Category Archives: Personal

An Open Letter to Everyone

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Dear reader,

To those who have supported me, and to those who may soon do the same, welcome to my blog and future community website. In the previous two posts here, I showed off the possibilities of what I can do with support from all of you. In this letter, I’d like to explain the challenges I face without support and how you can prevent that from happening.

In the first of those two posts, I showed how I would transform this simple blog into a full community website which would be a one-stop for all your family-friendly content needs. In the other post, I explained how with your support, I would add jobs to my community by hiring the right people to ensure that I could sustain that growth in the long-run. The vision in both posts depends entirely on the backing of a committed community.

Let me now explain the challenges I am facing without support. The biggest challenge I face is my rent. This alone costs me nine hundred dollars every month, and without a steady income, it’s not easy keeping a roof over my head. Without a steady place to call home, I won’t be able to produce any more of my family-friendly content that you enjoy. I also have other bills that need paying each month, and in total without groceries, I need around twelve hundred fifty dollars each month. This is why community backing is so important—it can help keep my work alive and ensure I can continue creating the content you love.

I know that not everyone can support me financially, and that’s completely okay. But there are other ways you can make a meaningful impact. Even small gestures—like sharing my work with others or engaging with my content—help more than you might realize. The YouTube algorithm isn’t easy, but with your likes, subscribes, shares, and comments, you can help ensure my content reaches the people who want to view it! Sharing these posts on my blog also will help get the word out to those who are interested in reading about topics I write on from my perspective. Sharing my podcast will help my fellow Catholics and other Christians learn about it and consider listening to an episode, and maybe even subscribing to me on Spotify. None of these actions cost a dime—just a moment of your time, and they can make a huge difference.

For those who are able and willing to support financially, here’s how you can help. For one-time support, you can send a tip through PayPal or LiberaPay using these links. You can also choose to buy my merch at my Fourthwall store, or purchase a service you are interested in from my Ko-fi page. For recurring support, both Fourthwall and Ko-fi have memberships that you can choose, with Ko-fi having two tiers to choose from. Every contribution, big or small, makes a difference, and I’m grateful for your support in whatever way feels right for you.

At the end of the day, every bit of support—whether it’s sharing my work, engaging with my content, or contributing financially—helps bring my vision to life. Your encouragement, kindness, and belief in what I’m building mean the world to me. No matter how you choose to help, know that I deeply appreciate it. With your support, we can create something truly special together.

Your family-friendly content creator,

Swagnilla Ice (Nathan Pinno)

Why I’m Voting the Way I Am

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Normally, I would choose to not write about politics here on my blog, due to the fact that I want to keep this site family-friendly and politics is one area that most people steer clear of when doing such content. However, the stakes in our country’s future are so much higher in this election that I felt I needed to explain why I’m going to vote the way I am, and maybe convince you to vote the same way!

Canada is grappling with challenges unlike any we’ve seen in this generation. Now more than ever, we need leadership with a clear vision for the future—one that defends individual rights and ensures our nation remains independent, free from undue influence by external forces.

After examining the platforms of the Conservatives, Liberals, and New Democrats, I found that none of them align with the vision I have for Canada’s future. However, the Christian Heritage Party stands out as the one party that embodies every value and priority I hold dear.

My biggest reason for supporting this party—and proudly being a member—is their unwavering commitment to being pro-family, pro-life, and pro-freedom. True to their name, they aim to build on Canada’s heritage, rooted in Judeo-Christian principles, much like other Western nations. They steadfastly protect innocent human life, from natural conception to natural death—something I know none of the leaders of the big three parties, nor the People’s Party of Canada, will do.

Another reason I’m proud to support the Christian Heritage Party in this election is their commitment to restoring the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman—just as the true Church and the Bible teach. I firmly believe that any other view of marriage is sinful and should be repented of, so I’m grateful to have found a party that shares this conviction.

My third reason for supporting the Christian Heritage Party is their sound financial policies, which make total sense. From replacing the GST with a fair tax on purchases to introducing a Personal Income Security Account (PISA) as an alternative to CPP, and enforcing mandatory balanced budgets—these are solid steps toward putting Canada back on the right financial track. Who wouldn’t want a nation that is economically strong and stable? The only ones who wouldn’t are those who don’t want Canada to be strong and free!

