A world overrun by superstition and spirits

We had just run away from a field of zombie-like humans, they staggered around but they weren't dead. The lights had gone out from their eyes as if their souls had been sucked out from them. (Contrary to what Wilfred on FX thinks about buttholes being the windows to a human's soul). We knew better than to stick around and try to help them, there was barely enough survivors as it was - or so we thought.

The group of us ran behind this abandoned house and found a bunch of swimming pools that were connected by floating tubes on the water surface. We didn't have much time, and thinking it was safe enough to just rush across, we dashed over the tubes as fast as we could to avoid losing balance and toppling into the water, even though they were lit and nothing was down there. I slipped a few times and my pants got soaked. I noticed there was some moss growing on the sides of these tubes - must've been quite stagnant in this area. No one used them lately.

With only a few feet left to go, a couple of us made the jump to the deck of the pool. One guy lost his balance right before the jump and he splashed into the water. He kicked back up to the surface laughing saying he was okay. His wife and daughters reached over to pull him up, they had a firm grip but something under the water started pulling back and he started to scream. There was a tug-of-war struggle as they tried frantically to free him, but one by one they lost balance and fell into the water with them. I hurried over to the edge of the pool to help pull them back out, but by now they were all screaming and being pulled under. More survivors came to help but it was useless, one last final scream and they disappeared under the edge of the pool and cloud of red seeped through the water like a drops of red ink in a filled tub.

A small crowd of shadows started running towards us, what were we to do? There was no room to hide. As they stepped into the light, I saw they were other survivors like us. "You must hurry, it's coming." He waved us over and we followed him without a word. The "it" he was referring to was this slug-like demon who attacked you from behind as you tried to enter a door. He led us to this abandoned-looking house and told me to whisper a chant and I would be brought inside. It didn't make any sense to be but I heard this roaring behind me coming closer and closer and a gust of wind, so I whispered the chant just as IT passed through me, I could hear IT's roaring still ringing in my ears but when I opened my eyes, I was on the other side of that door, safe.

Janet Jackson welcomed me into the house, she was the matriarch of this hidden society. She stared at me with her big, watery, bulging eyes. It was like church congregation and they had found ways to live around the evil spirits that roamed the "outside" world. Sometimes there were ones that made their way in and crawled along the ceiling like giant spider beetles, waiting to attack unsuspecting children. But she had her guards shoot them down with lasers. It was dangerous to be outside, but somehow they had created light suits (think TRON) that would give off a steady ray of light or flashes to keep the spirits away. I looked outside the window from the 30th floor and saw five basketball players playing ball in the unlighted courts. There were also guards keeping an eye on them in case any unwanted visitors tried to attack.

"Sometimes I can't sleep because of that little child I couldn't save," she shared with me, "Her cries haunt my dreams. I wanted to, but it was a lost cause."

Moosie's eyes change and hiking to the movies

For whatever reason, I was in a fish market within a restaurant. It must've been somewhere in Asia because we like our seafood fresh!

I remember a sudden moment of panic when I realize Moosie isn't next to me and search around frantically. Everyone around me tells me it's okay and not to worry but something doesn't feel right. I finally spot a little ball of white fur running towards me clumsily with her ears down, almost running into things - just like the very first time I saw Moosie when she ran out towards the grass at the breeder's house. "Moooosie!" I call out to her, scooping her up in my arms, but something's not right.

I check her body and she's not hurt or anything but her ears are still down. It was then I realize her eyes are different. Where there once were big, round black irises had now changed into a blue green color. Her eyes couldn't focus, they kept moving around trying to find something and then I spotted the punctures. There was one in each eye, right in the middle. Someone had messed with her eyes and now she was blind.

===

Who's bright idea was it anyway to drive Ankie and a motorcycle out to a hike? How did I end up with both?

The path we hiked along was similar to the one at the Peak in Hong Kong, the very beginning of the path though. Where there's a red gazebo-like structure and people hang out to take scenic photos of Central down below. But there were purple and yellow spotted crabs walking along the path. They were big so it was easy to avoid them. I saw some tiny and furry little purple and yellow baby crabs climbing the sides of the rocky walls. However, on further inspection after some "awwws", they turned out to be purple and yellow sand tarantulas! EW! (Disclaimer: I don't even know if there's such a thing as "sand tarantulas" but that's what they were called in the dream; EDIT: I just googled it, and they exist! EW!!!!)

I try to move stealthily past them, but they have all EIGHT of their eyes on me, turning to whichever direction I moved to. I finally couldn't stand and just shielded my eyes and dashed past them. My thinking was that at least I wouldn't be able to see them if they jumped at me and they can't eat my face. Because that's what tarantulas do, they eat your face, starting with the eyeballs or they crawl down your throat to suffocate you and all the while you're trying to hack out this murderous hairball.

Thankfully, I managed to run past them unscathed (I would imagine I used my Naruto run). A bunch of friends are eating corndogs on the other side and so I grab one too and sit down with my new smartphone trying to google those yellow and purple crabs and tarantulas. Damon and Roxy come over and ask me if I'm interested in seeing a movie: Saw 3. Seeing how I remembered I kind of enjoyed that one, I say yes.

I got to my motorcycle and car and stick Roxy's luggage in Ankie's trunk. I stand there wondering how the heck I'm gonna get both of these home. By the time I get back into the theater, I stop by the concession stand and ask for a water. The manager is there and gives me this "you're not buying anything" look. The guy behind the counter gives me this little dixie cup of water, like the ones at the dentist. (REALLY??) So I shoot it and toss the cup and head towards the movie. Afterwards, he runs after me to give me this big thing of water, "Sorry, my manager doesn't like giving away soda cups for water, but here you go!" He hands it to me and I take it and he only filled it with an inch of water. "Thanks."

It's already dark when I go in and the movie's starting. It's a pretty full movie for some reason and as I make my way to where Roxy and Damon are sitting, I realize...they saved me a spot in the row behind them because there were too many people at this particular showing.

I have this huge sad face because there's no way in hell I would survive watching a scary movie by myself. They both look at me apologetically.

Good thing I wake up so I don't have to sit through it alone! Phew.

Sample Blog Posts (Payvment) - Part 3

Bridal services and Payvment are a match made in heaven

Many people often ask us what types of retailers sell on Facebook with the Payvment Storefront – and diversity is definitely in our mix. From jewelry makers to knitters to fashion designers and big brands like Gibson, Adult Swim and Amoeba Records, having a Facebook Storefront helps level the playing field between small and large businesses.

This week, we share the story behind Brides Rally who uses a Payvment Storefront to help brides-to-be find and discover great deals from top-rated wedding vendors. Robin Cheung, who founded the company, watched her Facebook fan base grow to over 1,760 in less than 6 months of offering these deals through her storefront.

Most brides nowadays highly leverage the Internet to plan for their weddings to find unique inspirational ideas, share tips and advice on bridal forums, and read vendors reviews. Sound like social sharing much?

“It was simply logical that e-commerce would give us the best reach to the bridal community,” Cheung explains, “Part of our business strategy was also to bring the bulk of our company information, featured deal and shopping experience onto Facebook to leverage the viral networking effect.”

Like any Payvment Storefront that enables “Discovery Mode” (under the Settings tab), all the items offered are also included in the Shopping Mall on Facebook, also powered by Payvment.

On the latest features release she says, “I definitely love the multiple administrators capability and the omission of Facebook permissions for customers to browse our products.”

Thanks Robin, we we’re glad you enjoying using the Payvment Storefront.

Do you have a story you want to share too? Email us support@payvment.com.

Sample Blog Posts (Payvment) - Part 2

Answering The Question To: My Business Has 20,000 Facebook Likes! Now what?

If you were at the AF Expo last week, you may have caught our CEO, Christian Taylor, speaking on Wednesday addressing the question “My business has 20,000 Facebook Likes! Now what?”

Whether you’re already there or making your way to 20,000 Facebook Likes, we’ve got the answer to making your page a hot destination for your fans. Using the case study about Bob’s Farmers Market, Christian shared how offering free shipping upped Bob’s produce sales and got him more visibility among other merchants who didn’t. Studies show that 46% of retailers say it helps increase profits and lots of articles out there show merchants how to calculate the free shipping equation.

He goes on to explain how Bob is very engaged with his audience: sharing recipes, tweeting which farmers markets he’d be at, and posting photos of life on the farm and his dear cow, Bessie. With easy direct-on-Facebook check out and a reliable fulfillment team, Bob’s business has expanded beyond just collecting Likes for his page and products.

You can choose to have your entire inventory available on your Facebook page or promote seasonal items. 

“Get ready for the future of Facebook shopping.” – Christian Taylor

You heard it here first – and at the AF Expo. Got questions, comments, suggestions? We’re standing by 24/7: http://support.payvment.com.

Sample Blog Posts (Payvment) - Part 1

IRCE 2011 Recap
This year’s show at IRCE was a great success! It was hard to miss us if you were there. As this year’s Lead Sponsor, we had lunchboxes, banners and signs directing folks to our booth so they could find out how to launch a free store on Facebook – and meet part of the team behind Payvment. The foot traffic was non-stop and even though some had lost their voice by the end of show, our enthusiasm remained the same. All we can say is, thank goodness for thick carpet padding!

Our social-savvy CEO, Christian Taylor, found time to do a handful of interviews and meet face-to-face with lots of Payvment users. It was a great opportunity to promote Payvment and educate retailers on how social e-commerce can help their businesses grow. Some of the commonly asked questions by attendees were: What do you guys do? How does it work? What’s the catch (no really, we’re free)!

When we explained how simple it was to launch a store on Facebook, people were stunned. Then we went on to tell them about the numerous social sharing features and how they would serve as a complementary marketing tools – they started asking for a couple more pamphlets to bring back with them.

One attendee stopped by to ask for more tips on how to fully utilize his newly-launched Payvment store. We suggested he follow us on Twitter and Facebook to read all the helpful articles we post daily for best practices and f-commerce trends. It’s always nice to help our community grow.

Our next big show will be in Boston for the Shop.Org Annual Summit. Will you be there too? Come see us at Booth #1052, get some swag and meet the Payvment Team.

In the meantime, our support is available 24/7. We welcome questions, comments and suggestions at http://support.payvment.com.

The Japan in my mind is scary.

As with most family vacations in the past, an argument is bound to break out. This time we were all trying buy tickets for the Japan Rail and I was having problems getting a receipt to print for mine. My dad gets impatient and we're all exchanging words back and forth. Eventually calming down, he tells us about this one childhood photo that I was in and the story behind it. I don't remember it now, but it was a creepy realization that I was photographed in a very dangerous place. Somehow this led to me wandering off in this Hawaii-esque part of Japan where I could see couples all dressed in black dancing around in big elegant moves. The girls were on one side, the guys on the other.

Then the scene suddenly fades into a superhero movie setting (think Green Lantern, Spiderman combined) and there's this hulk-like figure laying in a bed with these rays of energy circling over him as a protective shield. I see a second being trying to get to the hulky thing, reaching through the energy shield. But when he gets in range of the shield, it sends electricity through his body. This guy, he's not really human and pretty strong. I see him grab the individual rays and rip them off bit by bit. Then I start hearing screams. But they're not coming from Mr Hulk. No. They're coming from the poor humans whose bodies are attached to the ends of each energy ray. Like umbilical cords, the rays grow out from multiple areas on their heads, necks and back. Each tug or pull is like ripping off a scab or stitches from an unhealed wound. Each of those people are an orangey color and they radiate with the energy that's being sucked out of their souls. I can't block out their cries so I shrink into the shadows so they don't see me.

As this fight continues, I look back at the dancing couples. They're finishing the last steps of their dance. The girls spin out and fall down this tube. The guys seem caught off-guard and suddenly they're sucked into a separate tunnel. I don't see where they go, but I start hearing screams. The ones who haven't fallen into the tunnels yet start to panic and try to get away, but it's futile to escape. The tunnels have a vacuum suction turned on and one by one, they are pulled down to the screams.

