So there's this thing called Kickstarter. And its going to make me go broke.
Kickstarter is a way to fundraise for creative projects. Creators post information about their project, set a goal for how much money they need to raise for the project, and set a deadline in which to reach it (usually 30-60 days). To entice as many people as possible to support a project creators offer different rewards depending on the amount pledged to the project. People can view the project, usually with a video, and decide if they want to offer money in support of it.
Kickstarter is unique because the creator retains the full rights to their projects and because of their all-or-nothing funding system. If a project does not reach its goal, then no money changes hands. This way no creators are stuck trying to fulfill rewards promised to backers when they didn't earn enough money to complete the project and do so. It also encourages all of the backers to help advertise for the Kickstarter campaign, as, if the project does not reach 100% funding, they do not get their rewards.
Rewards vary from simple thank you notes to preorders of the finished products. And as a bonus sometimes creators offer content that will be exclusive to backers of their Kickstarter project. For example, many board game projects include exclusive cards or playing pieces that will never be released again.
There are so many great projects on Kickstarter. I only joined the site last week and have already backed four projects, with plans to back several more in the next few weeks. My interests tend to lie mostly in the comics and games sections, but I can easily see myself funding projects in all the categories at some point (with the possible exception of fashion).
For me, backing a Kickstarter project comes down to one of two things. I either really want the product offered and want to help support it get made or I appreciate the cause and want to donate in order to help out. Examples of the first include a collection of Ninjasaur comics, a Steampunk tabletop RPG rulebook, and a set of cards to help brainstorm while writing. Examples of the second include supporting the purchase and restoration of Victorian era candy equipment and funding some children so they can travel to Korea and perform there.
All in all, its a fun site. You get a great feeling helping someone to reach their goal and make an idea a reality while also getting some neat stuff along the way. If I had a creative endeavour and needed some extra funding I would definitely consider using Kickstarter. As it is, I'll stick to backing the projects of others and trying not to go broke on all of the cool things that other creative people are producing.
If you've got a little spare cash and like to see the creative things that people some up with (and possible acquire some of them yourself) then I recommend checking out Kickstarter for yourself.
Note: This will be the first in a random series of "So there's this thing" posts from me (and Amy if she likes) where I talk about...things. It might be something new, it might be something new to me, it just might be something I feel like talking about or sharing with people.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Random Topic No. 1: Dreams
How many of you remember your dream you had last night? Depending on the time of day, most of you might not even recall if you had memorable dreams. I ask my husband to tell me about his nightly adventures relatively often, but his memory isn't the greatest. Occasionally he will recall bits and pieces, and he has had a few that were pretty out there. I'm pretty sure we have all had those dreams.
A lot of my dreams are memorable and so strange.... Depending on my state of rest and awareness I get several categories of dreams.
Anxiety Fueled/Physical Distress Dreams
One night in college I was in such pain from an infection that my dreams were racked with torture. Masked surgeons where murmuring to one another, uncertain of my condition but at the same time taking a scalpel to my my abdomen and poking around. When I woke up, I was doubled over in pain and delirious from the dreams. Not a happy time, but it was enough to convince me to go to the hospital the next day.
Other dreams are fitful and distorted. You know those nights where you can barely sleep because of something that is going to happen the next day? Well the dreams on night before my first SCUBA class was nothing but a discord of colors, shapes and noises. Not happy noises mind you, those anxiety inducing noises that make you cringe. Even if it is just the thought of a word you don't like to hear, like "moist" or the feeling you get when you scrape your tooth against another when you are eating. The anxiety of everything just puts pressure in your dreams, all because you are freaking out about the next day. And of course, the next day at my SCUBA class, I was frazzled and disheveled because I got next to no sleep, and the sleep I got reminded me of how worried I was about the next day.
Create your Own Ending Dreams
These are fun, but they have a prerequisite, at least for me. Most of the time I get one of these dreams as a follow up to another dream. Don't you hate those dreams where you are walking down a dark hallway, passing doors and corridors that you think might be a better choice. You keep going until you get to the end of the hall, or around that corner, and whatever was chasing you, hunting you, or waiting for you... ends up getting you. Not a fun dream. And especially not fun when you realize you have had it before. UNTIL your subconscious grows wise.
