Penny Magnification

My night last night.

Notice the "HIGH" for eight of the ten hours I was asleep? Which means that Nick was yelling at me every two hours throughout the night. Screaming his loudest. And, yet, I did not wake up. I have programmed myself to ignore his shouts while I sleep, kind of like a husband learns to tune out his wife's nagging during the football game. I am completely oblivious to it.

One of the major reasons I got Nick was for him to wake me in the middle of the night when I am high. I want to attack those high blood sugars immediately, not wait ten hours until I wake up in the morning and realize I spent the whole night ripping holes in the small capillaries in my eyes and thickening my blood with too much sugar attached to my red blood cells. I need him to wake me when my sugar goes to low, too, as it does so often, so that I wake up in the morning, as opposed to not waking up. 

My solution? Nick's new megaphone

This is Nick's new nighttime home. The coins rattle around with the vibrate mode and the glass bowl serves to magnify that sound like horn on an old record player. And it works wonderfully. I have heard everyone of Nick's calls since I gave him his new home. Now if only I could get him to use          
                                                                 ringtones to wake me instead of the standard beeps.

P.S. Thanks mom for the cute bowl. You couldn't have had better timing. 

Amy Sotolongo

Amy has been a friend of mine for almost two decades. One of those people who knew me before I became the me I am now. One of the things I admire in her is her creativity. She writes an amazing blog, www.abstractsmixedwithextracts.com, that I love looking over. I don't scrapbook at all, I have absolutely no patience, but she is amazing at it. Sometimes when I lack inspiration to write, I will cruise around her site to get inspired. I think being around pretty stuff helps to fill the well. It is well worth a trip to her site.

One Last Push and a Big Thank You

   Learning how to navigate crowd funding has been quite the learning curve. From making my own video to finding the tone of my marketing, it has all been a great learning experience. One of the particular things about Kickstarter is that it is all-or-nothing funding which presents its own problems. If I couldn't reach my goal I would get nothing. So in deciding my funding goal, all the conventional wisdom says to estimate low. That way at least you get something. I had no idea the kind of response I would get. In setting up my account I made my goal particularly low, thinking I could run a second campaign later on for a sort of "phase 2." I could wait to produce the ebook and an audio version. 
     I have been amazed at the response I've had from people. They are excited, which of course makes me more excited. I can't wait to get this book into the hands of readers. And I want to give them the best product ever, complete with color photos from my trip (photography has become a second hobby for me.) And I want to get the ebook out as soon as possible for those addicted to their Kindle's or iPad's.
     The one good thing about Kickstarter's funding process is although they are all-or-nothing, they have nothing against going over your goal. Many projects have been funded at 150% or 200% or even 450%. So I am sending out one last call. If you haven't done so already, you can order a first edition book. Get your hands on it before anyone else in the community. Yours will be the first ones sent out. Or you could name a doctor in the book. What a great way to honor someone in your life, or honor yourself. Your name forever in print. There are still a couple of original Tony Spineto watercolors or you could get a commissioned painting of your favorite picture or scene. But, with only three days left, now is the time to move. Every dollar you pledge goes into making this book widely available and of greater quality.
      And once again, thanks. Thanks for the outpouring of support. Thanks for believing in me. Thanks for stepping up and putting your money where your mouth is. I appreciate every single person who has shown their faith in me. It has been an incredible experience for me.
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