| Many thanks, and some information |
[Apr. 25th, 2008|02:18 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | at work, downtown | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sad | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Pialee The Awesome Cow Orker (tm) on the phone | ] |
First of all, I can't thank folks enough for the outpouring of love and support I've received over the past few weeks. It's been humbling and awe-inspiring, and I am a truly fortunate person. My family has also been really blown away by the concern and caring shown by everyone. Thank you.
There have been some questions about donations in Dad's name, so I've typed up a little thingy, and I'll post it here.
In lieu of flowers, we would be honored by contributions in Dad's name (Robert Tanenhaus) to any of the following worthy causes:
- Sponsoring a puppy from the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc. (GDF) in Dad’s name. Please mark all checks and electronic donations as designated for Open Sponsorship by Rachel Tanenhaus, ID #345963. Checks may be mailed to: Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc., 371 East Jericho Turnpike, Smithtown, NY 11787-2976; or you may donate electronically at www.guidedog.org.
- Donating to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF). Checks may be mailed to: 383 Main Avenue, 5th Floor, Norwalk, CT 06851; or you may donate electronically at www.multiplemyeloma.org.
- Donating to the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF). Checks may be mailed to: IMF International Headquarters, 12650 Riverside Drive, Suite 206, North Hollywood, CA 91607; or you may donate electronically at www.myeloma.org.
- Donating to some other cause dear to your heart.
Thank you so much. |
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| Goodbye, Dad |
[Apr. 20th, 2008|10:29 pm] |
Robert Gary Tanenhaus
(Rachmiel Gershon ben Avraham haLevi)
March 15, 1946 - April 20, 2008
Dad died tonight just before 9:00. He was surrounded by people (and one dog) who loved him, and he knew that. His death was relatively peaceful, and he is no longer suffering.
May he finally find peace, and may our memories of him be a comfort to us.
Good night, Dad. I love you. |
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| Gimp the vote! |
[Feb. 5th, 2008|12:55 pm] |
The Massachusetts Disability Law Center is encouraging folks having problems accessing the polls/voting to call them today, so they can help put the smack down. They are open (today only) from 7 am until 8 pm. Call (800) 872-9992 (voice) or (800) 381-0577 (TTY). Especially call if it's something immediate, like "I can't get into my polling place", but something like "The person who assisted me is trying to influence my vote" is certainly relevant too!
Look, if any other group were denied the right to an anonymous, independent vote the way people with disabilities are as a matter of course, there would be riots in the streets. I am not exaggerating, and I am not being melodramatic - we are routinely denied this basic right of citizenship, and often when we do have it, we have to go through other (often biased) people to get it. I won't call it a conspiracy, because I don't actually believe we're on the radar to begin with. So let's get out there and make some noise. |
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| ATTENTION CAMBERVILLIANS! |
[Feb. 4th, 2008|04:32 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | at work, downtown | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  worried | ] |
| [ | music |
| | people. things. stuff. | ] |
Abbie the Cat, of Abbie the Cat Has a Posse fame, has been missing since Sunday morning.
If you live, work or hang out in or near Davis Square, please keep an eye out/look for him. (Particularly if you see better than I do - although he's a large print cat!) Abbie is a wonderful and much-loved cat, and ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) derspatchel misses him terribly. Abbie is probably hungry and scared, but is very affectionate. Food will certainly get his attention. He's a huge (20+ pounds), fluffy tuxedo cat with big eyes and long whiskers.
If you find him, e-mail derspatchel at his LJ e-mail address. I'd go looking for him myself, but the one place we know he absolutely isn't is "anywhere Brodie is".
Abbie, please come home. The guy with the food is worried about you, and so are the rest of us. |
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| Year-end charity donations? |
[Dec. 31st, 2007|12:18 pm] |
For those of you who are looking for worthy causes for donations - for ethical or tax reasons - here are three of my favorites. Remember that in order for a donation to count towards your 2007 taxes, it must be POSTMARKED in 2007; it need not be RECEIVED in 2007.
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc. (GDF) - This is where I got my guide dog, Brodie. (The icon for this post is a picture fo Brodie at 7 weeks, on the day she went to live with her puppy walkers). I can say with complete sincerity that this organization has changed my life. I don't intend to be without a guide dog again if I can help it. I am proud to be a GDF graduate and a member of the Alumni Council. Please remember that guide dog schools are funded ENTIRELY by donations. They receive no government money. If you have a particular connection to a different guide dog or service animal school, that's fine too; please donate generously to that school. Remember that money isn't everything; these schools couldn't exist without volunteers, either. Raise a puppy, organize a fundraising event, spend time helping out at a school if it's near you. A lot of people out there know and love Brodie (her Facebook fan group is growing by leaps and bounds!), and anything you do to help a guide dog school enables other people to have and benefit from Brodies of their own.
[Incidentally, much love and admiration to my friends who have owner-trained service animals. I couldn't do it myself, but you have my deepest respect for your hard work and skill].
