Smarties, thank you updates, video updates, dog fiction (Patreon)

1. Goodbye Smartiefriends

One of the things I did today was taking some photos of the Smarties objects from last month's smarties video, before I ship them off to November Sharpie Club members (December members will probably get Hexaflexagons from last video).

I haven't been doing very much promoting of Sharpie club, or doing other physical mailed rewards, yet. I'm still figuring this whole thing out and seeing what works. But I'm glad to have a way to send video objects out into the world instead of piling them into boxes that pile up in closets, and also it's a way of testing this whole "shipping" thing, as I'd like to have physical rewards for more patreon tiers in the future.

2. Testing mailing?

I still have one more smartiefriend to ship out, and many smarties. And as I'm also testing the whole mailing idea, I could use your help if you're interested... if you message me an address, I'll arbitrarily choose a few to mail things to, as part of my test-mailing process. 

Message me your entire name+address in a printable form so I can easily just print it out and stick it on an envelope, and possibly I will do just that, for mailing testing purposes. It is optional, and everyone's invited! Part of the testing is to see what amount of mailing things is reasonable in what amount of time, so mailings not guaranteed. But maybe mailing things is easier than I think! Or harder than I think! Just please give a warning if your address won't be valid in more than a couple months.

3. Thank-You Page

I've updated the Supporters page to include all supporters through the 1st of December (I hope?). There's a lot of you! It's pretty awesome!

I've been typing by hand rather than copy-pasting or doing some automated process, which is fun because it's good to see familiar names and learn new ones. So if you want to double-check your name (or want it different from what your patreon account name is) send me a message. The page is here: http://vihart.com/thanks/

Also, Snail supporters and above get their own emojis so let me know if you have an emoji preference. I do appreciate emoji preferences so don't be shy! I didn't used to understand emojis but I've been working on it and I'm starting to think they're pretty cool at being emojis! 🐌🐌🐌

4. Extra secret thanks

One of our higher-level supporters voted that rather than continuing to see their name on every video, I can replace it with your name! As not all patreon supporters necessarily intend their name to be public if they didn't choose a tier that says so, I'll be randomly/arbitrarily choosing from folks who have already given public support here or around (some comments are public, some are private, and I'm respecting the difference), or who tell me they want to be included via private or public message.

5. SPOILERS

So I've been working on a video about Hexaflexaflakes, that is, making paper snowflakes out of hexaflexagons, something that's been tentatively on the video list since the snowflake series I did years ago, starting with this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EmhGOQ-DNQ

Maybe more on that thought process later...

but the point is, I'm still not certain if this will be the next video (I never am certain until I finish), but working on it this past week I think I've gotten to the point where it's got most of the things it needs to be before I consider it a worthwhile video.

The hexaflexaflake hook is of course a potentially fun and engaging topic, but all videos must have a deeper theme, and the one for this video is working out well enough that I think it will PROBABLY be finished/uploaded this month. But I usually don't commit to finishing videos before they're almost finished, because so many scripts have gotten so far through the process without quite getting that deepness that I require. So many draft scripts from long ago, sitting waiting to find their conceptual partners....

Looking for something to do? Try making Hexaflexaflakes and figuring out how they work! By the time this video is done (if I like it enough to release it) you'll be full of ideas and thoughts and feelings!

6. What is a camera

When I was trying to photograph some smartie sculptures today, I realized that with all the visual art I'm doing lately I should probably get an actual photo camera. I usually use my phone, or maybe grab a still from my video camera, but it'd be nice to have something where I can at least set the aperture...

If you know secrets about photography and cameras and what might be good for my amateur photography needs (mostly photographing art objects), and can recommend a camera/brand/etc, please let me know your thoughts! Extra points if you can think of a good one for my needs that is distributed by Amazon so I can throw it on the wishlist.

7. Magic / Science Dogs

I am continuing to read dog books. Since last post, I read two short novels: 

The Inquisitor's Tale: or, the Three Magical Children and their Holy Dog, by Adam Gidwitz, which just came out this year so I'm going to take a moment to describe it: It's an interestingly-structured YA novel with themes of religious and racial tolerance drawn from well-researched historical references to the "dark ages" (which the author convincingly argues we should not call so "dark" after all, in an afterword which gave context to the story that I think I'd have liked to read first, if it were me). If I had story-aged kids I'd have fun reading this to them, including discussions on how it relates to actual history as well as modern-day concerns. 

The dog isn't the most central character but she plays a role throughout, and is very philosophically important!

On the opposite end of the magic dog fiction timeline, I read Roverandom by JRR Tolkien, which I don't need to say as much about since Tolkien has been Tolkiening for quiet a while! Very dog.

My copy of Roger Zelazny's "A Night in the Lonesome October" arrived today, so that's tonight's magic dog fiction. 

Please do continue recommending me magic dog books. It is my December project, something to ward away the darkness of cold moonless nights. Also, SOMEONE (not naming any doggets) decided to jump on my barefoot broken toe this morning, so, I must counter that with fiction about GOOD dogs.

Vi