For An Extraordinary Cause

It has been thirty-five days since my last post. Thirty. Five. Days. In nearly two years of blogging, never have I allowed that much time to lapse between posts.

But. This is the time neither for flogging nor for offering excuses. This has been the most difficult fall I've had in years, and I feel not even a little bit guilty (ok, I feel a little guilty) for allowing my blog to go on hiatus - and an unannounced hiatus at that. This is the time, however, to say with complete sincerity: I have missed you all tremendously. I love the community of bloggers I've found on the internet; I love that this blog has introduced me to new friends and reintroduced me to old ones. I love that I have a textual record of the everyday details of the last two years. I love that writing here - even in the most casual of styles - has helped bring organization and clarity to my academic writing. I love this little corner of the internet, and I am so grateful that you all are a part of my life.

With that said, however, I'm afraid the above has all been a bit of a tease. You see, I'm not here for myself today, but rather, for my beautiful friend Scottie (seriously - isn't that picture hot?).

I have known Scottie since we were twelve years old, and we have been friends almost that long. The fact that Scottie wanted to be friends with me even after my "Goth" phase in eighth grade (totally serious. I dyed my hair red, wore green lipstick (sidebar: GREEN LIPSTICK?), and cleaned "Claire's" at the mall out of their stock of chokers. I also claimed I was Wiccan. My Very Conservative Southern Family was not pleased. Anyways. I digress.) is pretty spectacular - we have remained friends since high school, and she continues to be an important part of my life (I even visited her last year!). After spending a year paralegaling in Richmond after college, Scottie did something that I still consider to be very brave: she moved to Chicago. Seriously. She just up and moved to Chicago. To live with BOYS. YEAH. She's pretty ballsy, this one.

So the reason that Scottie moved to Chicago (other than their temperate winters, obviously) was because she and some of her friends from UVA had started a theatre company called Sideshow. This is an awesome and innovative group of people who took a huge risk in founding this company - and all for a love of theatre, a love of their friends, and a love of community.

Currently, Sideshow is participating in the Chase Community Giving Program. This is an incredible grant opportunity: Chase is awarding $25,000 to 100 small non-profits across the country, all based on the number of votes cast for each company on Facebook. Sideshow has been - JUST BARELY - in the top 100 in recent days. The voting ends Friday, and even just a handful of votes could mean the difference between a huge grant and no grant at all. This grant would cover OVER HALF of Sideshow's current annual budget, and it is TOTALLY within their reach, which basically means: SQUEAL!

So, friends of the internet, I am asking for your help for what I consider to be a pretty extraordinary cause: even if we have never met, even if sometimes you think I'm whiny or you think my dogs are ugly, or whatever - regardless of what you think of me, I urge you to get on facebook and VOTE for Scottie and her friends. Click HERE to do so (it takes literally 20 seconds and 4 mouse clicks). Once you have voted, encourage others to vote by tweeting or leaving the link to the Giving Program as your facebook status.

Sideshow has a volunteer staff of eleven people. ELEVEN. And they're competing against other non-profits that are ten times their size. They need your help.

And with that, I'm off to my last day of classes, which means: REAL LIFE (blogging included) TO RETURN SOON!! Thank the goodness. Now what are you waiting for? GO VOTE!