Something You Should Know...
First: There’s a new deals today, with FREE chopsticks and spoons, or 50% off Nanoboost with purchase. Limited time, so get yours now!
- A free Utensil set code with any ramen purchase code: BDAYUTENSILS
- 50% off Nanoboost code with ramen purchase code: BDAYNANOBOOST
Vlog Version of this blog is here if you prefer to listen: https://youtu.be/aUn2U_SS8FM
Second: Now that that’s out of the way... It’s two days until my birthday and the video launch. I haven’t finished reshoots. Or editing. Or SFX. Gremlins continue to get into electronics and cause glitches and technical issues. I don’t remember the last time I touched grass or saw the sun.
...
Actually that last one’s pretty normal for me.
There’s a lot happening. Can you believe it’s actually been less than a year since I first put on the catboy outfit? Our marketing before then was a lot more... “normal”, maybe a little memey, but in all the years we’ve done things, this is actually the first year we’ve taken the plunge to go all out, be truly and completely ourselves, and not be held back by the thoughts of what other people might think of us.
“White colored pencils don't leave impressions.”
These were the words I heard in a song while driving one day. I’d heard this song before, many, many times, but that day, that one, unimportant, ordinary day, those words rang out, and I stopped.
Back then, we did the classic, standard marketing things. We did some funny things here and there, now and then, but nothing too much, always a little muted, always concerned with who might get upset at us, always half-hearted and timid.
Once upon a time, I wanted to be an actor. (If you haven’t read that, you can read about it here https://viteramen.com/blogs/news/the-impact-of-eeaao-why-i-gave-up-acting-and-why-representation-matters.) I’ve always loved plays, theater, film, even when I claimed to my parents that I had “accidentally” gotten assigned to drama class even though it was something I desperately wanted to do.
Once upon a time, I wanted to be a writer. I’ve loved novels, short stories, books, and when I was young I’d lean up against the car window, book awkwardly angled so it could be illuminated by the passing streetlights in the hopes that I could catch just a few more words, a few more seconds of the story unfolding before me.
And once upon a time, I gave up on those dreams, and put aside my pen forever... Until I heard those words sung on that normal, unexceptional day, heard the words that echoed deep in a place that I’d forgotten, and made my heart ache with a long forgotten feeling.
I’ve never desired to be a businessman, entrepreneur, and that sort of thing. The only reason I say “CEO” all the time is because it’s funnier for a lot of the dumb stuff I do if I call myself a “CEO” rather than a “small business owner”(which also happens to be much harder to say), and even then, I like to joke that the “C” in “CEO” stands for “Chaos”. Even in my edgy teenage years where I disavowed emotions and wanted to be that “I’m super rational and logic only” kind of guy, my heart was taken by all the vibrant, rich stories that surround us.
What I want to do, more than anything in the world, is not about making ramen, not about making money, not about nutrition or health or any of the things that might spring to mind first.
I want to tell stories.
I want to tell stories worth remembering. I want to tell stories that change people, and for the better, that make people think, that make people remember, that make people sad, and happy, and contemplative and inspired and make someone’s day better and give someone a new perspective and all the other wonderful, beautiful things that stories can do to make our lives just a little more vivid, and just a little bit brighter.
This upcoming video is one of the first steps in that. It has what you’d expect from us, from me thirst trapping for the (very large) number of people who came initially for the catboy video, wild and funny antics, strange costumes, and all the other goodness. But more than that, it’s the first time that I’m writing something that’s also a little more personal, something that’s a metaphorical representation of an inner conflict, and something with a little more drama. It’s an eclectic blend for sure, and not something that’s easily put into a specific category, but this is something that I want to continue writing and filming as an ongoing project.
It’s also my very first time doing stunts, martial arts, and action scenes... where I do fight choreography against myself. When you don’t have the money to hire other actors or stunt people... kinda gotta do everything yourself. Hilariously, the only reason I’m able to do all this is because of Vite Ramen, Nanoboost, and the other stuff we make. Look, the design use case was for being healthy even if you’re busy, so...
Please come watch the video when it releases on July 28th, and share it with your friends. I have to admit that I am still genuinely terrified every time I release a video, especially because every single time I push the boundaries of what we can do just a little bit farther, and hope that it works out.
(and then ofc buy some ramen to support the costs of making these videos, ‘cuz that’s the only way I can do it. Even on a shoestring budget it’s not cheap)
I can’t thank all of you enough. You, who’ve joined us on this journey, you, who’ve supported us through machine failures and pandemics and wildfires, you, who eased the tight, gripping fear I feel in my chest every time we do new things with words of encouragement, and you, who has told me that it’s okay to dream, okay to be vulnerable, okay to express myself.
So, thank you. Thank you truly, from the bottom of my heart, for this crazy, single year that’s gone by, thank you for laughing and sharing and smiling and especially those of you lovely folks that fight for us on social media every time the haters come around.
I am, as usual, terrible at concluding and ending, so I thought I’d end it with a poem that I wrote a long, long time ago, that I found again these last few weeks when I moved.
Fictional Friends
You were always
a Mary Sue,
or a Gary Stue,
or the self-insert
perfection
with the hot girl
the witty friend
the unique powers
the chosen one.
Then you got older
And the stories got darker
with deaths and allegories
Sisyphus and Tantalus
and you became an antihero
brooding and mysterious
but still the perfect antihero
that everyone would love to be
for just one day.
Then you got older still
and the hot girlfriend became the
femme fatale with the seductive smile
even as she slit your throat
and that witty loyal friend
disappeared
the powers began to fade
there wasn’t a chosen one anymore
and you began to fade
Then you were gone
because you learned that
you couldn’t exist in this world because
you were too shallow
too cliched
Groan-worthy and
Cringe-inducing and
not worth anyone’s time
especially when life had to happen first.
And you were gone for
so, so long
and I missed you
missed the dragons we’d tame
and the skies we’d soar through together
missed the angels and the demons
and the mystic forces they’d create
missed the arid deserts
and the air so dry they’d choke a scorpion
missed the lush verdant forests
and the wolf-men that hid in the shadows
missed those cliched plots
and the adventures we’d have together
so
one
day
finally
I picked up
the pen again
and found my friends
between those faded blue lines
and you opened up your eyes again.
And once again, thank you. -Tim, CEO/Founder Vite Kitchens, who turns 31 in two days
P.S. oh yeah i’m supposed to remind you to get the new ramen bundles, so uh, go get those so i can keep doing this
- A free Utensil set code with any ramen purchase code: BDAYUTENSILS
-50% off Nanoboost code with ramen purchase code: BDAYNANOBOOST