From where I'm hiding, I see silhouettes of the dancers going through the tubes, flashes of lights and more screaming. Just like the fat kid who drank from the chocolate river in Willy Wonka and fell in and got sucked up in the tube, I watched one of those "bodies" getting squeezed through a tube right in front of me. Whatever it is, it no longer looked human. It was orangey and spongey, like funnel cake or pancakes. Then I see a blue-green eye rolling up at me. It sent chills down my spine. I could see tears welling up and the spongey blob continued on its way to the exit of the tunnel. Those dancers were deformed and fried by the energy rays and made to continue feeding power into that "energy shield" for the Hulk.

The little girl in the door.

I tried so hard to remember this dream.

I think it started out with lots of rain and I was traveling somewhere for a show. I remember walking out of this room at a hotel/mansion with a little girl with long light brown hair behind me. I was chatting with her mother and in a split second, we looked away and the little girl disappeared as we walked through the door frame. What happened? Where did she go?

We came back in with the detectives looking at the crime scene. There was a set of blinds that came down over the door frame and a pop up glass door that came out from the ground. I remember seeing a little green alligator on the door as decoration. They pushed the door up and down multiple times unable to figure out what had happened or who had taken her. On the fifth time or so, the door jammed.

The detectives jimmied the door until it came off its wheel hinges and we sat a twisted clump of light brown hair caught in the wheels of the door. A sinking feeling came over all of us. It was her hair. Someone had taken and trapped her in the little attic area above the door frame. But no one knew how. I don't think she was alive anymore.

Laid-off from my work 3 weeks in...

I walked into work to receive notice that I was being laid off. We went from 17 people down to 4 and Megan A was one of the lucky ones to stay. Only my CEO, boss, Meg and some engineer got to stay behind.

I went to dinner feeling all sad and told Daidai all about when we sat down for dinner. Afterwards, I decided that a swim would help pick up my mood but I was floating around on this floaty bed and holding a little crying baby with me. My dad was by the pool and for some reason he was lecturing and yelling at me. I got so mad that at some point, I dunked the baby in the water and then pulled him/her right back out! They were okay - I was wondering if any water went up their nose but decided they were okay. I would never do this in real life, I promise. That baby wasn't entirely human anyway.

Afterwards I was in a pet store with Moosie and she ran around knocking over all the doggy shampoos and disappeared down one on of aisles. A few minutes later she came running back to me except she looked like an entirely different dog - she was a mini white poodle! I thought the grooming was so advanced it transformed her into another dog! I felt so sad carrying her around because she now looked like a poodle :(

I met up with my dad again and this time he was holding a mini Moosie in his arms and I'm like: Moosie?

He's like: yes, she ran away from somewhere and I found her! Why do you have a poodle?

At this point I'm wondering why I have this poodle - and who's poor dog I took away. My dad thought it might've belonged to a cousin of mine.

He loved me to death, he literally wanted to kill me.

I couldn't remember why I was spending the evening with Bear and his family, but we all ended up at a Chinese restaurant for dinner. There wasn't much going on except for the fact that there was a little pond and fake river running through the restaurant with little koi fish swimming around.

At some point, I left and joined my dad at this Chinese supermarket trying to buy some groceries, but there was a ridiculous line for the bakery area. I heard that Bear's dad disappeared and no one where he went off to. I thought it was odd because I had just finished dinner with them not too long ago.

The lady behind the bakery counter showed me to an aisle where there were these crackers and told me how good they were and that I should totally try them. My dad was getting impatient so I hurriedly accepted and tried to get the rest of the baked goods. As I wandered around, I suddenly found myself inside Target - must've been a Target in Canada (which there are not) because there were fuzzy peaches and other Maynard's brand candies. I grabbed a bag of the raspberry gummies and headed to the checkout. I remember seeing knitted socks hanging on display at the "impulse buy" shelves right by the registers. For some reason, Dawn, my roommate from my junior year, was there and we continued to playfully hurl insults at each other.

A man bumped into me as I walked out from Target and I think it was Dawn's older brother. He said something along the lines of "It's the ones who catch the least attention that are the most attention-grabbing". I had no idea what he was talking about, smiled and walked away.

Suddenly I'm in this room with Jimmy and two other girls whom I do not know. I just remember hearing the girls laughing and waiting around and I'm looking at him scared and confused.

"Please, you don't have to," I pleaded.

