Fundraising Update

Alexander's Fund is now getting close to its target, thanks to the incredible efforts of his local community, social networking and national press coverage. As I write this post, the fund stands at £241,790.000, which is 94% of the required amount. It's an amazing achievement in such a short time.

Recovering Einstein

I like this story. In a sea of grim news of people being rotten, economies failing, politicians utterly failing to grasp fundamental concepts of human dignity, and other such miserableness, this story literally swims to the top:
Einstein the fish developed swim bladder disease, turned upside down and sank to the bottom of his aquarium. His owner, distressed at seeing his pet so afflicted and looking so depressed, crafted a flotation device out of tubing - a sort of life jacket for fish. Now Einstein is swimming once more, albeit looking a little odd.
It's amazing how animals bring out the best in humans.

Ugly Journalism

The singer Katherine Jenkins has been forced to defend her appearance during the London Marathon after a Daily Mail columnist criticised her for, well, basically looking lovely.
As a very amateur and uncommitted runner, I admit to being green with envy when I saw the photos of Ms Jenkins. After just five miles of running I look like I've been pulled through a hedge backwards: my skin will be flushed, I'll be sweating, my nose will be running, and my hair will have surrendered totally to its natural inclination of messy curls and snarls. Ms Jenkins still looked gorgeous after twenty six. It's called nature. She was blessed with beauty and a fantastic voice, I was blessed with flushing skin and messy hair. Such is life.
Running a marathon is, in itself, an incredible achievement. Running one whilst raising £25,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and still looking stunning, is an outstanding feat.
This whole episode says a lot about both Katherine Jenkins and the Daily Mail. I know which comes out best.

Bird Bullies

This may not be the most coherent post I've ever added to the blog. I had a bad night. I saw 3am, 4am, 5am ...  By the time the blackbird started bellowing his morning bulletin from the hedgerow outside our window I was in a dangerous mood. It's now the afternoon and I've reached that sickly, zombiesque state of tiredness where I'm completely harmless and largely insensible.
It occurred to me, as I listened to him joyfully trilling away, that the birds are ungrateful little blighters. We battle outside in all weathers, snow, wind, rain, to ensure they have a steady supply of food, we clean their little bird bath, we choose plants that encourage insects. In fact, the only thing we haven't done is supplied them with a house like those made by Clas Ohlson. Even if we did, the birds would still insist upon bellowing at us through the bedroom window at unseemly hours, lining up on the kitchen windowsill to stare in at us balefully when we're up a little later than normal.

Plea for Help

There is a young boy in need of help. He was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour after he collapsed at home. Delays in diagnosis meant that by the time he reached the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, his condition had become critical. His only hope for survival is Proton therapy, only available in America where specialists at the Massachusetts General Hospital are confident the treatment has a good chance of working for Alex.

The sticking point is, the family needs to raise £250,000 in order to fund Alex's treatment, and they only have a couple of weeks to do it.

The Daily Mail has run a piece today highlighting his cause, and his family have set up a JustGiving page for donations. As I write this post, the fund is at £103,000, so they're doing well, but they still have a little way to go. Whilst the QT blog can't compete with the Mail's readership numbers, the more people who can cover his story the better the chances that his desperate family will reach their target. Let's spread the word.

Good luck, and a speedy recovery to young Alex.

Silly Stuff

It's the weekend, so I make no apologies for opting for the sillier stuff today (which I realise could in itself be interpreted as an apology, but hey).
Firstly, I must draw your attention to a new shop that's opened near Times Square, sadly quite a trek for me, but maybe they'll do so well they'll expand across the pond. This shop sells nothing other than Duck Tape, but in every colour and pattern you could imagine. So now duct tape really can be used for anything, you can even make flowers with it. No, I don't know why either, but it looks fun.
Then there is the bus driver who drove a bus load of schoolchildren back from a trip to Paris, delivering them safely to ... the wrong town. I feel a good deal of sympathy for the poor chap, it was an error of communication, the spoken word versus the written. I have a strong suspicion that I would have done the same thing.
And lastly, and it's a bit of a biggy, is another challenge set by Buzzfeed to test if your smile is fully functioning. A lot of it's pretty daft, but it's worth looking through just for numbers 3, 9, 18 and 27. I personally found 13 #2 hilarious for some reason, though I'm at a loss to explain why.
Anyway, I'm happy to report that smiles are fully functional in the Quirky Tales lab this morning - as well as smirks, grins and the occasional snort of laughter.

New Story!

I've been a bit remiss lately. I suddenly realised I hadn't added another story to the QT website this month, so here it is, albeit slightly delayed: 'Seasonal Adjustment' is the result of a flash fiction challenge set by the CTZ Writer's Club. The prompt was 'long winter' and my response is, in part at least, an examination of the British reaction to the weather.
Hope you enjoy it.