You all know by now that my father has multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the bone marrow. He's had it for more than three years, and he's still kicking. It has not been an easy road, though. Today, for example, he is in the hospital getting a blood transfusion, because the chemo has brought his hemoglobin down to 6. (Normal hemoglobin for an adult male should be around 13-17. Obviously, Dad's not normal these days, but 6 is still incredibly low).
I encourage folks to support the International Myeloma Foundation, an amazing organization providing information and support to people with multiple myeloma and their families. They gave me most of the information I have on myeloma, and continue to keep my father and me informed of new drugs, therapies and resources available. Another fantastic group is the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, which does research on treatments and potential cures for multiple myeloma. They literally keep my father and others like him alive. I can't think of anything more important than that to point out about them; were it not for their research, Dad wouldn't have made it this far.
I'm not trying to put a damper on folks' New Year's celebrations. Frankly, the fact that these organizations exist makes my New Year a hell of a lot happier!
Again, all of these organizations appreciate donations of time as well as money. So even if your biggest tax issue is "will I even make enough money this year to get into a tax bracket?", you can help out.
Thanks so much, and Happy New Year! |
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| Thank you! (Let's do it again!) |
[Nov. 15th, 2007|09:10 pm] |
So remember a few weeks ago, when I mentioned that I was in a contest to be the Fresh Face of Lush, and people could vote for me once a day?
Well, apparently people did, because I made it to the next round. :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH! *bounce!*
Lush is now sending me some spiffy hair products, and the next round of voting starts today. The top ten contestants from the US and Canada, respectively, have been posted on the site, and you can vote for me once a day by going here. The contest will run through December 9, which happens to be the day after my birthday. :)
And yes, I think this is the last round.
So let's do it again! Vote early, vote often! Thanks muchly! |
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| I'm in a Lush contest |
[Aug. 17th, 2007|11:48 pm] |
Normally, this would go under the Lushies filter, but since it's about a blatant popularity contest, that's not where it's going.
Some months ago, I entered Lush's Fresh Face contest. Basically, you hand in a photo and answer some essay questions, and they pick a winner from each store and a few winners from online. Those people all receive little face care kits and $100 gift cards and get to go on to the next round, where their pictures and essays are put online, and the public votes for the Fresh Face of Lush, who will receive something like $2500 in Lush skin care and their picture in the spring 2008 edition of the Lush Times catalogue.
Anyway, I was the only entrant for the Harvard Square store (which I knew), so I got through round one. (The face care kit is lovely, and the gift card will be spent post-move). They posted the various pictures and essays today. Anyone can vote, and you get one vote per day.
My picture didn't come out nearly as well online as offline, and I think they cut Brodie out of it (hey, everything's cuter with a dog), but it's up. So are my essays. Everyone's essays make them sound like a cult member, but Lushies are indeed cult members, so that makes sense. We're just very clean, nice-smelling cult members. ;)
There are certainly better pictures up there, and there may be better essays, but if you are so moved, please vote for me. The "vote early and often" cliche applies here, in a very literal sense. Here's the page with everyone on it, and here's my page. No purchase necessary, and all that lovely stuff. |
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| Check your spam filter! |
[Jun. 29th, 2007|01:13 pm] |
Just a quick message to the generous folks who have participated in the Make Muscles Against Myeloma fundraiser: Check your spam filters! I've sent out thanks and instructions on making donations to everyone who pledged, but I have had reports of said messages being eaten by spam filters. If you pledged but did not receive TWO e-mail messages from the fight myeloma now address, please check your spam filters to see if those messages got caught. Thank you, and my apologies for any confusion. |
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| Campaign announcement |
[Jun. 21st, 2007|03:34 pm] |
Okay. I'm sick of what's going on with this country. So's Brodie. I mean, look at the state of things - it's not good for humans OR dogs! So we have a plan, a cunning plan...
Brodie for president: Still the prettiest!
( Brodie's campaign platform! ) |
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| One last reminder! |
[Jun. 13th, 2007|04:06 pm] |
June 15th is fast approaching; in fact, it's the day after tomorrow. That marks the end of my fundraising period for my workout-a-thon against multiple myeloma. Together my family, friends, cow orkers and I have raised over $1200 for the International Myeloma Foundation and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. My dad is amazed and touched by your support, and so am I. This has been amazing. (Plus, I'm down about 14 pounds!) Not only that, but the two organizations are truly excited about your support, and are setting up web pages to facilitate collecting the contributions. I will send out more info to contributors over the next week.
For those of you who have meant to contribute and just haven't gotten around to it, drop me a line at fight myeloma now (all one word) at yahoo. I happily accept both lump sum and per-workout contributions (and don't worry, I won't break the bank on that last one; I'm no athlete!) There's still time, and as you can see, every bit counts.
Thank you all so, so much. This has been really amazing, and I'm very, very excited. I'll have one hell of a grand total to show my dad when I visit him this weekend for Father's Day. YAY! |
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| Ladles and germs...... |
[Apr. 15th, 2007|08:18 pm] |
Exactly one month into the workout-a-thon, we have made over $500!
After today's workout (which I completed about five minutes ago, pant pant), our grand total is $520.56. I am incredibly grateful, and I know that we'll make more fabulous progress over the next two months. THANK YOU!
