(no subject)

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Lots of people in need this week, so I hope you all are recovered from the winter holiday. :) Also I did get quite a few duplicate submissions this week, thank you to those who submitted anonymously as well as those whose names are in the blurbs.

Ways To Give:

editrx's small bookstore, Star Cat Books in Vermont, is struggling to stay afloat, and editrx herself is facing car troubles, high heating bills, and chronic illnesses. She is trying to raise $9K to clear her bills and car issues and keep her store going. You can read more and support her fundraiser here.

nivcharayahel was diagnosed last year with congestive heart failure, and has had to cut back on teaching work to accommodate her illness and frequent doctor visits, as well as supporting her sister, who is also ill. She is raising money to help keep them going by offering feedback on essays ($10 up to 10 pages), editing/beta services, and tutoring in college-level writing via skype. You can reach her to discuss services at nivchara_yahel at yahoo.com, and her sister is offering icon-making skills at auspicious_pig (or you can contact her at muckalarkuary at gmail.com).

Charlene has been her disabled daughter's primary caregiver for years, and has found a good group home for her, so she's now focusing on completing her Birthing From Within childbirth mentor certification. She's raising funds to get her company going; you can support the fundraiser here and read more about her work here.

surpassingly linked to a fundraiser for twitter user likhain, who has had to leave her place of work due to toxic homophobia in the workplace and severe depression. Her household is now without an income, and they are raising funds to help with medical bills, rent, groceries, and other expenses. You can help support them here and read more at her partner's journal post here.

Anon is a full-time, full-custody single mother with chronic health problems and special-needs children, who is trying to get her kids out of an unsuitable housing situation. She's found a new, better place for her kids but needs $2400 to put a first-and-last rent deposit down. She does not have a formal donation page up, but is accepting donations via paypal at mr.roboto@applied-genius.com. (I know this one's a little more anonymous than usual, but I've read her full post and I'm confident she is someone genuinely in need.)

the_verb's students have been selected to go to Quizbowl Small School Nationals in Atlanta this year, but they have to get from Tucson to Atlanta to participate. They're raising money for transportation, lodging, registration, and incidentals; you can read more and support the trip here.

shanstoryteller is raising money for a short film called UPRISING, a response to the lack of minorities featured in media, specifically the fantasy genre. You can read more and support the film here.

Davidov's event space and bar is running a kickstarter to upgrade their gear for 2015. Davidov's is a volunteer run mobile tent catering to larpers, milsim paintball and airsofters and post apocalypse and zombie enthusiasts, and they look super cool. You can read more and support them here.

Buy Stuff, Help Out:

soc_puppet linked to author Shira Glassman, who will be donating all royalties from her third book, A Harvest of Ripe Figs, from now through the end of March, to a yet-to-be-finalized trans charity. You can read more about where to preorder and purchase at her tumblr post here.

why_me_why_not linked to a fundraiser her aunt (a teacher for the visually impaired) is running, selling shirts to raise money for the Virginia Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired annual conference. It's a pretty cool shirt and it helps support educational professionals for the visually impaired. You can check out the shirt and support the organization here.

Just for Fun:

worldsonpaper ended up with two copies of the Young Avengers Ultimate Collection's trade paperback after Christmas; she's offering to send a copy to the first person within Australia who drops a message in her tumblr askbox (or she'll meet you at Sydney's Central Station to hand it over in person!).

Anon linked to a paper called "Writing To Superman", about the social networks formed by letter writers to comic books in the late sixties and seventies, which they thought readers would find interesting. (They also linked to his main page here). I haven't read it yet but I'm looking forward to it!

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can post items for my attention at the Radio Free Monday submissions form or via email 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 (or ask for help!).

(no subject)

Well, thank fuck.

I've been worrying for about two and a half months now that I was going to be fired from my job, and frankly two and a half months ago it wouldn't have been unjustified. I was spending a lot of time screwing up, possibly because I was in a lot of pain, possibly because I knew I had relatively terrifying upcoming surgery. And my boss had been forced to give me a talk about keeping my mind a little more on my work. SO.

Anxiety! It's here to stay!

But I've been conscientious since I've been back, working really hard to prove that I am in fact NOT an epic fuckup, and today I was given a long-term project which basically screams HEY WE AREN'T JUST WAITING FOR THE HR PAPERWORK TO GO THROUGH BEFORE WE FIRE YOU, which is nice.

Jesus, I feel like I'm gonna sleep for a week. My former ulcer thanks you, Employers.