At home in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

Hello! My name is Kristen. I'm a science journalist and recent cancer survivor. It's true what they say — life changes a lot after cancer diagnosis and treatment. I had all three major forms of cancer treatment: surgery, chemo, and radiation, and I'm not "out of the woods" yet. I need to stay cancer-free for five years to be officially deemed "in remission".

I came up with a character called Swanky Skeptic around the time all of the medical drama began (before my diagnosis, but during tests to see what was going on), and while I was getting cancer treatment I imagined eventually creating a YouTube channel dedicated to this satirical person.

Though I have experience in acting, I was not comfortable making my own videos for online consumption. I would think of a script or idea for a little video, then not follow through. It's scary putting yourself out there!

I finally got over my fear, and last month, the Swanky Skeptic channel was born.

People seem to either love or hate Swanky, and many don't realize that she's a character and that I'm nothing like her. :D The purpose of Swanky Skeptic is to present critical thinking and skepticism in a fun and hopefully entertaining way. I explain more about the character here.

The first few videos were rough. I was using my Android phone and had no idea what I was doing when it came to editing. I watched a bunch of tutorials and spent many hours trying to improve. I set up my DSLR for video, and finally came up with something that looked better than my first attempts.

Here is the 4th episode of Swanky Skeptic.

After being on YouTube for about a week with my new Swanky Skeptic channel, I read a comment suggesting that people would soon be migrating over to Steemit, due to several changes happening at YouTube that do not benefit the small creators.

As it stands, my channel won't be able to even begin making pennies for quite some time. With all the time it takes to come up with episode topics, research the topics, get into character, film the videos, then edit them...all on top of a full-time job and health concerns, this just doesn't seem fair. I decided to check Steemit out.

I did some reading, talked to some people I trust, and decided to sign up. Here I am! I'm happy to be here and really like what I've seen so far.

My Details

• American-Canadian: born in North Dakota and living in British Columbia
• Former Christian, but agnostic atheist for the last several years
• My ancestry is Norwegian, British, Irish, Swedish, French, Sardinian, and African
• I speak some Norwegian
• I'm politically centrist, but left of centre
• My favourite season is Fall
• I'm a dog person, but like cats, too
• My favourite food is sushi!

Social Following

• Facebook: 10,000 fans
• Twitter: 604 followers
• YouTube: 1,048 subscribers
• Instagram: 2,290 followers

When I'm not working, I love taking Coursera courses, going for long walks and hikes, reading, watching TV shows and films, going to concerts, doing yoga, and travelling. My favourite trips have been to the Galapagos, Brazil, Japan, and the Netherlands. I really want to go to Iceland and Ireland. I also host a podcast called Humans of Earth.

I love dark humour and absurd comedy, and just dark in general. Some of my favourite films include There Will Be Blood, This is England, No Country for Old Men, Tekkonkinkreet, The Dark Knight, The Believer, Let the Right One In, The Sweet Hereafter, True Romance, and Birdman.

As far as TV shows go, I love Six Feet Under, American Gods, Godless, RuPaul's Drag Race, The Sopranos, United States of Tara, Fargo, The Office, Arrested Development, Game of Thrones, and Breaking Bad.

I love Scandinavian electronic, indie, and pop music, especially Fever Ray, The Knife, Susanne Sundfør, Röyksopp, Niki & The Dove, Robyn, and Highasakite. I love most kinds of music, but I'm not a huge fan of contemporary country!

I have so many favourite books, though I read less books these days, and more online articles. Some of my favourite books include Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald, Paradise by Toni Morrison, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan, For the Time Being by Annie Dillard, Sophie's Choice by William Styron, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, Affinity by Sarah Waters, The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies: How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths by Michael Shermer, and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

Before I go, here is the 5th episode of Swanky Skeptic!