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[Oct. 19th, 2009|07:46 am] |
I was heading home from the Sumo party on Saturday night, upset about
something that in retrospect seems a bit trivial, when I got a call frm ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mskitty23. A friend and coworker of mine from the e-clinic, Kelley,
had died in a car crash earlier that evening. She had been driving home
from her sister's house after dinner when her car swerved and crashed for no
apparent reason. An ER nurse had been right behind her, and she stopped to
assist, but it was too late. She only had superficial injuries, so the
doctors are suspecting something medical instead of crash-related.
Kelley was the reason I started growing out my hair. A few years back she
got her hair colored and I loved it and was frank in my admiration, but my
hair was way too short to pull it off. On a busy Saturday in December 2007,
I declared right then and there in the Oakdale clinic in front of her that I
was going to grow it out and get it colored just like hers. She laughed and
told me to go for it. I've been growing it out ever since and it's finally
there. Just last week I set an appointment to get it colored, just like
Kelley's.
I wasn't terribly close to Kelley, not as close as a lot of my old coworkers
were. I haven't been there for 18 months now, though anyone who talks with
me knows the clinic is still very much in my heart. But her death has
shaken me, and I miss her. I worked with her for three years. We went out
for beer a few times. I liked working with her. She was sarcastically
hilarious, and was always, always chipper and cheerful. The last time I saw
her was a little over a month ago when I was at the clinic with Dan and
Becky and Shaba...she was the overnight tech who took care of Shaba during
his stay there. I remember that Becky was terribly worried about Shaba and
hated leaving his side, but Kelley helped ease her worries and her heart.
She had a dog named Sudie to whom she was closely bonded. When I realized
last night that Sudie was in the car with her at the time of the crash
(unhurt) and had been at her side even at her death, I lost it all over
again.
I'm 31. I'm supposed to be watching my friends have babies and get married,
not burying them. In the last few years, I've attended more funerals than
weddings, and with the exception of my grandfather they have all been young
and in the flush of life.
Saturday night, it was too awful to wrap my brain around. She was our age,
and in apparent perfect health, and now she's gone, just like that. That
could be you, or me, or someone you love. On Saturday night after I stopped
crying, I drank a beer and watched Family Guy and talked about perspective
and procrastination, and what is ultimately important and ultimately trivial
in our lives. I think she would have liked that. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 9th, 2009|05:05 pm] |
What's the sound of one hand douching? Do you see the guy on the left in the white shirt? I'm pretty sure it sounds exactly like THAT GUY.
Thanks to some online smrts from jklumpp, here's a picture of the douchebag who tried to intimidate his way past the two of us and into Consuite on Saturday night at her badging station. The one who tried to physically get me to flinch (who I nearly laughed at). The one who Jenni iscovered, upon calling the bridge, that had attempted to pull this little stunt before that night. The one who apparently harassed party volunteers. The one who probably picked the worst two badgers to try this on.
I am going to plaster this guy's face in flyer form across the hotel in 2010. I am not kidding. (CVG directors: you didn't read that.)
Also, group question: what's a good domain name to use? Sadly, www.thisguyisadouchebag.com is already taken -- I already checked. I would be happy to include pictures of other douchebags who harass our volunteers as well. I can call it a public service! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 1st, 2009|10:06 am] |
I had this idea in the car this morning concerning all those "holy crap, I just saw something really amazing/funny/cool" moments at CONvergence. Wouldn't it be cool to get everyone to post them in real time? It'd be awesome to see something cool make its way through the hotel via peoples' reactions, and it'd be great to share it with people outside the con who are interested in such things.
So Cheb created the following Twitter thing, separate from the regular cvg2009 twitter thing, just for this purpose.
http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23cvg2009omg
Please use/repost/enjoy. The more people we have doing this, the more awesome it'll be.
Now I just have to learn how to use twitter. No, I'm completely serious -- I'm clueless with this. If you can help me figure this stuff out today I'd be grateful. |
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| One more note |
[Jun. 24th, 2009|07:08 am] |
It's just easier to say this this way than to comment to everyone individually.
I used to be of the "test drive it for a night and see if you like it before
you put money down on it," just like the majority, but then earlier this
year someone made a very valid point at a meeting that struck home and made
me do a 180, and that point is the following:
Imagine you're considering attending a play/show/concert, but aren't sure if
it'll really be your thing or not. Imagine what would happen if you went to
the box office and said, "I'm really not sure if it's worth my money, so I'm
going to watch it for free tonight, and if I like it I'll buy a ticket for
your next performance."
What business does that? Why would anyone adopt that business model? It's
absolutely ludicrous, especially if your "play" is reaching seating capacity
on a regular basis and you're worried about how to make sure everyone who
DOES buy a ticket has a good time.
