I'm back... and CheriAnn's shaving her head.

Computer's back up and running. Hinge on the screen is now nice and tight and probably what it should have been when it came out of the factory in the first place. I remain annoyed I had to pay for something that wasn't my fault, but the honest fact is that you can't dwell on these things forever, especially with the problem fixed, the check cleared.

Missed quite a few things in my "absence." The biggest one is this, from friend of the Mojo Wire CheriAnn Borgstrom, who is shaving her head for St. Baldrick's Kid's Cure, childhood cancer research fundraiser, on March 20th. You can check our her participation page here, to learn a little more about just what her donations go towards, and to learn a bit more about the organization [always a good idea before you donate]. CheriAnn is sweetening the pot by promising everyone who donates 5 dollars or more [and sends me an email to Cheri.Borgstrom@gmail.com to let her know] will get a free drawing! From what I can tell, it can be a commission of anything, and you can check out some of what other donors are requesting [and receiving] on CheriAnn's tumblr. For more information straight from Cheri, check out the video she posted after the jump, and also her blog posts here and here on the whole affair.

I know we're post-Christmas here and money's probably tight for some, but if you have a little extra, and want to help out CheriAnn, help out the cause, or just get a cool little piece of art instant-karma style, then I encourage you to donate. More than the $5, if you can, but really, whatever you can spare.

Plus? CheriAnn's going to shave her head. How awesome is that?

Other things... let's face it, I've missed a lot. What takes me about an hour or so a day to read through, and then link the high points, really builds up when I'm gone for a week+. Instead of trying to play catch up on Twitter [boy, that would take forever], I thought I'd just cover the high points here.

First up, if you're not getting your regular entertainment news from Sarah Crow over at Popeater, you're missing out. Also, Valerie "Occasional Superheroeen"/"I thought she was MIA but she was actually MTV" D'Orazio is blogging again, less [though still some]on her own site, and more on the new, but not much talked about MTV Geek.

Speaking of comics, super-heroes, and geeks, oft-linked Eric Esquivel has been really busy [Eric's always busy], working on a secret project with my own fellow collaborator Ander Sarabia, which you can check out some sketches of here, and a scan here. Along with the news of two of my favorite creatives coming together, Eric's also got his first Diamond solicited comic coming out in April, which means you can reserve an Esquivel-penned copy of Zombies vs. Cheerleaders #3. The Diamond Order Code: FEB111092, just in case you have any problems [hey, I have a pull-list too -- barely -- and I know things happen]. Big congrats all around.

A great many other things from my friends - Glen "Mario's Closet" Brogan has been showing off a lot of new work on his website, including a couple of the Christmas portraits he put together for our circle of friends [think Mickey meets Miyamoto, or Kirby meets...er, eats Kermit], along with a Wet Hot American Summer piece for Gallery 1988's comedian tribute show Is This Thing On? [which there are really no words for how much I love it], and something special to commemorate Glen and his girlfriend's [the lovely Miss Hillary] 2nd Anniversary. It's got a very cool, comic-book inspired thing going on that really brings together all the odds and ends that make up knowing both of them... it's really very fitting, and even if you don't know them, absolutely beautiful work by Glen.

And hey, who says blogging [and rooftop pinup shoots] can't build friendships? Check out "Pass the Flask You Hag," a joint reading by Kimberly Kaye and Hannah Miet at the Bowery Poetry Club. Both links have the vimeo videos of the performances attached, so pick your poison or sample how both of these talented ladies introduce some of their best work to date [with all my compliments, I suddenly find myself expecting reprisals].

Ian's been back at it too, with some of his work as of late making me sad he's leaving Japan so soon. "A Picture Essay of My Tohoku Trip" and "My First Aomori" put most, supposedly "first rate," travel writing to shame, but even if a little world culture isn't your style, he also has a very intelligent and I think... important look at some recent literary controversy as it concerns one Mark Twain. My thoughts are if Tarantino can get the "Dead Nigger Storage" scene of Pulp Fiction on basic cable [beaming DIRECTLY INTO OUR HOMES], maybe Huck Finn is all right in our public schools.

Actually, a lot of my fellow Bennington alumni have been busy on the web. J'aime has a hilarious [and delightfully exhausting] look at office politics and social mores in Paris [and she hardly ever blogs anymore]. My friend Hannah's still at it too, looking at the mysteries of the mind, death, the universe, and various BBC produced programming. Over on "Marginal Pass, Russel has a new entry about the state of Oregon switching his license's gender marker from "F" to "M" [Go, Big Blue!]. And while usually I only see photography from Joel on his blog, I really liked his reading of "Meditation at Lagunitas" by Robert Hass, and have been contemplating doing something similar if I ever get a camera.

There's also no talking about prolific Bennington alums without bringing up John and his Bathroom Monologues. In lieu of fiction though, and since I'm still trying to hold up some pretense this blog is about writing, and the process.... check out John's "Rejection of a 'High Quality' Story That's 'not all that good.'" One more hilarious reminder of the incompetency keeping good writing from the public abroad. For something a tad more upbeat, that might make you squirm a little, also check out "The Danni" - a tale of a six-fingered bassist, and his bare-assed guitar.

There's so much more. New movement from the blogs that gave me my own variation on Stockholm Syndrome - mabroshi and ClawDiaries [Maria Erikson and Naomi Nowak, respectively]. Touching and hilarious soul-searching/life-lessons from Adria [just scroll down the whole page, really]. Never hurts to check in with Lauren at Hipstercrite [seriously, if I'm the only reminder you have to do so, get an RSS feed people!]. Justin's finished his moleskin sketchbook, yet he's still sketching [now that's the sign of a real artist], and the too-often-uncredited [sorry] co-creator of my and Justin's comic project "Calamity Cash," Laura Phalen, has started a blog of her own called "Sentimental Geek."

Oh, and last, far from least, a little bit about current events from Amy Klein - "Jared Loughner Was a Sexist: The Unspoken Truth Behind the Shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords." Just a really interesting perspective on the shooting, not from a place I've been seeing much commentary coming from. Worth a look... and a lot of thought.

All right, I think I'm all caught up. Just wanted to get some of these links out there, give shout-outs to all those deserving of attention. I know it's a lot, but definitely dig through... I guarantee all of it is absolutely quality. And if I missed anyone, I can only say plead that I had a lot to catch up on.

On the work front, I've got a monster of a book to review, couple of things I want to write about, lot... weird, soul-search-y stuff that I think I'd normally do here, but now I'm no so sure. Time's going to be a funny thing, plus I've gotten strangely used to taking these long walks in cold and reading Joan Didion with my feet up. Plus, I've got this huge backlog of music, this strange compilation of Joan Baez and Ghostface Killah which I've promised myself I'd check out. And all those Oscar contenders I want to catch up on too...

We'll play it by ear. Glad to have my computer back, though. Twitter, and Blogger, and Dark Room, and Final Draft. And I can open PDFs! Update my iPod! And post inanities to Facebook!

I guess what I'm saying is all the Neo-Luddites can eat me.