Help distribute Be Nice!

Hi all! I would like to share my new project with you. Up to this point, the Be Nice. project has depended on the reach of my personal connections and your willingness to generously spread the word. The print-runs of the pamphlets and postcards have all been self-funded–and due to my financial limitations, their reach has also been stunted. I would like to change that and get the new Guide to Farting and Pooping into the hands of as many people as possible! After all, who doesn’t love (or need) to talk about poo? No one, right?! To this end I have created a Kickstarter project. For those of you unfamiliar to Kickstarter, here’s the gist:

Kickstarter is a platform for creative projects to be “backed” by people all over the world. Ideas that may never have come to fruition otherwise are successfully achieved due to this website. People can pledge any amount of dollars to the project, and for that gift they are given a reward. The pledges are only dispensed to the project owner if the project achieves its funding goal within the allotted time frame. If it doesn’t reach its goal, no money is delivered. Basically, it’s all or nothing.

I have chosen a duration of 90 days to raise $300. That 300 bucks will cover 2/3 the cost to print 1000 pamphlets and the mailing and distribution of the rewards. I would love your support in any form, whether it be emailing this post to your friends, donating your Facebook status and Twitter updates with a link to the page, or even a little pledge! Simply by sharing this project with your friends, you are making it more successful regardless of the outcome of the Kickstarter project!

Click HERE to go to the Kickstarter page. There you can find social widgets and links that you can post to your blogs, websites, and social networks to promote the page. You can also see a video of me talking about the project and read more about why I’m doing it and what the rewards are!

Thank you so very much for your support, your comments, and your emails! They mean a great deal to me.

Farting and Pooping

Finally! I’m done! Five months of planning, sewing, photographing, and I am done! My newest completed Be Nice. project piece is ready to be reproduced into a brochure (8.5 x 14 inches, with four panels, double-sided. It will fold like an accordion.), and I am so excited!

The piece is about one of my favorite subjects: bathroom-related etiquette. It is a never-ending fascination to me how people behave in the public restrooms, and what they decide to leave behind (why, oh why do they leave anything behind?!). Even more surprising is what people do with their loved ones in private, and what some do in public! I am amazed how something everyone does on such a regular basis is so taboo (I daresay more so than sex), especially when one considers how poo can tell us the quality of our overall health. I just couldn’t resist–I had to make a piece on the subject! Talking about poo was one reason that contributed to my 65 pound weight loss in 2005, and it is even the reason I made one of my best friendships here in New York (yes, talking about poo gained me a friends)!

I present to you: the Be Nice. Guide to Farting and Pooping!

Be Nice. Guide to Farting and Pooping (outside panel; left section is the back cover; right section is the front cover)

Be Nice. Guide to Farting and Pooping (inside panel--this is the entire inside section)

The images are small, and may appear a bit fuzzy, but if you click them they will open slightly larger and more readable!

Once I print them, I am going to have distribution in the works. If you know a place that would be perfect for it, pass it along by emailing me! This project is completely self-funded so in the near future I am planning a Kickstarter campaign to aid the publication costs. If you have any ideas/suggestions, please pass them along!

I sincerely hope you get a chuckle out of this piece! Thanks as always for reading and supporting this project!

(And if you like this topic, you might enjoy the fabulously funny book What is your poo telling you? by Josh Richman and Anish Sheth, M.D. They have a website here.)