Thanks to everyone who entered to my One Night of Queen ticket giveaway! The winner was chosen by a highly scientific method; I wrote every entrant’s name on a piece of paper, tossed them into the air, and waited to see which one my dog would try to eat. She chose Kim, whose favorite Queen song is “You’re My Best Friend.” Kim is a big fan of the arts in Northwest Arkansas, and very generous with her time and support. Congratulations, Kim!
And speaking of generous, I wanted to share a little public service announcement with you. On Thursday, I did a dumb thing. While playing volleyball, I received a serve with an overhand pass, which, back in my high school/college days, was illegal. Today’s it’s allowed, and sadly, it means slow and lazy players like me don’t have to move our feet and pass correctly. On Thursday, I paid for my laziness when I did something painful to my right thumb, to the point where it’s been tough to tie my shoes for the past few days.
This loss of function from one of my fingers brought home something I’d been following, peripherally, on twitter. See, I follow a lot people on twitter whom I’ve never met, but last week, by chance, I happened to see tweets from Amber Perrodin as she and her husband were dealing with a horrible accident; Jonathan severed his right index finger from his hand while working in his studio, and unfortunately the finger wasn’t able to be saved. So now a couple who makes their living with their hands (they founded Perrodin Supply Company) has to figure out how to adjust to a new reality.
The Perrodins are part of a large and growing crafting community in Northwest Arkansas. To be fair, I stay away from crafting blogs and sites because I’m pretty far from crafty, and hanging out in those places makes me feel irrationally inadequate. But I’ve been watching this community rally around the Perrodins, and it’s really amazing.
A blog called Four Finger Fundraiser has sprung up, and on March 11th, a bunch of cool products will be avaialble for sale, with the proceeds going to help the Perrodins. The products are all donated by craftsmen and women from around the country. I’m partial to this blue honey necklace by arch craft:
You can get updates about the fundraiser on twitter and facebook. Go check it out and maybe you’ll find something you want to buy. At the very least, you’ll feel a little better about the fact that there are lots of good and generous people in the world. I know I did.
Everything and a Racehorse 