The Christian Heritage Party is committed to safeguarding Canada’s independence by withdrawing from the WHO and the Paris Climate Accord. They also prioritize ensuring our troops are well-paid and properly equipped for their peacekeeping missions. These are policies I wholeheartedly support and stand behind!

In this election, the stakes couldn’t be higher, and the choice couldn’t be clearer. The Christian Heritage Party stands for the values and vision I believe will lead Canada toward a brighter future. If you share these convictions or want to learn more about their platform, I encourage you to visit their website and consider how your vote can make a difference.

My Dream of Owning a Home: A Path to Independence

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Owning a home is a milestone many dream of achieving, and for me, it’s about more than just having a place to call my own. It’s about security, independence, and creating a space that truly reflects who I am. In this post, I want to share why I aspire to own a home someday and why it feels like the right path for me compared to renting or buying a condo.

Security is one of the most important reasons I want to own my own home. Having my own set of keys—and knowing no one else has access—would give me peace of mind. Although I’d have to take full responsibility for addressing issues, I believe the sense of safety and control is worth the extra effort. Unlike renting or condo living, owning a home means I don’t have to worry about others entering my space without my permission.

Another reason is maintenance and pest control. As a homeowner, I could tackle repairs and problems right away, without having to rely on a landlord. Waiting months for a mouse issue to be addressed, as I’ve experienced in the past, would be a thing of the past! Taking charge of my living environment is not just practical—it’s empowering.

Then there’s the matter of laundry convenience. While owning a home comes with water and electricity bills, it would save me from the frustrations of shared laundry facilities. No more waiting for machines or refilling laundry cards—I’d have the freedom to do laundry on my own schedule, in my own space.

Soundproofing is another appeal of homeownership. My current apartment doesn’t offer much insulation from noisy neighbors, which often disrupts my peace. With my own home, I could enjoy better soundproofing and the quiet necessary to focus on hobbies like recording videos and podcasts. It’s about reclaiming my space—and my time.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, owning a home would contribute to my financial stability and net worth. Paying a mortgage invests in my future, whereas renting only builds someone else’s wealth. Even though I don’t focus on my net worth as a number, it provides a cushion for hard times—a source of long-term security.

Owning a home is not just a practical choice; it’s a step toward independence and stability. It’s about creating a space that’s uniquely mine, where I can thrive and take pride in everything I’ve built. Thank you for taking the time to hear my thoughts—I’d love to hear any support, suggestions, or advice you have as I work toward this goal. May God bless you all!

Swag at 40: Looking Back to Look Forward

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Greetings everyone! I’m Swagnilla Ice, but you can call me Nathan Pinno. I hail from the beautiful province of Alberta, Canada. Every week, I enjoy sharing my thoughts and experiences here on my Ko‑fi page. This week, in celebration of reaching the big 4-0, I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned over the past forty years, and share my aspirations for the future. Join me on this journey as I look back to look forward.

Looking Back: Lessons Learned

As I reflect on my life, there are some clear lessons that stand out. The most significant lesson I’ve learned is the truth about salvation. It’s a constant process that I need to work on daily. Whenever I lose focus on my walk with God, I tend to slip up and make mistakes. However, I’m immensely grateful to have a relationship with a forgiving God who supports me on this journey and walks by my side.

Another lesson I’ve learned is to be grateful for those who support me on my life’s journey. From my parents to good friends, both in real life and online, I’ve been fortunate to have people who encourage and support me. Even when the chips are down, they remind me to look up and not lose hope. I am immensely grateful for each and every one of them, including all those who support my content creation. Thank you!

A hard lesson I’ve learned over the last forty years is the importance of wisely managing my money and sticking to a budget while avoiding debt whenever possible. As a result of this lesson, I’m now enrolled in a program to pay off part of my credit card debt. If I fail to make my monthly payment even three times, serious consequences will follow. To make the most of my money every month, I need to take advantage of every free resource available to me. Given the instability of work, I must be ready to adapt and find ways to make ends meet when I don’t get the hours I need. Your support of my content creation is immensely helpful in this regard.

