cool stuff my friends are doing

My friend Terry (pecunium) is competing in a "Name Your Dream Assignment" contest in which the winner gets $50k to bring that assignment to life. He talks a bit about the contest and his idea here and here. The first hurdle is getting into the top 20; if you're so inclined, you can vote for his project here through April 3. It does require you to register on the site to try and minimize vote-rigging, but you can opt out of receiving email. (I've not seen a single piece of mail I can trace back to them so far.)

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For local-types, ka_crow is going to be one of the poets reading at Letters to the World at the National Museum of Women in the Arts on April 5. It's free, from 2-4 at the museum. Come join us!

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Oceanus Procellarum by oletheros is posted every Friday.

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serenejournal is launching 42 Magazine, a "quarterly print magazine about living a meaningful life".

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I got to take a look at a copy of chadu's Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies this weekend. One word: sweet! Also, check out the S7S logo remix contest ASM and Evil Hat are running.

Ask the f-list: UK-based folks willing to do me a book-related favor?

I'm feeling like I need to own this William Shakespeare Complete Works. (This stunning new edition, commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, combines the very latest textual scholarship with illuminating insights into how Shakespeare's plays were and are performed. With notes on each page, photographs and thought-provoking essays, this is a glorious edition of one of the world's most important books.) Did I mention it's selling for £8? o_O

Of course, for me there's a catch: they don't ship overseas and I do not have any current plans to be in the UK anytime soon. Is there anyone who'd be willing to snag a copy and then ship it to me (slow-boat method, I suspect, because at 2700+ pages I'm guessing it's a cinderblock) if I send you money to cover the book purchase, shipping, and maybe a little extra for your trouble?

[EDIT:] I did some investigating and it looks like the the parcel would weigh more than 2kg with packaging, so shipping would be either triple the cost of the book (£26) for Airmail or almost double the cost of the book plus two months in transit for Surface Mail. I think I have a lead on a copy from Amazon Marketplace which would work out to be cheaper all told.