These dreams get a new twist when you realize that you have been there before. Your subconscious goes, 'Hey...the murderer is at the end of the hall.....let's turn left here and see what happens.' So now we are all clever and awesome because we have evaded the impending doom. Don't want a scary ending? Change it before you get there. Turn around and walk out of the house. I have found it helpful to also arm yourself in dreams. You know how hard it is to hit someone in your dream? I know I always felt like lead or a weakling when I was trying to fend off an attacker. Then I decided to bring knives into my dreams. Granted they are little pocket knives that give cat-looking scratches to the bad guy, but hey, they end up leaving me alone in the end.
I have found a downside to these dreams though. Once you change the ending once or twice, you almost feel like you cheated. You walk back into the warm light of safety and leaves a cold empty feeling being. Then your subconscious is like, 'Lame.....cop-out' and the dream doesn't seem to ever come back after you have "beaten the system".
Multimedia Dreams/ Video Game Dreams
Ever feel like you wasted your day watching a TV Series or playing a video game the entire day? Well, when I get these dreams I have to say yes, I did waste my day with electronics. I love video games and some television shows, but if I spend too much time on them I get some fun and exhausting dreams that night. I've had dreams when Lego Harry Potter meets the cast of 'How I Met Your Mother' all while trying to save the world one Lego brick at a time. There have been many cross genre, cross over trans-universal dreams to keep be entertained and bust all night long. When Doctor Who shows up to fight zombies along side you, you know it is going to be an interesting night. And his hair was wonderful the entire time.
Similarly I've had days where I did nothing but read. This adds a whole new level to the Multimedia dreams. Fighting against siege weaponry and mailed horsemen all while you hear yourself narrating the subtext is a surreal experience. It made it more interesting when I would break in to song and dance while running for my life from marauders. I think the book inspired dreams naturally have more detail. It also allows easier fourth wall breakage, sifting information out of my mind about the characters to better manipulate or persuade them.
One down side of these dreams, in my opinion, is over stimulation. I've had quite a few zombie fighting dreams. Amidst all the chaos of one particular dream, one of my fellow survivors was being a jerk. I had the overwhelming urge to smack him across the face, however something had my dominate arm pinned under me so I couldn't use it. I mustered all my strength to slap him with my other hand and sure enough BAM! Down he went. Unfortunately my husband ended up getting slammed in the chest with my arm in reality. In my dream I couldn't move one arm because I was sleeping on it, but I had no problems lashing out with my other. Needless to say, Zombie Video Games are not to be played right before bed anymore.
Alcohol Infused Dreams
Once you are old enough to drink, occasionally you will go to sleep buzzed. There have been a number of reactions depending on the alcohol consumed the previous night.
For my husband, there was one time he had a strong beer called Mephistopheles. This is sold in bomber bottles, and it can do a number on you if you are not familiar with it. Needless to say this was his first experience with it. His dream was probably one of the most complicated dreams I had ever heard. Just to give a short summery: He was in a post apocalyptic world fighting zombies with vegetable hand grenades. Yeah. Coming from a man that remembers probably one and ten dreams, it was crazy.
The same night I had a bit of rum. My dreams were shorter than his, but surprisingly simple. I was playing football and a bright sunny day. I went to catch a high one, jumped as high as I could go in the nice open field. However, I slammed into the bedroom wall instead. I woke up embarrassed, but still to this day I don't remember if it was because I didn't catch the ball or because I hit the wall. I did wake my husband up with that one, which is when he told me about his dream.
Last night we had a spontaneous Scotch tasting. The last one we tried was a 106 proof from the Scottish lowlands. My dreams that chased such a beverage were so very weird. I recall flying around as a dragon, living in a airplane hull and then fighting raptors as a human, then again as a raptor. The human part involved more running, the raptor part more stalking and posturing. That was just half of the dream too, there were other parts as well, fire balls, floods, aerial dog-fights as dragons again. Even some romance was thrown in there too. It was insane.
So I think it is safe to say that different beverages have different effects on sleeping habits.
