A new favorite author. . .

I have a new favorite author, and I haven't even read his book yet! So I guess I can't say he's a "favorite author" -- yet -- though he is a favorite person this week, and happens to be an author, so you know, it's kind of true. More true to say: Patrick Rothfuss is my new hero, and it has nothing to do with his acclaimed first novel The Name of the Wind which has been parked on my nightstand awaiting reading (and will be read, as soon as the Cybils landslide o' books comes to an end). He's just a freaking awesome person. Check out what he's doing. On his blog he's having a fundraiser for Heifer International, the charity that provides livestock like goats and chickens to desperately poor families around the world.

And he's not just hosting the fundraiser. He's matching the donations. WOW! His goal was to raise -- and match -- $5000 by December 11, so giving a nice fat $10,000 donation to Heifer International. Well, it's only November 16 and with nearly a month to go, he's already raised over $10,000 in donations, not including the matching! Over $20,000! That's a lot of goats, folks, a lot of lives that will be changed in the poorest of villages in Africa, China, Latin American, and other places. On his blog, there's a funny dialogue where he relates his girlfriend's nervousness about the fast-rising donations to match; she asks him what he will do if $20,000 in donations pours in! He is not worried; he is excited. Oh, and did I mention that he is not only matching, but giving PRIZES? Signed books, posters, shwag.

To get in on the fun, go to HIS BLOG and read his latest posts; he's updating regularly and has links to his donor page at Heifer International. If you're not familiar with the organization, their slogan is: "Bringing an end to world hunger through unimaginable blessings." What they do is give animals to families and train them in how to care for them to provide a sustainable livelihood and a much-needed nutritional source to their diet. And maybe the coolest part is that it's a cycle of giving, with recipient families passing along some of their animals' offspring to neighbors so they too can share the blessing. So, if you contribute enough to buy some chickens for a family in Africa, that is only the beginning of your gift -- it will extend on through every future chick hatched and given to a new family. How cool is that?
I hope to be able to do something this awesome some day (host a fundraiser with matching, that is; I did contribute to this one), if future resources allow. If you do donate something, I'd love if you let me know (an anonymous comment is fine); I'd love to know that somebody who found out about it here was able to help out. I also think this is a cause worthy of supporting an author by buying his book so he can afford all that matching! By all accounts, The Name of the Wind is awesome. I can't wait to read it!

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Out of the realm of the awe-inspiring, and into the mundane. I have to report an instance of advertising working on me, making me rise to my feet and say, "I want that right now." I generally take a weird pride in being advertising-proof (not true, I'm sure; I must be as unconsciously affected as anybody, but you know, outwardly I scoff), but at the movies the other night, I was like a zombie. The instant the pre-movie commercial for Sour Patch Kids ended, I stood up and said, "I'll be right back," and in less than a minute, I was back. . . with a bag of Sour Patch Kids. And I barely even regret it. We saw Role Models, by the way, and it was HI-LARIOUS. It's not a Judd Apatow movie that I know of, but it's of that school of really crude comedies that still manage to have such a sweetness and good heart to them. Contrast that with the trailer for some stupid double-bridezilla "comedy" upcoming with Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. I am so offput by mean-spirited comedies, like best friends trying to sabotage each other's weddings? Ha ha. Ugh. But two foul-mouthed energy drink salesmen providing very bad examples to some needy kids? Somehow, a total feel-good. Even Superbad, which was one of the rudest movies I've ever seen, was still sweet. You know? Remember the awful teen T&A movies from the '80s, all about "getting laid," like Porky's? Superbad is like one of those movies but well-written, much more foul-mouthed, and. . . "feel good," with no women getting ruined, and no giant globular boobs bouncing around.

Still, Jim owes me some serious costume drama time. The last few movies (which I have enjoyed) have been boy movies (RocknRolla was awesome) but what is up with there not being any good girl movies out, anyway? I missed The Duchess *frown* and what else is there? Where are all the good fall movies? Where are the costumes, man? Where are the smooches? What gives?

Alrighty, I'd better get some writing done. Yesterday, thanks to Strangers Will Be Stabbed, my NaNo count was only 729 [dreadful] words of the "Bad-Ass Sci-Fi Novel."