I was definitely a hateration in this dancery about it.
I was, I was.
I was like, "really?
Belt bags?
Really?"
[lo-fi hip hop music plays]
Hey everyone.
It's me, Hallease, endeavoring to persevere as always.
If you're new here, I make videos about my chaotic good life.
Subscribe, follow, social media.
All the things.
You know.
Before we get into my top 10 things that I cannot live without, I wanted to talk about
two things I cannot live without during this pandemic.
Thing number one, you guessed it: my mask.
They're stylish.
They're hip.
They're cool.
Everyone's doing it.
Well, everyone's not doing it, and they should.
Everyone should be doing it.
Also, we here in the United States have more than 5 million cases.
So.
And on a more serious note, I know a lot of your are our protesting right now.
Please wear a mask and stay safe while you're out there, exercising your rights.
The next thing I can't live without during this pandemic is my voter registration card.
This November I will be voting as if my life depends on it, because my life kind of seems
to depend on it.
This pandemic has affected everything from our economy to healthcare.
It seems like my skin-folk and my kinfolk are really struggling during this time.
I mean, we're always struggling.
It's always a struggle.
But now more so than ever, we are struggling.
We Black Americans make up about 12% of the United States population.
And yet, we account for 22% of the COVID deaths.
These statistics only scratch the surface of how it is affecting us.
I will definitely be voting in November and I hope you will do the same.
Now, let's get into these 10 things.
[hip hop music plays]
So, Beleaf in Fatherhood actually tagged me to create one of these videos I don't even
know how long ago.
It's been a minute: 2020 is a blur.
Am I right?
I'm right.
Y'all are already gonna know what my work essentials are.
You're already gonna know the things that I absolutely need.
Let's get into those things first and get those out of the way so we can talk about
the things that maybe you wouldn't expect me to like or feel like is an essential to
my life.
I am a filmmaker, digital storyteller, video producer, whatever you wanna call me, I am
that as you can see.
I should do a cut to the actual set, so you can see it.
What up?
I always have a camera.
I have a few cameras.
I shoot on the a7 III by Sony.
It's a great camera.
Really love it.
I also have the a6500 which you are looking at my through on this one.
That's the a6500.
Then, I've also been having a lot of fun with the Sony ZV-1.
This little camera, this little dude right here is actually really cool.
I bought it about a month ago, or so, as something to just throw in my bag, when I don't necessarily
feel like taking my Sony a7 III.
I just pack this little guy in.
It has the same picture profile as my Sony a7 III.
I can use footage from this and it be seamless.
A lot of times I don't think y'all have even noticed the difference.
But I've been using this in my YouTube videos, specifically, for the past couple months.
I wouldn't use this for clients.
I use the a7 III for that.
If you classify yourself as more of a content creator than a filmmaker, check out the Sony
ZV-1 because it's a really awesome little camera.
It's packed full of stuff that is very content creator specific, which is actually really
cool.
Absolutely have to have when it comes to the essentials for work is good audio.
Right now on my a7 III the audio's being recorded through my RØDE NTG.
Yes [laughs] I'm using the RØDE mic NTG.
It plugs directly into the camera and it gives you really great audio.
This is also, I would say, a pretty decent podcasting microphone.
Then, I also use the RØDE VideoMic Pro+.
Another really great on camera microphone.
If you're shooting mirrorless or DSLR, love that.
I would say, if anything, if you're a content creator watching this.
If you are gonna upgrade something: upgrade your audio first, then upgrade your camera.
Because me, myself, you know I'm saying, me myself, if I'm watching a YouTuber, whoever
they are, regardless of their size, reach, production knowledge, whatever.
If I can hear you clearly, that matters way more to me than if I can see you super crisply
or whatever.
Of course, other essential: the MacBook Pro.
Obviously.
Gotta have it.
This is the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
This is the most tricked out one you could get, at the time.
This is the one that had the first, original bar thing.
It had that bar.
And everybody was like, "Why?"
And I'm still kinda like, "Why?"
And really, this is just a vessel for Adobe Creative Cloud [laughs].
I just got this iPad Pro actually for my birthday.
I turn 30 August 23rd.
Mark your calendars.
I bring in the Virgo season, move aside Leos.
That's right.
Anyway, this my 11-inch iPad Pro.
I got it for my birthday.
So happy with it.
It's so beautiful.
Look at it.
It's amazing.
I'm actually using it right now.
The script of my notes.
My script notes are here.
I love this thing.
Also, I have the pencil.
I use it all the time.
Then, I also have the snazzy keyboard.
It's what I miss about keyboards.
You have a ... What do they call that?
The push length.
You know what I'm talking about?
That push.
Anybody?
That push length?
Y'all know I'm saying.
I get it.
At first when they came out with the iPad Pro I was like ... but what does it do really?
How is this not a MacBook?
You know I'm saying?
And it basically is a MacBook [laughs] basically, but you touch it a lot [laughs].
Alright, now that the livelihood stuff is out of the way, let's get into this.
