GAfilk, Kiva and Kenyan dairy farmers

Above: Steve Savitsky, at GAfilk a couple of years ago.

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm leaving tomorrow for Atlanta to attend GAfilk, where Allison, Jodi and I are delighted to be Guests of Honor this year. Linda Melnick is the Toastmistress, Summer & Fall are the Interfilk Guests, and S.M. Stirling is the Super Secret Guest. I'm VERY much looking forward to all the music as well as seeing old friends and making new ones. After the convention, I'll be visiting for a few days with Bill and Brenda Sutton.

A quick link before I go...

One of my favourite Christmas presents was from my cousin's partner, Lisa: a $20 certificate for an organization called Kiva, where you can lend money to small businesses in the developing world.

From the site: "By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can 'sponsor a business' and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back."

Here's the individual to whom I chose to give my loan: a farmer in Nakuru, Kenya, who is hoping to start a small dairy farm business. My $20 is going to help him buy two cows...how cool is that? So far he's collected $850, needs $675 more. If the $20 is ever repaid, I plan to re-invest it in another business on Kiva.

If you're curious, please do check out the site, or you can also read what the press says about Kiva.

Back to packing...



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Happy New Year!

Above: I drew this for Illustration Friday; this week's assigned topic: "Phoenix." To leave a comment about the drawing in Flickr, please click on the image above.

Happy New Year, everyone! Jeff and I went to a New Year's gathering hosted by our friends Reid and Luisa last night. Much food and good conversation, plus I got to meet Peter's and Leslie's son for the first time.



He was a bit shy at first, but warmed up to me once I started talking his language. It's amazing what one will do in order to get a small child to smile or laugh; I found myself crawling along the floor, making weird faces and goofy noises, singing silly songs...anything to get that incredibly infectious grin.



Part of the reason that grown-ups do this, I think, is because we appreciate the honesty of babies. When they smile or laugh, they aren't just doing it to be polite...they really DO think you're the funniest and most fascinating thing in the world, at least until something more interesting comes along, like a ceiling fan or an interesting bit of fluff under the coffee table.



Many thanks to Reid and Luisa for hosting a wonderful party! It was a great way to kick off the new year.



A short while ago, I mentioned that I had recorded a flute track for friend's new album. As of midnight last night, Seanan McGuire is now accepting pre-orders for Stars Fall Home. You can find more information (and hear soundclips from a previous CD) here. I play flute on her "Dorothy" track. Here's an example of one of Seanan's live concert performances (on her "Pretty Little Dead Girl" album): Sycamore Tree, with Tony Fabris and Michelle Dockrey. My favourite song on the album is Fly Little Bird, a gorgeous a capella piece.


Only a few days until I leave for GAfilk!






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