Even 7-year-olds are living in the future...

When I was seven years old, my charitable fundraising efforts brought in a few dollars in a small milk carton thanks to Trick or Treat for UNICEF.

Over in London, 7-year-old Charlie Simpson has just raised more than £100,000 for UNICEF's Haiti Earthquake Children's Appeal. He set out hoping to raise £500 quid through a sponsored bike ride for Haiti -- by riding seven laps, about eight kilometers, around his local park. That's quite a ride for a 7-year-old. It's quite a fundraising goal, too.

Charlie lives in the future. He used a JustGiving page to get sponsors for his bike ride. He's currently at 22,519% of his goal. The contributions are still coming in as the story continues to spread.

Way to go, Charlie! Ride on!

I'm staying inside

I've been listening to fierce wind gusts for hours. First, the wind knocked down the wreath I had hanging in a protected corner of the house, right next to the mudroom door. I restored the copper hook shape and hung the wreath back up. Duh. Shortly thereafter, a wind gust took down both the wreath and the window box.

It's ugly out there. I finally checked weather.gov and found out just how ugly:

High Wind Warning

STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH EARLY EVENING. SUSTAINED
WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH AND OCCASIONAL GUSTS AS HIGH AS 60 MPH WILL BE
POSSIBLE. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON AHEAD OF A
COLD FRONT. ANY THUNDERSTORMS WHICH DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON WILL ALSO
HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BRING DOWN STRONG WIND GUSTS AS WELL.

Then there's the Flash Flood Watch, Flood Advisory, and Hazardous Weather Outlook. Ah, yup. I'm glad I brought groceries home yesterday.

My forecast: This Afternoon: Rain, with thunderstorms also possible after 3pm. Areas of fog before 3pm. High near 53. Windy, with a south wind between 24 and 29 mph, with gusts as high as 49 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.

And there may be snow tonight or in the morning.

I'm staying inside. If I venture out for the mail, I'll probably use my car to get up to the mailbox. The rain hasn't yet melted all of the ice it's falling on and those gusts come up awfully quickly, too.

Why I'm a fan...

...and especially why I enjoy helping run conventions....

I've lost count, but this post probably covers somewhere in the neighborhood of Reasons #328,117 through #328,173.

Today, it's body parts. No, not the parts I might f/r/e/q/u/e/n/t/l/y occasionally fantasize about ripping from my fellow fen. I'm talking about pre-packaged, brains, hearts, and feet fresh from the rubbery meat counter. (I passed on the hands.) An eye in a pool of blood? I'll take two, thank you. Severed finger food, oh, yes, several pieces of that, please. Then there was the ear, and the bleeding brain headpiece, and....

Yep, I ordered it all. For Boskone. Yes, you read that right. Boskone.

Boskone 47 Chair Jim Mann asked me to add some ambiance to our Friday Night Zombie Casino. I haven't done zombies before, so my party closet only turned up a blood-splattered painting from The Mended Drum at Noreascon 4.

That's okay. Jim's request came with a budget. I've been having fun.

I'm also helping Dave Grubbs, Deb Geisler, and others working on the world premiere of Roger Zelazny's "Godson," a three-act play that will follow Mary Crowell's Featured Filk concert and Boskone's annual award ceremony on Saturday night. (Also featured on the Events page along with the Zombie Casino.)

Fortunately, there will be lots of Renovation folks and friends on hand to help with the party we're hosting Friday night and the fan table we'll have open all weekend.

In between all that, I look forward to hanging out with friends and getting to at least some programming with all of the fabulous folks who are going to be there, including:

Boskone GoHs:
Guest of Honor: Alastair Reynolds
Official Artist: John Picacio
Special Guest: Tom Shippey

Boskone's Featured Filker: Mary Crowell

NESFA Guests:
NESFA Press Guests: Lois McMaster Bujold and Michael Whelan
Hal Clement Science Speaker: Vernor Vinge

The Art Show is going to feature a retrospective of Michael Whelan's work, with more than 20 of his cover paintings on display.

GoshWow, and All That Jazz.... Seriously. The events and guest list are yanking my sensawonda chain big time. And that's before we add on all the other usual good people and bits that make the weekend zip by. Catching up with Laurie Edison and seeing her work. Glimpses and perhaps a conversation or two with pnh, tnh, and my neighbor across the Pioneer Valley, Jane Yolen. How long has it been since I've seen Peter Weston? And so many more....

Are you coming? I hope so!