Let's call this the personal essentials.
Let's get into those, alright?
First off, the belt bag.
I am not gonna lie to y'all.
When belt bags came back into trend, into fashion, I was definitely a hateration in
this dancery about it.
I was.
I was like, "Really?
Belt bags?
Really?"
But then I remembered [laughing] I hate purses.
The belt bag has been my saving grace in 2020.
This particular belt bag is by Lo&Sons.
It is as the name says Lo and her sons.
This their Waverly 2 belt bag.
It is, yes, the second iteration of the Waverly.
I really love this belt bag because it is a convertible belt bag.
You can wear it as a belt bag.
Then you also can adjust the strap and make it longer and have it be a crossbody bag.
Then they also give you a second strap that's shorter to have it as a clutch.
This is my daily bag whenever I do step outside with my mask on.
This is the bag I wear.
In it, I keep my ID, my cards, you know.
I also usually have my sunglasses in here, a little wipey for my glasses, 'cause my glasses
stay dirty.
They're probably dirty right now.
My hand sanitizer is in here, my lactose pills.
I'm lactose intolerant which is also an essential, low-key, lactose pills.
Shout-out to lactose pills, amen.
I have it in two colors [laughs] I love this bag that much, that I bought it in two colors.
This is their dark grey, and their light grey.
The dark grey, I usually say ... Well, who's throwing an event now?
Nobody.
But if I ever go to an event again and I want to have a cute clutch with my attire, I'll
take the dark grey.
This one I would say is more of a south Texas specific thing.
This is Don Juan's Chupa Hueso seasoning.
So, Don Juan International Foods is based out of Laredo, Texas, which is actually where
my husband is from.
My husband is a Laredoan, for those of y'all that don't know, that's a city on the border
of the state.
You know, it's hard to quantify a good seasoning.
You just ... oh.
Mmm.
It's giving me salt (laughs), it's giving me what it says.
It's giving me garlic, it's giving me sugar, it's giving me lucas low-key.
Giving me lucas which is a salty candy thing.
Iono how to describe lucas to people who aren't from Texas.
It's giving me Tio Rogelio, is slow cooking a cabrito on Easter and it's time to come
over.
It's giving me that.
Yeah.
Oh!
Makin' a mess.
You can put this on everything.
I put it on fish.
Mr. Hallease grills with this a lot.
I'm probably sure this would hit on some veggies if you are of the vegetarian variety.
It's giving me 210 por vida.
It's giving me.
It's giving me life [laughs] truly.
It's giving me life.
You can get Chupa Hueso, if you're here in San Antonio where I am based, you can get
Chupa Hueso at Culebra meat markets.
Chupa Hueso's usually at Culebra meat markets.
They got a whole bunch of different seasonings.
I just rock with this one 'cause it's the only one I've been rockin' wit.
But I'm sure the other ones are great, too.
[lo-fi hip hop music]
I'm going through a food section.
The other thing I can't live without right now are Mug Treats by Betty Crocker.
I cannot live without these.
What these are is basically it's a cake in a cup, but it's prepackaged for you.
They give you everything you need.
They package the cake mix for you.
They package the icing, the topping.
All you have to do is have a mug, put the cake mix in, put three tablespoons of water.
You can put water or milk.
Ironically the water version tastes better to me than the milk.
Debate about that in the comments, but the water tastes better to me than the milk.
Anyway.
Do that.
Warm it up in the microwave for a minute and 10 seconds.
For my microwave, it's a minute and 10 seconds.
Iono bout y'all.
Read the back, live your life.
This just gives you that cake hit without making a full cake, but also makes you do
a little bit of work so you feel like you've earned the cake in a cup.
You know I'm saying?
It is an appropriate amount of cake for the work you put in.
Do I have the Chupa Hueso on my mouth?
I hope not.
The other thing: shampoo.
Gotta have a good shampoo.
You know I'm saying?
For my locs, shampoo.
I love Trader Joe's Tingle Tree Shampoo.
It is a really inexpensive shampoo, but doesn't sacrifice quality.
I don't know how they do that because this shampoo is only a smooth $4.
So ... I'm not gonna question it.
However comma, it's really great.
It is strong of tea tree, peppermint, all that kind of fun stuff.
It's a really nice clarifying shampoo.
Especially for someone with locs.
The big thing with having locs, this hairstyle, is you don't want to use these shampoos that
are super creamy, and stuff like that because it can cause buildup in your locs.
No shampoo is going to be buildup-less.
You know what I mean?
You're always gonna have to worry about buildup when you have locs, but you don't have to
worry about it as much using something like this.
Wow, what number are we on?
Are we supposed to count them?
They always say 10 things, but are you supposed to count?
I don't you're supposed to count.
Next thing I can't live without: my kindle.
My kindle, my kindle.
This was a gift as well.
I'm not even gonna lie to y'all.
At fist I was like, "Oh.
A Kindle, yay."
But then it really clicked that I didn't have to buy ... Well, obviously I buy all the books.
