So far, I have sent out 50 emails, mostly to people I know from having worked with them, taught them, or had them make me cake for my birthday. The response has been pretty good so far, as the total is already over $650.
First off, a big thank you to my mother-in-law Vija, who rang up $250 for her favourite (and only) son-in-law. This is what I get instead of a birthday present, and I’m more than okay with it.
My Aunt Judy was equally generous, as she represents the family desire to never again see me looking like a member of “Doctor Teeth and the Electric Mayhem”.
My confrere Chris Parry stepped up to the plate with $20.01, if only to be better at donating to my fundraiser than me.
Fellow co-workers and colleagues Maria and Shirley from the adult ed sector have also jumped on board. Maria did so because she is simply the nicest person around; Shirley is jealous of my hair. Either way – ladies, thank you both. Add to that Bruno, whose generosity is only matched by his dislike for Valery Giscard d’Estaing. (Look him up, any historical illiterates.)
A former student has jumped on board – the lovely Rong Xue has become the first of I hope many past students who are willing to put the ugliness behind them and help out the cause.
The pleasant surprise was a donation that was received almost by accident. When I copied a batch of addresses into the form, I guess I didn’t proofread close enough, because I included the name of Francine Regan-Pollock, my mortgage broker. I did mean to send one to my swarthy real estate agent, Barry Willimott, and he responded in kind and with kindness. But…total shock on my face when I get a response early on Saturday that she had donated on behalf of her and her husband Rob. So thank you Francine; consider your ad now placed on the blog.
And then there’s my $20, which was to get the ball rolling.
I’m hoping there’s plenty more out there. I still have over 250 people in my email bank to send to. I donated $20 to the Canadians “Mullet Madness”; I’m hoping Lori or someone else will respond in kind. I’m also hoping more of the former students I plan to contact now have jobs, or job enough to help out. Hopefully, the memories they’ve repressed about the experience of being in my class come out in a positive way, and they’ll want to see me shaved, if only so they can finally get the closure they need.
Today’s “bald icon of the night” is….Greedo. You might remember when he was murdered by Han Solo in the Mos Eisley cantina on Tatooine. The whole series is 20 minutes long if he doesn’t miss from point blank range. So what if Han Solo shot first? In Texas they’d have given him a parade; SB 378 – the “shoot first” law – allows “the use of deadly force in defence of a person” where the person “feels a direct or imminent act of harm” is about to be performed. Still, for having balls enough to try and kill Harrison Ford before he could impose “Six Days, Seven Nights” on us, I make Greedo my BIOTN.
0 comments:
Post a Comment