Wednesday, November 17, 2010

All things equal...



20 months ago today I sat with my husband as he died.

20 months prior to that, we were newly married.

I dont have anything terribly profound to say today other than how ok I feel. I was nervous about this marker, and worried I may not be in a very good place. Not that the time period of grief has to be equal to that of time spent with a person, or that the two are in any way related. But I can say, today, that I had 20 months of a beautiful marriage with a wonderful person, and Ive survived 20 months without him here. For each of these things, I am grateful.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Thank you!


Hey look, thats me and some cupcakes!

Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who came out on saturday and made Blood & Cupcakes 3 a huge success. We collected 46 units of blood- just 4 shy of my goal! It was a fun day, and a lot of good was done for the world. Im proud of everyone who made an attempt to donate, and appreciate everyone who made cupcakes or a donation to the raffle. I couldnt have done it without each of you!

Thank you!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Vote for Electronic Saviors!


Sideline Magazine is polling for best albums of the year. Please vote V/A Electronic Saviors:Industrial Music To Cure Cancer, a project by my friend and booklet contributor Jim Semonik.

You can cast your vote here.

You can learn more about Electronic Saviors here.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Blood & Cupcakes 3 is TOMORROW!!!



And its not too late to come and donate blood! We've sweetened the deal with some extra special prizes for the donor raffle- gift certificates from our beloved friends at Gypsy Cafe, Piper's Pub and the Tartan Devil's Football Club, Jester's Court Tattoos and more!

As always there will be cupcakes for everybody- from independent bakers as well as our friends at My Goodies Vegan Bakery and Magnolia Cafe. Each donor receives raffle tickets to enter to win prizes, as well as a commemorative mug for the first 45 donors! We'll also have copies of the BRICKS for Young Adults Cancer Awareness & Resource Guide for those of you who may not have one yet, or want to know more about what we're about!

The drive benefits the Central Blood Bank, and their basical donor qualifications can be found here. The CBB staff are super helpful and really good at what they do- so dont be afraid to come out and learn more about donating. Repeat donors are always welcome and encouraged, as are "first timers"!

Its a really fun and exciting day, we hope we'll see you there. We're counting on you all to help make our third annual Blood & Cupcakes the most successful yet!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Call for Submissions v2.0



So guess what? Its that time again! Here at BRICKS we are beginning to think about working on our SECOND edition of the BRICKS for Young Adults Cancer Awareness & Resource Guide, and it wont be possible without all of you!

BRICKS for Young Adults is looking for YA cancer patients, survivors, partners and caregivers in the Pittsburgh/Western PA area who would like to share their story for the booklet. Stories can be printed anonymously if the author prefers. If youve read the booklet then you have a pretty good idea of what we are going for. Submissions should be about 1000 words in length, though we are certainly flexible. Poems or other forms of writing are certainly encouraged, so long as the story deals with YOUR cancer experience.

Please feel free to email us at BRICKSpgh at gmail dot com with any questions, or to receive a copy of the booklet. Id like to think that we can have a submission deadline of December 31, but we may extend it if need be. This time around, our booklet will be entirely funded but the donations of many amazing individuals over the last year, and we are eternally grateful for your support. The first run of the booklet was very well received, and we're very glad to be able to do an updated version for 2011!

Please consider sharing your story!