We all have seen the heartbreaking pictures and read the accounts of the devastation in the Eastern half of our planet. I can’t imagine what it’s like. I mean, at this point, there are 150,000 people who are gone. Just gone. One of the unfortunate aspects of being a sheltered American is that we often have a hard time personalizing the tragedy we see on the nightly news. If you remember how you felt in the days and weeks following the horror of 9/11, it’s incomprehensible to multiply that by thirty. Or more, by the time everything is sorted out.
I was ready to donate my January and February charity budget to the tsunami relief fund when my employer generously announced that they would match our donations. However, because that just didn’t seem like I was doing enough, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to do more. I was reading some sites and came across Blog Aid, which is very very cool and gave me the inspiration to use this page as a springboard. I’m using Amazon’s Associate program to raise additional funds for tsunami relief (and ignoring the whole Buy Blue connotations for right now because political motivations take a backdoor at times like this).
You’ve probably already made a donation yourself, but if you are also looking for other ways to help, here’s the scoop: if you buy something by following the links below (or just click on one of the links to get to Amazon and then search from there to get what you want. As long as you stay in that browser, it should be credited to our donation. I had a search box below, but it doesn’t seem to work from Diaryland), Amazon pays me a “referral fee” based upon a percentage of your purchase. I will add whatever I get from Amazon to our donation, which will then be doubled by my employer. Retail therapy and doing good things for the world. It’s a win-win situation.
With that, I present to you the Weetabix List of Very Excellent Things to Your Life Better!
Tweezerman
I talk about this time and again, but a girl’s personal care regime is only as good as her tweezers. Sure, a 99-cent drugstore tweezers works, but a rock strapped to a stick works the same way a hammer does, and would you try to build a house that way? Ok, weird analogy, but still, trust me on this one. Once you try the world’s best beauty instrument, you’ll never go back. The Tweezerman is perfectly balanced and very accurate. If you needed further motivation, plucking doesn’t seem to hurt as badly because you can grab the hair so close to the skin. Yeah, at $18, it’s a little pricy, but it has a lifetime guarantee and if you send it to them, they’ll sharpen it for free. If you can bring yourself to part with it, that is. Go forth and have unruly eyebrows no more!
Eddie Izzard Bundle
When I first heard about Eddie Izzard, I figured that he was a gimmick, sort of like a transvestite Carrot Top. I was so very very wrong. Eddie is probably the smartest comedian I’ve ever seen. He makes me laugh time and time again. After about five minutes of laughter, it won’t even seem odd that he’s walking in high heels better than anyone I know. Besides, it’s the new millennium. If you can pay four dollars for a cup of coffee and make a computer geek into the richest man in the world, you can handle the idea of getting your comedy from a British man wearing artfully applied Mac eye shadow. The cool thing about this bundle is that you’re getting these three recently released (previously only available as a region 2 import, I believe) for less than list price of two. If you already own the essential Dress to Kill and Circle and want to surprise and delight your friends (‘Bunch of Flowers!’) with the complete set, it’s a great addition to your DVD library. And everyone knows that having Eddie DVDs on your shelf automatically earns you a spot at the cool kid table. It’s how we recognize our own.
Oryx and Crake
This was, by far, the best book I read in 2004. Granted, I love Margaret Atwood, but also, I dislike Science Fiction, so I think the bias cancels itself out. The Booker Prize folks agree with me too, as this was short-listed, despite the fact that Maggie won for The Blind Assassin in 2003. Also, the book is so masterfully written that you sort of don’t realize that it’s technically a science fiction book. Definitely good to read while you’re sitting by the fire with a cup of cocoa on some blustery evening.
iPod
Oh my god, the iPod. I have so much iLove it’s not even funny. Like Tivo and heated car seats, I don’t know how I ever got along without my iPod. You owe this to yourself. Life is too short to covet.
Budget Living
This is not your mother’s Martha Stewart Living. Always pertinent, always fresh and exciting and with a definite retro pop culture slant, I squeal whenever I see it appear in my mailbox. Fashion models pose in front of Airstream trailers, projects feature items scored off eBay, and there is always at least one thing each issue that I want to try or do or make. I only wish that it came out every month. Truthfully, I wish there was a new issue every week.
ReadyMade
ReadyMade is sort of like Budget Living’s punk younger brother, the Urban Outfitters to BL’s Anthropologie. Because of this, the projects are even more imaginative and with an artistic edge. In truth, I am probably not cool enough to be in ReadyMade’s hipster demographic, but I devour each issue just the same, sucking the fresh content into my hungry little brain.
Godiva Candy Cane Truffles
Once upon a time, a very angry man declared that carbs were bad and the entire world started mainlining bacon and cheese and nuts and forgetting wonderful things like strawberries and freshly baked bread with butter. We here at Dumber Than A Box of Rocks do not wish to argue the merits of a healthy diet, but we would like to suggest that maybe that man was so angry and mean because he never tried a pretty pink and white candy cane truffle? (Edited to add: The Candy Cane Truffle is seasonal and they just cut the price in half! Two for the price of one! Eeeee!)
Lost In Translation
By far, the best movie I saw in 2004. Not everyone’s cup of tea, for certain, but you can’t deny the incredible storytelling and breathtaking shots. I think everyone has felt this kind of alienation at some time, and Sofia conveys that feeling brilliantly.
Lands’ End Cashmere Cardigan
It’s not easy to find classic clothing that will stand the test of time, much less find it in plus sizes. However, I love Lands’ End’s (yeah, that looks like it has too many apostrophes, but it’s right) cashmere cardigans, which are light weight, and yet a scrumptious quality. It’s really a fashion investment, as cashmere will always be in style. Oh, and they have Non-Plus Sized Cashmere Cardigans, too.
Give Up by the Postal Service
Early last spring, Chauffi kept leaving me voicemail telling me to check out this group, a hybrid of Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins. And then he kept asking me ‘Did you check out the Postal Service yet?’ and I kept saying ‘Er, no’, which drove him crazy until he trapped me in a rental car and made me listen to them in Las Vegas last June. Ok, he didn’t trap me, but the alternative would have been to walk in four hundred degree heat. And of course, he was right. I love them. This CD became the soundtrack to my summer. In fact, so far, nothing has managed to dethrone ‘Such Great Heights’ from the song with the highest play count on my iPod.
Best American Short Stories 2004
I love short stories and I buy this collection each year. It has become, in some ways, a guidebook to the who’s who of writers and while I have not read this collection (it is sitting on my nightstand and is on deck after I finish The Virgin Suicides). And while I was not impressed with this year’s editor Lorrie Moore’s charm in person, her writing is impeccable, so I anticipate that this collection will be wonderful.
Chopped Cherry Jam
Yes, THAT jam. My favorite jam in the world. Made from famous Door County, Wisconsin cherries by wholesome Belgian grandmothers, you’ll be ruined for grocery store jam once you try this stuff. Great with peanut butter, English muffins, and I swear that once you spread it on toasted sourdough bread, you’ll hear a choir of angels sing. Amazon is offering six jars in a box, which works out to $4.45 a jar. This is cheaper than what you’d pay in the little tourist stores here in town and roughly what it costs with tax if you went to the source at the tippy top of Door County. And while six jars might seem like a lot of jam, once you try this stuff, I’m pretty sure that you’ll be hoarding it like I do. They have a bunch of other flavors too. How does that make your life better? It’s JAM, people. What more do you need?
