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Good morning all! It's a beautiful day in the neighbloghood, a beautiful day for some RFM...

Ways To Help:

maidenjedi has been compiling a list of ways people can help with Texas wildfire relief: part one and part two.


snufflesdbear linked me to Austin Pets Alive, which has taken in 160+ animals from the Bastrop shelters that were in the path of a fire that is still not completely contained. They are now looking for fosters, adopters (all fees waived right now!) and/or donations. You can check their facebook page for more info.

equusregia linked me to a fundraising website for the Antal family. Melissa Antal and her children Gray and Kennedy all have Lyme disease, which is a brutal condition especially for small childrne, and not cheap to treat. They're raising funds to help with treatment for all three family members.

queencallipygos, in response to last week's discussion of spare food post-disaster, reminds us that communities in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills are still recovering from massive flash flooding. There's a Facebook page with addresses for where to send donations.

Buy Stuff, Help Out:

Kate at Candlemark & Gleam has some news for us -- she's looking for a volunteer proofreader, and you can drop a comment here if you're interested. And C&G (and I, who had a small hand in some backstage business) are pleased to announce that (re)Visions Alice, an anthology of Alice In Wonderland stories retold by contemporary writers, is now available for trade paperback preorder with special goodies! AND, if you are a reader of digital books, Kate would like me to let you all know that through this week, all sales proceeds at the Candlemark & Gleam website go to the VT Foodbank and the Red Cross.

kit_maxel let me know that musician Marian Call has finished her third album (preorder here) which is of interest to us generally in the cafe as it's been entirely funded by fan donations. She works with music and audience relations much the same way I do with books, so it's pretty interesting reading on her site.

News To Know:

This week, Michael Hart died. You might not know the name, but if you own a Kindle, a Nook, a PDF of a novel, a text file of a textbook, or any digital form of book, you should. Hart founded Project Gutenberg, the first initiative to put books on your computer screen. You can find a donation link to support Project Gutenberg and its mission to provide free digital literature to the masses here.

Lindy Orthia, the editor, has a call for papers out for submissions to a new anthology, Doctor Who And Race. She's looking for academic essays and personal reflections; you can find more at the link. This looks to be really interesting, and I hope those of you who have Thoughts on the matter will consider submitting papers.

Anon has some very good information on how to handle and survive bushfires in the comments to last week's RFM.

The Simply Hired blog has just released its September Employment Outlook which is jammed with job market statistics like who the most frequent hiring companies are and where job availability is at its best.

Chicagowans, if you suspect you may have Celiac Disease, the University of Chicago will be doing free blood screenings, as well as informational panels and gluten-free cooking exhibitions, on October 15th. You'll need to register in advance for the screening, but the rest is walk-in.

Just For Fun:

la_rainette found a digital copy of The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari, for those interested. In addition, the Internet Archive is a great place to find all kinds of public-domain classic film.

iamshadow let me know that more mysterious, fantastical paper sculptures have been appearing in Edinburgh. There's a compilation of the beauties here.

amand_r linked me last night to The Seven Biggest Dick Moves in the History of Online Gaming, which is kind of like reading a heist novel: you know what these people did is terrible and wrong, but at least some of them fill you with a kind of irrepressible glee at the audacity of humanity. (Trigger warning, there's a weird cartoon about Michael Jackson raping people about halfway through that apparently my scriptblock somehow hid from me. Sorry guys!)

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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What's that you say?

You're searching for ( A Cheaper World? )

(no subject)

Aw man. When I lived in Edgewater, north of where I do now, there was this bakery on the way to the El, two blocks from my incredibly crap little apartment. It was a fantastic bakery and when I had the money to buy artisan style bread I'd get a loaf of their sourdough and a mini-baguette. It was the first place I felt like was "mine" in Chicago, and now it's closed. :(

Also, I have to say, there are an unusual number of you who have clearly never heard Averil Lavigne's "Sk8erboi", without which that "She was a punk / she did ballet" Cheaper World comic does not make nearly as much sense.

You should probably, really, be proud of that, though. I felt shamelful just making the comic.

It has certainly been a day around here -- intermittent internet and elevators, not to mention now that I'm leaving Overboss seems determined to wring every ounce of work from me in the short time remaining to us.

Nero the Orchid's mother came back to the office today, and I asked her if I could keep him. She said I could because she'd be scared of keeping him in her cube, so I am now the proud daddy of a large purple orchid.

Cheaper and tidier than children!

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My leather jacket has been returned to me! It's all shiny and black again, and it doesn't smell like someone died in it. I hugged it and the guy ringing me up laughed at me.

Unlike the shoe repair place that killed my boots, I can fully and wholeheartedly recommend Without A Trace leather care & reweaving. They have two offices in Chicago but also accept mail-in repairs. For $150 (about $80 less than they quoted me initially) they fixed three rips, then cleaned and redyed my jacket.

I can't wait until it gets cold enough to wear it again. BRING IT ON, WINTER. I AM READY FOR YOU.

ETA OH SNAP VINDICATED.