Winchester, NY (PRWEB) April 3, 2009 -- "If you want to read about someone picking their nose or some other stupidity go to Twitter where you will find every internet savvy idiot micro blogging to let the world know he just farted. While MyWeirdStory.com may be a grass roots effort, at least our collection of strange yet true stories are stimulating to the mind. We offer tales which may be difficult to believe but are truly educational, inspiring, humorous, bone-chilling, or just straight up weird," says Eric C. Caren, a noted author and collector of historical printed items.
When Eric C. Caren met Vladimir Gendelman of Orange Creative Solutions, they were both attending the International Gift Show in New York, and began discussing Eric's role as CEO of RetroGraphics Publishing, a NJ based firm set up at the tradeshow to sell NY Times licensed products as well as collectibles for the mass market.
"Vlad expressed to me that my stories were interesting and that there are many people who would enjoy listening as much as he, so I told him about the dozen or so publications that I had written with Castle Books and The Smithsonian based on my collection known as "The Caren Archive" in the Antiquarian world," said Caren. "When I mentioned that these books were based on items not people, and how I was looking to do a book about all of the fascinating people and strange stories which I have come across in my lifetime, I could see the gears moving in his head."
Vladimir brainstormed and then came up with a proposal that would include building an interactive website dedicated to nothing but interesting true stories and compilations of life's different degrees of experience. The site, MyWeirdStory.com, already has 20 categories containing a multitude of different themed stories ranging from coincidences to paranormal happenings and deja vu. Their first contest offers T-shirts to the most entertaining and believable stories submitted and are voted on by the users themselves.
"The contest is a way for us to encourage visitors to submit their own weird stories and take part in our community," Gendelman states. "We all have our own stories, some more interesting than others, but variety is the spice of life and this is the approach we are taking with the website."
The idea to combine Caren's experience with interesting artifacts and Gendelman's knowledge of web development was a mutual agreement. "I was living in the past with my historical collections and business interests, not to mention having built a large part of what is now the permanent collection of The Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue," the 49 year old Caren reflects. "Vlad always seemed to be looking towards the future with his endeavors and we agreed it would be a good move to merge forces in the present."
MyWeirdStory.com is a free platform which allows everyday people to add their true stories to the site with ease. Some of the "Truth Stranger than Fiction" themed tales are archived into categories which include Paranormal, Embarrassing, Animals, Kids, One in a Million Moments, Near Death Experiences and, of course, Collecting to mention a few. The motto of the site is that "Everyone has a great story to tell and we would like to hear it, see it, or experience it for ourselves," said Caren. The site promotes the use of social media such as video and images to help get the stories across in a rich and fulfilling manner.
MyWeirdStory.com assures users that their stories will remain anonymous if they so chose.
Renowned Collector and Author Now Collecting Weird Stories
Collector, Dealer and Publisher Eric C. Caren is launching a new web site (www.MyWeirdStory.com) dedicated to collecting amazing and weird stories from everyone and anyone in a wide range of categories. Amazing true stories, love stories, déjà vu and near death experiences are among some of the topics that the site will cover. According to Eric, "One of the great pleasures in meeting a wide range of characters in the collecting world and in the world at large is that many people have one or more fascinating stories to tell. Now Eric and Vladimir Gendelman of Orange Creative Solutions have teamed up to centralize these stories. Mr. Gendelman is an expert in web site development and promotion and he met Eric when the latter was set up with his publishing company (RetroGraphics Publishing) at the big NY International Gift Show in NYC.
Eric told fellow Antique and Collectibles author Jeff Vaughn that "he would love the subscribers to contribute their own great true stories to the site." With a rich mix of interesting subject categories ranging from Ghosts, Kid's, and Animals to Relationships, Business, and Celebrity Encounters, MyWeirdStory.com promises to entertain all. "Two of my personal favorites are the Collecting and One in a Million stories", Caren adds.
The latter are also commonly called "Feeling Small" or "Foot in Mouth" stories which capture the mortification of many human experiences. Throughout the economic hardships and global conflicts of today, it is nice to be able to have a laugh or be amazed at things that define the maxim of "Truth is Stranger Than Fiction". Although synchronicity is not promised with every visit, strange coincidences do occur frequently at the site, according to Gendelman.
To kick things off right, Gendelman and Caren have announced they will conduct an ongoing contest for best stories as voted by the readers who will rate them on two criteria: how believable and entertaining the story is. Winners will receive a free T-shirt with site logo and caption "My Story is now on MyWeirdStory.com".
Share your story with interested readers from around the globe. MyWeirdStory.com is a place to connect with people from all over the world to read and share interesting stories, complete with images and video. Find out that you are likely not alone in your experiences, many others share similarities no matter what the situation is. Witness the randomness and strange string of events that make up human existence and seem to promote some kind of strange design of the universe we live in; truth is, without a doubt, stranger than fiction.