Katrina, Birthdays, and Other Natural Disasters

So, it's very hard to be funny when so many people are facing total devestation. My heart goes out to everyone on the gulf coast.

My good friend, Bethie, whom you've heard mention here before for her Martha Stewart-Like Genius at Party-Throwing, was one of the first people I know of who donated to the Red Cross. For once, Instant Karma actually worked - she won Rolling Stones tickets from WXRT, as part of a radio campaign to raise money for the victims of Katrina. This is a good thing on two counts - she's celebrating a birthday she'd rather not today (don't we all feel that way about birthdays past 25?), and she's one of the most deserving folks on the planet.

Happy Birthday, Bethie!

As for everybody else, if you haven't donated to the Red Cross, please do. I don't know if I can guarantee Rolling Stones tickets as Instant Karma, but I will say that for those of you who do donate a minimum of $25, I'll send 5 of you signed copies of "I Do (But I Don't)" and five of you will get signed Galleys (the uncorrected proof that no one has. If I'm ever famous one day, it might be worth something - but I'm still laying bets it won't be as much as grandma's old china).

I realize it's not much, but hey, you were gonna donate, anyway, right? This is just a nice potential perk. So email me your proof of donation at cara@caralockwood.com by September 30. I'll throw everybody's name into a hat on October 1 and pick 10 winners (which, by the way, I think is my average traffic on the site this month, so odds are definitely good on winning). What have you got to lose besides some bad karma?