My favourite Youtube music channels.

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I love Yourube. I mean you can find anything there. I watch music videos, make-up tutorials, recipes and other funny youtube channels. So I thought it would be nice to suggest some youtube music channels.

v  Pentatonix

Pentatonix is an American a cappella group of five vocalists, Scott Hoying, Kirstie Maldonado, Mitch Grassi, Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola, originating from Arlington, Texas.

Some of their best video:

• Evolutionof Beyoncé – Pentatonix
• Can'tHold Us - Pentatonix (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis cover)
• Evolutionof Music - Pentatonix

v  Boyce Avenue

Boyce Avenue is a  band formed in Sarasota, Florida, by Alejandro Luis Manzano and his brothers Daniel Enrique Manzano and Fabian Rafael Manzano. The band is named after a combination of two streets the brothers lived on as children.

Some of their best videos:

• Mirrors- Justin Timberlake (Boyce Avenue feat. Fifth Harmony cover)
• KingsOf Leon - Use Somebody (Boyce Avenue feat. Hannah Trigwell cover)
•  3Doors Down - Here Without You (Boyce Avenue acoustic cover)

v  Madilyn Bailey

At 20 years old, Madilyn Bailey may come from a small Wisconsin town, but she is reaching for big dreams. Her career has taken off like a rocket with the YouTube platform her launch pad.

Some of her best videos:

•  Chandelier Sia - Madilyn Bailey (Piano Version cover)
• Human Christina Perri - Madilyn Bailey (Acoustic Version cover)
•  Fancy Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX - Madilyn Bailey (Acoustic cover)

v  Alexi Blue

“Hi My name is Alexi Blue. I spend most of my time practicing guitar and writing original songs. My followers are my blue stars and you`ll see in my videos that I wear blue star stickers next to my eye as a symbol for all my blue stars. I’m 16 and a sophmore in High School right now”

Some of her best videos:

• Ariana Grande - Problem ft. Iggy Azalea cover by Alexi Blue
• Dark Horse - Katy Perry (Alexi Blue Acoustic Cover)
• EllieGoulding – Burn (Alexi Blue cover)

v  Megan Nicole

With over 2,520,000 subscribers and over 480 million video views, Megan Nicole’s remarkable rise to YouTube stardom started not too long ago. It was December 2009 when a fresh faced Megan first posted a Kings of Leon cover.

Some of her best videos:

•  Summer Forever - Megan Nicole (Original Song)
• Locked Out of Heaven Mash-Up (cover) - Bruno Mars (Megan Nicole, Sam Tsui, Kurt HugoSchneider)
•   It Will Rain - Bruno Mars (cover) Megan Nicole.

v  Max Schneider

Maxwell George "Max" Schneider (born June 21, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, actor, model, and musician. He began performing at age three and got his first agent at the age of 14. He was the 2010 YoungArts Theater Winner.

Some of his best videos:

•   "HowTo Save A Life"- The Fray (Max Schneider (MAX) and Tyler Ward)
•   "SweaterWeather" - The Neighbourhood (Max & Alyson Stoner Cover)
• "Somewhere Only We Know" - Keane (ft. Max Schneider & Elizabeth Gillies)

v  Christina Grimmie

Christina Victoria Grimmie, (born March 12, 1994), known on YouTube as zeldaxlove64, is an American pianist and singer/songwriter known for her covers of hit songs by artists such as Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Christina Aguilera, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and many more.

Some of her best videos:

• "JustA Dream" by Nelly - Sam Tsui & Christina Grimmie
•  ChristinaGrimmie singing "Counting Stars" by OneRepublic
• Titanium- Christina Grimmie (Cover) By David Guetta ft. Sia  

Which one is your favourite Youtube music channel?

Amalia Boura

Food series #4: Doughnuts

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Similar article: Food series #3: Strawberries

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A doughnut or donut is a type of fried dough confectionery or dessert food. The doughnut is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets. They are usually deep-fried from a flour dough, and typically either ring-shaped or without a hole and often filled. Other types of batters can also be used, and various toppings and flavorings are used for different types, such as sugar, chocolate, or maple glazing. In addition to flour, doughnuts may also include such ingredients as water, leavening, eggs, milk, sugar, oil/shortening, natural flavors and/or artificial flavors.

Doughnuts have a disputed history. One theory suggests they were invented in North America by Dutch settlers. Indeed, in the 19th century, doughnuts were sometimes referred to as one kind of oliekoek (a Dutch word literally meaning "oil cake"), a "sweetened cake fried in fat.".

Hanson Gregory, an American, claimed to have invented the ring-shaped doughnut in 1847 aboard a lime-trading ship when he was only 16 years old. Gregory was dissatisfied with the greasiness of doughnuts twisted into various shapes and with the raw center of regular doughnuts. He claimed to have punched a hole in the center of dough with the ship's tin pepper box, and later taught the technique to his mother.

According to anthropologist Paul R. Mullins, the first cookbook mentioning doughnuts was an 1803 English volume which included doughnuts in an appendix of American recipes. By the mid-19th century, the doughnut looked and tasted like today’s doughnut, and was viewed as a thoroughly American food.

Do I even need to explain how awesome they are? Not only are they delicious but they are very pretty to make and decorate with your group of friends or family members.

P.S: Of course don’t eat too many of them or too regularly because they are undeniably unhealthy.

By the way, recently I've been obsessed withthis game: Papa's Donuteria

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Amalia Boura

Dealing with stress

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Similat article: Never good enough

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This past school year has almost been like a living hell for me. I was constantly stressed and conscious about everything. I would sit on my desk’s chair every Friday night after I have finished all the things that I had to do after school (I didn’t even have time to go out every Friday) and I just wouldn’t be able to shut my thoughts out. At some points I remember crying so much but that I couldn’t breathe at all and the next day I would go to school and I would feel like a living zombie.