Again, this is my opinion, not the con's. If your opinion is different
that's ok, but mine is firmly this: If you're gonna go watch your friend's
play, you buy a ticket. You want to go to CONvergence, you buy a
membership. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 12th, 2009|04:35 pm] |
I've been staying home and feeling physically kind of down in the dumps since Wednesday.
Yesterday, he dropped off a few new decks of MTG (complete with counters and 20 siders), as we both got rehooked on the game.
Today, he brought me all my favorite foods, uncomplainingly helped me rearrange my closet, lugged the new 69-pound printer upstairs...
...and just now, replaced my (stolen/lost) iPod.
I am not worthy.
It is a day of stimulating the economy with Technology Purchases. In addition to the iPod (which he got for a hell of a low price), he's playing with his brand new MacBook Pro, and the new printer arrived today as well. So many ones and zeros! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 8th, 2009|08:18 am] |
I had a fun weekend at Siouxland, despite the bitter cold and rain. Maybe more later.
On the way home, I got news that a friend's 7-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia yesterday. The good news is that her chances are really good -- her type of leukemia has a 85% complete remission rate, and it sounds like they caught it early. I couldn't stop thinking about her on the way home.
Treatment for leukemia has improved dramatically in the last 30 years -- when my cousin Shannon was diagnosed with it in the mid 70s, it was a terminal diagnosis -- the survival rate was close to 0%. My friend's daughter's chances are really good, but it's still going to be rough on both her and her family. No little girl should ever have to go through that. Never.
This provides an opportunity to ask that everyone reading this consider registering to become a marrow donor. Marrow donation is different from blood donation -- a match has to be incredibly exact. It is not an exaggeration to say that you quite literally might be the only person on the planet who has the power to save someone's life, and you might be sitting here reading this right now and not even know it.
Normally it costs about $52 to be typed, but right now starting literally this morning, typing is free because they're doing a marrow drive. This will not last forever, and funding will run out. It could not be a better time for you to register. And the typing is painless -- a cheek swab that you send back in the mail. You don't even need to leave your house or make a single doctor's appointment.
I may never get the phone call saying that I'm someone's match and you may never either, but without a doubt registering this spring was the best damn thing I've done in 10 years. Almost anyone who is generally healthy and is between the ages of 18 and 55 can become a donor. I honestly have no idea why anyone who is able would not stand in line to do this.
Consider this. Only 3 out of every 10 patients desperately needing a marrow transplant ever gets one for lack of a matching donor -- that's 70% who go without. And you know how many people are registered to donate? Only 6 million. 6 million out of 300 million people living in the US -- that's less than THREE PERCENT. Talk about a tragic and pointless death! If everyone was typed, no one's son or daughter or mother or sister needs to ever die for lack of a donor.
Please consider registering today for free. You can do it online in less time than it takes to drink a cup of coffee or read your favorite web comic. http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now_Special/Marrowthon09/join_now_mt09.html |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 1st, 2009|06:58 pm] |
Free to good home: One 2006-2007 (?) MNRG Atomic Bombshells shirt. Orange. Womens' medium, but they run really small, so if you're normally a small this would probably fit you.
New, never worn. I got it a few years ago thinking I could squeeze into a medium (I normally wear a large) but alas, back then I did not know how small the sizes ran.
First person to take it wins! Please only take it if you will wear it and love it and sleep with it at night. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 1st, 2009|07:25 am] |
I hereby declare today to be Jonathan Coulton Day.
For those who don't know who he is, he is an ex-programmer turned successful musician who lives in Brooklyn. He writes all sorts of geeky songs, about everything from a self-loathing squid who ruins everything he touches (I Crush Everything), to a consoling love song from Charon to Pluto after Pluto's demotion (I'm Your Moon) to one of his huge hits about having sex outside (First of May). At the last concert Minneapolis concert, Neil Gaiman came out of the audience to do backup vocals for Creepy Doll.
He's like Luke Ski, except without the filking and the ego. And with actual talent. And I don't want to punch him.
He is chill and laid back and actually cool and doesn't constantly pimp himself out like many artists do. His is a different method of music delivery; instead of signing huge record contracts, he lets people download tracks and then works off the donation system. He is an open source musician, and that in and of itself is pretty awesome.
Minneapolis was lucky enough last year to have him in concert on May 1st. He totally rickrolled us when he went to sing First of May in the encore, saying it was the only way he could think of to fuck everyone in the audience at the same time.
Eric introduced me to him a few years ago and I've been an avid fan ever since. I encourage you today, on the First of May, to check his stuff out and if you like it, to purchase a few tracks or maybe a robot.
