We all have favorite songs, shows, and seasons. Are yours the same as mine? That's the purpose of this blog post, to share my favorite things and see how we happen to compare in terms of favoritism. Here we goooo!

Quotes:

"Find your lane and stay in it."

"You get in where you fit in."

"The world is round for a reason." (Another way of saying "what goes around, comes around")

"If it doesn't make dollars, it doesn't make sense."

"The lion never loses sleep over the opinion of a sheep."

"My words will either attract a strong mind or offend a weak one."

"If you ski out of your league, you're gonna have a bad time."

"As long as you're having fun."

Color: Green, followed by red

Season: Autumn, followed by summer

Holiday: Halloween

Subculture: Punk

Food: Pasta, peanut butter, pizza, veggie burger

Vegetables: Sweet onion, grape tomato, red pepper, white mushroom

Fruit: Pitted cherries, blackberries, melons

Drinks: Orange-vanilla seltzer water, natural fruit juice, and of course regular water

Accent: Australian

Animals: Rat, raccoon, possum, kangaroo, wolf, dinosaur, tiger, snake, lizard... and human

Birds: Anhinga and seagull

Insects: Mantis and dragonfly

Band: Alice in Chains (my favorite album of theirs is Facelift)

Musician: Kurt Cobain

Icons: Kurt Cobain and 2Pac

Punk rocker: Dee Dee Ramone

Rappers: 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Suga Free, Andre Nickatina, Cellski, Insane Clown Posse, Kottonmouth Kings

Songs: "King" by Fireball Ministry, "Descent" by Fear Factory, "Burial at Sea" by Throwdown, and "Cowboys Do More Dope" by Rebel Meets Rebel (currently -- these change)

Unknown/lostwave song: The Fallen King (the band's name is unknown)

Psychedelic song: Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow by Strawberry Alarm Clock

Most iconic and influential band: The Ramones (my favorite album from them is Animal Boy)

Movies (non-animated): Thirteen Ghosts (2001), Jumanji (1995) and Little Nicky (2000)

Movies (animated): Spirited Away (2001), The Fox and the Hound (1981)

TV Shows: South Park, The Simpsons, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Rick and Morty, Futurama, Looney Tunes, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, Superjail, Home Movies

YouTube channels: Xploshi, Lumpy Touch, Wizards with Guns, Cas van de Pol

Actors: Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler

Book series: Dragonlance by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Digital artist: Ratmeat (Texas freelancer who designed my rat mascot Cheesus Brodent)

Sport: Basketball (to play -- hockey is the only sport I like to sometimes watch along with skateboarding)

Video game company/consoles: Nintendo

Video games: Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Earthbound, Mother 3, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, Spyro the Dragon 1 & 2, Skyrim, Wonder Boy in Monster World, Super Metroid, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Smash Bros.,  and Super Smash Bros. Melee

Video game character: Reptile (Syzoth) from Mortal Kombat

Pokémon: Scyther, Charizard, Mewtwo, Meowth, Treecko, Inteleon, Krokorok, Zarude, Druddigon, Archen, Watchog, Ursaring

Mystery: The Boy in the Box (Joseph Zarelli -- a cold case mystery since 1957, he was finally identified December 2022 many years after I had learned about what happened to him)

I'll add more to the list if I think of them!

Hey everyone! I hope your weekend is going great so far. I need to share an announcement about transaction fees that applies to using Cash App and Patreon to support me. Please be sure to read this entire post so there's no misunderstandings, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Understand first and foremost that if you are already pledged to me on Patreon, this change WILL NOT affect your benefits. You will still be able to watch one behind-the-scenes extra from my website of your choice at the $10/month tier, and two extras every month at the $20 tier for as long as you remain pledged for. This also applies if you're pledged to me on an annual basis. If you delete your pledge, however, that retention will be lost.

Now for the reasoning of this change. For years, I've been paying the transaction fees for the payment processors I use to receive financial support from my fans. These fees may be small on an individual basis, which is why I've always just paid them myself so far, but over time they accumulate to become a substantial amount. While Cash App only charges one small fee per transaction, Patreon charges more than twice the amount because they include both platform fees and processing fees, as well as a currency conversion fee if someone pledges to me in a native currency other than US dollars.

My Patreon tiers have already been adjusted to include these platform and processing fees. The $10 Private Post tier is still only $10 and you will continue to receive the same posts from me on it, but in order to view a behind-the-scenes extra on top of seeing all the private posts, there's now a $15 tier for that. With the $20 X-Private Post Tier, you will now be able to view one behind-the-scenes extra of your choice along with seeing more private posts from me, but there's now a $25 tier that allows you to view two extras on top of seeing all the additional private posts. Again, this only applies to new pledges and will not affect you if you're already pledged and remain pledged.

I've also adjusted the tiers for viewing additional behind-the-scenes extras as well as using Patreon to pay me for a custom video commission, ranging from a general commission to the more private and revealing ones. Those tiers now include the platform and processing fees if you choose to use Patreon to commission me for a video.