The things that stressed me the most were Mathematics at school and Taking the proficiency in English test this year. Well that was actually after Christmas. Before that I don’t know what would stress me exactly but I think it was school and everything that I had to do again. As a result, my acne became four times worse than it had been before and I began having self-doubts.

The good news is that I actually past the Proficiency in English test (I was so freaking happy about that) , I am currently consulting a dermatologist for my acne and I got back my self-confidence. However, I am still waiting for my Mathematics finals' results. My teacher told me that I did very well at the Geometry test but I don’t think that I have done well at the Algebra test.

So, through this difficult time there were some things that made it all better. They didn’t work all the time though. They rarely worked actually as I would still feel sad and stressed. Anyway, I thought that I would suggest some of them.

• ·         Smile and Laugh as much as you can.

For me the best thing in order to stop these negative thoughts would be laughing. I literally remember myself laughing like a seal half of the day at school (I think that was probably why everyone thought I was so happy). So now you’re just thinking that I was fake smiling and pretending to be happy. Honestly, I didn’t. Actually, I am a happy person, I’ve always been but this past year I was not that happy. It is just that when I laugh I forget about everything. Nothing matters at that moment. So, I was trying to make it better and it did but only for a short time.

• ·         Go out with friends and talk about it.
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Going out with friends would also put me in a good mood. We would go out and laugh and have conversations. Most of the time it was depressing, but I was going through some stuff with my stress and my friends were going through some other things so it was good to get it of our chests. Moreover, I would also talk about it to my parents and sister. Talking about it might make it slightly or even a lot better, so I encourage you to talk about excessive amounts of stress to someone who is close to you.

• ·         Take up a new hobby (or exercise)
• 
  

So now you’re probably thinking that the last thing you want right now is just another responsibility. Well, when I say a new hobby I mean something that you love and have always wanted to try. But it should be something that is not competitive. You need something to relax, not be stressed about.

For example: Draw something or listen to music or even better go for a walk or dance in your room. Exercise releases endorphins which makes you happier.

• ·         And last but probably the most important: Cry as much as you want!!!
• 
  

I remember that the past year I have been crying a lot. Seriously I got my heart broken, I broke my leg, I was really stressed, I got my heart broken again, I was stressed again and so on (I already know that there are worst problems in the world guys, that’s what I have been trying to tell myself) As you can understand it becomes annoying. But if I could go back I would tell myself to cry as much as I wanted. I know that I hate it when crying is the only way to feel better but it doesn’t matter. If you want to cry, then cry. It’s ok, everybody hurts and everybody cries sometimes.

So that’s really all. It actually gets so much better. It really does. It is scary at times and it kind of takes away the happiness and the love for yourself but trust me you can take it all back. Everyone is stressed at time and it’s normal. I am a really stressful person and I get stressed very easily, you’re not alone. I just hope that I will continue and keep it under control.

(The new me) :p

P.S: If you personally think that you can’t control it at all, please consult a  specialist J 

Good luck everyone!!!!

 Amalia Boura

Would you rather?

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Next article: Dealing with stress

Everyone knows this game and everyone plays this game so I decided to make a “blog version” of “Would you rather..” and answer some question on my own! (No comment on that one :p )

1.      1.Would you rather...

a)      live one 1,000-year life?

b)      live ten 100-year lives?

      Answer:

I would definitely choose b) because I think that continuing being the same person and living the same live would be boring. Moreover, all your friends and family members would be dead after a very short period and you would be left alone. Furthermore, nobody wants to remember that he got hurt so many times before. I think that living one 1,000-year life would be an absolute torture!

2.      2.Would you rather have your first child…

a)      when you are 19 years old?

b)      when you are 45 years old?

Answer:

I would rather have my first child when I’m 45 years old because I think that I would be too naïve and careless to have a child at 19. Although, at 45 it would be a bit too late I think it would be better because 19 isn’t really the age that most people want to settle down.

3.      3.Would you rather …

a)      have a home with a great living room?

b)      have a great back yard?

Answer:

I would prefer having a great back yard because it would enable me to have a garden and maybe a swing and I would also be able to organise parties during the spring and summer.

4.      4.Would you rather…

a)      be the smartest person in your peer group?

b)      be most attractive person in your peer group?

Answer:

As much as I’d like to choose a) I think that most people would choose b). In our world, looks are definitely more important than intelligence. Moreover, I wouldn’t want to be the smartest because I would probably feel lonely knowing that no one understands me.

5.      5.Would you rather …

a)      have someone bring you breakfast in bed tomorrow morning ?

b)      be able to sleep in as late as you want?

Answer:

Without a shadow of a doubt I would choose b). I don’t want anyone waking me up before I want to get up. I don’t care who you are just don’t wake me up.

6.   6.   Would you rather…

a)      relive one random week of high school?

b)      watch the video of your own birth?

Answer:

Well, I would rather watch the video of my own birth. Anything is better that a whole week of high school…

7.     7. Would you rather…

a)      spend one year sailing around the world?

b)      Spend one year living in the heart of London?

Answer:

Do I need to even answer that? London is the answer. It would be a dream come true living in the centre of LONDON. Everything seems so much better there. After all, it’s one of the most multi-cultural countries of the whole world.

8.    8.  Would you rather…

a)       get married in an arranged marriage?

b)       spend the rest of your life single without dating anyone?

Answer:

I would choose b) because I believe that happiness is more important than being with someone else. I mean if you’re eventually going to marry it should be to someone you have personally choosen because you both love and respect each other.

So, what are your answers?

Amalia Boura