If you like JoCo, comment with your favorite song, a video clip, or an anecdote. I'm sure he'll track back to this eventually and read your geekgasmic love. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 20th, 2009|08:09 pm] |
batty_ just posted a picture her new book, Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals, which she received for her birthday today. In a sudden fit of consumerism and e-mimicry, I decided I could not live without it and ordered a copy for myself.
As a result, Amazon.com now wants me to buy a copy of Disapproving Rabbits. Full eljay circle, y'all. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 19th, 2009|09:39 pm] |
Geek to 5K details:
I was originally going to see if I could modify the Couch to 5K training plan that I used, but honestly, I think it'll work perfectly for us as written.
It's a 9 week program. We have 10 weeks before the Heartbeat 5000. That gives a little bit of time in case you want to stretch it out a bit. It also means that you should start week 1 this week, the week of the 20th.
Remember, this program is designed for people who have never run before to ease into it -- it's a walk-jog-walk program. Don't race ahead, and if it's going too fast for you, stretch it out. If you can't run, try powerwalking. If you need more walk breaks, take them. The most important thing is that you keep trying at your own pace. As funny as it sounds, it's not a race. If it gets to be June 27th and you haven't completed all 9 weeks, so what? Do the race anyway. You're still way ahead of the game and you deserve a victory lap.
( Training program for the link weary )
The next things I need to do are to get a tshirt design made, and to inquire about group registration for HeartBeat 5000. I'm also hoping to get an actual SITE up quite soon. But in the meantime, let's start running! The first run is a total of 20 minutes, alternating 60 seconds jogging and 90 seconds walking.
Oh, and if you're out of town or have friends that would also like to run, I encourage you to train as well, and to extend the invitation to whoever you'd like. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 18th, 2009|11:34 pm] |
15 miles tomorrow for me, and 26 for Seth -- yes, he is running a training MARATHON tomorrow. I'm gonna feel like a heel when I get in my car in Kenwood and zip zoom away from him in the rain.
Why, oh why did we not run today when it was beautiful and in the 60s, instead of tomorrow when it'll be rainy and in the 40s? I'm trying to see it as "character-building" instead of "bad planning." |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 31st, 2009|10:14 am] |
I'm about to run into work late with my boss's permission (I'm sick and asked in advance) but first I wanted to let everyone know how the silent auction benefit went.
I got there around 4:30 PM and joined the hordes setting up. The number of donations were simply staggering...the bar had to bring in extra tables.
Seeing everyone from the clinic again was wonderful. There were many hugs.
I ended up bidding on a lot of stuff, and going home with more than I expected. One of the things I'm happiest about winning is a dental for Wilma...those things are expensive and she has bad teeth and needs it again. I honestly was debating the health benefits vs. cost of just not giving her dentals anymore since she is almost 9 and that's pretty old for a bulldog, but I want to believe she'll be around for many more years to snort in my face and snore at my feet.
One of the funny stories from the night involved my parents. My mother had donated a framed print of a rooster...she used to have her kitchen decorated in roosters, and must have been paring down. Well, while she was in the bathroom, my father spied this nice framed rooster print and said to himself, "Boy, that looks like something Linda would like! I'll bid on it for her!."
So guess who now has a framed rooster print. Mom said it needed to go. Dad says it's HIS print and there's no way he's getting rid of it. They compromised by agreeing to put it in his workshop where he'll see it every day.
Another story involved the crotcheted Cthulhu hat that unknownpoet78 donated. Both mskitty23 and typhoid loved it. While mskitty23 was away, typhoid grabbed it and did the "buy it now" feature, intending to dick with her, but Mskitty caught her at it. Rather that to continue yanking her chain, Typhoid broke down with a grin and gave it to her outright. There were huge smiles.
( photo under cut )
We raised almost $6000 for Kelli, not counting privately run projects like my Wilma project or mskitty23's bookmark project. Most of this was through the silent auction. To everyone who donated items...words cannot express my gratitude for your generosity. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
That was probably the last time I'll see Kelli, as she moved to Kansas City to be with her family two days later. It was bittersweet. |
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| Fundraiser for Kelli |
[Mar. 25th, 2009|07:51 am] |
The fundraiser for Kelli is tonight!
Tom Reid's Hockey City Pub
258 7th Street W
St Paul, MN 55102
www.tomreidshockeycitypub.com
6-10PM
If you are able to come out and join us for a celebration, please consider it! It should be a blast and I'm really excited. We have no idea how it'll turn out but we figure worst case scenario it'll still be a great party with lots of beer.
There is a silent auction fundraiser. Partial list of items behind the cut.