Dreams within Dreams
These are probably the most annoying and most confusing dreams that I have. The frustrating part is how similar they are to normal everyday life. Most of these dreams involve a lot of conversation. Occasionally some drama seeps in, and it is so long and drawn out. Things like going to the store, or watching a movie, or getting in a debate pop up all over the place. Days pass even. There was one dream I had where a few days passed, then I woke up within the dream to mull over what had happened while dreaming. Then a week passed in that dream and I felt like I had accomplished some grating problem that had been plaguing my dream world. However, about this time I realize that I am still dreaming. I recall waking up into this dream and then realizing that hey...I am in another dream. This is when my subconscious starts getting angry. It begins to notice discrepancies, like 'his eyes are not that color,' or 'that person is no longer around' or even, 'that bird does not have that call'.
The fact my subconscious is getting frustrated would normally constitute the waking up process of the night. Not in these dreams. I think the longest I ever went in one of these dreams was waking up three times to other dreams, the fourth wake up was finally reality. My subconscious starts to nitpick and proceeds to punch holes correcting itself several times. When the usual time to wake up comes I just transition to another dream and have to really think about what is going on. By the second wake up I proceed more cautiously. Eventually something triggers and I finally wake up. This also leads to interesting conversations the next morning. I'll ask my husband something like 'What did you think of blah blah blah' or say something like 'You never answered my question.' He is usually good about remembering things like that, so I am left to riddle out whether or not I dreamed saying that to him.
Very frustrating.
---
All in all, I like to think of my dreams as relatively random and unique. Ever since I was young I have made it a mission to attempt to remember them. I used to fall asleep saying 'I will remember a dream tonight' many times it worked. Over the years I stopped saying that before bed and have remembered fewer. However the ones I do remember are pretty hard to forget. I also find I am more likely to remember them if I tell them to someone.
I love hearing stories of other peoples dreams too. It is probably one of the roughest forms of prose or storytelling in my opinion. Of course some stories are better kept to yourself, but I thought it might entertain some of you to hear a few of mine. May you have random and interesting dreams from here on out ^_^
-- A2
A lot of my dreams are memorable and so strange.... Depending on my state of rest and awareness I get several categories of dreams.
Anxiety Fueled/Physical Distress Dreams
One night in college I was in such pain from an infection that my dreams were racked with torture. Masked surgeons where murmuring to one another, uncertain of my condition but at the same time taking a scalpel to my my abdomen and poking around. When I woke up, I was doubled over in pain and delirious from the dreams. Not a happy time, but it was enough to convince me to go to the hospital the next day.
Other dreams are fitful and distorted. You know those nights where you can barely sleep because of something that is going to happen the next day? Well the dreams on night before my first SCUBA class was nothing but a discord of colors, shapes and noises. Not happy noises mind you, those anxiety inducing noises that make you cringe. Even if it is just the thought of a word you don't like to hear, like "moist" or the feeling you get when you scrape your tooth against another when you are eating. The anxiety of everything just puts pressure in your dreams, all because you are freaking out about the next day. And of course, the next day at my SCUBA class, I was frazzled and disheveled because I got next to no sleep, and the sleep I got reminded me of how worried I was about the next day.
Create your Own Ending Dreams
These are fun, but they have a prerequisite, at least for me. Most of the time I get one of these dreams as a follow up to another dream. Don't you hate those dreams where you are walking down a dark hallway, passing doors and corridors that you think might be a better choice. You keep going until you get to the end of the hall, or around that corner, and whatever was chasing you, hunting you, or waiting for you... ends up getting you. Not a fun dream. And especially not fun when you realize you have had it before. UNTIL your subconscious grows wise.
These dreams get a new twist when you realize that you have been there before. Your subconscious goes, 'Hey...the murderer is at the end of the hall.....let's turn left here and see what happens.' So now we are all clever and awesome because we have evaded the impending doom. Don't want a scary ending? Change it before you get there. Turn around and walk out of the house. I have found it helpful to also arm yourself in dreams. You know how hard it is to hit someone in your dream? I know I always felt like lead or a weakling when I was trying to fend off an attacker. Then I decided to bring knives into my dreams. Granted they are little pocket knives that give cat-looking scratches to the bad guy, but hey, they end up leaving me alone in the end.
