Why is it that being single is such a frowned upon life choice?  I swear there are more negative connotations with being single, than there are being in a loveless marriage or dare I say an abusive relationship. 

I think part of this stems back to the basic survival of humans.  Getting married forced humans to have sex, which greatly increased the likelihood of children, which increased the chances of their societies survival.  

However, in 2010 this desire is no longer mandatory.  With billions of people around the world, not every single person needs to have a kid;  meaning not every single person needs to get married.  Plus, even if someone did not get married, they could always adopt children or be artificially inseminated. 

So then what is still forcing this negative stigmatism towards being single?  Aside from the fear of dying alone in your apartment, I think it has to do with our culture's obsession with love.  It seems almost every book, movie, song or poem has to do with love.  Perhaps not with an actual individual, and more with an object or an abstract idea, but we as humans seem to love just about everything.   

It seems that most characters are trying to figure out love;  some succeed, others do not.  Yet all are somehow living their lives in love with something.  Those who don't love have the story centered around their inability to function as a regular human.  But if someone is single, there is the general notion they are lacking in love.  Without this feeling, somehow we think they are lacking in life.  

Love is a messy emotion on a two way street.  Since both parties need to love in order for the bond to truly exist,  feelings usually get hurt at some point.  What is so wrong with not wanting to get hurt?  Or being hurt too many times that you just give up trying?  Perhaps my youth has created a bias, but I guess only time will tell.  In the meantime, I would like to see more positive media about being single. 

-M

Two years ago today I posted my first episode of Decorating with Mason: Halloween Prep onto YouTube.  While I have no regrets with the series, as of this writing that first video has reached only 170 views (to give you a frame of reference this website generated 334 views in its first day alone). 

Quite frankly I have no idea why the view count is so low.  It seems people are always looking for ideas on new decorating tips and tricks, and YouTube gets millions of hits a day.  In theory I would have tapped into both markets.  Yet for some reason, my videos have managed to stay unwatched by the masses.  I credit myself for it mostly; my videos tended to last around 5-10 minutes, which seemed to scare people off in the long run. Last year I even made fun of the low view count in the second season of Halloween Prep, but again no one was watching.  

While it is easy to look back on the videos with a jaded perspective, I had so much fun making them.  It was a series I created so I could talk about my Halloween decorating tips with the world.  Talking and decorating are two of my specialities, so it was a welcome break from school.  Also on the risk of sounding cliche, I learned a lot about filmmaking.  Before Decorating with Mason my experience in front of the camera was minimal at best.  Yet over time I learned to adjust my body composition, vocabulary and facial expressions for the camera.  Writing and editing the episodes myself proved taxing, but it allowed a better understanding of all the hard work that goes into producing a daily series.  All of this experience proved necessary training when I became Executive Producer of Trojan TV last year.    

While I hate endings, I am going to use this anniversary to announce the cancellation of The Mason Show.  This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise: my last episode was in March.  Even with a format change, the lack of viewers seemed to ruin my desire to create new episodes.  I plan on keeping all of the episodes online.   

For old times sake, here is the first episode of Decorating with Mason: Halloween Prep.  Enjoy! 

-M