Charming!

I'd like to think that I'm disarmingly charming at times. No, I am not good looking, but I occasionally can put people at ease or calm them down if they are having a stressful day. It's the way I smile! (It's always the way you smile.) I think it is my beta attitude that throws people off.

As a heads up, people get very defensive when you come at them with certain tones and attitudes. Having a condescending tone of voice is a great example of how to get people to wall up.  Don't come at a person straight forward; come at them at an angle. Just like a velociraptor!

Pro tip for disarming people with smile-charm: Slightly raise your eyebrows when you make a grin. Kind of a sheepish grin but not totally.  Also, relax your eyes so they aren't intense but soft. Speak softly and calmly, maybe questioningly so as to seem like you need help. People will lower their guard; most people will inherently want to help.  Total beta approach to people. For those of you who are alphas, this still works, and you don't lose your alpha status!

Edit: Added this drawing to show what I mean by soft eyes and slightly raised eyebrows. Also 2 examples of how NOT to do it. 

Here are some examples:
Story 1.  The other day I got to the post office at 3:55pm. It closes at 4pm. I needed to get some items shipped, so I was hoping that someone would be at the counter.  No one was. I gently called out, and some lady who looked kind of peeved came out. I gave my signature smile and asked politely if I was too late and if I could ship some items out. She looked at me and said with a sigh that it was OK. I got my items shipped out without a hitch!  Booya.

Story 2 (and 3): I work in a very small IT department of a company -- 3 people + boss. My coworker (we will call him Bob) and I had to get a lot of work done. We needed to burn some information to disc, so he asked if I would go to the boss and ask for a blank disc. I said sure. Walked up to my boss, asked for a disc and received one with no questions asked.  When Bob asked how it went, he was surprised that I wasn't questioned as if it were the Spanish Inquisition. Apparently he gets grilled about it!  See, charming smile. ;)

Most of that same day, we were looking for an install disc. Couldn't find it anywhere. Finally at around 2pm, after completing some other tasks, I said that I'll try to look in the storage cabinets in the boss' office, the last place we haven't checked where it might be. Of course, I had to ask my boss if it was OK to go through the cabinets, but what popped out instead was: "Um, do you happen to have ____ install disc by any chance??" My boss looked at me for a sec, then went through his desk and handed me the install disc. I hopped back in my office with a huge grin, showing Bob the fruits of my easy effort; I was literally gone for a minute. Bob was simply dumbfounded! He asked where I found it, and I just said that I asked the boss! Haha. Let's just not tell the boss how much time we spent looking for that disc. :)

Pro tip for more disarmament: Be polite! Always say please and thank you, often! It doesn't hurt you, and it puts people at ease. People like to feel appreciated, mostly when they are busy working. 

So give it a whirl today!

Note to future self: Exploitation! :o
Note to near-future self: When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you.

Petsitting 101

Spur of the moment post! (Yes, some are actually planned well in advance.)

I've been asked to pet-sit my friend's dog and 2 cats. The two cats are currently at their owner's house, chillin' like the little cute terrors that they are. The dog goes with me, wherever I go. He is awesome.  He's a Cavalier King Charles or something like that, black-n-tan.

Anyway, Odie is a bundle of joy. For the most part, he's very well-mannered. He doesn't bark much either unless something scares him. He's used to cats who kind of gang up on him (didn't I mention that the cats were little terrors?) so my cats aren't an issue at all.

My cats on the other hand? Moo looks at me, saying: "Why did you bring this... THING....home? Why couldn't you keep it outside? I can't sleep with you anymore. I'm so upset. Don't talk to me. Leave me alone."  Smoochie isn't sure what to make of him: "What is this!! He ....doesn't pay attention to me? BUT I MUST HISS! Hiss!! Pay attention to me but don't! Hiss!"

Meanwhile, Odie's looking at me like: "Seriously? Are they always lik-- hey, is that peanut butter? C'mon! I want some, I want some!"

This is Odie!

Well, the blog is about petsitting. Let me write it out for you.