I have found a downside to these dreams though. Once you change the ending once or twice, you almost feel like you cheated. You walk back into the warm light of safety and leaves a cold empty feeling being. Then your subconscious is like, 'Lame.....cop-out' and the dream doesn't seem to ever come back after you have "beaten the system".
Multimedia Dreams/ Video Game Dreams
Ever feel like you wasted your day watching a TV Series or playing a video game the entire day? Well, when I get these dreams I have to say yes, I did waste my day with electronics. I love video games and some television shows, but if I spend too much time on them I get some fun and exhausting dreams that night. I've had dreams when Lego Harry Potter meets the cast of 'How I Met Your Mother' all while trying to save the world one Lego brick at a time. There have been many cross genre, cross over trans-universal dreams to keep be entertained and bust all night long. When Doctor Who shows up to fight zombies along side you, you know it is going to be an interesting night. And his hair was wonderful the entire time.
Similarly I've had days where I did nothing but read. This adds a whole new level to the Multimedia dreams. Fighting against siege weaponry and mailed horsemen all while you hear yourself narrating the subtext is a surreal experience. It made it more interesting when I would break in to song and dance while running for my life from marauders. I think the book inspired dreams naturally have more detail. It also allows easier fourth wall breakage, sifting information out of my mind about the characters to better manipulate or persuade them.
One down side of these dreams, in my opinion, is over stimulation. I've had quite a few zombie fighting dreams. Amidst all the chaos of one particular dream, one of my fellow survivors was being a jerk. I had the overwhelming urge to smack him across the face, however something had my dominate arm pinned under me so I couldn't use it. I mustered all my strength to slap him with my other hand and sure enough BAM! Down he went. Unfortunately my husband ended up getting slammed in the chest with my arm in reality. In my dream I couldn't move one arm because I was sleeping on it, but I had no problems lashing out with my other. Needless to say, Zombie Video Games are not to be played right before bed anymore.
Alcohol Infused Dreams
Once you are old enough to drink, occasionally you will go to sleep buzzed. There have been a number of reactions depending on the alcohol consumed the previous night.
For my husband, there was one time he had a strong beer called Mephistopheles. This is sold in bomber bottles, and it can do a number on you if you are not familiar with it. Needless to say this was his first experience with it. His dream was probably one of the most complicated dreams I had ever heard. Just to give a short summery: He was in a post apocalyptic world fighting zombies with vegetable hand grenades. Yeah. Coming from a man that remembers probably one and ten dreams, it was crazy.
The same night I had a bit of rum. My dreams were shorter than his, but surprisingly simple. I was playing football and a bright sunny day. I went to catch a high one, jumped as high as I could go in the nice open field. However, I slammed into the bedroom wall instead. I woke up embarrassed, but still to this day I don't remember if it was because I didn't catch the ball or because I hit the wall. I did wake my husband up with that one, which is when he told me about his dream.
Last night we had a spontaneous Scotch tasting. The last one we tried was a 106 proof from the Scottish lowlands. My dreams that chased such a beverage were so very weird. I recall flying around as a dragon, living in a airplane hull and then fighting raptors as a human, then again as a raptor. The human part involved more running, the raptor part more stalking and posturing. That was just half of the dream too, there were other parts as well, fire balls, floods, aerial dog-fights as dragons again. Even some romance was thrown in there too. It was insane.
So I think it is safe to say that different beverages have different effects on sleeping habits.
Dreams within Dreams
These are probably the most annoying and most confusing dreams that I have. The frustrating part is how similar they are to normal everyday life. Most of these dreams involve a lot of conversation. Occasionally some drama seeps in, and it is so long and drawn out. Things like going to the store, or watching a movie, or getting in a debate pop up all over the place. Days pass even. There was one dream I had where a few days passed, then I woke up within the dream to mull over what had happened while dreaming. Then a week passed in that dream and I felt like I had accomplished some grating problem that had been plaguing my dream world. However, about this time I realize that I am still dreaming. I recall waking up into this dream and then realizing that hey...I am in another dream. This is when my subconscious starts getting angry. It begins to notice discrepancies, like 'his eyes are not that color,' or 'that person is no longer around' or even, 'that bird does not have that call'.
