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Good morning all! It's stormy but hot here in Chicago, and it's time for Radio Free Monday!

One note before we begin -- while I obviously had time to work them in, I got about eight emails/comments for RFM between when I went to bed last night and when I got up this morning. I'm happy to have them, and sometimes it's unavoidable, but the earlier in the week you can send stuff, the better for me -- it's a little hard to integrate/research stuff at eight in the morning on a Monday. Thanks!

Ways To Give:

bookwormsarah let me know about Tor Tremlett, a transplant activist with Live Life Then Give Life, whose only hope of survival right now is a double lung transplant. She's been on the transplant list for four years. She's asking people to watch her video about the importance of organ donation, and to sign up to become donors (also: make sure your loved ones are aware of your decision). Organ donation costs you nothing, and can help multiple people get a new chance at life.

starspiritgate is offering art to support smithopanic, a friend whose family is currently unable to afford basic necessities, including paying their mortgage. Smithopanic is also offering sewing services and art commissions.

Jen let me know about her friend Mayphoenix, who is in need of financial help with new medical prescriptions, car repairs, and bank charges. She's working on getting state help, but as those of you who have been on state help know, it's a slow process. If you can help, her paypal address is mayphoenix3 at gmail.com.

alicit and jamoche both let me know about Avery, a trans woman who is a finalist in a radio contest to win a boob job. Go vote for Avery here!

bluejeans07 is working on an anthology comic called Womanthology, showcasing the work of women in comics, with profits going to The Global Giving Foundation. Their kickstarter page has reached its goal, which is fantastic, but if you'd like to contribute they're still taking donations to support publicity and a longer publishing run. This looks like it's going to be an absolutely fantastic comic; keep your eyes peeled for further news. Jean will also be at SDCC this year -- stop by and tell her hi from me!

minkrose let me know about Judah, who is designing an open source CNC (essentially an inexpensive free-plan 3-D printer) and needs help funding the initial build and design. You can read about what a CNC is here and help fund him on his kickstarter page, where there's also more info.

Buy Stuff, Help Out:

bodlon is throwing an Online Scentsy Party to help fund his top surgery. WARM FRAGRANT WAX!

Melayne, a BFA stage-management student who is putting herself through school, is having a sale at her Etsy baking shop -- she's clearing out a lot of material, so if you use MOVINGSALE applied at checkout, you'll get a special deal! She tells me "Since I brought this to you last, I've added some geek food to my repertoire, mostly Lord of the Rings and World of Warcraft, but also some fandoms that I know people at the Cafe are interested in. And I will be adding more once I get settled in Pittsburgh." Keep an eye on it for great baked goods!

News To Know:

The governor of Connecticut has signed into law legislation barring discrimination based on gender identity or expression. It joins fourteen other states with legal protection for transgendered people.

The US Military has been ordered to immediately cease enforcement on the ban on gays serving openly in uniform.

A recent study has discovered that chat users with clearly female names get 25 times more malicious messages than users with clearly male names. I know, most of you are just shocked by this. I don't like some of the tone of the article -- particularly the part about encouraging children to choose gender-neutral names rather than encouraging children to, say, not be dickheads to women, but the information is important and it's a good link to use when some asshat tells you feminism isn't an issue.

Google has been racking up the bad press with Google Plus lately, mostly but not limited to their requirement (or at least "strong preference") that you use your legal name and display your gender even on a locked profile. It's a bit Owl Goingback all over again, talking about legal names that don't fit a certain mold; unhappily, people are actively reporting those who mention on G+ that they use a pseud, including Rowan,, who has a site up about getting punted from G+. If you're new to the debate about pseudonyms, sockpuppets, and identity, you may want to look at Anti-Pseudonym Bingo and Jessica Polito's post on Why I Want My Gender Private On Google+. Also, I have a post up on why you shouldn't shit-talk people plan surprise parties on Google+.

And before anyone gets into "Why can't you use your real name, anyway?" I'd like them to do two things: 1) really actually read Anti-Pseud Bingo's post; 2) remember that while Sam is my real name, Sam Starbuck is a pseud I use for multiple good reasons.

Just For Fun:

White Collar fans! drgaellon reminded me to remind all of you to vote in an official poll for whether White Collar should keep its new credit sequence or go back to the old one. This is a rare chance to get involved in media storytelling -- a small one, true, but the more participation, the more chances like this may come along.