( Read more... )
This list does NOT include 90% of the great donations from the past week or so from all you wonderful folks...I'd expect probably double or triple the silent auction items.
If you ever had a crisis with your pet and didn't know what to do, if you've ever put a pet to sleep and cried your eyes out, if you've ever needed a hand with a stray cat you found, come on down and help celebrate someone who has dedicated her life to helping literally thousands of people just like you. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 23rd, 2009|07:28 pm] |
One last quick shout out...if anyone would still like to donate items for Kelli's silent auction fundraiser, please let me know, either via a comment here, or via email (l richardson 7 8 at gee mail dot com). Tomorrow night is the last night I can pick up items as the fundraiser is on Wednesday. I'm pretty much dedicating tomorrow evening to picking up items so unless you live 60 miles out it's really not a problem to swing by your place for a pickup.
(Reminder of what's going on: my friend and ex-coworker, Kelli, was diagnosed with ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease not too long ago. ALS is a progressive and fatal disease that robs you of muscle control but leaves your mind intact.
Kelli is a stellar person has literally dedicated her entire adult life towards helping animals, as a critical care specialist, as a the director of a bullmastiff rescue organization, as an animal control officer, as a therapy dog owner, and as a mentor to those wishing to enter the emergency field. But most importantly, she's a wonderful human being and is now in need herself. We can't take her disease go away, but we can help ease her other burdens.)
I'll make a post tomorrow about the fundraiser itself...I'm seriously pretty excited about attending. |
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| Kelli's Fundraiser |
[Mar. 10th, 2009|06:57 am] |
Many of you will remember a few months ago when I pimped out my dog to help raise money for my friend and old coworker, Kelli, who was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) not too long ago. Through your kindness and generosity, we were able to raise almost $500!
There is a fundraiser in a few weeks for her, including a silent auction and a raffle for a Minnesota Wild jersey that's signed by the team. I'm letting people know about this for three reasons.
1) You should go because it's at a bar, it's for a good cause, it'll be fun, and you can win/bid on cool stuff.
2) If you like the Wild or know someone who does, that jersey is pretty badass.
3) If you have any items that you can donate to the silent auction, they would be gladly accepted.
The silent auction is what we're focusing on now. If you work for a company that can donate an item, if you own a store and can donate a gift certificate, or if you're crafty and can make a scarf or some legwarmers or some jewelry or a pair of mittens, let me know either here or via email at lrichardson78@gmail.com. I would be happy to either pick up items, be the mail drop for packages, or set you up directly with the silent auction coordinator.
Again, Kelli has literally dedicated her entire life, both professional and personal, to helping animals in need...everything from getting stuck doggie heads out of pickle jars as an animal control officer, to saving an entire frat house of screaming boys from a raccoon in their garbage can, to opening her home and wallet to bullmastiff rescue, to mentoring people entering the critical care field, to countless holidays and nights away from family caring for sick and dying pets.
She is truly a selfless person and I wish that there is more that I could do than spread the word.
( flyer image below cut ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 26th, 2009|02:00 pm] |
I just checked donation totals, and there's been a surprising and touching number of them today. I'm seriously about this close to crying, you guys.
However...the donation total is currently at EXACTLY...
$433.
I'm pretty sure I can't give this particular amount to a terminally ill friend based on sheer principle. Or anything 433-based to anyone I like, come to think of it.
Can anyone donate $5 or $10 to prevent this unspeakable tragedy?
(And in all seriousness, thanks, guys. This is super touching.) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 26th, 2009|01:32 pm] |
The results are in...Wilma did not win. A puppy named Ginger did.
If any dog besides Wilma won, I'm glad it was Ginger, because this is sparklingrobot's friend's dog. I love Wilma no matter what, and even though she wasn't able to donate the $2000 (the $1000 prize money plus the anonymous matching $1000 donation) she was still able to raise over $350 for Kelli's fund. I'm proud of my little galumphing snorting geriatric dog holding her own with the puppies of the Twin Cities, and double proud that she was able to help Kelli.
Kelli.is an old coworker and friend of mine who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, a degenerative and fatal disease, a few months ago. We are trying to raise money to help with her expenses.
Kelli has literally dedicated her entire life to helping animals in need, through animal control, running a rescue, about a million years as an emergency vet tech, and through work with her therapy dog. I'm happy that Wilma was able to do at least this much for her in return.
If anyone would still like to sneak in and make a donation towards Kelli's fund, I would love to see this amount top $400. If you can spare $5 or $10 (that's just the cost of a fast food meal!), I'm gladly accepting paypal donations at givebacktokelli@gmail.com through the end of the day.
To everyone who voted for Wilma, thank you so much. |
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