May Shopfessions

Kickstarter
Little Free Library Kickstarter - $44
Rain of the Ghosts Audioplay - $25
Amber Skye EP - $10
MAE Graphic Novel - $50
Broken Frontier - $40

Books
BN - $13.70
BN -$31
Politics and Prose - $45

Clothes
Ruth Badass Ginsburg - $26.59

MISC
Nightwish album - $11.99
Inside Amy Schumer MakeUp song - $1.29
Portal 2: The (Unauthorized) Musical - $5.04

Refunds/Returns
Hot Topic + $42.59
Sold Books + $25.88

I have learned I'm just as dangerous on Kickstarter as I am on other retail sites. Kickstarter has the added bonus of helping a cause or some cool media that might not otherwise exist. I wasn't sure if all of them would get funded but everything came through at the end.

The RBG was an oatmeal unisex tank that was on sale and the last tank top I'll need for summer. After RBG's glorious showdown about gay marriage, I wanted to represent. I'm waiting until I have income again before I get a Notorious RBG shirt.

One of my 2 BN runs were with a gift card and a coupon but it still wasn't great. I felt bad enough that I wound up returning one of the books. Progress? Politics and Prose was from a night with Neil Gaiman. I paid full price for Trigger Warning and Ocean at the End of the Lane but they were autographed. I regret nothing.

My friend got me tickets for the Nightwish concert and they're touring this album. I tried to hold out to get it with Viggle points but they hadn't stocked it in the store after a month so I caved and bought it. The worst part of it was that I got food poisoning and couldn't go to the concert. BF filmed over 30 minutes of footage so I didn't totally miss out.

As for getting money back, I got a Hot Topic return processed (finally) and got a check from selling some of my books. However, there was a con at the end of this month. Inevitably, I did some damage.

Awesome Con Haul
Zorphbert & Fred - $30
Never Have I Ever card game - $25
How to Train Your Dragqueen - $22
Don't Blink Tank - $20
Curls comic - $15
The Shadow of the Gauntlet by Casey Caracciolo - $15
Live Long and Suck It tee - $15
Pirate Eye - $10
Partholon by D. Krauss - $10

Baron Syndicate - $5

Total: $167

I had a cash budget of $120-130. I didn't keep exact track but my plan as to stop shopping when I ran out of cash. This worked reasonably well until I saw Never Have I Ever the card game. I wound up combining my gift budget with my personal fun budget and gave myself some wiggle room on my credit card.

I didn't need any of the shirts but they made me smile. When vendors remember you, it definitely motivates you to spend money. I am astonished by how many vendors remember me. D. Krauss saw me when I was getting worn out and let me chill at his booth for a while. I gave him some banana chips and we talked about dogs.

This brings my grand total of unnecessary spending to $402.14. Ouch. And I just got the wireless bill and my COBRA bills. This is less than ideal timing. I really need money. I've got to hit up that vendor who wanted a pair of my earrings.

To Game or to Read; That Is the Question.

I’ve never been a gamer. My first video game other than a Tetris app was earlier this week. After hearing a fellow non-video gamer say she played and liked Portal, I thought I’d try it. Several people told me it’s fast and easy. You are a devious bunch of liars.

I’ve wanted to cuss out Portal twice since I got it. The levels that get me stymied require I create a portal then create a new one, pass through it, and do something. Did I mention all that has to be done in about 3 seconds?

Levels like that have stymied me twice now. I only got past the first one because I cheated and looked up a play through on YouTube (I was doing the right thing in the wrong order so the timing was off). This is the second break I’ve taken from the game because I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do.

One of the reasons I always avoided video games was that I could easily see myself getting frustrated and wanting to quit. Many make it difficult to figure out what exactly it wants you to do and looking it up risks spoilers. I don’t care that deeply about spoilers here. I know the cake is a lie. It still doesn’t mean I nail the timing the first 10 tries.

My other excuse is that I love to read and video games and reading are both big time drains. Having tried both, reading still wins hands down. When I played Portal, I enjoyed it but I would look up and wonder where the time went. When that happens with a book, there’s so much more I’ve absorbed, so much more going on in my head that I feel more fulfilled. I’ll eventually go back and finish the damn level in Portal because I’m stubborn but until that urge arises, I’ll get back to my latest book.

Music: Me and Alan Moore’s Beard by Mikey Mason