Sent from my iFone...

Have you ever KNOWN you were missing something huge, and there wasn't a damn thing you could do about it?

The restaurant in the building is playing movies on the federal
building's wall.

Sent from my iFone...

Sent from my iFone...

Back in December, I went to visit the California Academy of Sciences with Lisa and Kathryn. It was a great day. I dropped the money to become a member of the Academy (that makes TWO Academys I'm a member of!) so I could go back as often as I wanted to (and bring a friend each time).

So when Un-Scripted got invited to perform at the Academy's first Nightlife event of 2010, I was crazy excited.

Tonight, we reported to the Academy after closing for a sound check, and a private tour of the facility to inspire us for tomorrow's show. I honestly can't even begin to tell you just how cool it was to be (mostly) alone in a huge, empty, Natural History & Science museum. Cat, our guide, was fantastic, and even took us behind the scenes to peek at the research library and the Docent's room, where we got to play with skulls and animal pelts that may or may not show up in tomorrow's shows.



Hopefully they'll like us enough to have us back every couple months, because seriously... the only time I ever use my Science Degree from Penn State is during Improv shows, it seems. :)

me
Science! It works, Bitches!

Sent from my iFone...

I think Amanda Fucking Palmer may be my newest hero.



Its' all about selling it, people...

me
Pretending you know what you're doing is almost as good as knowing what you're doing.

I've been hanging out on HitRECord.org for a couple years now, and it's stuff like this that just bowl me over.

me
Are we RECording?

Good news: Got first paycheck
Meh news: 35% went to taxes

But still... PAID!

me
Cash in hand

Staghorn Fern apparently hearts SF, too.

Sent from my iFone...

Staghorn Fern apparently hearts SF, too.

Sent from my iFone...

Sent from my iFone...

Sent from my iFone...

The photo isn't nearly as awesome as reality.

Sent from my iFone...

Sent from my iFone...

So about a little over a year ago I volunteered to help edit (from existing footage) a promotional video for A Single Drop, which is a non-profit, global clean water initiative. (http://www.youtube.com/asingledrop) ASD goes into villages in Africa and the Philipines and teaches them to build and maintain clean water technology using indigenous resources, as well as showing them how to test their water sources for bacterial contamination.

In the intervening time, I’ve become very good friends with the organization’s founder Gemma Bulos.  She’s an extremely talented and dedicated woman who has spent the last several years just MAKING A DIFFERENCE.  She doesn’t draw a salary from the organization, she just works her butt off helping people around the world.

One of the things that they do is distribute portable microbiology lab kits to villages and towns.  25 single use kits fit in a 1 gallon ziplock type bag.  In 2003, 600 of these kits were given to a town in Tanzania.  The total cost was about $1500.  Once the town started testing their water for hazardous contamination, the reported cases of diarrhea in the town went from over 14,000 to fewer that 650.  In one year.  For $1500. And diarrhea is one of the major factors in infant mortality, so that’s a miraclous change.

These people are making a difference out there. A real, significant difference.  They’re saving lives. But they’re seriously short on funding for 2010. 

If you can make a donation of ANY amount, it would help.  Just follow the link.

But even if you CAN’T make a donation, please help spread the word.  This organization needs to keep doing what it’s doing, and they can’t do it without getting the word out.

http://www.razoo.com/story/Double-Your-Donation-Holiday-Matching-Grant-Challenge

Sent from my iFone...

Sent from my iFone...

Sent from my iFone...