Cleolinda everywhere

So. It is time to catch up.

First of all, I have taken Betsy (my previous computer, lost to the Compocalypse) to the Data Resurrectionist, and he says that the OS (which is pretending not to exist) isn't just the problem--some of the files are corrupted as well, perhaps 10% of them, but he'll retrieve what he can. God knows how much this will cost. Footnote-writing takes on a new urgency. I wanted to have the Vampires e-book out before Eclipse, but then, I also wanted it done before last Christmas. This is something else entirely.

Meanwhile, the asshole kids down the street (we are pretty certain) have now started tampering with my stepfather's tires, creeping up to our yard and cutting off one stem valve at a time (you know, where you pump air into the tire). It costs $30 to replace a stem--and that's if you notice it. That's if your tire has helpfully gone flat while your car is still in the driveway, which is not what happened last week--rather, my stepfather was out on the interstate when the tire gave up the ghost. He could have had a blowout, could have crashed, could have been seriously hurt. As it was, the tire had to be immediately replaced. For $300. Which we so totally could afford right now.

Yeah. The police have been called. And if you're reading this, assholes, this particular officer's mother used to work with my stepfather. They know each other. He's taking it seriously. So these four tire-slashing shenanigans have been documented by the cops. When you get caught, you're going down for all of them, and your asshole parents who won't rein you in--who deny that you threw bricks onto our patio and left a ladder to climb over our fence and rang our doorbell at all hours even though we saw you running back to their house--are paying for all of it. Yeah, YOU. I hope you're reading this and you DO recognize yourself and CUT IT THE FUCK OUT. I don't care if you're fourteen. Hope you enjoy juvenile detention.

So... um. Meanwhile!

Sam has gotten his summer cut!


Speaking of which, I think I must have tripped over the dogstacle course that is our house and hurt my right foot--maybe landed on my toes or the ball of my foot weirdly, or too hard--because it's been bothering me since two Wednesdays ago. Basically, since the funeral. And I've been limping a little. It doesn't feel like the bones are the problem--maybe I've pulled a muscle or a tendon? I don't know. It doesn't hurt very badly, but enough to be a pain in the ass. Well, figuratively.

A quick way to catch up on my Tumblr: The infinite-scroll photo collage archive.

Let's have a little linkspam: ( Read more... )

So far, I'm liking the Breaking News account on Twitter (now affiliated with MSNBC) for a stream of specifics:

#Haiti quake to be one of deadliest disasters in history, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says

#Haiti president now estimates 30,000 to 50,000 died in earthquake - CNN [about 16 hours ago]

Update: International Federation of Red Cross: Up to 3 million people affected by #Haiti quake - AP

Dominican Republic sets aside historic tensions, rushes heavy equipment to #Haiti to help remove earthquake debris http://bit.ly/63ptYY 

Doctors without Borders witness in #Haiti's capital visits 5 medical centers, says all are damaged and not functioning http://bit.ly

Four truckloads of Norwegian rescuers with heavy equipment sighted in Port-au-Prince for #Haiti quake rescue - CNN

Update: Plane arrives in #Haiti with Chinese search-and-rescue crew, medics, and 10 tons of food, medicine and other supplies - AP

Update: Three French planes arrive in #Haiti with aid and a mobile hospital, officials say - AP

Update: U.K. government says it will give $10 million to 'help kickstart humanitarian relief' effort in #Haiti

Update: U.S. sending up to 3,500 troops from Army's 82nd Airbourne to #Haiti; first 100 to arrive today, official says - Reuters

U.S. sending 300 medical personnel to Haiti today, 12,000 placed on alert for possible deployment, accdg to HHS Secretary Sebelius on MSNBC

Pres. Obama says losses in Haiti "nothing less than devastating." Tells Haitians, "You will not be forgotten. The world stands with you."

CNN: Haiti's first lady says "most of Port-au-Prince is destroyed," according to Haiti ambassador to U.S. I got that off their Twitter; the title of the article itself is, "Haiti appeals for aid; official fears 100,000 dead after earthquake."

NYT: Haiti Lies in Ruins; Grim Search for Untold Dead; Haiti Relief Effort Faces ‘Major Challenge’; "Country Without a Net."

Pat Robertson: Thousands Dying Because Haitian Slaves 'Swore a Pact with the Devil' for Their Freedom.

@ebertchicago: Haitian ambassador reminds Robertson: "Pact with Satan" won 13 U.S. states away from France, including Pat's.

CNN has a list of organizations you can donate to; FBI warning of Haiti earthquake scams. 

Something I personally thought was very fitting: Proceeds from January sales of BPAL's Port-au-Prince scent will go to the Red Cross, as well as proceeds from the Orishas blends. The Orisha blends are scattered through the Excolo section, but here's the search result page so you can see the descriptions all together. Port-au-Prince is on the Wanderlust page ("the rich scent of buttered rum flavored with almond, bay, clove and sassafras").


Or, perhaps the simplest way to donate--it's charged straight to your phone bill:

@RedCross: You can text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in #haiti.

ETA: I knew I'd forgotten something: Doctors Without Borders; Oxfam; Disasters Emergency Committee for readers in the UK.

ETA: See the comments for more ways to donate and/or help. I saw something about knitting?