A Problem

Dear Diary,

One week ago, I got an e-mail from the helpful folks at YouTube notifying me that one of my videos had been age-restricted.  I would have to sign in before doing anything about it, and I don't sign into things without Wi-Fi, so there things stood until I got to the Northeast branch of the Seattle Public Library two days ago.

The notice gave no explanation as to how my 27-second video of trees offended, and no way of getting an explanation, so I appealed the decision, explaining that the first thing I wanted was an explanation.

Yesterday I got a notice from YouTube at 11:20 A.M. saying that my appeal had succeeded and the age restriction would be lifted.  Mind you, my appeal had *not* succeeded:  I still didn't have a clue what about my video had been deemed offensive.

Anyway, at 11:31 came a third e-mail, announcing that the same video had been age-restricted.  This was just like the first e-mail, except that I'm no longer offered the chance to appeal, because any appeal has already been rejected.

One important effect of age-restriction is that the video can't be played embedded in another page.  Since all my videos are uploaded specifically to be embedded in your pages, dear Diary, this is a problem.  I think we can safely assume that over time, they'll all get treated this way, since the number of bored children in the world is unlikely to decrease.

As it happens, I'm not especially satisfied with the video in question, which is about the fact that the uppermost greensward in Ravenna Park is surrounded mostly by conifers.  It turns out that to a first approximation, much of Ravenna Park can be understood as a series of greenswards, each ringed by trees, with the trees alternating coniferous and deciduous as you go along the chain.  So I'll see if I remember, dear Diary, to go to Ravenna Park and take a much longer video documenting this, maybe this winter when the contrast should be clearer.

Meanwhile, the following embedded version of the existing video probably won't work:

but people who can convince YouTube that they're adult by signing in can watch it there, at the following URL:  <https://youtu.be/zK3ZM7dGQdU>.

Meanwhile, fans of Franz Kafka should rejoice, because his reanimated spirit seems to be in charge at a major Internet site.

Sorry to make such a mess out of you, dear Diary.