Badges? We don't need no steenkin BADGES!

So, I've come to the realization that I am a badge hound.
No really, I JUST came to it. I would joke about it, but seriously...

I think it started with Bolt, or that's earlier incarnation of it on a mass scale that I can recall. It reminds me of collecting stickers, but they're pixels and you did odd free things to achieve them. There were tons of people on it, guides on how to get em, and people willing to cheat and pay real world money for them. I had a lot, and when it seemed to be a failing empire I tried to save each pixelated badge to host up at my webpage, so I wouldn't lose them.

I've done it a variety of other places on smaller scales, and usually given up.

I collect patches from places we hike, camp, visit... Pins when they don't have patches (how does DisneyWorld not have a patch?) I even wanted to make a digital map so I could 'pin' the places I visited, and mark cool graveyards etc.

I was tempted to become the oldest gd girl scout in order to earn those badges. I was a girl scout for three weeks. We ate cookies, hung out in a daycare, and swung on the swings. We moved, and it just didn't interest me to seek out another troop. Day care is boring, I wanted to tie knots and climb trees.

I got Gowalla for my phone so I could easily check in along my route to see my grandparents one looong lonely drive. It's kinda neat, but doesn't have a lot of locations near me that aren't fast food. Each little check in awarded me a badge and a prize. I found FourSquare... badges. More badges. I caught myself 'checking in' at college in BOTH applications! Here's a kicker... I don't particularly like being tracked, or bad people knowing where I am all the time. Dad taught me to value anonymity and invisiblity. (Well, much as I can when I like to wear cat-ears.) Yet I'm posting WHERE I AM to anyone and everyone. Squidgy.....

How to reconcile some strange need for badges, patches, 'achievements', pins, stickers, etc, without being (any more) foolish? I dream of living simply... how do you do that and 'collect'? Is there a cure? Can I complete a 12 Step Program?  ...Will they issue me a pin or coin or certificate? >.>

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

School, Geekery, and Science!

Image
Woops! I did not notice that my posts were getting stuck in "draft"! Here's what been published late: 20120805-11 Curiosity and News . News: KY Evolution, Medieval Germanic War . In Life: Img Src School has started again and I've got four classes, Organic Chemistry I, Genetics, Introduction for Teaching, and Introduction to Technology for Educators. For those of you of my generation let me emphasize that the latter is "intro to, technology for educators" and not "intro to technology, for educators". If you don't know the difference: instead of teaching me "Intro to Tech" (typing, how to use word, excel, etc, all that jazz) I'll be learning the programs that educators tend to use nowadays to organize students' grades, build digital classrooms, work through how the law pertaining to teaching interacts with the law pertaining to technology, etc. I'll be keeping two blogs for the class and uploading my final projec...
Read more

Star Trek Diplomas: All of them. I think.

Image
So... StarTrek.Com has released a Starfleet Academy Diploma.  I wanted to see if the design was supported by canon (because I'm a huge fact-check nerd) and in my quest collected what I think to be all the diploma designs officially used on the show. I'm still looking though, so if you find one I don't have here, please leave a comment! Confirmed authentic : Voyager epi "Non Sequitur". It appears to be the first time a diploma had been shown, if rabid Trekkers diligently duplicating it is any indication. If you register at the LCARSc site, you can download a free template to make your own! (ref: http://www.lcarsc.com/entry.php/34-Freebie-Friday-Starfleet-Diploma ) Confirmed authentic:  Enterprise : "Storm Front, Part II" Earlier in storyline, later in established canon. Found via http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Starfleet_Academy_majors Official StarTrek.Com diploma (Released 2012):  I can't find any epi screenshot t...
Read more

Classroom Architect

Image
One of my assignments for Intro to Tech for Educators was to design a classroom (to certain specifications). I'm posting it here A: Because it's neat.  B: In case the file upload goes wrong.  C: Look! I made it a science classroom! Look's like the one I had when I was in 7th grade science! Bangarang!
Read more