Published on
May 10, 2010.
I spent the weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where the day job graciously put me up in a hotel in exchange for some long and late work hours. On Saturday I went to the Arbor Brewing Company on the recommendation of a friend, both for a change of scenery and because I have not been eating much of anything since the whole border ordeal went down.
I sat in a window booth, watching the wind blow and the rain drive down on hapless pedestrians as I hacked away at the keyboard. The weather matched my mood and none of the laughter or cheery conversation around me did much to change that.
I had a nice sweet potato bisque and chicken nachos — one thing this place is known for is their use of locally grown and organic foods — and lots of ice tea. Much later, the waitress came over to the table; I knew something was up by the way she stood. She wasn’t just there to refill my drink for the twelfth time.
“It’s soup karma,” she said. “I get free soup everywhere I go. Pass it along.”
She dropped off the bill and walked away. For as shitty as I was feeling, that sure made my day. Thanks, Jacqueline.
Published on
December 28, 2009.
Jeanne and Spider Robinson need your help.
Earlier his year a brilliant surgeon, Dr. Andresz Busczowski, helped Jeanne Robinson beat back a rare and virulent form of biliary cancer. But it’s so rare even he can’t say how much time he‘s bought her, how soon it might recur—and her latest blood tests have been so discouraging they’ve now decided she needs to start chemotherapy as soon as possible. Besides the prescription drugs to counteract the chemotherapy, she needs special therapies and supplements, counseling, and extensive diet and lifestyle changes, to reduce her stress level and the strain on her liver to as close to zero as possible. All those things are expensive…and like many artists today the Robinsons were already running on fumes financially.
The Robinsons are good people. I met them, briefly, at the Heinlein Centennial a few years ago. Like me, they are big proponents of paying it forward. Now, in their time of need, it’s their turn to be on the receiving end of good will. Friends held a benefit auction and concert, We Dream of Jeanne, but it’s not too late to contribute via check or Paypal. Also, by way of Mathew Sanborn Smith, all proceeds from the sale of Lord Dickens’s Declaration, an eBook by Larry Santoro, will go to Jeanne and Spider. Hurry, though. The last day for this is December 30th.