If you're interested in pledging but haven't yet done so, or want to do your own workout-a-thon, drop a line to fight myeloma now (all one word) at yahoo dot com. My dad is very excited about our progress, and I update him regularly. Remember, every bit counts in the fight against multiple myeloma! |
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| Workout-a-thon update! |
[Mar. 29th, 2007|09:41 pm] |
Well, I am pleased to announce that after two weeks, we have raised $368.48 to fight multiple myeloma. I can't thank everyone enough. Let's keep up the great work! The address to make a pledge is fight myeloma now (all one word) at yahoo dot com. I have had pledges per workout as well as lump-sum pledges, and every little bit counts! In fact, we have pledges coming from two continents! I've drawn up a spreadsheet that calculates individual and grand totals. (I will admit that the simpler pledges are easier to enter - pledges with lots of conditionals and gradations are a little harder to enter). Stay tuned for next week, when we hope to break the $500 mark! Thank you to all who have helped out! |
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| Fundraising update: 10% of the way there! |
[Mar. 22nd, 2007|03:40 pm] |
Folks, the multiple myeloma workout-a-thon has been going on for a week now, and we've already raised $104 in total! WOO!
To those who have donated, thank you so much. Dad is really excited (and touched). If you've been planning to donate and just haven't gotten around to it, drop me a line at fight myeloma now (all one word) at yahoo dot com letting me know. I'm not collecting money until the middle of June.
I do accept lump donations, although most people are pledging per workout. I have worked out twice so far. (My gym is near work, and last weekend was a long weekend for me). I also bought some exercise DVDs to do at home, and there is exercise equipment at doggie grad school, so I'll be using that while I'm there.
As I've said before, my goal is $1000, but I would be thrilled if I could raise even more! This really is the road to hope, as far as I'm concerned, and I'm not just saying that to be corny.
Thank you SO much for your help and support. |
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| My new project - want to help? |
[Mar. 13th, 2007|12:48 pm] |
HELP MAKE MUSCLES AGAINST MYELOMA!
Dear family, friends and co-workers,
I will be doing two very important things over the next three months, and I can only do them with your help and support.
Some of you may be aware that my father has multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the bone marrow. There is no cure for multiple myeloma at this time. My father was diagnosed two and a half years ago with Stage III-B myeloma, which means that it is fairly advanced and involves his kidneys. He is on dialysis three times a week and receives chemotherapy regularly. Our family is behind him 100%, and he is doing very well. It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of this illness, but we’re choosing to do something about the problem instead. I’ve been working on ways to help be a part of a solution.
You may also be aware that I’ve been wanting to get in shape, or at least develop a regular exercise program. I want to be fit and healthy and have more control over and comfort in my body. I’ve recently come up with a way to work on both of these issues at the same time.
From March 15 (my father’s 61st birthday) through June 15, I will keep track of every time I work out for at least half an hour. I am asking everyone I know to pledge money for every time I work out during those three months. At the end of the three months, I will donate half of the money to the International Myeloma Fund, and the other half to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in honor of my father, Robert Tanenhaus. I will keep track of your donations and get you letters from the agencies for tax deduction purposes, if you would like, and yes, I accept PayPal. My goal is to raise $1000 total to help fund the resources and services that give us support, and the research and medications that help keep my father and people like him alive. After three months, I will be in much better shape, and so will the organizations helping people with multiple myeloma.
Please e-mail me for more information at fight myeloma now (all one word) at yahoo dot com. Every bit counts! And if you want to make muscles of your own against myeloma, contact me, and I can help you get started.
Thank you for helping both my father and me. We can do this!
Sincerely,
Rachel Tanenhaus |
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| I have a Katana! |
[Jan. 19th, 2007|03:02 pm] |
After some fighting with Sprint, I have a new cell phone! Yes, I finally had a cell phone last for two years - you may recall that the last cell phone before that disappeared down an elevator shaft.
The new phone is shiny and bloo, and has features I can't even pronounce - I may never get actual work done again - plus a trendy name (Katana)!
So this would be a good time to update my info about everyone. No one can see the poll results but me. So please, if you think I might want or need contact info for you, this would be a good place and time to give it to me. Thanks muchly!
Poll #909967 Information, please!
Open to: All, results viewable to: NoneName? Snail-mail address? Home phone number? Work phone number? Cell phone number? E-mail address? IM handle and network? Handle on any other system/forum/site? Anything else I should know? |
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| Hey, don't look at me; I live alone. |
[Nov. 3rd, 2006|09:09 pm] |
Poll #860006 Let's play Squick or No Squick!
Open to: All, results viewable to: AllSharing razors. How about sharing toothbrushes? I'm sure I missed something important, so tell me. |
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| Happy birthday, Brodie girl! |
[Sep. 1st, 2006|10:47 am] |
My Brodie is 3 years old today! My baby is growing up!
Happy birthday to my beautiful dog, who has changed my life in so many wonderful ways. I don't know what I ever did without you, and I thank you for all of your hard work and fuzzy love. You're my best girl, and I love you. |
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crushed
determined
calm
bouncy
curious
pleased
cheerful
ecstatic
20 (17.7%)
shocked