The person I mentioned yesterday has about half the amount she needs in order not to be homeless a few hours from now. To sweeten the deal, samhenderson is offering copies of her novel to people who donate $10 or more, and alankria is offering card stories to people who donate $25 or more. info on both of those things here.

I'll throw in a mix CD for anyone who donates $15 or more. Just send me a copy of your PayPal confirmation (julia at juliarios dot com), and an indication of what sort of music you like. I really want Ju (and her mom and dog) to have a home! Please re-post this wherever you like. I will send mixes to anyone at all provided I have an address and a donation confirmation.

First, another person in desperate need of help. This one needs $2500 by 10pm tomorrow, Eastern US time, or she'll be homeless, along with her mom and her dog. The link has the full horror story and a PayPal button. alankria points out that if 250 people can spare $10, we can make this work. I'm all for making things work.

( Boring health update is boring )

In other news, I think I have an idea for a bestseller that will make us all rich. Are you ready for it?

The Kidney Stone Diet!*

I've lost 17 pounds in six weeks on this amazing new diet, and so can you! Now, back in the olden days, people would have to wait for ages for their bodies to naturally form kidney stones. It was a question of winning the genetic lottery. Who would be lucky enough to benefit from the life affirming wonders of extreme pain and appetite loss? Many would go their entire lives without knowing this joy. But now, we live in an advanced technological age, and anyone can get a kidney stone with a simple, slightly invasive procedure. Your Kidney Stone Technician with use a special probe to inject a stone into your kidney in a five minute long outpatient procedure, and the rest is history. Check out our testimonials!

"I was skeptical at first, but the Kidney Stone Diet really works. I've had five stones now, and I'm in constant pain. It's fantastic!"
KidneyStoneGirl95

"It hurt like f***, and I'm down ten pounds!"
Jane Smith

"I really feel like I'm in touch with my body now that I have no interest in food. Instead of salivating every time I see ice cream, I clutch my side and grimace. It's wonderful."
KSDietMelissa

How can this diet book possibly fail?

*Moss suggests the excellent alternate titles, Women with Kidney Stones Don't Get Fat, and YOU: With a Kidney Stone.

Several people have been generous enough to offer me financial assistance right now, but as yet, I don't need that (much though I do appreciate the offers). There are other people in the world who do need that sort of help right now, though, and this is one of them. Her husband is dying, and she needs help covering cremation costs. If you thought you could spare a few dollars for me, I'd be much happier if you sent them to her. Her PayPal e-mail address is johanna_mead@yahoo.com. Please remember to tell PayPal it's a gift so they don't charge her any fees.

The leaves are turning. I'm going walking. I should be writing. I'll do it soon.

Autumn wants changes, as ever it does. So: Halp me, LJ! I think it's time I did away with the silly stoned bunny layout. It's not very me-ish, but I chose it because the text and links were easily readable, and it's what I see when I read the friendslist (which also acts as my general rss reader). How hard is it to customize a layout? Or, is there a more Julia-ish layout in the LJ-provided templates? Suggestions? Votes? I am collecting all responses for further consideration.

Sooner or later, some more VP stuff, and a list of links to other accounts. Now I hear Spy Pond beckoning me. Yes, there will be pictures after. I'll post them over tea.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch the TV series and the Sabrina the Teenage Witch made for TV movies are totally different despite having some of the same actors (including Melissa Joan Hart as the title character and Nick Bakay as her talking cat, Salem). I have seen all the episodes of the TV show and all three of the movies, and I can safely say that the TV show is better. Just in case you're wondering. But...

In the movies, Sabrina gets a British witch friend, who's really clumsy, and always says, "Oh, Frizzle!" when she mucks everything up. It's really cute, and very satisfying to say that in a British accent, so Moss and I say it a lot, mostly for fun, but sometimes because we have done really boneheaded things worthy of Sabrina's Britwitch friend.

Today is one of the latter occasions, I fear.

I've been wanting a digital mp3 voice recorder for a while (to use for interviews among other things), and I just realized this morning that such a thing might come in very handy next week when I'm at Viable Paradise. I can record critiques and re-listen to them later! I can see if anyone wants to do some sort of VP podcast or something! I can keep a voice diary so that when they find my withered remains everyone will know about the vampire land sharks! So I checked out some reviews, found a model on the cheap end of the spectrum, and thought I'd be good, planning to grab it tomorrow maybe.

But... my sister wanted to go to Target, and while we there, I thought I'd just check. There it was! The Sony model I'd remembered seeing online, all tempting and shiny at $60. So I grabbed it, opened the package on the way home to test the sound quality, and was really pleased.

Until I tried to hook it up to my computer.

Yeah, you guessed it. I thought that because the recorder had a USB cable, it would be ready to transfer mp3s, the same way my Sony Cybershot digital camera is instantly ready to transfer JPEG files. WRONG. Apparently this particular recorder requires that you install a voice editing software disc before it will allow computers to recognize it. And the editing software? Windows only. I have a Mac. Naturally.

So, now I get to go to Target in the morning to see if they will accept an opened piece of electronic equipment that I can't actually use (I even checked Apple help forums and things. it turns out other people have had the same exact problem, and the answer is "Sorry, you are SOL, sucker!"). I am going to be really surprised if they agree to take it back, and then double super surprised if they actually give me a refund instead of store credit in the electronics department only.

Oh, Frizzle!*

Anyone want to buy a perfectly good, brand new, working voice recorder off me?

*If I had Windows, I could record that and throw it up on this journal for you to hear, but Noooooo.

The scant job market means that this is a trying time for a lot of my peers. I'm lucky enough to be stable and secure for the nonce, but I know I'm the exception among freelance artists, artisans, and homemakers.

If you find yourself in similarly exceptional circumstances and wish to be a patron of the arts, you might consider ordering some delicious chocolates (continental US only, I think) from a struggling chocolate maker and movie reviewer, or checking out the exciting items up for auction over at the adoptingcat community. I'm offering a quest of the five senses, and there are all kinds of other great things to tempt you into helping fantasy writer Catherynne M. Valente get through a bit of a rough patch.

Tomorrow, pictures of the latest altered book spreads (wherein Moss takes the prize for making the most awesome fairy tale spread ever), but for now, I'm off to order some Lovecraftian truffles, and watch a bit of Stephen Fry.

The publishing world is experiencing some major upset these days. In the past week several of the big houses had acquisitions freezes, layoffs, merges, and discontinued imprints. It's a pretty dramatic time to be following publishing news, and my heart goes out to all the people affected by it. But the economic crisis is not just limited to the big players. Small presses are struggling, too, and they will have a harder time bouncing back. I know it seems like I ask for charitable donations all the damn time (just last week it was photos for Soren, which is still an open and good cause!), but I swear I only do it when I think it's important.

So, small press owner, Vera Nazarian is in danger of losing the house she shares with her mother. It's a long, sad story, but the upshot is she needs to pay $11,229.72 by the 20th of this month, or her house turns into a pumpkin (and not the nice magical kind that is giant and well-furnished, either). You can read all about the details here, and you can help by donating even as little as one dollar via PayPal to helpvera@fuzzyorange.com, or by participating as a bidder or seller in the helpvera community auction.

There are all kinds of awesome things up for grabs, like books, jewelry, candles, handmade hats and scarves, and custom written poems and stories. I bought a poem by JoSelle Vanderhooft, and then took a leaf out of her book and made my own custom poem offering.

I am certain that as a community we can raise enough to save Vera's house. Please feel free to spread the word.