Appeal

A passing comment in a stray email. World AIDS day on the first of December. Out of the strange brand of curiosity generated by chronic insomnia (it is 3am and I am sleepless), I did a little idle research into AIDS. At the risk of sounding clueless (I assure you I am not), 3 million people died of AIDS last year,42 million are living with it, and 14,000 people are being infected daily. I have been accused of committing grammatical error by using bold or italicized font in my writing, and normally I would concur, but such appalling figures deserve all the bold and italicizing I can bestow upon them.

As a point of interest, I can barely conceive of 3 million people. My mind shuts down after about 160, which is the size of my History lectures, and begins to generate large faceless blocks rather than individuals. A ravenous imagination joylessly deleted, in my mind, every single person I know. Imagine your family, your schoolmates, your local grocer, your doctor, your teachers, that cute boy you see at school but never say hi to, the janitor at the local mall....and all their families...obliterated. All that, too...insufficient.

3 million people.

And really, in context, all because humanity has a drive to reproduce...

The (AIDS) drive will likely continue into mid-December, and so, despite short notice, I have decided to raise money for it. Consider my motivation as sheer appalled-ness. (Is that a noun?) And since I am one of those rare and inherently useless individuals whose only vague semblance of ability is to construct a pretty essay, in a similar vein to the extremely commendable Blogathon.org, I am going to write my way into contribution.

Details: On Friday 19th of December, at 10AM Malaysian time, I am going to post an entry to idleThinK every hour, for 24 hours; and in return, I am asking you, dear readers, who will naturally be refreshing the page every hour with me, to sponsor this. I promise 24 hours worth of interesting, piquant and provoking thought, which will inevitably deteriorate in quality and coherence as the day drags on. I will also provide written proof that the money will be sent to an AIDS-related organization. And sponsors of any amount - be it 10p or £10 - will be Mentioned. And I promise not to write lots of blogs in advance and post them on the hour.

In fact, if I manage to raise above £50 (approximately US$75) by the 19th, I will post every half-hour. And if I raise above £150, I will post every 15 minutes.

And, and, if anyone one person donates above £25, I will prettily design, print out and bind a hard copy of the 24 hours' worth of blogs and post them to you, at my own expense, wherever in the world you are. Yes, even if you live at The Fourth Igloo To The Left Of The Big Glacier That Looks Like A Phallus, Antarctica. Let us hope the penguins do not get to the parcel before you do.

This gives me exactly 21 days to get as much sponsorship as possible. If you own a website, please link me:


If you don't, spread the word anyway. Money has a way of accumulating, and even 10p is still a contribution. Think of how much you would pay to listen to my insane 6am ramblings.

More on this later. If you do want to sponsor me, PayPal is completely trustworthy. Otherwise, cheque, money order, cash...I will provide a receipt on request, and my postal address is available via asking me by email :)

An end note. In general, I am not any kind of advocate of mindless charity. I will not give to the undeserving. My motivation is simply this: I am appalled at the prevalence of such a fearsome disease, I am horrified at how little is being done in the places where the disease is most prevalent, and I want to pick up my toothpick and make my scratch on the surface of the mountain. I am not kidding myself about how much impact I can make. I shall be satisfied with a scratch. And so, if anyone you have ever known has contracted HIV/AIDS (my own hand is up - twice - to that), or if it is a central concern in your life, or if you have seen any photographs of end-stage AIDS victims, or if those figures have meant anything to you at all, or if you are also incapable of conceiving of 3 million people, or if you've ever heard of AIDS...your contribution is absolutely invaluable.