But I didn't have to carry books around.
I'm really big on not carrying a lot of things.
I don't like to carry a lot of stuff.
My Kindle has been really awesome to have.
I feel like I'm trying to read the black literature greats right now.
I'm in a black literature greats kind of mood.
I'm currently going through Toni Morrison's books, and I am on "The Bluest Eye" currently.
This is not sponsored.
Water bottle, amen.
I always have some kind of water bottle with me.
Whether I'm driving or here ... what am I?
Okay [laughs] Whether I'm driving or here at home, or whatever, I always carry water
with me.
Again, I live in South Texas, I live in San Antonio.
It's hot here.
I know people be talkin' bout water bottles like it's on trend and things like that.
No.
Here in Texas, you need water at arms length.
No further than arms length away because it is hot here all the time.
Heat exhaustion, you know I'm saying, heat stroke is a thing here.
So, water bottle.
Always, always have water with me all the time.
I'm a freakin' fish.
I drink so much water, it's crazy.
I fill it up before I go to bed as well.
I put it next to my bedside because usually I'll wake up at least once or twice at night
and I'm thirsty and drink some water and go back to sleep.
I feel like this is one that everyone talks about, but they really are ... why is this
dusty?
Why are we dusty?
[Laughs] They really are so important.
They're so important.
Even now that no one's going anywhere.
I haven't traveled since when?
Since when.
Since 2019, that's when.
Bose noise cancelling headphones.
I forgot what model these are.
I bought these before I started my production company, StumbleWell.
I was headed off to go produce a video for NCAR, the National Center for Atmospheric
Research.
Which was actually really cool.
It was a really cool vid.
I was flying a lot that year for work.
I started having mild anxiety attacks, pains and stuff, listening to the engine of the
plane.
It was starting to give me a lot of anxiety and stuff.
I bought these, and man.
They've been a saving grace.
It doesn't really bother me, you know, babies crying and things like that on airplanes.
It's just literally the sound of the engine itself on an [laughing] airplane that freaks
me out.
Because I'll hear it ...
In my mind it sounds like it's stalling or slowing down.
Plane will hit its cruising altitude, and then I will feel the plane even out and I'll
hear the engine slow.
Me with my primitive understanding of physics, is just like I hear the engine slowing down.
We are gonna fall out of the sky.
[laughing] So, noise cancelling headphones so I can't hear the engine [laughs] is why
I have these.
These, let me grab.
It's on my foot.
That's how essential they are, they're on my foot right now.
My Kyrgies!
These!
Oh my gosh, I love my Kyrgies so much.
These were actually given to my by the company that makes these Kyrgies.
They're a wool slipper that is made in Kyrgyzstan.
I love them Look at how dirty they are on the bottom.
Sorry y'all.
But I love these slippers.
I made a whole video about them on my channel.
They're wool slippers.
They slide onto your foot.
Even though it's super hot here in Texas, your feet are always just cold.
Iono know if that's just me, but my feet be cold.
I love these.
If I ever go to anyone's house again, if that ever is a thing again, you know I'm saying,
I will ... And I know I'll be there for a while.
If it's a movie night, I will bring these with me definitely.
[Laughs] Take off my shoes at put on my Kyrgies.
They are so comfortable.
The older I get, the more I'm just like, "Screw being on trend, am I comfortable [laughs]?"
Because when I'm comfortable, I'm confident.
Bidet.
I'm not even gonna cut to anything, but I'm just gonna say it.
We'll put it up somehow in text or something like that.
Bidets.
A bidet has become an essential.
In the great toilet paper famine of 2020 (laughs) bidets are amazing.
We bought a bidet strictly because there was a great toilet paper famine of 2020 (laughs)
and everybody was hoarding toilet paper.
It was a whole thing, it was a mess.
And so we bought a bidet.
I don't know how we ever lived without a bidet.
Basically for 29 years of my life, I walked around wit a dirty booty.
If you're using your wet wipes, then cool.
You're on the winning team.
But if you ain't using wet wipes and you also don't have a bidet ... you're kinda dirty.
And that's me!
Those are my things that I cannot live without.
I hope I have spurred some things for you to think about, meditate on, if you will.
Again, if you're new here my name is Hallease, consider subscribing.
It's a fun time.
Big shout-out to my Patreon Production Team, patreon.com/hallease.
There, you get early access to these videos as well as private weekly vlogs from me where
I talk about everything I'm doing behind the scenes running a production company, projects
that are coming down the pipeline.
All that kind of stuff.
If you're someone who's thinking about this life, becoming a full time creative, check
it out.
No pressure, though.
Because of the times.
Again, I am Hallease, and I will see you when I see you.
It's alright.
Everyone will think I'm glistening, when really it's just sweat.
[laughs] I'm just sweating.
Okay.
The dead giveaway is always the upper lip.
That's the give away.
And the forehead.
If you can keep the upper lip and the forehead concealed, nobody know.
Everybody just thinks you're wearing Glossier.
Alright.
[laughs]