The fact my subconscious is getting frustrated would normally constitute the waking up process of the night. Not in these dreams. I think the longest I ever went in one of these dreams was waking up three times to other dreams, the fourth wake up was finally reality. My subconscious starts to nitpick and proceeds to punch holes correcting itself several times. When the usual time to wake up comes I just transition to another dream and have to really think about what is going on. By the second wake up I proceed more cautiously. Eventually something triggers and I finally wake up. This also leads to interesting conversations the next morning. I'll ask my husband something like 'What did you think of blah blah blah' or say something like 'You never answered my question.' He is usually good about remembering things like that, so I am left to riddle out whether or not I dreamed saying that to him.
Very frustrating.
---
All in all, I like to think of my dreams as relatively random and unique. Ever since I was young I have made it a mission to attempt to remember them. I used to fall asleep saying 'I will remember a dream tonight' many times it worked. Over the years I stopped saying that before bed and have remembered fewer. However the ones I do remember are pretty hard to forget. I also find I am more likely to remember them if I tell them to someone.
I love hearing stories of other peoples dreams too. It is probably one of the roughest forms of prose or storytelling in my opinion. Of course some stories are better kept to yourself, but I thought it might entertain some of you to hear a few of mine. May you have random and interesting dreams from here on out ^_^
-- A2
Friday, January 6, 2012
Pick a number
We'll begin this story with a quick exercise in thinking. Don't read ahead or you will spoil the fun.
Pick a number 1-10. Now take that number and multiply it by 9. Add the digits of that number together (17 would be 1+7=8 for example). Then subtract 5. Take your new number and match it up to the corresponding letter of the alphabet (1=a, 2=b, and so on). Think of a country that begins with this letter. Now take the last letter of the country and think of an animal that begins with that letter. Finally take the last letter of your animal and think of a fruit that begins with that letter.
Now think about your country, animal, and fruit.
Are you thinking of a kangaroo in Denmark eating an orange?
For many people, I have just blown your mind. For a smaller group you have no idea what I'm talking about as you have picked something completely different and find my prophetic abilities rather pathetic. This is an exercise in thinking because most people will pick the same things. I did the first time I did it. So did most of the people I tried it on at school, including my history teacher who was rather shocked when I handed him a paper with his answers that I had jotted down before we even started.
It works because, as I'm sure math minded people have already noticed, you will always end up with the number 4 as your final number and so will always use the letter D for your country. There are only 3 countries that begin with the letter D so most people will pick Denmark, a few will pick the Dominican Republic, and a few academics will select Djibouti. I've had a few people who did pick Denmark go for koala instead of kangaroo as well. But, especially when doing this in person, people will pick the most common answers because they are what pops into their heads first.
I asked Amy to do this exercise many years ago over AIM. And Amy, being a smarty pants, ended up with something completely and totally different that what she should have. The conversation that followed went something like this:
Amanda: You must have done something wrong.
Amy: Nope.
Amanda: No, you had to have done the math wrong, that answer isn't possible
Amy: Sure it is
Amanda: Well what number did you use to start?
Amy: 7.5
Amanda: ...
Amy: You never said anything about it having to be a whole number!
Later in the conversation we got into a random debate about something or other and Amy proclaimed, "7.5 I win!" thus declaring herself victor of the debate. Even later still in the conversation I tried to win another random discussion with the power of 7.5, but Amy protested with, "But I already won today."
In order to continue her winning streak, the next day at school Amy found me at my locker and shouted, "7.5 I win!"
Thus began a longstanding competition between the two of us to see who would win each day. While in high school it often involved sneaking up to the other's locker or being incredibly vigilant until we first saw each other. Many days it was too close to call, both of us spotting the other in the band hall (our mutual first class) and shouting "7.5 I win!" much to the surprise and confusion of everyone else. We had rules for winning on the phone and in instant messages for days when we didn't see each other in person. We always let the other person win on their birthday. The winner won nothing, other than the pride that they had won that day and perhaps an extra negotiating tool when wanting the other to do something.
Although we don't do this every day as we did in school (there's just something missing when its not in person) this tradition between the two of us continues to this day and will probably go on for many years to come.
