a couple notes on my friends page have promted me to write a note about the tsunamis. i mentioned something about them earlier and i don't have much more of a reflection on what i think of them, as this is just... such a big deal that it's hard to really reflect on. anyway, helenangel gave a link to the international red cross and said something about how it'd be nice if we could all give at least five dollars. i'll tell you what. nothing puts money into perspective more than living in a country like china. 5 u.s. dollars is 41 yuan here. if i feel like eating my lunch by buying it from one of the hundreds and hundreds of street vendors in the city, i can eat for 2 yuan or less. 5 u.s. dollars could buy 20 good meals here. not just snacks, but huge bowls of noodles, big bread wrap veggie things, more than i can finish in a meal. in other words, you may think five bucks, big deal. but i can assure you that in china (and these tidal waves hit southerern asia), five bucks is a big deal. this sounds like a compassion international commercial and i don't want to sound cliche, but... it really will mean more to them than it does to you.

do you think more people would do this and be encouraged by it if we made it into something like a meme? like, if all of you told me how much you contributed and i posted the total amount given by my friends list, then you posted on your journal that amount, the amount of it you added, then came up with a total from your own friends list? anyway, it's an idea. i just went an donated $20. if you donated money through any organization, if you feel comfortable doing so, will you comment to tell me how much?

over 56,000 confirmed dead so far. if it happened in america, how would you be reacting/thinking about this differently?