For each $1000 we raise, I’ve promised to do a different forfeit or dare, based on suggestions made by my readers. Suggestions have been trickling in… but donations have been coming in too fast to keep up. As of this writing, we’ve raised over $4,000! Which is awesome! And here’s what I’ll be doing for all y’all’s entertainment.
For raising $1000, I will dye all my hair purple and green, for Skepticon.
For raising $2000, I will go to church. (I won’t pray — that would be dishonest — but I’ll attend, and I’ll even be polite.) It’ll have to wait until after the book is finished, though: I’m not devoting an entire Sunday of book-writing time to this particular waste of time.
For raising $3000, I will wear a Tea Party hat and make a ridiculous speech about health care.
For raising $4000, I will get a manicure in bubble-gum pink. (This one was suggested by Ingrid. I don’t think that counts as honoring me and treasuring me…)
As of this writing, all of these goals have been reached, and I am now committed to these dares and forfeits. But I think I should commit now to my future dares and forfeits, so I can’t cheat and make them be something like “hang out in a cafe surfing the Internet” or “watch What Not to Wear while petting cats.” Some of these have been made specifically for me; some of them I’m swiping from suggestions made to my Light the Night teammates.
So here are the promises I am making for our next set of milestones:
If our team raises, $5000, I will dress as a nun and sing the Leslie Gore song, “You Don’t Own Me” to a crucifix. (Finding the nun outfit will be the biggest challenge, I think.)
If our team raises $6000, I will eat entirely vegetarian for a month. (I’m largely vegetarian-ish now, but I make exceptions. For a month, I won’t.)
If our team raises $7000, I will eat entirely vegan for a week.
If our team raises $8000, I will read, and review, “Fifty Shades of Grey.” Sigh. Again, though – this will have to wait until my book is finished.
If we raise $9000, I will eat bugs.
And if we reach our team’s fundraising goal of $10,000…
I will eat broccoli.
Seriously.
What’s more: If you participate in the Light the Night Walk by just donating some money to our team and then walking up and down in your living room as part of a “do it yourself” walkathon — and you videotape it and put it on the Internet — I will personally donate $50 to the FTB Light the Night team. $50 per video, capping out at $500. (I’ll also post links to the videos on my blog.)
I won’t be the only one doing assorted forfeits and dares if we reach various fundraising milestones, btw. PZ Myers, Ed Brayton, and Avicenna are all offering themselves up as sacrificial lambs as well.
In addition to (or instead of) being part of our virtual team, you can actually take part in the Light the Night walk in your own city: as part of a Foundation Beyond Belief team, or as part of some other team, or just on your own. You don’t have to be part of an official team to be part of the walk — you can just register as an individual, either online or at the event.
So sign up! Be an official part of the Freethought Blogs Light the Night team! Get me, PZ, Ed, and Avicenna to do awesome, embarrassing, painful, or hilarious things against cancer! Let’s make use of human beings’ evolutionary tendency towards tribalism and group loyalty, and turn it towards good! Go, team, go!
Finding the nun outfit will be the biggest challenge, I think.
I’m sure the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will help with that.
I’ve had a suggestion that PZ and I put on leopard skin tights and sing “I’m too sexy.” I imagine I’d have a difficult time finding those in my size.
Okay, I really want you to review Fifty Shades of Gray (sorry!). Most critical reviews of it are not written from the perspective of someone who actually generally enjoys and writes male dom/female sub BDSM porn. You’d probably have a more interesting and nuanced perspective on it than most.
On to donate!
…I just realized I sounded like a fan of the book wanting a more positive review than most there. I’m not. I’ve read bits of it and found them mostly ridiculous, while unable to really judge the kinky bits because I’m not kinky (or at least not in the ways explored by this book). I just think most criticisms of it I’ve read are made from a pretty kink-shamey perspective, and it would be interesting to see what a person who is into the actual kink (and knows something about writing) thinks of it.
antialiasis
I would recommend that you check out Jenny Trout’s website for a critical view of 50 Shades, with criticism of writing, perceptions of D/s relationships, and a whole lot of sarcastic humour. She has a section specifically for Jenny reads 50 Shades, but I don’t think it’s up-to-date (wasn’t last time I checked), so you need to look through her blog to find the later chapters (the first two books are reviewed in full, the third one isn’t updated on the special 50 Shades page.
I’d still love Greta’s point-of-view on the book, but for a non-kink-shamey perspective, that was an excellent starting point for me.
Also, broccoli? Seriously? That stuff is delicious!!! Make sure you eat lots!
“And if we reach our team’s fundraising goal of $10,000…
I will eat broccoli.”
Greta, no! You play with forces you don’t understand! Don’t risk yourself like this! It’s not worth your life!
(*not a broccoli lover*)
rq #6
I’m with you, broccoli is yummy. But I have learned that in this world there are Broccoli-ists and Anti-Broccoli-ists and never the twain shall meet. Yet another of those Deep Rifts.
BTW, did you know that broccoli got it’s name from the family of Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, the guy who produced all those James Bond movies?
Oh, shoot! rq’s post was #5.
[…] the “silly dares and forfeits” campaign. For those just joining us: I’ve set up a whole sequence of forfeits and dares if the Freethought Blogs team reaches assorted fundraising goals, and PZ Myers, Ed Brayton, and […]