1. Dogs need to go for walks. A LOT. And this certain little bundle of fur definitely likes to run around. Who'da thunk it? Luckily my bedroom is large enough for him to sort of play fetch with his toy.
2. Did you know that fish need food too? Man, my friends have too many pets. Cats, a dog, and a host of fish! Well, at least the fish don't complain or knock stuff over if they need attention.
3. Dog poo stinks. Prepare yourself for the ensuring odors that emanate from them. No bag will cover that smell up.
4. Cat poo in kitty litter that you're not familiar with stinks as well.
5. (Added 2/23) Dogs are social creatures and need a lot more attention than cats. Maybe this is why I don't have a dog. Tho, Odie is a bit of an attention whore. ;)
6. (Added 3/6) Odie does not poo where he plays. So if we are playing fetch, he will not poo anywhere near that area. However, if we go back to our walking route, it's no holds barred then.  I wonder if this is the case for other dogs as well.

This is my first time pet sitting for an extended amount of time, so as the days go by, I'm sure I will update the post with things I learn from the experience.

Note to future self: Let's get a dog?
Note to near-future self: Let's hope Moo doesn't hate me.

A rant on education and jobs

After speaking with a close friend of mine, I remembered what I used to say about education when I was 3 years old. Why do we have to pay for education?? Why isn't it free?

And now, years later, my friend and I are asking that question again. Really, why ARE we paying for education? Now, economically speaking, teachers gotta get paid, I understand that. But how come at such a premium? How come there is a price on knowledge? 

In this horrible economy, everyone is struggling. My dad is a huge fan of the barter system. And it's a bloody good one. You know, if you fix my plumbing, your rent is waived for a month. Or, hey I will give you ____ in exchange for ______. And it works!

We need to get rid of our obsession and fascination of money, fame, power.

There was a time in my life that I lived in St. Thomas for 3 months. I'd like to go and do something like that again. Live somewhere, maybe do jobs here and there, then move on. Except I'm attached to money. Is it hard to let it go? Isn't there a movie like that? Eat, pray, love? I don't think I would mind living in Hawaii, working at a surf shop.  ...Of course I might end up being really high all the time. Well, that's OK, too. (And that's a completely different topic as well.)  Do I need money to be able to let it go? Can I just let it go without worries right now? Am I bogged down with responsibilities, to self, family (and pets), banks, etc?  What is so bad with being a drifter?

I do like modern plumbing and hygiene. Maybe I can't really be too much of a drifter. I'd be too high-maintenance! OK, let's modify the 3-month drifter plan to taking random jobs for a year or 2, in random places.  Since I live in the US, we'll keep it simple and work just in the states. That way I don't have to worry about visas and such.  Though I wouldn't mind working in Canada.  Yeah, I could probably do that.

What about college or education beyond college? There are people with no college education who are succeeding. There are those with multiple degrees who can barely make enough to survive. There was a point when those who were educated were given more money, but those barriers aren't there as much. In the IT industry, it's certificates. "Oh, you've got a Master's degree but no Microsoft ____ certificate? Sorry, you can't get this job." I mean, what's the point then? Here's another: "We're looking for someone with a Master's degree in graphic design, 5-10 yrs of experience. The salary will be $38,000."  Really? Unbelievable. This is across the board, in any field.

Yes, I'm bitter. I've been applying to places based on qualifications. I may not have a lot of experience, but I can do the job. And there's on the job training! Why can't I get a job?? Why are you insisting on paying me pennies for my effort??  It is depressing.

We all know that money doesn't bring in happiness, yet here we are so attached.

A part of me wants to run away from all forms of monetary responsibility. Even drop off the face of the internet and live life in some random place, off of some beaten old path. And a year or 2 later when I return, when you inevitably ask where I went, I will tell you that I found freedom by fixing the pipes in people's houses as I've moved across the country and back.

Note to future self: Keep it in mind.
Note to near-future self: Don't forget the post-script notes!

Sleep induced conversations.

There is sleep talking, sleep walking, and now even sleep texting. I am 2 of the them. It's not too hard to guess which ones I am. But if you need to know, I sleep talk and sleep text. I can definitely say I've never sleep walked. (Slept walk? what is the past tense of this?)  However, I have been known to do crazy things when I'm in a zombie-induced state, whether it's from too many Benadryl or from lack of sleep/overtiredness.

