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Right, so this is the first post on the new 2HT site that I’m writing myself. So far, so good. Love, love, love the new design and can’t thank Karen enough.

There are bound to be some kinks to work out. Some of the posts that were imported from the old 2HT site wound up being all wonky format-wise. Weird line breaks in the middle of sentences, etc. I’m not about to go checking every post, of course. There are other fish to fry, at least on the front burner.

I’m digging Wordpress thus far. As far as the post-writing goes, it’s pretty easy to use. I’m sure there will be some moderate swearing going on as I wonder “how do I do this?” but I’m not all that concerned about it.

And the header with the pipe-smoking? Well, there’s the 2HT history for you. When Hilly came up with my original header graphic, she brilliantly picked the smoking guy, since I told her I wanted to somehow utilize the molecular structure for tryptophan in the graphic. (Thanks to Dave for that idea, btw.) Get it? SecondHand smoke? SecondHand Tryptophan? Yeah, that’s probably not the explanation you were hoping for, but that’s basically the story about that.

Plus, yeah, I currently smoke. I’m quitting (again) but not until my huge social endeavors at TequilaCon. Can’t do it. I know, I know. Shoot me.

The next thing I want to talk about is Lisa (Clusterfook). In case you haven’t heard, Lisa recently announced that she has cancer. Again. I’ve only recently discovered Lisa, yet this is still heartbreaking news for me. She’s beaten cancer twice before and that takes a toll not only on her, but the entire family.

Miss Ann Thrope (another new one for me) has organized a big fundraiser to help send Lisa and her family on a Disneyland vacation. They’re looking to raise thousands of dollars to make this happen. I just talked about all the bloggity goodness out there, how bloggers rally together for each other at a moment’s notice. This is one of those times.

I’m not rolling in dough, that’s for sure, but I do chip in when I can. Hope you will, too.

And there are lots of prizes available, so when you check out Miss Ann Thrope’s page, you can see all the lovely things that people have chipped in.

Finally, it’s April and time for the 2008 Grassroots Blogger Book Marketing Campaign, organized by the beloved Kapgar. This month, bloggers everywhere are going to discuss sex in order to promote Carly’s book, “Sexology.”

I signed up immediately, without even knowing what the deal was. I mean, it’s SEX. Come on! Better yet, this entire affair will be helping raise money for RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network). There’s the Sexology graphic in my sidebar and you should click on it to see Kevin’s page about the project.

Here’s a description of RAINN, as seen on Kevin’s project page:

About RAINN:
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network is the nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline with a nationwide partnership of more than 1,100 local rape treatment hotlines, providing victims of sexual assault with free, confidential services around the clock. The hotline helped 137,039 sexual assault victims in 2005 and has helped more than one million since it began in 1994. RAINN’s goal is to expand its hotline services with the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline, which will be the nation’s first secure web-based hotline that provides live, secure and completely confidential help to victims 24/7 through an interface as intuitive as instant messaging. RAINN educates more than 120 million Americans each year about sexual assault. RAINN also publicizes the hotline’s free, confidential services; educates the public about sexual assault; and leads national efforts to improve services to victims and ensure that rapists are brought to justice. RAINN is the nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization and has been ranked as one of America’s 100 Best Charities by Worth Magazine.

There are prizes galore and I think you can sign up thru the 15th of the month. And you can view the list of participants here. Because of all the changes here at 2HT, I plan on making my first GBBMC post tomorrow.

I’m pretty jazzed about this. It was two years ago that 40 or so of us bloggers signed up for the first GBBMC with the Lost Blogs Project. In fact, that’s when I met Kevin and Dave and Sandra and a ton of other bloggers. I’ll be going through the participants page and adding all of them to my feedreader (those that aren’t already in there). Actually, I still have a “Lost Bloggers” folder in the feedreader.

You’ll see donation links for RAINN in every post this month. I’d love it if you’d donate through 2HT, of course, but donate any way you can. (Especially if you mention me when you donate.)

What I DO ask if you donate is that you use the NOTE section on the donation page. Please mention specifically that you’re donating on behalf of the GBBMC2008 project. Also, if you don’t mind, list my name and blog address (secondhandkarl.com) in the note. That way they can more easily keep track of all the money that comes in during the month of April.

Frankly, this is something I feel very strongly about, having my own personal shit experience. But that’s for another day.

Thanks! You all rock to the nth degree.

Filed under 2HT Mentions, Books, Current Affairs, GBMMC2008, Weblogs | Comments (17)

When I was at a recent birthday party, I noticed that my friend had an XM Radio boombox and was playing the holiday music channel. I asked him how he liked it and he said it’s great. There are two major players in the satellite radio business right now…XM and Sirius. I don’t know that either is better than the other one. I’m sure I’d like them both.

