. Large investors are always welcome but millions of consumers is how the entertainment industry makes money, so this place needs them. Open that door and they'll create demand for the tokens.

Purchasing tokens should be as easy as visiting a retail store where Steem has a display of plastic cards representing tribes or other entertainment services available on the blockchain. Buy the card with cash, redeem it online transferring funds to the wallet, then stake and bake!
^{Wouldn't that be nice...}

How long can this go on?

^{Content producers playing the role of consumer as well...}

People!

This bugs me.

I'd love to see thousands of eyes on your work, daily. This platform has always had a severe shortage of dedicated consumers. Spending two years pushing actual talent away so garbage could rise to the top, annoying the potential consumers, didn't help.

Now the talent is coming back. They'll need an audience. Honest and dedicated curators.

Honest talent as well. While I was away, I was still here consuming your content, browsing around. I saw a guy buy votes for a post. Nobody noticed. A day or two later, he bought votes again for his next post. In the video he was "thanking" people for the "support and feedback" he received. Delusional. Thanking himself? Nobody even commented on the post he was talking about. It was the only post on the trending page without a comment.

As a content consumer who was already annoyed with some of the producers on Youtube, that "content" with the paid votes and nonsensical ramblings made me cringe. Two years of watching "content producers" here mislead their potential viewership and pretend to be popular was enough.

Thanks to all those keeping an eye on things and downvoting the trash.

I truly hope the streets stay clean so this property value can rise and we can attract some more outside eyes.

I might take a few more days off.

^{But I might be back tomorrow with something fresh.}

Today I wanted to get a few thoughts out of my mind before they make me go all wacky, plus let you all know I'm still alive and well, so I did that. Did you miss me?

Have a nice day.

Credits:All art and images seen here were produced digitally, by me. ^{All content within this blog is 100% organic ACTUAL CONTENT and contains no paid vote additives!}
_{"Don't forget to check out #showcase-sunday!"}

^{© 2019 @NoNamesLeftToUse.}