Now, with the proliferation of phones that can text, surf the web, and even wipe your butt, I don't have to talk on the phone as much. This is another topic, but the bottom line is: I am a texter. I would much rather text you than talk to you on the phone.  I have a couple of people that I text all the time. One such person gets the joys of me rolling over at night to text them some random garblygook about a dream that I was half in. Except I dont remember texting them. I don't even remember the dream. All I remember is that the next morning, the person usually replies, and I had no idea what they were talking about until I see what I wrote.  This happens on a fairly frequent basis. The best part is that I'm not the only one who does this. The other person DOES IT AS WELL. We sleep text each other. It's quite a shared moment. Sleep texting is RAW.

But enough about that. Let's focus on sleep talking.

For me, I sleep talk when I am on the phone with someone. It won't matter who, but if I'm in bed, most likely I'll be falling asleep on you while on the phone.

I was talking to a friend who was a bit of an insomniac. I remember spending hours talking to them (I had nothing better to do, admittedly) on the phone, just about every night.  One night, my friend was complaining about school and life, and I knew I was falling asleep. But I kept listening. And I closed my eyes and started to dream.

In this dream, I had a giant chocolate cat, like them choco bunnies, except cat. It was quite large. And part of my brain knew I needed to be awake, since it was a friend in need. It knew I was on the phone. But the dream,... it was just me and that chocolate cat in my hands. And it looked delicious. I had to share. So I decided then to blurt out mid-convo: "Hey, you want a bite of my chocolate cat? You can bite it's ear. It won't mind," in the most non-dramatic mellow manner possible.

My friend busted out laughing so hard that it woke me right up. I knew I did something silly but wasn't sure what it was. There was something about a chocolate cat, but I couldn't have said what I thought. Could I have? Said friend repeated what I said, confirming my suspicious. All I could admit was that it looked delicious! After all, who doesn't love chocolate!

...This, among some other reasons, may be why I don't talk on the phone so much anymore.


You know, it's not just me. Most people do tend to sleep talk, if you catch them at the right time.  For instance, my sister...

My sister doesn't live with me currently, but when she comes home, we spend a lot of time together. The last time she was home, we were watching some shows on my computer, and she was laying on the spare mattress. She started to fall asleep, and decided to call it a night and pass out on said mattress. Of course, she had to let me know (as usual!) that she loved me and that she was going to bed.  This is what followed, with my facial reactions as emotes:

Her: "OK, I can't stay up. I'm going to bed, love you."
Me: "Mmmkay, sweet dreams."
Her: "Thanks, gnight." 

She passes out. I keep watching the show. About half an episode later...
Her: "OK, I'm tired. Gnight, love you."
Me: "................mmkay, gnight again lol."

One full episode later, she rolls over.
Her: "OK, gnight, don't stay up too late." (that last bit was mumbled and sounded more like "dunstayuhtoolay")
Me: "...." o_O?

At this point I am not sure whether or not she's sleeping or she's awake and secretly watching the show too. So every once in a while, I'll look behind me to see if she's asleep. Her head is under the covers.

Another episode or so later, she rolls over again.
Her: "OK, gnight."
Me: "............." >___> (really, this is the best emote for situations like this!)

And when I finish watching the show, she rolls over YET AGAIN.
Her: "OK, gnight."
Me: ".....LOL, gnight to you too."  ^_^;

Now, you might be thinking, "Why is she saying OK gnight as opposed to just gnight?" The answer is simple. Just imagine saying it in an exhausted voice while exhaling/sighing at the same time, half slurring and mumbling the words together. It's exactly like that. It only works if you say it with "OK" at the beginning.

Needless to say, she did not recall ever doing this in the morning. And we must have laughed about it for hours. Good times.

Note to future self: ...
Note to near-future self: ...

To you.

To you, who will never read this blog. I think about you constantly. I miss you. I miss spending time with you. I miss our talks and our crazy fun we used to have.  I wonder what happened. You've moved on so nicely. I wish I could.  Maybe you'll think of me and smile.