My buddy Simon has a poetry website up that I think you guys will enjoy -- I'm not even into free verse, but I love Simon's work and I hope you will too.

madripoor_rose shared an awesome filk with me during my book covers discussion (credit to kaath9 as the author).

For those of you who read and enjoyed my fic The Seven Man Con, there's new news from Km of some of the Double Eagle coins that escaped melting when the Gold Standard was done away with.

iamshadow and 51stcenturyfox both linked me to a lolarious Picasso theft story (happily, the art has been recovered) that fans of art crime will enjoy reading about. Though frankly this guy doesn't sound like the brightest bulb in the art world.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can always post items for my attention in comments here (or on any post) or email me at copperbadge at gmail dot com. If you're not sure how to proceed, here is a little more about what I do and how you can help. Remember, non-embedded links are love.

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Okay you know what? The hell with 2070:

Our climate is like Alabama now.

Actually at the moment it's cooling down, thanks to the MASSIVE STORM that's currently shutting down public transit and destroying peoples' cars, but this morning's walk to work was deeply unpleasant.

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This is a weird little story about a weird little book.

Quite a while ago, I stumbled on the Duke University Advertising Ephemera Collection. The collection is an archive of ads from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, everything from product-oriented recipe books to single-sheet broadsides. I found one called Dr. King's Lucky Book, a snake-oil salesbook masquerading as a book of folk charms, and thought, I'd like to have a copy of this. I knew it was possible to save off every image in high-res, clean them, set them into a doc file, and publish just a single copy for myself through Lulu.com. I also knew it would be a pain in the ass, so I didn't bother.

Then I broke my leg.

I spent a lot of time off my feet, and a not insignificant amount of time on painkillers, which gave me the time to work on a few projects. As long as I was printing up a copy of Dr. King's Lucky Book, I'd throw in some of the other ads and ephemera I liked. Then I thought, why not make an almanac?

Then I thought, why not make an evil almanac?

My idea for the Evil Almanac was that it would start out innocently, with folk cures and ads and calendar pages and harmless charms and recipes, and then slowly it would slide downwards into incoherent madness (I'd like to remind you all I was stoned and bored when I came up with this). I wanted to emulate what would happen if a book went insane. I tapped a few more resources I knew were good for the creep factor, and I mentioned the book to my friend Kiki, who loved the idea and supplied me with all the additional archive sources I could ever require.

I've been working on it off-and-on since then, so the book's about two years old, but I was always hesitant to share it because really it's just me doing a collage. When I had guests recently I happened to offer it to them to see what they thought, and they really liked it, which bolstered my resolve.

It still needs a few minor tweaks, I think, so in the spirit of Extribulum I'm sharing a proof PDF with all of you before it goes to print, to generate a little interest, get some commentary, the usual. The PDF isn't perfect, but it gives you a good idea of what to expect.

So without further ado, please enjoy Dr. King's Lucky Book:



Download via Megaupload | Mirror
Download via Sendspace | Mirror

If you enjoy the PDF, tell your friends, share it around, and keep your eyes peeled for the paperback edition coming soon from Extribulum Press. The final paperback will be about the size of a very thick comic book, with a colour cover and black-and-white interior, and run you about $10.

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RETURN OF AWKWARD COWORKER!

Sam: Okay, did you um -- shave, you shaved, right?
Awkward Coworker: Yes! My beard.
Sam: I couldn't figure out what was different, the hair or the...face...
Awkward Coworker: It's summer. Too hot.
Sam: No, I totally agree. It's a good look!
Awkward Coworker: It's the way I...came...here...

And then we parted ways.

We must make people with actual social skills feel so good about themselves.

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IT IS SO HOT HERE THIS IS RIDICULOUS.

God, at least when it's this hot in Texas people know better than to go outside. But nooo, I had to get to the library before they sent back the books I'd ordered. The only reason I didn't burst into flames on the way there was that they have rules against being on fire in the library.

I haven't been doing origami the last two weeks or so in part because I've had diminished mobility in my left hand, and in part because I didn't want to pull my stitches or irritate the cut. But now the stitches are out and the bandage is off and the cut is closed for good, so I've picked up again near to where I left off.

Mmm, bacon.