"I have no choice, this is how it must be," he replied with a smile that was neither genuine nor sympathetic. He grabbed onto my wrists tightly as I struggled to get away.

"But why? I thought you loved me, please let me go! Can't you make an exception?" but my cries were falling on deaf ears. In my heart, I knew he was no longer the Jimmy I knew. He was alien, figuratively and literally. He wasn't human and neither were those two girls nearby. Somehow I came to the realization that he was some cannibalistic human-ish alien that made kills by biting off the tongue of their victims while his other two partners ate the rest of the victim alive.

Even worse, I realized that somehow those two girls had gotten to Bear's dad and he died a slow and painful death - the way I was going to soon.

I tried begging and pleading - I was even crying now - but still his eyes remained cold and emotionless. "Can you at least make it quick and painless?" I asked, feeling my resignation, what else could I do?

"It's only going to be drawn out and painful. Excruciatingly painful. That's just how it's done." He smiled again and this time I saw his rows of razor sharp teeth, like mini daggers.

I feared for my life and I would never go down without a fight. The two other girls laughed and left the room. I could still hear their laughter echoing throughout the halls long after they were gone. I gathered my courage, took a mental deep breath and dashed towards the window behind me and went straight into the screen. Jimmy laughed at my futile attempts to escape. I kept throwing myself at the screen as he walked closer and closer to me.

Finally, one corner of the screen budged and there was a small hole enough for me to slip right out of. It was about 200ft to the bottom, but I'd rather take my chances there than slowly get torn to pieces and feel every bit of it. I threw myself off the ledge but he grabbed my right ankle. His face was very disapproving. I wiggled and kicked but he had a death grip on me.

I would've rather jumped off a skyscraper than to die like this. I kicked and kicked until I finally woke up.

This morning, I asked him: "Are you going to eat me?"

All I wanted was some popcorn at the movie

I went to the movies with some friends and decided to stop by the concession for some popcorn and Jimmy wanted a soda. I paid for it with my credit card and they gave me the receipts that you usually get at the car mechanics - the ones with the three layers (white, yellow, pink) and I was like, wow what a hassle! Then we were all seated along the bar/counter by the concession and there was a random drawing. I was chosen because I had number 11. One girl and one guy was chosen - we both had that number.

It was Garwin! Then suddenly there was a brawl, punches were flying and I somehow fell in a weird position and dislocated my knee. It immediately swelled up and bruised but we had to go on the mission we were selected to complete from the drawing. Outside a limo was waiting for us and we went to the first destination.

In the parking lot, we walked past this mini convenience center and I asked the cashier where I should go. She looked at us and said "oh, you're the elevens!" and she pointed us towards room number 11 (which looked like a theatre 11).

Destination 1: Old ladies were inside the room don't remember what they needed but they were mean.

Destination 2: Garwin and I are racing down the freeway at 80mph in his forest green civic until we passed a recently blown up congressional/banking building. And then Garwin turned into Edward (no, not the vampire) and I was still limping around like a gimpy :( We were gonna start packing some essentials into a small rolly suitcase but some agent lady (think Mr Smith from Matrix) stopped by and was like: You won't be needing that. She led us to the burned down building - and it still smelled weird (yes I can smell in my dreams). We got inside and it was this massive city hall-like atrium but with spirals and loops of red paths all over the place. The agent handed us a skateboard. We were supposed to navigate the right red path on the skateboard - and I know that scientifically it's not possible because those loops went upside down, totally against the law of gravity. And the two of us on one little board? How was that possible?

We put the board down on the starting point of one of the red paths...Ed stepped on and I grabbed his shoulders and off it went! Up up up, right right right....up up up and upside down, that was so scary! I felt like I was about to fall and then I was suspended mid-air!

There was a group of homeless-looking men, but I think they were in costume, standing below me. For some reason, I knew that I had to start singing a song from the Oliver Twist musical. And so I started singing and they all got into the chorus and this one man, who was Bill Sikes, confronted me in a duet and we were fencing with each other. But the entire time it was in a slow motion, air-suspended battle. Right at the end of the song, I somersaulted as he lunged at me and my sword went inside him. His eyes bulged in disbelief as he died and I woke up.