Pick a number 1-10. Now take that number and multiply it by 9. Add the digits of that number together (17 would be 1+7=8 for example). Then subtract 5. Take your new number and match it up to the corresponding letter of the alphabet (1=a, 2=b, and so on). Think of a country that begins with this letter. Now take the last letter of the country and think of an animal that begins with that letter. Finally take the last letter of your animal and think of a fruit that begins with that letter.
Now think about your country, animal, and fruit.
Are you thinking of a kangaroo in Denmark eating an orange?
For many people, I have just blown your mind. For a smaller group you have no idea what I'm talking about as you have picked something completely different and find my prophetic abilities rather pathetic. This is an exercise in thinking because most people will pick the same things. I did the first time I did it. So did most of the people I tried it on at school, including my history teacher who was rather shocked when I handed him a paper with his answers that I had jotted down before we even started.
It works because, as I'm sure math minded people have already noticed, you will always end up with the number 4 as your final number and so will always use the letter D for your country. There are only 3 countries that begin with the letter D so most people will pick Denmark, a few will pick the Dominican Republic, and a few academics will select Djibouti. I've had a few people who did pick Denmark go for koala instead of kangaroo as well. But, especially when doing this in person, people will pick the most common answers because they are what pops into their heads first.
I asked Amy to do this exercise many years ago over AIM. And Amy, being a smarty pants, ended up with something completely and totally different that what she should have. The conversation that followed went something like this:
Amanda: You must have done something wrong.
Amy: Nope.
Amanda: No, you had to have done the math wrong, that answer isn't possible
Amy: Sure it is
Amanda: Well what number did you use to start?
Amy: 7.5
Amanda: ...
Amy: You never said anything about it having to be a whole number!
Later in the conversation we got into a random debate about something or other and Amy proclaimed, "7.5 I win!" thus declaring herself victor of the debate. Even later still in the conversation I tried to win another random discussion with the power of 7.5, but Amy protested with, "But I already won today."
In order to continue her winning streak, the next day at school Amy found me at my locker and shouted, "7.5 I win!"
Thus began a longstanding competition between the two of us to see who would win each day. While in high school it often involved sneaking up to the other's locker or being incredibly vigilant until we first saw each other. Many days it was too close to call, both of us spotting the other in the band hall (our mutual first class) and shouting "7.5 I win!" much to the surprise and confusion of everyone else. We had rules for winning on the phone and in instant messages for days when we didn't see each other in person. We always let the other person win on their birthday. The winner won nothing, other than the pride that they had won that day and perhaps an extra negotiating tool when wanting the other to do something.
Although we don't do this every day as we did in school (there's just something missing when its not in person) this tradition between the two of us continues to this day and will probably go on for many years to come.
Greetings and Salutations
Or should I say, 7.5 I win!
Welcome to our blog! We decided to create this little piece of chaos for your viewing entertainment. Well, that is not entirely true. This is more or less, something for us. A way for us to reminisce and keep close. For you, it is a window into our lives.
Let's get down to some explanations. You see, Amanda and I have been friends going on almost ten years now. We met in highschool, and well, let's just say we are unique. Through out our long friendship we have had ups downs and some "randomosity". Some of our jokes, memories and lifestyle choices are self-explanatory. Others.....well. Let's just say it is one of the many reasons we decided to set up this little blog.
So to the meat of this we go. Here we plan to post random things. Sometimes we will be talking about our lives, hobbies, interests. Other times we will explain some of our inside jokes. The first and most well known joke among all our friends is the story of "7.5 I win" for that explanation, I will let Mander take the reins.
@>-----
Welcome to our blog! We decided to create this little piece of chaos for your viewing entertainment. Well, that is not entirely true. This is more or less, something for us. A way for us to reminisce and keep close. For you, it is a window into our lives.
Let's get down to some explanations. You see, Amanda and I have been friends going on almost ten years now. We met in highschool, and well, let's just say we are unique. Through out our long friendship we have had ups downs and some "randomosity". Some of our jokes, memories and lifestyle choices are self-explanatory. Others.....well. Let's just say it is one of the many reasons we decided to set up this little blog.
So to the meat of this we go. Here we plan to post random things. Sometimes we will be talking about our lives, hobbies, interests. Other times we will explain some of our inside jokes. The first and most well known joke among all our friends is the story of "7.5 I win" for that explanation, I will let Mander take the reins.
@>-----
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