Another lesson I’ve learned through harsh experiences is that I’m human and mortal. Not only did I nearly die on the operating table during a transplant five years ago, but I also had my appendix removed just before it burst. These events have forced me to evaluate every decision I’ve made in my life and have made me determined to live a cleaner, healthier life, both physically and spiritually. I’m grateful for the resources I have and for my church family and priests—without them, I’d be like a boat lost at sea.

Looking Forward

As I look forward to the next decade of my life, I have several goals I aim to accomplish. The first and most important is to turn my content creation into a steady source of income. Through my experiences, I’ve learned that I can’t rely on an employer to provide consistent work. Your help and support, both financial and otherwise, are crucial for this goal. I aspire to go full-time with content creation, producing material that everyone can enjoy—be it blog posts, live streams, podcast episodes, or YouTube videos. While I’m committed to creating engaging content, I’ll still need to work outside my residence to earn a living without your support.

My second goal is more personal in nature. I want to have more days free of sin. I’ve been struggling with the same sin repeatedly, and it’s time for it to end. With God’s help and your prayers, I believe I can overcome this habit and become the man God wants me to be.

My third goal is to pay off my debt, even though it’s currently on track to be resolved through the program I’m enrolled in and the payments I’m making on my school loans. Once my debt is fully paid, I will avoid using debt to finance anything unless it’s a one-time-use gift card that doesn’t accumulate interest.

My final goal is to find stable housing—whether by buying my own home or buying/building an apartment building and renting out the other suites. This is a long-term goal since I’m currently in a year-long lease that expires next December, but it’s not cheap at $900 per month. Not having to worry about rent every month and potentially earning some rental income instead would be a huge relief for my financial situation.

Conclusion
To wrap up this post, let me say that I’ve learned many lessons over the past forty years—too many to list here. I’ve gained a lot of wisdom and knowledge over the years, but I am still willing to learn from those wiser than me. I have clear goals for the next decade of my life, and hopefully, when I write a similar post at fifty, I’ll have even better news to share about my goals and accomplishments. If God allows me to reach my fiftieth birthday, I look forward to reflecting on another decade of growth and learning.

Thank you so much for reading this blog post. Your support here on Ko‑fi (as well as YouTube, Spotify, and Twitch) means the world to me! Please consider supporting me monthly to gain access to exclusive polls and images, and to help me create more posts like this one and other content you will enjoy. May God bless you all!

February Fun: My Exciting Plans and Projects

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Hey everyone!

I’d like to kick off this blog post by expressing my heartfelt gratitude for all the support you showed me in January. Whether you tuned in to my Twitch livestreams or subscribed to my YouTube channel, your support truly means the world to me. Last month, I created some amazing content, including launching the Pyramid of Support and continuing my survival adventures in a flat world in modded Minecraft during every livestream.

This month, I have some fantastic content lined up for you. Alongside releasing new episodes of my Factorio, Banished, and Creative Engineering series on YouTube, I’ll continue my flatworld survival series in modded Minecraft live on Twitch. Of course, I might switch things up with different games for a change of pace!

I’m also keeping up with the challenges I started in January. If I don’t receive at least one subscription on Twitch during a stream, there won’t be a raid. Plus, my subgoal challenge remains: I’ll stream for three hours per session unless five new subscribers join before time is up—then, I’ll stream for an extra hour. If you reach the goal before the two-hour mark, I’ll take a short break; otherwise, I’ll skip it.

With both St. Valentine’s Day and my 40th birthday this month, you might expect some bonus content—and you’d be partially correct! I’m planning a birthday celebration stream for the day closest to February 21st (a Friday), depending on my work schedule. To stay updated on the details, make sure to join my Discord community. As for Valentine’s Day, I don’t have anything special planned since I’m single and don’t particularly care for the holiday.

Currently, I am not planning any extra content for YouTube, though I may dedicate an episode or two of my podcast, ‘A Few Moments with God,’ to topics related to these special days.