Only thing is they cost $13 a month or so. I can’t really justify that since I’m not in my car very often. If I was a trucker, I guarantee I’d have satellite radio, driving all over the country. It’s a pain driving cross-country when you’re constantly losing radio stations and you have to search for new ones. Satellite radio would totally trump that situation. It’s one of those cool things I’d love to have but won’t get for myself.

Like a GPS navigation unit. I’d love one of those, too, but again I wouldn’t use it enough to justify several hundred dollars in cost. They are cool, though.

I was going to get my hair cut today but my barber wasn’t there when I dropped by the shop. It’s not like I have a ton of hair or anything. It’s just that time and I know I won’t get it cut in the next couple of weeks of holidays. Hell, I can barely work myself up to shave.

If you’re looking for some last-minute gift ideas, check out the 2HT sidebar on the left. The best book I’ve read all year (and one of the best I’ve EVER read) is "The Time Traveler’s Wife." Thanks to Sizz for that birthday present last year. Can’t say enough about that story. I’m giving it to a handful of people for Christmas. It’s basically the story of a man afflicted with a time-traveling disorder. He can’t control when or where he goes and can’t travel with anything except himself. It’s a pain in the ass because he always shows up somewhere without any clothes on. He meets a woman and falls in love and you spend lots of time with both him and the wife during all of their ordeals. Absolutely fantastic.

The other thing that may be an appropriate gift is an Amazon Gift Card. You can find an ad for that in the sidebar, too. Gift cards are part of my regular gift-giving season. You can get them for whatever amount you want and hey, they show that you really care about a person…and that you don’t have the slightest clue about what to get them.

And in case you haven’t guessed already, I’m not sure how often I’ll get a chance to blog next week while I’m in Boca. They’ve got a computer but I don’t know that I’ll have opportunity to plop myself in front of it for very long. No worries, though, I’ll have my trusty camera and my blog goggles on so I can relate some of the holiday madness when I return.

A few new movies coming out that I’d like to see: "Charlie Wilson’s War," "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," even "PS: I Love You," believe it or not.  Still want to see "The Mist," "I Am Legend," and "Bee Movie," too.

Right, that’s it for today.

Filed under Books | Comments (3)

More fun-loving photos from BlogHer. Here’s Erin giving me the treatment I most deserve.

This photo comes from a new site called Photrade. I found out about it at BlogHer. It’s in Beta right now, but the idea behind it is that you can get paid for photographs you’ve taken. Like Flickr but with kaching behind it. It’s a great concept, though the execution is still lacking a bit. Still, I’ll be keeping an eye on Photrade. When it becomes as user-friendly as Flickr, I just may find myself switching.

I don’t know about you, but growing up I was fascinated with the Guinness Book of World Records. I’d sit and read through that tome time and time again, cover to cover. Between the amazing and sometimes goofy records and all the photographs, it was perhaps the book I spent most time on over the years. There was the world’s tallest man, the dude with the longest fingernails, heaviest man in the world, shortest woman, the most swords swallowed, and the most number of people shoved into a VW bug.

I haven’t looked at the Guinness Book in many years, though it’s still published every year. But some of the records they have now are just plain weird. I’ve been watching World Record Breaking Week on Regis and Kelly this week…just witnessed a dog breaking its own record by walking up 17 steps with a glass of water balanced on its nose.

Here are some of the current records that the Guinness Book is tracking:

• Longest Lawn Mower Ride (14,600 miles)
• Greatest Distance Walked with a Milk Bottle Balanced on the Head (80 miles)
• Fastest Time to Pluck a Turkey (1 minute, 30 seconds)
• Most Cockroaches Eaten (36 cockroaches in 1 minute)
• Most Books Typed Backwards (58 books)
• Youngest Person to Wear a Full Set of Dentures (4 years old)
• Oldest Male Stripper (63 years old)
• Most Calves Born in a Single Birth (5)
• Heaviest Apple (4 pounds, 1 ounce)

Most books typed backwards? Why is this a record? Who the hell types books backwards but that one dude? And what kind of guy eats fucking cockroaches? Ugh.

I’d like to see a world record for most days never leaving the house. I’d be a cinch for that one. Most Guinnesses drank…or drunk. Drinked? Whatever. Most women ogled. Hands down, I’d win that one. Come on, give me something I can use here. I want to make the record book.

Is there a record for Most Apathy?

Filed under Books | Comments (6)