Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Vote for TWLOHA to win $1 million!

Thanks to Chase Community Giving, To Write Love On Her Arms has the chance to win $1 million! But they will only win if enough people vote.

The money ($1 MILLION! That's a lot!) will be used for the launch of IM Alive, an online suicide crisis call center. 100% of the staff of IM Alive will be certified by the QPR Institute, and it will run 24/7 and should be available to anyone with internet access. Basically, it will be an Instant Message- based version of 1-800-SUICIDE.

If you think the idea of an online suicide crisis center is "silly", or "not needed", consider this- about 1/3 of people who call 1-800-SUICIDE hang up as soon as they hear a human voice. How many people do you think are so nervous that they hang up before someone picks up, or maybe they don't even call in the first place? How many people may have committed suicide because they didn't get the help that they need?

IM Alive could change that. Some people feel much more at ease talking online, and so an suicide crisis center that's instant-message based could make these people feel more comfortable in terms of reaching out.

IM Alive won't just be "send an AIM to this screenname"- it will have a custom-built instant-message platform, and as previously said will have 100% of its staff certified by the QPR Institute (training is approximately 50 hours, plus required service- I believe quite similar to the training required to work at 1-800-SUICIDE, except it's all online).

Some people may disagree, but I believe- and I believe very strongly- that suicide is preventable. But suicide is only preventable if people who are having suicidal thoughts reach out for help, and IM Alive could give people another way to reach out. IM Alive could help prevent suicides. Please vote for TWLOHA so they can get the money they need to launch it.

Become a fan of Chase Community Giving here- http://www.facebook.com/ChaseCommunityGiving

A few clicks will help @TWLOHA win $1 Million for suicide prevention. Please share this with others. Vote here:http://bit.ly/7si7Be

Attend the facebook event here- http://www.facebook.com/#/event.php?eid=289427544135&ref=mf

Please vote, share this event with your friends, set it as your facebook, myspace, or twitter status... do whatever you can so TWLOHA can win the money to launch IM Alive!

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Awesome Thing #1- Discovering a new song by your favorite band

Yesterday (er, two days ago) I discovered the song "You're Gone" by Good Charlotte.

Now, I've been a huge Good Charlotte fan since I bought their second album, The Young and the Hopeless, when I was in sixth grade (2003). I bought their first (self-titled) album later that year. In October of 2004, when they released their third album, The Chronicles of Life and Death, originally I was going to wait a few days to buy it, but my dad bought me a copy of the CD the day it was released (he also started singing "I Just Wanna Live" around the house, but that's a different story). A few months later, I went on eBay and got 4 CDs worth of Good Charlotte bonus tracks/b-sides, demos, live songs, and acoustic versions. Win.

Less than two years later, Good Charlotte started hyping their fourth album, which was to be titled Good Morning Revival. Of course, I pre-ordered a copy as soon as I could, but when I found out, about 10 days before the release date (which was March 27, 2007), that someone had leaked the entire album online (I think it was released earlier in Japan or something), of course I downloaded it (okay, it was an illegal download; however, I paid for the CD, so I didn't feel too bad about not wanting to wait). The illegal download came with two bonus tracks- "Face The Strange" and "Jealousy". I heard about another supposed bonus track called "You're Gone", but I didn't bother looking it up (I'd heard "Jealousy" was actually called "You're Gone" so I never bothered looking for the song called "You're Gone"... also I was lazy).

The other day, I was on Youtube, and stumbled upon a Good Charlotte song I had never heard before- "You're Gone" (no, not the song "Jealousy"). It was so cool. I loved the song, and the fact that it was "new" to me was awesome. This brings me to Awesome Thing #1- discovering a new song by your favorite band. I mean, it's great listening to all the album material by your favorite band. But finding an old, unheard of track is like finding a piece of previously unearthed gold- sure, you're not the first to hear the song, infact many people have heard it already, but there's something about finding an older song (preferably a b-side, bonus track, demo, or unreleased song- like "You're Gone") by your favorite band that's supremely satisfying.