Help Haiti

I can’t imagine anything more horrible than what’s happening in Haiti right now. Hell on Earth is what it is. We’re not charity professionals around here, but we’re learning. Slowly. I had asked some people what might be the best way to go about helping, and of course, Jody was one of the first to jump in with not only one option, but several.

Also, a couple of people were making jokes about this on twitter today. I’m telling you now: If I see it, I’m going to come after you. Today I just hit the unfollow button, but tomorrow… tomorrow is a different day. You see, there is no humor in this. None of it. And laughing at it from the comfort of your own home makes you… I don’t even know. Rarely am I at a loss for words, especially mean ones, but I’m sure they’ll all come back to me if needed. I’m really trying to be a kinder, gentler Mayo, but I can’t sit still while it’s happening. I simply have to yell at you. So before you mock these people, think to yourself, “is that really funny?” If you think the answer is “yes,” tell it to your nurse or jailer or whoever watches you to make sure you don’t stab yourself in the eye with a fork. Just keep it away from me, please.

Thank you, Jody, for putting this together and thanks to everyone else who has already helped and to those who plan to help. It’s a fucking nightmare. Plain and simple.

- MayoPie

The following is by By Jody M Schoger

Today those of us grateful to be firmly planted on solid ground are talking about the catastrophic earthquake that has devastated portions of Haiti and killed, injured and misplaced millions in a country with a long history of hardship.

“After 9/11, the French newspaper Le Monde declared: We Are All Americans. And after yesterday’s earthquake, we are all Haitians,” Nicholas Kristof wrote in this morning’s New York Times. “Today, we are all Haitians. No country seems to have had worse luck with misrule, environmental mismanagement, natural disasters and poor governance than Haiti. And now the earthquake.”

The natural urge to help – Americans are some of the world’s most generous people – is to be commended and encouraged. A few steps to make sure your donation helps the organizations that can most effectively distribute aid.

In situations of like this, bigger IS better. The American Red Cross, and U.N.I.C.E.F., for example, have proven track records in assisting victims of natural disaster. Doctors Without Borders is another that comes to mind. Helping the Haitians get essential supplies probably won’t be happen through an organization you’ve never heard about. Go with the organizations that already have people on the ground.

But I’m no expert here. Below I’ve consolidated some lists of charities you can choose from, gathered from wire reports and Twitter.

“The best way for corporations to support relief efforts at the moment is to make cash donations,” said Caryl Stern, president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. (Reuters report) “What we need in the first few days is to enable the humanitarian workers to do their jobs, to go in and do rescue and recovery… and that takes cash,” she said.

Chris Sacca, technology investor and guru, posted a number of great suggestions on his Twitter account . He encouraged his followers to donate to charity:water. “If you know me, you know how passionate I am about charity:water (@charitywater) and it’s work to bring clean water to the 1 billion people on the planet who don’t have it.”

- InterAction , a coalition of U.S.-based international non-governmental organizations, has a list of agencies responding and how to donate to them. Find it here

- Text Haiti to 90999 To donate $10 to the American Red Cross,. The amount will be added to your next phone bill. The organization is also accepting donations through its International Response Fund, http://www.redcross.org

- Text 501501 to donate $5 to Wyclef Jean’s Haitian Yele charity. The money will be added to your next phone bill.

- To find out how to help the International Rescue Committee, visit http://www.theIRC.org or call toll free, 1-877-REFUGEE.

Happy New Year from the Bloggess Army

Hi. Welcome to the most disorganized blog on the net. When we got this blog started, it quickly became “me.” That’s a problem because I’m not what one would call “responsible” or “functional.” That being said, I believe in what we do here and have had several great writers allow me to feature their posts here. Anissa Mayhew herself (our inaugural post,) Megan Hook (Undomestic Diva,) Adam Avitable (Avitable) among others. In fact, if you would like to guest-post or have your post featured, let me know. It’s so much easier than writing one and I am just so damn attached to easy. I can’t shake it, no matter how hard I don’t really try.

What we do have now is 3 writers (if you include me as one. I think “writer” is a strong word. I prefer “doofus.”) The wonderful Jody Schroger and the eternally awesome Shauna Glenn are here to stay (at least until they get completely annoyed with my complete lack of organizational skills.) In fact, I’ve asked Shauna to HELP ME, because as I’ve stated, I’m not a functional human. So yes, Shauna and I are now co-editors or whatever you might call it. We’re going to come up with cooler titles, though. “The Dragons” or something. We haven’t talked about it, but every organization should have a position called “The Dragon.” I’m sure she’ll agree. Who wouldn’t? Exactly.

