A List of Random Things that I Love...

• the way my wife looks so beautiful without even trying - I'm especially glad that she doesn't realize this or she'd never have married me
• my kids for letting me see the world through their eyes on occasion and experiencing a wonder that only children have
• a fall afternoon when the summer heat is long gone but the chill of winter is still just an unpleasant thought for tomorrow
• the near perfect still of the night at 3am when normal people are asleep and the world feels magical and ancient
• the cold of a dog's nose
• that I'm in my 30s and cartoons, Muppets and toys can still make me smile
• the feel of fresh grass under my bare feet
• that I live in America
• the smell of fresh ink when you crack open a new comic book
• the pencil stain on the side of my hand after an intense session of writing or drawing
• anything made by my kids for me
• the fact that some of those things made for me say "world's best dad" when I often feel so far from that praise
• the smell of a book - fresh and new or old and dusty, it doesn't matter
• cleaning my house while singing along to Cat Stevens tunes when there's no one around to hear how silly I sound
• the still chill in the air just before it rains
• that my mother let me be me and never forced me to be something that I'm not - I hope that I can do the same for my own kids
• and the knowledge that someone who is as hard-headed and downright odd as me could end up with the life that I'm living right now

The Kids Need to Read 36 Hour Tweetathon

Update: The Tweetathon is now OVER! However, the page will remain live for a while so you may still be able to CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

-------------------------------------------------

Followers of my Twitter will know that I am a huge Browncoat (that's a fan of the TV show Firefly for the uninitiated). One day around a year ago, Firefly star Nathan Fillion tweeted about a charity that he co-founded called Kids Need to Read.

As a Browncoat, I took a look at the charity. Then, as a reader, a father, and an elementary school teacher-in-training, I fell in love with the Kids Need to Read mission to provide books to underprivileged schools and reading programs.

To assist them in their goal, I am holding a 36 hour charity tweetathon this coming Tuesday and Wednesday, August 3rd and 4th in an attempt to raise $4000 for charity. That means that, beginning at 10am EST on Tuesday, I will be sitting at my computer on Twitter and tweeting at least once every 10 minutes for the duration of 36 hours straight. That means no sleep and no cheating by using Twitter from my phone or iPod. I haven't stayed awake for 36 hours straight in almost two decades so, if you're following me on Twitter, be prepared for some insane drivel to be spouted after the 20 hour mark or so.

How can you help with this event? Just follow me on Twitter, retweet my links during the tweetathon to help spread the word and, most importantly, donate! CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW! Also, if you have any inside lines to celebrities on Twitter to help spread the word, that would help immensely. I set my goal high for this event and I have no doubt that my geeky followers on Twitter will help me to blow this one out of the water!

Now buckle in, folks! It's going to be a bumpy ride!

And again... Click here to donate!

-------------------------------------------------

Related links:

The Kids Need to Read official site

Follow Kids Need to Read on Twitter

Follow Scott (Hyde & Geek) on Twitter