To you, who might not read this blog. You made me face myself. I wish it were something better. Maybe this is better.

To you, who I've known for years. I feel us drifting apart. Are we? You've got your life you've got to lead. So do I. Maybe that's just how it's gotta be.

To you, who I've never met. You sit on the other side of the screen, and we talk. And we've always talked. Will we ever meet? Maybe one day we will.

To you, who understood me. I don't see you anymore. I wonder how you're doing and if we could ever get those days back. But that won't happen will it?  Maybe I'll see you again.

To you, who reached out. You tried to break down my wall in your own way. I noticed. Maybe I'll let you in.

To you, who changed me. Your words resonated with me. I want you in my life again. I need to hear those words again. Maybe you'll say them again.

To you, who helped rebuild this bridge. You did something I wasn't expecting.  This single act of kindness, I don't want to forget it. Maybe forever.

To you, who is a whirlwind. I want the best to happen to you. You're a good person. You deserve the best. You brought light into my life. Maybe it will come back.

Some of you I still talk to, some of you I don't. I can't say these things to your faces. I want to do a lot of things over.

To you, I miss you.
To you, I love you.

Note to future self: Let people know before it's too late.
Note to near-future self: Maybe I'll get a second chance.

[edit: 2/17/11 added a couple of new ones. i may continue to add to this list if there needs to be one]

And for once, silence.

I am surprised. I wasn't expecting this at all. I have nothing on my mind!!

There are probably causes for this. One of them being that I just spent all day thinking about this paper for my history class. It's not the best written thing, but I got all the ideas down, concisely. After all, it was a summary. So it was only about 10 pages instead of 15. I blame my font settings!  But it is written and turned in and I don't care about the outcome. It is history anyway.  No more Robespierre or Napoleon avait cinq cent soldats!

The other is that I have been talking to people a lot. And that's helping my brain cope. It's kind of exhausting to talk to people!! Ehh.

In other news, I'm still playing And Yet It Moves. I'm quite addicted to it. So much so that when I look at my screen, I want to flip it over. >__> Haha.

That's really all that I have to say for today. Things in my head have simmered down, so I'm going to take the time and enjoy as much of it as I can.  Tomorrow, I have other homework I must finish. I will probably do both homework assignments so that I am a day ahead of myself. Yes, that sounds great.

Weeeeeeee, I'm spinning the blog post!! ROUND AND ROUND IT GOES.

Note to future self: Work on your typing skills. They are horrible.
Note to near-future self: Don't play so much at once. Mine eyes! They spin! It'll get me dizzy!!

Two Mac Games - A Review

Remember how the other day I wrote about some Dangerous things? Like buying games from the Mac App store?

Well, here is the "first look" review of the 2 games I bought. The price for both was $5.99 ish. I think they were both 1/2 off since they were featured on the top 10 most downloaded games? So normally they go for about $10-12.

I will rate them in the following categories: Graphics, Sound, Playability (Ease of play, like is it a huge learning curve?), Difficulty, Durability (Will I play it over and over again, like Chrono Trigger?), and Overall. I haven't gotten very far in either game, but first impressions go a long way with me.

BRAID - Sidescroller game, much like Super Mario. But with a twist -- like a Braid!  There are even little homages to Mario and Princess.  The story (and therefore game mechanics) are brilliant. Story is about Tim  and his search for his ex, the Princess. It starts off saying how Tim made some major mistakes in his life, and oh, how wonderful it would be if we could do them over again, but instead learn from them rather than settle with the consequences and results of our actions (Yeah, how I wish this were true!)  Basic game mechanics were of Super Mario Bros, but you don't die. Remember, how wonderful it would be if we could do our mistakes over? Right. We can "reverse" time so as not to fall into the pit of spikes or run into the rabid daisy-rabbits. Brilliant! Also, it is a puzzle game so you must figure out how to beat the level / pick up the puzzle pieces.

Graphics: 8 out of 10.  The world is reminiscent of the Impressionist / Post-Impressionist era, as if the images themselves were from the canvases of Monet, Renoir, or Cezanne.  If you don't understand what I mean, basically, the world looks like it was literally painted. The main character, Tim, is a bit creepy looking, admittedly. I'm not sure if I like a suited up short squat dude running around. Then again, Mario was a short squat plumber.