What we’re going to try and accomplish here is help people while making others laugh. We may walk a fine line from time to time, but our intentions will always be 100% positive. If we offend you, we are sorry and can assure you it wasn’t itentional and before you cast judgment, we would like you to at least consider the possibility that you’re a jerk. How do you know? Well, if you’ve been called a jerk more than twice in the last year, you probably are one. You see, most people won’t take the time to tell you that you’re a jerk. So if 2 people actually do tell you, multiply that number by pi and add 47. That’s how many people are thinking it. I didn’t write the formula, so don’t get all jerky, jerk. Numbers don’t lie.

So, somewhere exists a list of people that originally signed up for the Bloggess Army. I don’t know where that list is… the person responsible for organizing it… left or something? I don’t know. I may have it somewhere. Don’t worry, you haven’t missed any mixers or events, but in the near future, we will be kicking ass and taking names. Also, a lot of the people that signed up were all “woo hoo! let’s make fun of people” and then when we started actually helping people the appeal wore off pretty much immediately. So here’s the deal: We’re just going to start over and it you want to be a part of something good, join us. If not, we’ll destroy you. Probably. I don’t know, we’ll see. We’ll start with sneers, mocking and giggled whispers just loud enough to hear, but just quiet enough not to be understood. Do not fuck with us.

If you want to be a part of the most awesome army ever, e-mail mayopie.ba@gmail.com. I’m also going to put up a link or something. Or Shauna will. I don’t know. Someone will probably do something at some point. We’ll see how it goes.

If you were in the original army and already have your codename, just re-email it to me. What will be expected of you is very little. RT some messages on twitter, click some stuff, maybe fill out a form or two, and of course, harass celebrities. There’s no way we can take that out of the mix. It’s fun and you can dance to it.

One thing is for sure, the new year is going to be something remember for the Bloggess Army. Ahhh yeahhhh…. Happy New Year! Vagina.

-Mayo Pie (Clay)

P.S. Please visit hope4peyton.org for updates on Anissa and keep praying. This woman can do anything. I wish I had half of her will and determination.

UPDATE: I am so not intelligent, but you knew this. I totally forgot we have the list of original bloggess army members and their codenames here. I’m so stupid. You can also press the button on the top of the page that says “Soldiers.” See? I so wasn’t kidding. So here’s the deal: If you’re on the list and would like to be removed, let me know. I’ll add the new additions. You can also see which codenames are already spoken for. If you see one you really want, let me know and I’ll contact the person that owns it and question their commitment to the cause. If I find them to be anything less than willing to die for us, I’ll strip their title and it’s yours.

Also, I find twitter to not be a great form for communication, so if I don’t have your e-mail address, I’d like it. Don’t worry, I’ll almost never send you porn.

Undomestic Diva is Awesome

It’s finished and it’s awesome, so just go here and watch it. Thank you so much, Megan, this is wonderful and I know Anissa will love it! Everyone check it out!

Undomestic Diva

#prayersforanissa

 

What You Can do For Anissa

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Anissa Mayhew is currently fighting her ass off in true Anissa style (updates at hope4peyton.org.) And our friend Megan (aka Undomestic Diva) came up with a wonderful idea that I should have posted here a few days ago, but I’m not bright. I often forget that I can get at least 4 other people to pay attention to something, and maybe even one will act. That’s called leadership, my friends. Anyway, below is Megan’s post and this is truly an awesome idea, so please do it. - Clay (MayoPie)

Most of you have heard about the devastating stroke our fellow blogger and friend Anissa suffered two weeks ago and have felt helpless when it comes to being able to help her… Yes, there are ways to donate money and awesome t-shirts to buy (with 100% of the proceeds going to her family) but still, it seems like there isn’t much we can do to help her.

But there IS something you can do. And it costs nothing but a few minutes of your time and has the potential to make a huge impact.

After reading Peter’s latest post about Anissa where he talks about showing her videos of the kids, of her family, of her friends and how it’s helping Anissa, Adrienne came up with an amazing idea… putting together a slideshow of photographs of bloggers for Anissa.

You don’t have to know or have met Anissa personally; just have heard her story and wanted to help somehow. And this is how you can.

Here’s how it works…

1. Take a high-quality photo of yourself holding a sign with a simple message for Anissa like “Sending you love” or “Keep fighting” or whatever you want to say. And yes, if you’d like to send her a cleavage shot (which she would very much enjoy) go for it.

2. Email it to me in jpeg format at: foranissa@gmail.com with your name and blog URL.

3. Tweet and/or post about this to spread the word. We’d like to see HUNDREDS of bloggers representing for Anissa. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pass on the word.

The deadline to submit your photo is Sunday, December 13th.
*Pictures only – no videos, please.

I will put all submissions into a video slideshow set to Glee’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” (music Peter has said Anissa is responding to) and overnight it to Peter for Anissa. We will also share the video with everyone as soon as it’s done.

Let’s continue to fight for Anissa.

~Megan

A long road

I’ve been closely following the progress of Anissa Mayhew and it’s been ups and downs, but the last news we’ve received seems promising. Please visit www.hope4peyton.org to get updates directly from Anissa’s husband.

