End of Month July Update
Another month has come and gone, and today we endeavor to share with you all the happenings that occurred during July of 2026. It has been approximately one month since I last posted on this blog with a similar monthly update, and I am happy to report that a bunch has transpired in a positive direction. This blog was created earlier this year to help me work through my journey in life, both as a streamer on twitch and a human, and while I have not kept my consistency over the last couple of months in posting daily as I wanted to, I do always have it at the top of my mind that my frequency will once again return when the time is right. With that said, I will dedicate the rest of this post to updating you all on the happenings of July.
First, let's begin with the streaming side of things. After feeling pretty low last month about my streaming prospects, things have taken a turn for the better in that regard. I decided, after speaking with a close friend in the streaming community (DocGotGame), that the best way to enjoy streaming again is to stick to one game, namely, the game that started my streaming career of Albion Online. Over the last nearly three weeks, I have exclusively streamed Albion Online and the response from both my own personal community and the community of other streamers in the Albion Online category on Twitch has been extremely positive. We have raised our concurrent viewer count to over 30 viewers per stream and even hit a recent peak in our twitch subscribers with over 80 subs. Not only that, but I have had a ton of fun doing it, implementing some fun freestyle raps as a thank you for each sub that we have received. While I am not the best freestyle rapper, I have noticed that I am getting better the more I practice, so stay tuned for more of that.
As a result of the success, we have been having in streaming Albion Online again, I have also decided that I would like to try and start another guild again within the game, but this time, make it a subscriber only guild. The idea here is that it will be a tighter nit community of twitch subscribers who would be supporting me financially as I attempt to be a full-time guild master for the guild, providing connection, collaboration, and coaching to the members who join us. Historically, guilds have not felt very worthwhile to me personally because I felt that my time was not being compensated enough for the effort that I was putting in. While guilds are fun, the reality is, I still need to provide for myself financially and hence, a sub only guild seems like a way for me to not get burned out while still enjoying my time with my community of twitch subscribers.
This guild will officially launch on August 31st when the new Albion Online expansion comes out of Dragonfire and will coincide with a sub-a-thon to commemorate the occasion. A lot needs to occur between now and then, and I am motivated to continue to develop the skills necessary to be an amazing guild leader in this sub only guild that will be called Twitch TV Blackboa. Since it will be sub only, the guild name will act as a mechanism for all members to represent us through promoting my twitch stream, adding new members who come to watch and eventually sub as they see the fun we will be having together. While I understand this may be a bit cringe to other streamers in the space, it ultimately has to be this way for it to work, otherwise, I will have very little organic traffic coming to the stream from within the Albion Online game world.
Outside of streaming, things have been looking much better as well. My gout flare up has subsided almost entirely and I have not been taking any medications at all for pain, leading me to feel ready to start going to the gym again in the near future. In fact, after this weekend, I may begin my fitness journey once again on Monday, August 3rd. I have continued to take my testosterone shots throughout this break in physical activity, and so once I can get back to the gym, I hope to see some amazing progress towards getting stronger and feeling healthier. I ultimately have remained around my same weight month over month at around 350 pounds, so that hasn't gotten out of control with the lack of mobility I have had. As I focus on building muscle, I will begin to burn fat passively as is the goal.
It has also been approximately 1 week since my Deviated Septum surgery, a surgery to correct my nasal passages to allow for more air flow. The surgery was not as bad as I thought it was going to be in terms of recovery, and I believe that come Monday, I will feel good enough to head to the gym and give my new breathing passages a workout as well. The nose splints have already been removed a few days ago, and that provided a ton of relief, and I have been breathing better as a result. Because of the surgery however, I had to cancel a sleep study that I was scheduled to be a part of. I believe this was for the better since I need to assess if my breathing patterns will help me combat my sleep apnea that I believe I have as I have not been officially diagnosed.
Looking forward to the month of August of 2026, I have a lot to look forward to and momentum working in my favor. My goal is to continue to focus exclusively on streaming Albion Online and soft launching the guild with a few members joining early to help me develop the systems we need in order to successfully pull off a great launch sub-a-thon on August 31st. I also plan to incorporate a priority to my health and fitness by eating healthier and using the gym as my way to destress and invigorate my well-being at the same time. I will continue to heal my body from surgery and focus on breathing through my nose as my nasal passages will allow, giving me better rest at night with deeper sleep as my reward. I appreciate everyone who has been following my journey from the beginning, and I wish nothing but the best as we all begin this new month of August together.
Until next time,
Blackboa