If anyone wants an Elf on the Shelf figure, send me a message at my profile address, and I'll send it to you. I think the one we have is supposed to be a girl.

Hi friends! A reminder that when you shop on Amazon using our links, we get a percentage! So here are some places to start:

Shop Amazon's Holiday Toy List - STEM Toys

Shop Amazon's Holiday Toy List - Family Night

Shop Amazon's Holiday Toy List - Movie Favorites

Thanks!

Speaking of shopping and gifts...

We are very close to time to sign up for The Annual Funscapade of Love, Support and Gifts Shared Amongst Buffistae (AFoLSaGSAB. If everyone is ok with it, I will happily moderate again over on Elfster.

Sign up is open until 11/14/15 and ideally gifts will arrive by end of the year. If you have never done it before, please consider it this year. If fear you cannot manage it, you can always be a mayhem elf and drop things in the mail unexpectedly to spread confusing joy - (I share addresses and personal information WILLY NILLY(not our NILLY, but you know what I mean))

signup link is below.

[link]

I've been hosting a couple whose house burned down (2200-2400 degrees estimated) in the Valley Fire on Cobb Mt. (between Calistoga and Clearlake) in September. They are trying to get back on their feet. They're my age, and thought they had the equity in their house for their older age.

Insurers in CA now commonly decline to renew insurance based on reports from Cal Fire + reviews of Google maps. Entire zip codes are now excluded from coverage. They were caught in the worst sitch - insurance declined to renew in Aug., they couldn't find another insurer, the fire was Sept. 14. It's all gone. House, deck, art, books, guitar, computers, truck, woodshop. They spent the time they could have used to grab stuff making sure their neighbors got out instead, and saved the lives of about a dozen people, including my former roommate and her husband, their neighbor.

They won't get a. thing. from insurance, and FEMA etc. is helpful, but not all that, also. If you'd like to help a couple recover from fire losses, they have a GoFundMe going, or paypal (they take less out) to equuleus at gmail dot com, or contact me if you want to make a direct deposit to their bank, profile addy fine. Thanks. [link]

eta link to Public Radio report on what insurers are doing. [link]

Given that the day after an election is often a bit depressing, this is for people who enjoy a bit of political silliness with a slightly dark edge. Our electoral process explained entirely in popular music videos:

[link]

6 more days, seis dias mas

To sign up for The Annual Funscapade of Love, Support and Gifts Shared Amongst Buffistae (AFoLSaGSAB). I am moderating again over on Elfster. We have 10 people signed up now which is ok, BUT I DO NOT SETTLE FOR OK without at least trying for MORE.

Sign up is open until 11/14/15 and ideally gifts will arrive by end of the year. If you have never done it before, please consider it this year. If you fear you cannot manage it, you can always be a mayhem elf and drop things in the mail unexpectedly to spread confusing joy - (I share addresses and personal information WILLY NILLY(not our NILLY, but you know what I mean))

signup link is below.

[link]

If anyone's gifting Updraft for the holidays and would like a personalized bookplate for the giftee, I have a limited number of bookplates left. Will make good on requests sent by Dec. 1 - still figuring out details, but wanted to post here first.

For all who signed up for The Annual Funscapade of Love, Support and Gifts Shared Amongst Buffistae (AFoLSaGSAB). Names have been drawn and you should have received an email.

Please check that your address is listed on your elfster page, that info is correct and that you have either a link to another wishlist or some suggestions on elfster.

LET THE MAYHEM BEGIN!

Very Dear Board, it's time for my annual-Christmas-announcement/reminder:

For those of you who don't know: I live in Jerusalem, Israel. I also know this board has religious people on it, or people with religious families and friends.

So if any of you of any faith would like something from here, for Christmas or any other occasion, it's really easy for me to get it and send it overseas. In fact, I'd love to do this, given enough guidance and information (I am and was raised Jewish, and pretty much everything I know about Christianity comes from popular culture TV and a BA in history, which mostly covered the Middle Ages). I'm also OK with rubbing objects against graves/approximated graves/holy locations, if that what turns you on.

The only change in this tradition is that in the past year Israeli post office became quite unreliable, so I would like to get your packages out before December 5th, to make sure that they are there in time.

Profile addy is good and again - it's not a hassle. It's the opposite of it.

Happy holidays!

Meyer Outlet Sale is coming up, and there's an online Friends and Family discount. See my profile for deets, friends!