My Pet Project

Okay, I feel like it's safe to talk about this now because one of my crazy ideas is actually looking like it's coming to life. Actually, it seems like it's taking on a life of it's own and I get to say "AH HA! I WAS THE CATALYST!! IT WAS MY BRAIN CHILD!!" And then maybe I'll insert an evil giggle or something.

I came up with this great idea for a charity event when the next (and final) Harry Potter book comes out. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE the Potter books. They're fantastic, imaginative, brilliant and fun. I have bought the past two books the day that they came out and spent the three days following the release digesting each book, shooing my family away because "I WANT TO READ!!!" (Seriously, I would read, eat and sleep until I finished the book.) ANYWAY back to my brilliant idea. My idea is to hold a clothing drive to benefit the local homeless shelter but incorperate it into the book release. SO, we're calling it a House Elf Clothing Drive.

Explanation for all you Non-Harry Potter folks out there. House Elves are magical creatures that do all the house work. If you give a house elf an item of clothing, however, they are set free from their bond to your particular house/family. In one of the books, Hermione creates a sort of club to try and help free house elfs (S.P.E.W. or the Society for the Preservation of Elvish Welfare). So, tying into the book under the guise of S.P.E.W., in association with my friend Jed's Liquid Magazine, we're having a clothing drive on July 20/21 when the new Harry Potter Book, "Deathly Hallows" is released.

And how are we pulling this off? Well, Borders bookstore is allowing us to hold it in their store and then we've kind of grown from there. A local radio station is going to help publicize the event, we're also talking to one of the local television stations, we've also gotten in touch with some people at United Way for help, I've sent out emails and spent hours on the phone attempting ot get and actually getting people to donate items for a raffle that we'd like to have and then I found out just on Saturday evening that the Dork of the Rings guys, who are doing a new spoof, Harvey Putter, are going to not only help us out but they're also offering to actually have their band play!!! HOW FREAKIN' COOL IS THIS?!?!??!!

So yeah, I've got my hands full between school, pregnancy and this... But, I have to say it's for a great cause and I'm loving the idea of helping out the community. It totally gives me a case of the warm and fuzzies.