Sunday, October 10, 2010

How to befriend an alarm clock

Ok, so we all know about these infernal machines. Alarm clocks have been despised by studying and working people pretty much since they came to existence. According to Wikipedia (yes, that oh so reliable source of information), Plato was the first to use one. Damn Greeks claim first dibs on so many things. One might argue that Plato could not have made such a thing because no human is sick enough for it. I'm sure many feel that these sleep robbing bastards were handcrafted by the Devil himself on his worst possible day.

And here's where I'll humbly disagree. I hate alarm clocks as much as the next person, but I think that there are smart ways to ease the blow that kicks us out of bed each morning. Like all things that annoy us in life, we just have to be one step faster than the lil' buggers.

By now, most of us have cellphones. Some of us even have more than one. And alarm clocks in cellphones are awesome. Why? Because you can use any sound as your wake up call. The solution, therefore, is pretty simple and straightforward. Use a sound that you like hearing. Something that will make you smile after you wake up. We can't avoid that "JESUS CHRIST!!! What is that!?!?!" reaction that makes us pop out of bed like someone screamed fire to find and shut the damn thing off, but we can control how we feel after that.

That sound will eventually get boring and cause the same dislike as the regular alarm clock sounds, but the trick is to keep changing it to the next thing you like to hear at that specific week, month, time in your life. So you avoid becoming bored of it and treating it just like all other annoying and meaningless sounds that have tormented you for years.

My most recent and first attempt at that (which I haven't grown bored of yet), is the Happy Cat Alarm Clock from the Duck Dodgers series. I just glued all his taunts together and they have been waking me up since August. And I still smile when I remember the scene. Not only because it's hilarious and does say things that are true about me :P, but because of a great fondness for the voice actor. Mako was the voice of Aku in Samurai Jack, a series that I love and admire very much. And that's the trick with one's alarm clock sound. It's something close to their heart, something they can't possibly hate. As long as your character is upbeat and your alarm clock pleasant, your mornings won't be all that bad.

And here's the scene itself:

 
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