A slew of wonderful news

Watching: Teen Mom 2, Mean Girls

Exciting things are happening!

Last night I got the result of a Kickstarter project I backed last year. I received The Word Project book, full of interesting words with equally interesting art from Polly who is skilled at Bricolage.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Word-Project-Odd-Obscure-Words-Illustrated/175777099125208

I also got a surprise. A necklace I ordered mid-last year that I ended up cancelling because the seller didn't contact me for over 2 months who then apologized (because she was absent due to being in the hospital) and said she'd send me a necklace free of charge. Of course since it was mid-2010 when all this went down, I'd forgotten. And so here is what I've got now.

The seller is Sneaky Fetus. Awesome stuff from an awesome name. :P

I had a doctor appointment this morning and we decided to taper myself off of my 'crazy pills' within the next two months. There is a 40% chance that I'll slip back into the depression that caused me to seek medicated aid, but my mother has always said I'm a lucky girl so I'm setting my sights high. I'd rather not be dependent on a drug for all my life, but of course if I do go back to being depressed then I'll be content being on drugs all my life. If my brain is broken and I have the tools to fix it and enjoy my life and allow others to enjoy me as well, then I shall.

Back to positive: The gym officially opened yesterday! Stuart and I are going to get our keys and photo taken and take a look around! I'm hoping we can start going together.

Had lunch with Chantal at the Old Spaghetti Factory and got a free coffee mug with a coupon I had from FaceBook and enjoyed some yummy yummy food. :D

Shooting backwards: I met up with an old high school friend Adam and met his beautiful wife. It was odd how fast her and I just started talking. It was a little awkward for me because I'm not very good at talking to strangers and I hadn't shared any conversation before this, but I quickly got passed that and I have a feeling they might be a nice couple to some sort of double dating. I don't have too many friends and out of those even less are in relationships so we haven't done much double dating. This might be a nice shift, right? Either double date or not, I'd really like to hang out with those two again. We had dinner at Denny's and went to BI (didn't get to do much dancing because we got there early and the dancing started later).

OH! And here's a new, fabulous photo of Stuart and I. My love. <3

Kick in the blog

Watching: Little Miss Sunshine

I realize I haven't posted anything in a long time regarding my kickstarter projects (and by 'my' I mean projects I've backed). So this entry is dedicated to them. I haven't backed any new ones lately so it's a good time to introduce ones that have been progressing.

Josephine and the Roach - Dec. 6 J&tR backers were informed that the role of Josephine has been cast and things are going smoothly. As part of my prize pack I received a postcard with a drawing of a cockaroach in a scene of my choice. And here it is:

Mr. Roach getting ready for a hot date. <3

ReMIND: a graphic novel - With my reward bracket I get a copy of the book as well as get is signed. The art looks great and the concept is cute.

Punk Mathematics - This caught my eye real fast. First of all, I hate math but I love learning. Secondly, the project creator just looks crazy and explains the concept of the book well. The price wasn't too bad either so I had to try it out. Part of my prize (including the book) is an index card with a concept from the book on it. I'm really after the book obviously.

PAPER MACHINE: Muster Zine - A cute collection of written work and art by a selection of people. It reminds me of something I used to do as a kid so I thought why the hell not. Still waiting on a copy, but the updates make it seem like it's getting realy close.

Let There Be Letters - This project finished a while ago. I had a letter sent to Chantal and one sent to me. Chantal flipped out because she thought she had a stalker. She called me just about crying. It was very funny afterwards. I received my letter a few days later (written on paper it seems the gentleman made himself). It took me a while to return a letter but I'm hoping to get a second one back (I believe I signed up for the bracket that guarantees a second reply). This project inspired me to do a penpal project with my Gaia friends. A few contributed but it hasn't really gone anywhere.

Caldera - "An animated short film about a girl struggling with mental illness." We all know how I'm into psychology. It caught my eye. I wasn't about to pay $50 for a DVD so I'm hoping it will make its mark so that I can get a DVD cheaper someday. My contribution gave me digital stills (which are still in the works).

Seedbomb Vending Machines - Super cute idea. I got a cool slingshot with seedbombs to plant. I haven't used them but it's cool. Here are some photos:

That's it for now.

Books, bows and being brave

Watching: King of the Hill.

I received two books in the mail this week. They were both from a project I backed on Kickstarter by Andrew Fitzgerald. One is the book which the purpose of the project was to spotlight. The second is the collection of short stories that came out of the project. Each backer, depending on their donation level, was able to contribute to the weekly short stories he wrote. The excess in funds from the project led Andrew to print and bind the short stories and send them to all backers. How fantastic - a surprise prize!


I'm working on new ways to do my doo. People liked my latest clip:

I R is Cute :D

And also, thanks to co-worker Joy who gave me this cute oragami monster fellah:

It's earned a spot next to my deadline note. :P

So things at work are kinda crazy. Two people from work are absent and they have important roles which we are working to get around. Emotions are tense and we're on a bit of a confidence roller coaster. I'm hoping I can prove myself useful.

