Back (Now Gimmie Some Money)

Thanks to everyone who wished me well in my absence.

I wish I could say I'm back and ready to rant in full force again. That may take a while longer, unfortunately.

In truth, it's more for marketing reasons that I'm even posting here now.

Back about a month ago, I had the crazy idea of organizing an art raffle to benefit the Out of The Blue Art Gallery.

That is finaly taking place on December 10th.

Most of my free time not set aside for work, the holidays and Stone Soup Poetry has been used to solicit artists for donations to the raffle and performances on the day of the drawings. Oh, and for selling raffle tickets, of course. Amazingly, it's all coming together, and the day is coming fast.

The December 10th event has featured readers (including myself), good donated food (thanks, Middle East Cafe) and the chance to win several pieces of artwork from paintings to photography to sculpture. There's even a few books to be had. I'm currently looking for a musical guest to round things out.

I'll be posting the text for the event's flyer here verbatim shortly after I finish this. Until then, you can visit the special web page dedicated to the event here. There will be a PayPal button up there shortly, if there are those of you who are interested in winning some art but either aren't local or just can't get to the gallery to buy tickets.

You can buy a single ticket ($5) or go for the Absentee Power special ($15 for five--just mention that you read about the deal on this blog). I'll personally asign ticket numbers to everyone who pays on line. If you are not local and you win, I will personally supervise the delivery of the prize(s) to wherever you live.

All money will go to the Out Of The Blue. No one involved in putting the event together is pocketing a cent. Not even Lynne, my girlfriend, who is becomming the glue that holds all this (along with my sanity) together and has brought the most to the table--more than I would have dared ask.

If you're local and a writer, stay tuned to both here and the blog dedicated to the event. There are open mike slots throughout the day of the event; and everyone who participates in the open mike will be entered in a separate raffle for a unique and special prize that will be announced later this week (and will be of very special interest to aspiring self-publishers out there).

Again, thanks for reading.