Category: Uncategorized

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Spinning Plate(let)s

Time for another round of blood-lust! Last May, Official VM pal Elayne asked me to get the word out about the need for blood and platelet donations for her friend Nathanael Sandstrom, who was suffering from histiocytosis. I gave, as did some of my friends, for which Nathanael’s family is very thankful.

Elayne just sent word that Nathanael Sandstrom is still in need:

All those in or near NYC, below is another call for blood and platelet donations. As part of the bone marrow transplant process, Nathanael needs frequent transfusions of multiple blood products (hemoglobin, platelets, and others) until his “new” marrow begins producing on its own. We send our deepest thanks in advance for this generous gift!

I gave a double red-cell donation a few weeks ago, so I’m ineligible till mid-November. That means you, my dear NJ/NYC-area readers (those who aren’t gay, European or post-cancer, that is), get to donate in my stead!

Seriously: Please help out, if you can. If you’re not in the NY/NJ region but have eligible friends or family who are, please forward this info to them. Here are the details:

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Designated donations for Nathanael must be made in the Blood Donor Room of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Please visit www.mskcc.org/blooddonations for complete information about donor eligibility and the donation process for blood or platelets.

For answers to questions and to schedule an appointment that is convenient for you please CALL:

Mary Thomas @ 212-639-3335

Coordinator, Blood Donor Program

thomasfm@mskcc.org

or call the Blood Donor Room at 212-639-7648

Appointments are necessary

The Blood Donor Room is open every day

Fri., Sat., Sun., Mon.: 8:30am – 3:00pm

Tues., Wed., Thu.: 8:30am – 7:00pm

1250 First Avenue (between 67th/68th Streets) NYC – Schwartz Building lobby

FREE parking is available for donors at our garage 433 East 66th Street corner of York Avenue.

The process for donating whole blood takes approximately 1 hour.

The process for donating platelets takes about 2.5 hours. (Bring a book/Kindle or several magazines.)

All blood types are acceptable.

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What It Is: 9/29/08

What I’m reading: Back to Raymond Chandler! Then, who knows?

What I’m listening to: Joe Jackson’s Rain record

What I’m watching: Amy was pretty unwell this weekend, so she watched some chick flicks on Saturday afternoon, before we tuned into the LSU win over Miss State. Don’t worry; we TiVo’d the new Chris Rock special.

What I’m drinking: Plymouth & tonic. A lot. But I’m going to try to dry out for the next week or two.

What Rufus is up to: Bonding with his mom while I was away at my conference.

Where I’m going: The Warwick Applefest next Sunday, but that should be about it, unless I take a half-day this week and head into NYC or Montclair to sell a few boxes of books.

What I’m happy about: I’m happy that our conference was a big success, but for the moment I’m happier that it’s over.

What I’m sad about: Today may be the last day for the Official Newspaper of Gil Roth.

What I’m pondering: How few physical objects I order from Amazon nowadays. I buy music from their MP3 store, and books through their Kindle store. I still get comic collections in print, but most everything else I get from them is electronic.

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Confer

No bloggitry today, dear readers! Contracting & Outsourcing 2008 is about to start, and I’m going to be pretty busy all day, putting out figurative fires. At least, I hope they’re only figurative. Anyway, our attendance is up more than 50% from last year’s conference, not including the day-of walk-ups. Wish us luck!

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Poesiealbum

I’ll sure miss the NYSun when it closes up shop at the end of the month (barring a buyer who’s willing to lose a bunch of money). Today’s gem is Against Oblivion, Adam Kirsch’s review of The Terezin Album of Marianka Zadikow. I can’t do it justice, so go read it for yourself.

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What It Is: 9/8/08

What I’m reading: The Death of Ivan Ilych, Montaigne’s essays, and Berlin: City of Stones.

What I’m listening to: Pure, by the Golden Palominos.

What I’m watching: Almost done with the final season of The Wire! Aaiee! What’ll I watch after this? Well, at least football season has started!

What I’m drinking: Yuengling lager

What Rufus is up to: Holding it in, as he refused to crap Saturday evening during the tropical storm that was belting the area. That said, he was willing to brave the elements for a pee-break or two, from which we returned looking like a pair of drowned rats.

Where I’m going: Nowhere, although I really oughtta get into NYC for this Charles Burns exhibition.

What I’m happy about: That my in-laws’ homes didn’t get demolished by hurricane Gustav! (Oh, and that I got a new dishwasher last week. And that when Lowe’s sorta screwed up and overcharged me by $50, they called a few hours later and credited me.)

What I’m sad about: That my pal Tom got mugged in Rome last weekend, and that I got this news five minutes after receiving a not-so-nice letter from the IRS.

What I’m pondering: How and when to rip up all the forsythia in the backyard and transplant 3 or 4 of them in the side yard.