Cash App payments for video commissions and behind-the-scenes extra videos will now include a transaction fee as well. They are as follows below.

For costs ranging from:

$10 to $35: the transaction fee is just $1

$40 to $70: the fee is $2

$75 to $100: an additional $3 will be added

$150: the fee is $5

$200: $6

For example, if you want to purchase access to one behind-the-scenes extra using Cash App, which costs $10 for each video, you will need to send $11 altogether for it. If you want to send $50 for a general commission, the total cost will be $52. It's a small amount for everyone to pay, but it makes a world of a difference for me in the long run and ensures I can continue to put my full-time focus into posting content and making a positive impact on the lives of my followers.

Amazon gift cards do not have transaction fees but I would prefer they only be used as a last resort because they don't go to my bank account like Cash App and Patreon payments do, which means I can't use them toward my monthly living expenses. I can still accept them as a last resort though, and I do have items I buy from Amazon regularly like protein powder and vitamin supplements so it still helps out a lot!

Thank you for taking the time to read and understand this post. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] and I'll be happy to answer them. Thanks for your continued support and stay tuned for more!

Chrono Cross is one of my favorite video games of all time. It's the sequel to Chrono Trigger for the Super Nintendo (an even bigger favorite of mine) and it originally came out for PlayStation in 2000 and was remastered for Nintendo Switch and other consoles in 2022.

It's an RPG with an intricate storyline which centers around challenging fate and traveling between an alternate reality and your own in order to save the future, and the characters you interact with along the way, especially those who live in your seaside village of Arni, have very wise and intellectual dialogue to share if you take the time to speak with them.

Here are my favorite character quotes from this amazing game:

"They say the rain cleanses one's spirit. But at our age, we've had enough cleansing, heh-heh." [An elderly villager combining wisdom with humor during a rainstorm]

"Don't you know that the early bird gets the worm?" [Rise with the sun, sleep at night]

"What good is something if you didn't work your heart out for it?" [Hard work pays off and something is worth more to you if you had to work for it as opposed to just having it given to you]

"You could say that everything here represents 10 years of my life." [A fisherman reflecting on his work and lifestyle choice with pride]

"The longer you live, the more you wonder about another 'you' that might have been." [Reflecting on choosing paths in life and where they might lead]

[An aspiring young poet desires to change the world with her words but laments on how she's instead stuck working as a waitress in a rundown joint in a small, middle-of-nowhere village]

"Life on this planet was born of the sea and will eventually return to it. Even our blood is mostly sea water." [Science has theorized that life began in the sea, which is why some people choose to be buried at sea]

[A character reminisces on the carefree innocence of childhood]

"We should all live in harmony with fate." [Sharing the wisdom that you shouldn't let the challenges and changes of life affect your mental wellness and decision-making]

"Aren't memories strange?... Lying in wait until the right moment. Why, we might even remember this very moment someday!... When that time comes, I wonder what kind of people we'll be?" [Having the realization that you're creating memories with people you care about in the moment and may reflect on those good times years down the road]

"The sea never changes... in and out... it'll probably continue going on long after our lifetimes are over." [Accepting our mortality and realizing the poetic beauty of it]

"People sure change... swayed by times, an unforeseen turn of events... It's really disheartening, but there's nothing we can do about it. No one can change or defy time or fate."

"Our everyday lives are controlled by uncertainty and fear... Our spent yesterdays, and an uncertain tomorrow... How we live a meaningless today..." [This character is trying to justify spending all his time praying to a doll for peace of mind instead of taking chances in life despite everyone around him trying to talk sense into him. The doll later comes to life, tells him to snap out of it, and joins your party as an optional fighter]

"You can't just change the way you live in the blink of an eye." [This character once refused to believe you can change your life for the better despite you proving otherwise. He used to wear a shark tooth amulet that he said got him through the hard times in life, but he ends up giving it to you because his wife and daughter now get him through instead]

"Think about how terrible it would be if you left this world with no record of your very existence." [Reflecting on the importance of making a positive impact on the world during your lifetime]

"Every time I come to a decision, I always wonder what would have happened if I had decided the other way."

"I shouldn't dwell on lost loved ones."

"You're free to dream, but daily work is always the best. Nothing beats hard work and dedication!"

"The colors of the sea and sky far surpass the beauty of those gems he collects."

"What do you live for? What are you willing to die for?"

"Old customs and lores might fade away with time."

"Living bound by the past is a very painful thing."

"The one that's hiding within me is not 'another me'... it's just another 'part of me.' I am who I am... including my dark side. It isn't right to think of my other side as a separate entity whom I can criticize... Rather, I must accept who I am as a whole."

"You will find hope within despair. One who does not experience sorrow cannot appreciate joy."

If you've never played Chrono Cross or Chrono Trigger, I highly recommend them both.