Diggings, Delvings and Dolls

Here in the 'States, I know lots of folks will be re-gifting this year. Here's a thought: Re-gift to someone who lost _everything_ on March 11, and hasn't got so much as a roof of their own still:

http://www.shareyourchristmas.org/?mid=55

"Share Your Christmas" is accepting rewrapped gifts with a first name and age on them, which will tell them who the gift will be appropriate for. The gifts will be passed along to the Tohoku region of Japan which was shattered by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 20ll, and given to people of the same age and sex as the donor.

And the whaling fleet won't want to divert clothing and toys for the "security" of their mission. (Sorry, Japan, I do love you, but. . . the reported diversion of funds contributed for earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown relief to protect the whaling fleet rather irked me.) Financial donations are being accepted through the site, if that's the way you'd like to contribute - they will be folded in thirds, inserted into envelopes and given to the children of Tohoku as "otoshidama".

~Bruce

This flashed across my radar screen . . .

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2011/10/10000-free-round-trip-tickets-to-japan/

The Japanese Tourism Ministry hopes to give away 10,000 free round-trip tickets in hopes of restoring tourism to pre-earthquake/tsunami/fukushima dai-ichi levels. Catch is, you've got to blog about it, and spread the word that Japan is a fun, beautiful, fascinating place to visit. Anybody here have a problem with that?!

Personally, I'd love to take them up on it . . .

~Bruce

Current Mood: calm

Felaion (VOLKS SD13 "Irvin") has been summoned from his mother's ancestral home in West Africa to re-train Phoenix (VOLKS SD16 "Olivia Morgan") in the skills of a Magick user. She'd been causing trouble with some of the powers-that-be, which caused them to seek Felaion's skill as a teacher. This has not pleased him, so far . . . . (A tale which I hope to attend to in more detail in what will undoubtedly be a rather out-of-order fashion!) Phoenix, on the other hand, while she's thrilled that a creature as exotic as a dark-forest Elf has come into her world, is considerably _less_ thrilled that he considers himself essentially her babysitter...

( Photos Within! )

Current Mood: tired

This . . . Looks like it's going to be a marvel and a wonderment!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6ASRfvlyhg

~Bruce

Current Mood: excited

Please stay safe, warm and dry - I know that this storm, Typhoon Roke, is dangerous in a great many ways. If you need to evacuate, go! If you don't, stay inside!

My thoughts are with you.....

きをつけてください！！

~Bruce

Current Mood: worried

New photos of FDQ's exclusive Dollheart outfit "The Romantic":

http://www.fdqmedia.com/TheRomantic.pdf

It's tailored for SD17 guys, but looks pretty awesome on this SoulDoll fellow! Lots of bits and bobs, which can be interchanged, or used all together as shown for the look of European royalty. Purchase price of $199.00 includes shipping to anywhere on Planet Earth. (Those of you inhabiting exoplanets may be subject to additional shipping charges...)

I've heard rumours that it'll look amazing on taller gals such as Volks SD16 as well . . .

In other news, having recently (two weeks ago-ish?) experienced my first earthquake, we've also survived the onslaught of Hurricane (well, OK, it was a tropical storm by the time it got here...) Irene. We lost power for about 20 hours or so, but the milk in the fridge is still good, so we're pretty cozy here!

~Bruce, almost glad that his big gals are in boxes, so they can't see that outfit!

Current Mood: determined

Hi, Everyone!!

Long story short, these renovations were _way_ overdue, and we didn't get a lot of choice in the matter. At the end of the day, the little yellow cape will be a more pleasant place to play in the future, so long as we can manage to get - and keep - it clean.

There aren't a lot of photos of the house from before the renovation process began, because it was embarrassing, and I kept it out of the picture when I could.


Winter of 2010/2011, covered in snow


Renovations began in the Spring of 2011


Today, August of 2011 - not quite finished

( Take a virtual journey behind the cut . . .  )

Hi, All!

I'm sure some of you have experienced them before, but after 51 years on this planet, today I felt an earthquake for the first time in my life. Sitting at work, and all of a suddenly, the building creaks and I can feel movement. Did a truck hit it? (Not unheard-of...) The movement comes again - is a truck pushing against it? Is my heart doing something it probably shouldn't?? I step outside, and there's no truck - but there's a door down the row waving in more than just a summer breeze . . .

Turns out there was a 5.9 or so earthquake down in Virginia - and of course, the next thing I thought of was the folks in California and especially Japan, where earthquakes are such a part of life. The next thing was that my parents are in Virginia visiting family. (They're OK!)

Also - we're finally back in the house after what was supposed to be "a couple of weeks" away due to renovations. Missed you guys out there! Will post photos of the new look, but not tonight. It's already too close to tomorrow.

~Bruce

Japan Day in Central Park, New York City will be held on Sunday, May 22, and dedicated to Japan earthquake and tsunami support.

http://www.japandaynyc.org/

Enjoy music and performances.

Encourage the people of Japan.

Help fold 1,000 origami cranes.

My understanding is that the "official" Japan Day event won't have food booths this year, but fear not! There's a concurrent block fair being held along Park Avenue, which plans 100 or so booths to please your taste buds.

Maybe - just maybe - this year, I can actually attend?

~Bruce

I love you.

I really do.

You have become a great friend to the United States of America in general over the last many years, and I've fallen in love with your beauty, your language and above all, your people. (Even though I can be uncomfortably shy around them sometimes!)

But please . . .

ください　。　。　。

Don't try to come here again. I will come to you when I can. Americans will come to you when you need us. They tell me that you moved closer to us on Friday, but islands aren't designed for that! It brings too much heartbreak, too much injury and pain to the people who ride them - and for those across the ocean who can only watch as innocent, beautiful lives are torn apart.

このたびはご愁傷さまでございます

I wish you the best, Japan - I wish for each of your people to find whatever it is that they need right now, whether that's closure, peace, the opportunity to rebuild, the welcome face and arms of a loved one - or just a warm coat and a place to get out of the snow.

For those interested, this map:

http://www.japanquakemap.com/

will show you all of the earthquakes since Friday if you watch it for a while - it's pretty incredible.

~Bruce