Water penis

Listening to: Chevelle

I had forgot to mention in my entry that I have (unfortunately) seen one of my roommates penis, of which I am apparently the last of the household to have seen. I live with 6 guys and most of them have seen one another. Not quite sure what that's all about. In this instance a majority of the household was sitting outside drinking and smoking talking about the party that had gone on the night before. There is an old tub out back which they use to fill up with ice and put beverages in it. This roommate was sitting in the tub that was halfway full, I'm guessing it was some leftover melted ice, sipping champagne in the buff. I'm sure I shouldn't be too upset about that, but I am. I feel like I live with immature people. I think it's because that's not where I am in my life right now. I'm trying to save up money to get a place where Stuart and I can be alone, where I can feel a sense of achievement and I'm not getting that feeling in this house. Two of my roommates are unemployed and spend a large chunk (if not all) of their money on titties and booze. Just the though if people gobbling up government money and not giving a shit and doing nothing to find another job really pisses me off.

A kickstarter update: Pesi, the artist who put together and achieved funding for the 1024 art project, has... well I just said it; achieved funding for the project. I will, once the project is complete and displayed at the art festival he is submitting it to, receive 4 original framed paintings inspired by a word or phrase I provided to him as well as a book which includes pictures of my art as well as many others associated with the project. Fantastic.

I recently backed a new project - Caldera - an Animated Short Film. A synopsis the project creator leaves:
"Caldera is an animated short film about a young girl struggling with mental illness. When she goes off her medication, she abandons a bleak metropolis to immerse herself in the lush world seen through her magnificently vivid mind."
It has over 2 months to go and is a few hundred from its goal, so this will be nice. I'm hoping that there will be DVD's for sale outside of the project because I don't want to donate $50.

Personal note: I made the final payment on my car today so my 2003 Hyundai Elantra is all mine. About 5 years of payments and it's mine mine mine. Now the harder part will be to NOT SPEND that extra money and put it into savings. I would really really like to not be living in the place I am, with the people I am, by the new year. I would love love love to have my own house. This also means I'd love love love Stuart to get a better job and perhaps make the big commitment to help me with the down payment and/or monthly payment. I know that's kind of a lot to ask from a guy, but I do see myself living in a house with him and calling it our house. I've been with him for 2yrs 3mo now and every now and then when I look at him I get butterflies. And also having my own house means I can have a puppy, and I want a fucking puppy.

Another exciting thing I did today was put in an application for the Pepsi refresh project - that one thing that they have a commercial for where they are giving out grants to people with ideas and if people vote for your idea, you get the grant. I actually didn't submit it yet because I have to wait until May for the next round, but I figured I'd take a shot at it and it's all laid out. It's for my lotto dream; to have a restaurant which serves good food (the company doesn't promote alcohol so I can't have a bar), has an area for live musical performances and will be able to transfer profits to certain charities. Spiffy? I think so. I would really love to get behind that because not only do I love supporting local music, I have loved volunteering since my childhood (I think it has a lot to do with my mom making goody bags for the other cancer patients on holidays that were stuck in the hospital) and love knowing that people are benefiting from my actions. So if anyone likes this idea and you win the lotto, don't forget to kick me back a few thousand, yeah?

Nice week!

Went shopping Friday with an acquaintance whom I suppose has taken a small step towards 'friend' because of it. Ross. Limited myself to $100 so we were able to get 5 nice shirts, a pair of jeans and a pair of open toe shoes. Platforms? They're raised at an angle but it's one piece instead of a heel. I still gotta work on my girl vocab I guess. I also got a purse (Dereon, which is apparently Beonce's label, retailed at $90) for $40 - which I got Stuart to agree to pay for. That is a milestone. :P I guess that's one of the things a woman is supposed to do; have her guy buy her things, so this was a milestone for the two of us, haha. But Stuart knows he's lucky - I don't ask for much. I like to be able to support myself and any extra goodies I want.

Also exciting this week was the fact that two projects I was backing on www.kickstarter.com (you will see that website a lot if you decide to follow this) finished up this week, reaching - and exceeding - their goals.
The one I'm VERY excited about is The Word Project, which you can read up on it here or follow the artist on facebook here. I shall be receiving her wonderfully creative book, a poster, and a collection of 5 flashcards. What a wonderful idea. :D The art is so original and fun. I just had to own it and support her.
The other that closed was a project that earned me the first book of author Andrew Fitzgerald. His project was to get backers to pledge a certain amount which yielded them a certain amount of control over what he would write 5 short stories on (to promote his book); one per week. Well it's closed now so I'll be getting a signed book soon. Perhaps I'll tell you what I think once I've read it.

Okay, gotta get back to work now.
Thanks for reading.