The strength of this family amazes me. I simply couldn’t imagine having to go through the various struggles they have gone through, and the road to recovery will be just as difficult. I urge you to keep this family in your thoughts and prayers and if you can, please help them.

Please be well, Anissa

I don’t know Anissa Mayhew well, but I do know her well enough to be greatly saddened by the news that she’s currently in the ICU after having suffered a stroke.  Anissa and I have communicated several times over the last few months.  In fact, our inaugural post was hers and she also featured a post of mine on AimingLow, for which I was very grateful. 

In the days since, we’ve tweeted back and forth regularly, I started a mini-movement to get Ralph Macchio to speak to her (which he did and she gave me credit for, but I don’t think it was me) and I’ve grown to consider her a friend, as I have many of the people I’ve met through blogging and twitter. 

As I said, I don’t know her that well, but here’s what I know:  She’s a brilliant and funny writer (that’s the first thing I learned about her)  She’s unbelievably strong  (if you read her post here or know her story, you know she couldn’t be anything but.)  She’s a loving and caring friend (this I know from those close to her.)  She’s a kick-ass boss (this I know from those that work for her.)  Simply put, she’s one in a million.

The show of love and support (as expected) has been amazing.  I hate to imagine the loss to her family, her friends, her fans… I won’t imagine it. Please be well, Anissa. Please be well.

Please visit AimingLow to find out what you can do.  By the time I hit publish on this post, I’m hoping that good news has already been received.  I know the family needs help and people are registering to do just that.  Please do anything you can.

Update: She’s fighting hard! There was an update at 10:00 a.m. , please check the above link. Keep praying, people. Just keep praying. And thank you to all those that helped me to get Ralph Macchio to follow to her. I know she’ll absolutely love it!!! And if you’re on twitter, please follow @ralphmacchio to show your appreciation. It was really nice of him to do and he deserves our thank you!

Goodbye, Chris

The other day, I heard from a friend of mine that someone from our childhood was killed in a tragic cycling accident. His name is Chris Livingston. Though I hadn’t spoken to Chris since school, I was greatly saddened by this news. Chris had friended me on facebook and I was genuinely happy to reconnect with him in any way, because I remember him as being genuine, friendly, and knew through mutual friends he had become a very good man.

I went to Chris’ facebook page and saw a comment from Adam, and having visited his blog a few times, I thought I’d reach out to him to offer my condolences, as I sensed from his comment that the loss to him was big. I had no idea how big until I read this incredibly heartfelt and… sad post. So, so sad.

I’m not sure what we can do for this family (if anything.) Adam sent me the funeral info, and frankly, I’m not sure whether or not I should post it here. Not that a mob would show, but this is a deeply personal time for friends and family and I’m not sure posting this information is relevant. That being said, if you’re interested in learning more, helping this family, or know the victim and need the logistics, e-mail me at mayopie.ba@gmail.com. The viewing is tonight and the service is tomorrow.

I’d like to thank Adam Avitable for this heart-wrenching post. If you’ve visited his blog, you know he’s hilarious and this isn’t the norm. 

My sincerest condolences to Adam and to all the friends and family of someone whom I know will be sorely missed.

-mp

The Method of Consolation

by Adam Avitable

There’s no way to do that right. It’s impossible to properly console a mother who is crying over the loss of her son, her only child, her best friend. Crying’s not the right word. This was a complete and utter loss of all emotional faculties. Up and down my hand went on her back. A constant rhythm. That’s all I could think of. Up and down. Up and down.

Trying to give her privacy, I stared intently at the cabinet against the wall, filled with medical supplies. In the glass, I caught the reflection of his face, waxy and still. I heard her talk to him, telling him who she notified and how his son will be fine and how she’ll be strong because she knows he would want her to be. And I heard her deny it over and over again, repeating the word no with a low staccato beat. Her face buried in the blue sheet that covered him, she moaned, a low guttural sound that echoed in my head. Up and down. Up and down.

I noticed that one of the cabinet doors was slightly ajar and contemplated walking over to close it. The more I stared, the more it bothered me. Why didn’t somebody close that fucking door? The rest of them are closed and how hard is it to close. one. door? And the sheets? Why were the sheets wrinkled? Hadn’t anyone thought that the sheets should be nice and neat? Without thinking, I reached out to straighten the sheet in front of me. My hand touched his covered body. It was very solid and felt cool to the touch. And it felt wrong. So wrong.

Suddenly, I was ready to leave. If it wasn’t for my hand on the back of this woman I didn’t know, moving up and down, while she said goodbye to her son, a friend, I would have been gone. Instead, I breathed and looked him in the face and listened to her words. I felt her love and her grief and her pain and her misery as if it were my very own.

And I stood silently and like a statue, if not for the arm moving up and down, up and down, until she was done saying goodbye to her only son.