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!

A roller derby teammate and her SO are traveling to SF in early January 8-10. They are good, non-axe murderers and are looking for a couch to surf or bed near Mission Bay. If any San Franista has a spot for them, please enable me at my profile addy.

My Holiday Card (e-version) [link]

So, here is a request from ita's sister:

ita's birthday is next Monday (January 4th), and we want to commemorate it somehow. A friend of mine had a fabulous idea (respect, Ghenete!): we could all do something at the same time on Monday that remembers ita in some way.

Wouldn't that be great - to have all of our energy conjuring up ita all across the world all at the same time? She'd love that (and probably figure it's nothing less than she deserves).

So, here at home, my parents and I are going to eat some hardo bread (a Jamaican white bread), which was one of ita's favourite foods ever. I will be wearing my Princess Bride shirt or my Community shirt, and her Batman wrist cuff. I'll probably wear some of her jewellery, and try to slip in something pink.

ita had so many interests that I'm sure you'll be able to think of something to do. But for those of you who knew me more than you knew her, here are some ideas:

• anything to do with any martial art (her favourite was krav maga - she also loved capoeira) - you could wear a shirt with a martial art image / actually do a couple forms / punch/kick someone in the face/body / whatever
• anything to do with comics - you could wear clothes with the images / you could read one/some / whatever
• anything to do with TV shows like Supernatural / Community / anything Joss Whedon has ever written
• anything to do with superhero movies
• anything to do with the movie Princess Bride
• eating any delicious dessert (she loved baking sweet things!)
• eating any Jamaican food / drink
• playing / dancing / singing along to anything by Prince / Bob Marley
• do something intellectually challenging (e.g. play Scrabble, do an IQ test)
• read a scifi book
• do some drawing / sketching / photography

And, given that her favourite colours were pink and black, how about wearing one/both of those colours on Monday? When you're doing your ita thing, or all day - whichever works?

What would also be great is if you could take pictures of yourself doing whatever it is you do (if that's possible, depending on what you choose to do), and then send it to me, so I could collate them for posterity and maybe send them out to everyone as well. This is not at all essential - just a suggestion.

What about 4pm Jamaica time? That means 4pm on the East Coast of the US and Canada, and:

Following on the support we have in the FB group "Buffistas Kicking Health's Ass," I am inviting anyone who would enjoy it to join me in the next Whole Life Challenge.

It begins January 16th and there is a $10 off early bird special on registration for new and veteran players. (ending tomorrow)

I've set up a team called "Slayin' It"

Description: Playful, powerful support for more vibrant health, whatever that looks like for you.

If you happen to be a bit geeky, or literary, science fact-y, or just plain wicked smaht, all the better!

For the first time in a long time, I'm excited to get moving and, frankly, could use all the fun I can get!

Following up on the previous...

There is now a closed group on FB for the Slayin' It crew.

If anyone would like to join the The Whole Life Challenge and be included in the group, message me there, or profile addy is good.

Saturday is the kick-off and we be slayin' it!

(I'd also be glad to answer any questions for anyone on the fence.)

Does anyone know how/if you can change a pdf into a jpeg or something else Flickr friendly? This is for the ita remembrances.

Nevermind! -t taught me.

I created a group on facebook for people wanting to lose weight or with other specific health goals. contact me if you want to join.

A couple new things listed on Amazon / B&N / Indies - linking to Goodreads for most choice options & greater likelihood of giveaway notices.

- Cloudbound (September 2016) - Companion novel to Updraft [link]

- The Jewel & Her Lapidary (May 2016) - novella, set in the same world as the gem short story Topaz Marquis - [link] * (*not, in fact, in any way similar to Crystal Singer. grumble)