There’s a certain kind of video on YouTube I cannot get enough of. The specifics change, but there’s something in common: They help me pass the time when I wake up at 3 a.m. and can’t get back to sleep.

It can’t be news or politics or I’ll never go to sleep. Nothing “serious” aka, anything that’ll make me think.

The latest thing has been custom paint jobs. No idea why. I don’t care about sports cars. Just give me something non-descript that will get me where I want to go.

But the videos are hypnotic. Yes I do want to see what a holographic rainbow hypershift looks like.

I don’t watch the whole thing, I just watch them stir the paint with all the sparkly stuff which looks really trippy, then skip to the end. Then I judge them, hmm not bad, or eh, coulda sparkled harder.

Before this it was woodturning videos. Especially the ones where they start with big funky burl or root ball and turn it into a vase or what not. I’m like, yesss, stroke that shiny wood.

It was kinda funny talking to my wife about it, because she immediately admitted she does the same thing when she’s awake at 3 a.m. Hers are origami videos and makeup tutorials.