Not What I Had Planned

Hello and welcome to the 50th post in this blog. I wish it were on a cheerier subject, but with what's happened in the last several days...

I am, of course, referring to the earthquake in Japan that has, among other things, literally shaken the entire world. We're now spinning a tiny bit differently on our axis. Meanwhile, the planet's philanthropic agencies are mobilizing to help with this latest in what is a suspiciously long string of natural disasters.

(Seriously, it's like the planet itself is throwing tantrums and we can't take it anywhere.)

I promised a few people that today's blog post would feature ways that the average you and me can be part of the relief effort. What I want to do is to try to steer away from the usual names, like the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. These are terrific organizations and definitely worth of our support, so don't think I'm telling you not to give to them. No, what I'm going to try to share with you are smaller, possibly weirder things that you can do to participate. Please share this with anyone who might be interested.

• First up: My pals Tracy and DeBray of Catena Comics are offering a downloadable desktop image of Belle, one of the characters from the Catena strip, for the consideration of $1 (or more). All money generated from these downloads will be donated to Americares, which is working directly with the relief effort. DeBray has nice clear instructions spelled out on the Catena website of how to go about doing this.
  
  
• Once again the LiveJournal community has stepped up to the plate to conduct an auction of art, writing, and other handiworks to raise money. If you have an LJ account, head over to Help Japan for the details.
  
  
• Do you play one of those Zynga "ville" games on Facebook? I used to be a FarmVille resident but I left. However, if you're still there, you can help by purchasing some virtual crops. Zynga has joined forces with Save the Children's Japan Earthquake Tsunami Emergency Fund, and they're asking their users to donate money through the purchase of virtual goods. All of the money from the purchase of sweet potatoes in CityVille, radishes in FarmVille, or kobe cows in FrontierVille will go towards Save the Children’s efforts to provide relief in the Pacific.
  
  
• If you're on Twitter, you definitely want to check out this post in their blog, which lists all the different ways you can use your Twitter account to spread accurate information and pass on news. I also recommend following the Twitter accounts of Pauley Perrette, the adorable actress who plays Abby on NCIS, and George Takei, aka Mr. Sulu. Pauley stayed up late when the earthquake hit, sharing the latest details and revealing just what a soft-hearted sweetie she is. Mr. Takei, meanwhile, is consistently sharing links to news posts and footage of the aftermath of the quake. Both have been inspirational resources and I tip my hat to them.
  
  
• Mashable.com reports that AT&T and Verizon will be providing free calls and texts for their American customers to and from Japan all throughout the month of March, to make it easier to contact loved ones over there. Check out that article for details, and also to get the number to which you can text a donation to the Red Cross.
  
  
• If you have a website of your own, you can help people locate missing loved ones. Check out Google's People Finder and see how to embed it on your website.
  
  
• The website Good.is has published a list of other ways to help Japan. Check out their links to where you can purchase a supportive t-shirt and poster, and some suggestions for slightly offbeat places where you can donate money.
  
  
• Remember that unfortunately, while situations like the Japanese earthquake do bring out the best in a lot of people, they can bring out the worst in a lot of others. Don't give indiscriminately! It's a good idea to read this Good Intents article about what to do or not do regarding disaster relief donations. Also, before giving money to any charity you don't recognize, be sure to check them out with Charity Navigator so you don't get scammed by some phony.
  
  
• And finally...spread the word about this blog post.

Japan seems awfully far away to me. I wish I could do more. But the people affected by this devastation have been on my mind and in my heart since it happened, and I hope that this post does them some good.

Special thanks to the people at Mashable.com, the people at Good.is, Tracy and DeBray Bailey, Pauley Perrette, George Takei, and the entire internet community at large for their contributions to this post.

Internet Funnies

Currently I'm sitting in my living room waiting for three things: for the washing machine to finish its current cycle (which is a post in its own right that I may cover sometime), for my husband to finish uploading my contribution to the author interview video for the BC in DC BookCrossing Convention (which he's doing while I stew about how much I hate my voice), and for an updated weather forecast, since currently we're being held hostage by the fact that a blizzard may or may not be striking us sometime within the next 48 hours.

I'm amusing myself while I do all this waiting by going on an archive binge of a webcomic to which a new acquaintance has introduced me, and that in turn led me to the decision to do today's blog post about some of my favorite webcomics. I would personally love to do a webcomic; I think they're neat and a wonderful opportunity for creativity. Unfortunately, I can't draw anything more complicated than stick figures, and there's already a market on that.

You might think I'm joking, but I'm not. Odds are that if you're enough of a nerd to get the humor I usually employ in this blog, you're already at least familiar with xkcd, "a webcomics of romance, sarcasm, math and language." All the characters are stick figures. There are only a few recurring characters, the most famous being 'the guy with the hat' and his psychotic girlfriend. The artist, Randall Monroe, has an actual physics degree, which means that the science jokes he makes are correct (and sometimes beyond the ken of mere mortals). Past strips have included references to many things which are relevant to my own interests, including LiveJournal, alternate weaponry, and The Princess Bride. Warning: the language is sometimes not safe for work/children/small dogs/household appliances.

The first webcomic I started following with any sort of regularity was Something Positive, which probably doesn't require an introduction. For the sake of anyone who does require one, it's the usually-funny, sometimes-serious exploits of a Texas native called Davan and his exceptionally quirky circle of friends. This one will take you a very long time if you decide to go back and start at the beginning, and there are a lot of timeskips. Not only does the strip sometimes go back and reference the childhood of Davan and his oldest friend Aubrey, but it also occasionally makes side trips to the 1930s, showing scenes from the life of one of his relatives. I won't link to any strips because very few of them stand alone (as opposed to xkcd, where almost every strip stands alone), but subjects covered by artist Randy Milholland have included marriage, adoption, the death of a beloved character, religious intolerance, and murder. It's a hodgepodge of funny and thought-provoking, and not really for the faint of heart or the young.

My favorite webcomic, of course, is the one where I know the people who make it -- Catena, by my friends Tracy and DeBray Bailey. You might be a little wary of the premise; a handful of anthropomorphic cats, with very distinct personalities, all live under one roof and more or less drive each other crazy. It's better than I make it sound. There are a ton of nerdy references to be found within, such as this one, which manages to reference a film, a graphic novel, and a piece of classic literature all at the same time. It's also occasionally peppered with delightfully lame puns. Along with the feline inhabitants of the manor, the strip features the dog next door, a tarantula bent on world domination, a pair of angels, and the Grim Reaper.

No, I'm not joking, why would you even ask that?

To bring the entry back full circle, the strip of which I've been devouring the archives is called, simply, Retail. Written by former retail employee Norm Feuti, it chronicles the misadventures of a trio of department store workers -- Marla the assistant manager, Val the section supervisor, and Cooper the stockboy -- as they deal with corporate policies, an inept boss, cranky coworkers, and even crankier customers. It's funny and sad at the same time. It also has a grain of sweetness; Cooper has a crush on Val, and meanwhile he and Marla have this really nice brother-sister thing going on. If you enjoy reading things like Not Always Right, you'll almost certainly enjoy Retail.