Here on Ko-fi, I already have a plan for next week’s blog post. I’ll be exploring the meaning of sentient life and discussing what I believe should and should not be classified as such. Stay tuned to read that post and other exciting content here! If you have a topic you’d like me to write about or cover on my podcast, please feel free to suggest it in the comments or via my Discord. I’d love to see your ideas!

Thank you all so much for your continued support and enthusiasm. Your engagement and encouragement keep me motivated and inspired to create and share content. I can’t wait to see what February has in store for us. Stay awesome, and I’ll catch you in the next post or stream!

Behind the Scenes: Crafting Engaging Content for YouTube and Podcasts

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Hi everyone,

Creating family-friendly content for YouTube and Podbean is a process I truly enjoy each week. Let me take you behind the scenes and show you how I craft each type of content.

I’ll start by explaining the process behind my gaming videos first, as they are easier for me to explain. When starting a new series, I first decide which game to play. The next step is to choose whether to play the game in its vanilla form or with mods. If I opt for modded gameplay, I select the mods that will enhance the experience. For games like Minecraft, this can be an evolving decision if bugs pop up along the way.

The next step is to play the game while recording my gameplay and commentary using OBS. I utilize a dedicated Recording scene setup and have a key combination to start and stop recording seamlessly. Any reactions you hear from me are genuine and captured live during gameplay; I don’t edit the sound afterward. To avoid any copyright issues, I turn off the game’s in-game music before I start recording.

I then import the recorded video into Wondershare Filmora, where I add a title screen and sometimes an ending scene as well. I take a screenshot for the YouTube thumbnail and, if needed, add transitions to keep the video as smooth as possible. I then decide on what music to add, where it should go in the video, and what edits are needed for each track—such as reducing the volume and adding fade-ins or fade-outs.

Next, I decide on the episode’s title and export the video using Filmora’s built-in system to export it as an MP4 file. This MP4 file is what I upload to YouTube, with the screenshot becoming the YouTube thumbnail. While the video is being exported, I determine the YouTube description, appending a set of links for uniformity. I make sure to schedule any new uploads for the proper date at 4 am MST, while also adding the proper YouTube parts (subscribe and suggested video at the end, and perhaps a card with the series if it’s not the first episode).

Now that I’ve explained how I create each new gaming episode for YouTube, let me switch gears and explain how I write and record each new podcast episode, as the process is quite different.

The first thing I do is decide what topic I want to talk about in the podcast. This is easier if I am doing a series, as I either have a fixed set of episodes I want to research, write, and record, or at least a limited number of topics to choose from.

The next step is to search on Google for information about the topic I’m covering that week. I aim to pick at least two or three different sources to ensure a well-rounded understanding. This allows me to write the episode in my own words after comprehending the topic thoroughly.

I then proceed to write the topic using both OpenOffice Writer and Microsoft Copilot. I write out a paragraph at a time and ask Copilot for help improving it for flow. In fact, as I am writing this blog post, I am using Copilot to ensure you understand me clearly.

Finally, I proceed to record the episode using Audacity. I use headphones during recording to ensure that sounds from the speakers are not picked up by the microphone, allowing my voice to be heard clearly. After recording, I use Audacity to export the file as an MP3, adding metadata such as track name, recording artist, genre, track number, album name, and year. I then use Copilot to help me craft the episode description when I upload it to Podbean on Sunday.

As I currently cannot schedule podcast episodes on Podbean, I manually publish each one on Sunday morning. This is why they don’t come out at the same time each week and sometimes get published on Monday morning instead. I make sure to set the episode name, description, and duration in minutes and seconds. Once I get the funds to upgrade my subscription, I’ll start scheduling my podcast episodes as well. After publishing each episode, I share it on social media, and it is automatically added to my YouTube podcast feed.

Thank you for taking the time to read about my content creation process for both YouTube and podcast episodes. I hope you found it insightful and informative. If you enjoy my content and would like to support my work, please consider becoming a supporter on Ko-fi. Your support helps me continue creating family-friendly content and improving my setup. Every little bit helps and is greatly appreciated. Thank you for being a part of this journey with me!