Sound: 7 out of 10. The music is very relaxing, even though you might be running from rabid daisy-rabbits. Maybe I was looking for something a bit more up-tempo. But I guess this isn't that kind of game. It's not very complicated game music either. It does not impede or distract from the game play at all.  The sound effects of things "dying" are cute though.

Playability: 7 out of 10. As in it's kind of got a learning curve to it. OK, maybe I'm dumb, but it took me a bit to get used to the game mechanics of hitting spacebar to jump and shift to reverse time, because I kept time-shifting when I wanted to jump. Annoying. I'm sure I can change game keys in options but I haven't bothered. Also, using time-shifts to solve puzzles? Brilliant! Also, you don't really ever use your mouse, which is great for laptop users (I am not one of them).

Difficulty: 8 out of 10. Again, it is probably because I'm not too smart, but I just can't seem to figure out how to solve half these puzzles! Luckily, they don't hate you, so you can clear a board without issues and get to the next level. Still. PUZZLES ARE HARD. Oh, also as an added bonus, when you collect the puzzle pieces, you get to put that together for an "in the life of" image. Not sure what that does tho.

Durability: 5 out of 10. For me, the harder the puzzle, the less likely I am going to play it. I still try it, but it's very frustrating. Maybe that's why the music is so mellow. Still. It is no Chrono Trigger (a game I could play over and over again). The easier boards are fun to play though.

Overall: 7.5 out of 10.  Like I said, great graphics, mellow music to calm your frustrations. Homages to the Mario Bros franchise. Brilliant game mechanics. Just the puzzles are a bit too complicated for my slow brain.

And Yet It Moves - A physics-based sidescroller-like game with no storyline. Just get from point A to point B.  Basis of this is physics. You can rotate the world clockwise or counterclockwise, and your character is affected by that world. So if you spin the world, your ground is now the ceiling, or the wall is now the ground, and if there was no ceiling before, then you are falling. You can die in this game, mostly if rocks fall and crush you or the fall is too great RIPPED TO SHREDS. Physics! See, it is fun! Luckily the game lets you redo the segment from the last nearest checkpoint you touched. (edit: 2/15/11)

Graphics: 7 out of 10. Actually, the character doesn't look great (a 6 of 10),  but the world looks like pieces of paper were wrinkled up and torn/frayed. That part gets an 8. So, the average is 7. You start off in a cave, so it explains the drab colours. But now it looks like I've gotten outside, so the frayed paper pieces look like a jungle.

Sound: 5 out of 10. There is some music playing, but it's nothing to write home about. At least they put something in. More than likely this will be a game where I put my own music on and play.  The sound of you breaking apart is kinda nifty.

Playability:  6 out of 10. Definitely a learning curve for me. It forces me to think about my left and right's and clockwise/counterclockwise movements.  It puts movement via ASDW keys and world-flipping on the arrow-keys, which seems kind of backwards for me. I'm used to the arrow keys for movement, but maybe that's just me. I think as I get used to the game, playability will be reduced to a lower number.  Also another keyboard game for those silly laptop users.

Difficulty: 7 out of 10. Admittedly if you have a good grasp of physics and momentum, it starts off super easy.  It's pretty intuitive and simple to play. The levels do increase in difficulty, making you spin the world faster and faster and making sure you don't "fall" too fast either. The "enemies" you face aren't limited to just rocks. But you need to use what you have around you to clear the section / board. Yes this means bats can take out an iguana!

Durability: 9 out of 10. I can see me playing this game whenever, because there is an option for speedruns and posting how well you've done. Nothing like a bit of online competition, I guess. The fact that there is no story line also helps with the game lasting for a long time.

Overall: 8 out of 10. This game had a much larger range of scores, but I think I like the mechanics of this game much better than Braid.  It has the potential to get really frustrating, but with more practice, this should easily diminish.

I may add screen caps of the two games when I figure out how to.
EDIT: I FIGURED IT OUT. NICE.

Note to future self: What do you do best?
Note to near-future self: Get a job.