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May 10 is a very meaningful day for me. It is World Lupus Day. In the United States, May is Lupus Awareness Month. Living with lupus is not easy. Especially when you have deal with hard questions from your children, such as, "Are you going to live and don't lie," or, "Why do people care more about cancer than they do lupus? Don't they know lupus can kill you? I don't want you to die," when struck down with a flare. Isn't that a lovely note to start on! Have no fear, things are about to get fun.
As I was looking over my schedule for the weeks to come, I noticed I had a lot of things marked down for May 10. All of which are geeky. Many of them, if not all, you can share with your children, making May 10 an extraordinary day.
World Lupus Day and Various Activities
World Lupus Day was started in 2004 to coincide with the seventh International Congress on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and Related Conditions.
On World Lupus Day, there are a variety of activities happening around the globe. You can find out what is going on in your part of the world on the World Lupus Day website. As there are so many activities, it can be difficult to find a way to participate, and to educate you and your family on this potentially fatal disease. Below, you will find four activities that you and your family can participate in, regardless of location.
The Lupus Awareness Virtual Art Gallery, which I founded, will be unveiling its third set of updates on May 10, 2011, at 12 am PDT. On that day, I invite you all to visit the gallery, sharing all of the art and stories submitted by those living with lupus and the people who love them. Share these stories, videos, songs, poems, pictures and other assorted art projects with your children. If you have any questions about how to talk to your children about lupus, please ask! Also, it isn't too late for you to contribute. Submission deadline for the World Lupus Day update is May 8, 2011 at Midnight PDT. There are a bunch of projects you can do with your children, including making paper butterflies. You can find more information on my website, Geeky Pleasures.
Love Simple is an award-winning independent film whose main character has lupus. On May 10, they will be donating 100 percent of all proceeds from the film's sales on iTunes to the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation.
For almost a year now, I've had the extreme pleasure of working with the folks at Love Simple. If you were planning to purchase a movie in the near future, then I highly recommend you purchase Love Simple on iTunes. You can read the full press release, as well as find links to my review of the movie and interviews with lead actress, Patrizia Hernandez, and producer, John Casey, on my website as well.
Beginning at 1 pm PDT, Joe 'Covenant' Lamb—my partner in many things—and I are planning a special four-hour broadcast on The Look 24/7. This broadcast will be dedicated to those with lupus and those who love them. Also, we are raising money for Lupus UK. On October 31, 2010, Joe did a special broadcast to mark the end of World Lupus Awareness Month. During that broadcast, he read Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree. His initial goal was to raise £100 for Lupus UK. Many times, we ended up having to increase this goal.
The reason why we chose Lupus UK, instead of a Canadian Lupus organization, is because in my experiences talking with many people from around the world affected by this disease, the UK could really use the money, the awareness and the support. If you are unable to attend this broadcast and would still like to donate, you can do so on Joe's Just Giving page.
Finally, wearing orange or purple is another way that you can help support lupus awareness.
Books and Birthdays
May 10 marks the release of The Meowmorphosis by Franz Kafka and Coleridge Cook. Published by Quirk Classics, it promises to be more fun than should be legal. A few weeks ago, I received an advanced review copy, courtesy of Quirk Books. On May 10, there will be a review posted on Geeky Pleasures.
As told by Eric Smith, marketing and social media coordinator extraordinaire for Quirk Books:
It even has a very awesome book trailer!
[youtube width="560" height="349"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5VVFf4vmgY[/youtube]
But wait! There is even more fuzzy goodness happening on May 10.
John Scalzi's newest title, Fuzzy Nation, will be released. There is more! It is also John's birthday! There is even more! You can read the first two chapters of Fuzzy Nation here!
Be sure to wish John a happy birthday and a happy book release—his first full-length novel since 2008—either on his blog or on Twitter.
John will be doing a book tour from the date of the book release through Memorial Day weekend. He may even be showing up near you. Subscribing to John's blog is probably the best way to find out if and when he'll be in a city near you.
Google Apps Goes Pay
Last week, I received the following email from Google:
If you do not have a Google Apps account, I suggest you get one now. I suggest you get one even if you do not think you'll ever use it. If you do not sign up for an account before May 10, it will cost you $50 per user account per year. Doing the quick math, that is a minimum of $550 dollars a year, for 11 users. You can find out more about pricing on the Google Apps website.
Endeavour's Final Voyage?
The other day, NASA announced that STS-134 will launch no earlier than May 10, 2011. STS-134 was originally scheduled for April 29, 2011, but was scrubbed due to mechanical issues.
If STS-134 does launch on May 10, liftoff will be at 11:21 a.m. EDT. You can read more about Endeavour's final voyage on the NASA website.
That is a whole lot going on for just one day. I have a funny feeling that I'm missing something.
On May 10, is there anything else happening that you feel people should know about?
