alexandraerin

I read an article a few years back about how the changing face of the social landscape in the 21st century means that more people in America are doing without the traditional "safety net" of a network of close friends and family members upon whom they can rely when they're in trouble.

But then, even if we don't have a close network, we have access globally distributed super network of friends who, if they aren't near enough geographically to pitch in more directly, will still do what they can, and then boost the signal to their friends, and so on.

Because I already depend on the internet for my living, sometimes when I boost a signal for someone I feel a twinge of apprehension that I'm going to the same well too many times. Well, I feel at least a twinge of apprehension with most things I do... anxiety isn't always rationale.

But of course, it's not just my well... it's a massive, globally-distributed well, and I don't help anything by obstructing its waters. No one person has to give to any cause I boost, but some people will, and some people will also pass it on.

popelizbet, She Who Is Kind Of A Big Deal In Her Own Way, Pope Lizbet the Onlyth by the grace of God and the gods of grace, has an icon that she uses a lot... actually, it looks like it's her default icon right now... and it looks like this:



(Icon credits: pic by karinny icon by cjtremlett

And that's really what this is about. The internet is magic, I've been touched by magic, and it behooves me to pass it on.

So, here are a couple of quick signal boosts and a couple sites you can use for No Money Down Do Goodery.

deza, a friend of karnythia, has sent out a request for help dealing with a problem generated by family drama, her medical condition, and her husband's deployment. She's offering to repay money sent to her. Update: That situation has been resolved. Yay, internet!

And this Off Topic post on sf_drama details the plight of a disabled woman who's lost her housing assistance due to senseless acts of bureaucracy and is faced with eviction.

Those are the causes of the moment. Please feel free to repost to your own flist if you can do nothing else. It costs nothing.

And on the subject of costing nothing, some fun and free stuff...

The Hunger Site - Click on the "click here to give" button and the advertising (simple on-screen button ads, nothing flashy or downloady or wormy) will be used to help feed the hungry. There are five other sister sites under the same umbrella... you can click along the tabs at the top of the page and repeat the very brief process to help fund education, conservation, and other such needful things. They also sell clothing and jewelry and things, with the proceeds benefiting whichever of the causes you have active. A lot of the items for sale on the site also directly benefit artists and artisans who are engaging in sustainable activities in impoverished areas.

Free Rice - I spotlighted this site a few years back. It's another advertiser-supported click-to-giver, but in this case, it's in the form of an addictive little knowledge testing/building game. It was an English vocabulary builder when I first learned of it. Now they've added other languages, and different subjects as well. Pick something you're good at and get the ego boost. Pick something you need a refresher on. The site is an excellent tutor - when you miss a question, it gives you the correct answer and reshuffles it into the deck so you get reinforcement on it. It pays to increase your word power, yo.

And because I just got my daily reminder to listen to music that makes me feel happy, here's a frog with a banjo: