Kindness Plug

By all accounts the benefit for Derrick Brown went really well on Monday night. He raised some money to help offset his medical bills, but he is still far short of his goal. When I wrote him this week asking what else you or I could do, he said the best thing was to keep buying his books or his brand new t-shirts which he has for sale on his website and which is linked at the very bottom of this post. Although he feels uncomfortable about accepting money for nothing in return, he also understands that maybe people only have $1 or $2 to contribute and feels blessed that you would even help a stranger with that amount. In case you are not familiar with his story or his work, I encourage you to check out his websites, or read one of his books. You better get used to this kindness plug every week, because it will be here until the bills are gone. These are the words of Derrick.

Here is a short summary of what happened to me for those concerned, and I must say I was overwhelmed and honored by everyone's emails and support. It was the best thing about that rough and boring and painful hospital stay.

So out in California, The drums inside your chest show was so damn fun. Sold out. 5 cameras. 15 minute slots by some of my favorite authors.Brilliant photos by mr. matt wignall at www.mattwignall.com/reading.

The next day was to be a show in my beloved Long Beach at the broadlind with myself, aimee bender and chris davidson put on by the lascivious david price.

My friend Amber and I visited my folks on the way to the show and had some food beforehand down in cypress at my Moms.

Minutes later after the meal my breathing got a little heavy. i thought i was just jetlagged. We drove off.

In the car as Amber drove, I said "Hey, something is happening to my heart.... My moms phone is under MA cell in my phone...and"

Then my face froze up. Locked up in the jaw. Then a tingling down my body from my face to my toes and within a minute my body had locked up and shut down in paralysis.

Amber saved my life by absolutely hauling ass back to my folks, skipping an ambulance and racing to the ER in los alamitos. My breathing had slowed to almost nothing. I could not see.

I could hear. My breathing was about done. I wasn't in pain or sad but I was crying out of one of my eyes.

Some fellas carried me in. I They pumped me with 3 types of drugs intravenously and I remember it burning in my chest and I thought they were accidentally giving me acid due to the burn. Stung like a gas flame moving up my lungs. Soon I was glad they did it. I then gained feeling in my jaw and then arms, then the right side of my leg and about an hour later my toes. My boss snuck into the ER when my folks left and made me laugh. I saw someone who had been stabbed in the back being police escorted in handcuffs and things seemed less bad in numbville. I waited a few hours for a hospital bed, took some sleep drugs and was woken up every 2 hours for testing.

I had to stay there for 4 days. I got weak off the drugs and fat off the steroids they pumped me full of. 12 pounds. My heart felt like it was exploding all day long on the methylprednisone. I wanted to see an allergist, but they wanted to do all the expensive tests first, to rule out brain troubles. They found a small heart murmur (unrelated) and a small cyst in my nose that might be effecting my voice. Yes effecting. But out of the 12 tests, they found nothing. I also heard Supreme court justice John Roberts had a similar thing that week. They said if he has one more, he has a version of epilepsy. They wont be able to diagnose what i have out here in Tennessee until the middle of September. Allergy maybe. Blood sugar problem maybe.

As you can imagine, Derrick's medical bills are huge. On Monday November 5th from 8pm-midnight at The Gypsy Lounge in Lake Forest, CA there will be a benefit for Derrick. Scheduled to perform are Derrick himself, Amber Tamblyn, Mindy Netifee, and many others.

If you are in the area, I encourage you to come by and enjoy some great readings, some great music and a great cause. If you are not in the LA area, then I will let Derrick tell you what you can do.

My bill was huge. I am trying to put out a new book for Valentines day. Many have called asking if there is anything they can do and the answer is yes. I need money. Even a buck or 2 would help me a ton. I don't want anything for free. I'll email everyone 3 poems from the new book for any donation amount. http://www.brownpoetry.com/writebloody/store/orderbooks.html you can click on BUY BOOKS THROUGH PAYPAL and enter any amount . It will go directly to my medical bills.You can send checks or whatever. Or if you can't do the money thing, there is a support link on www.writebloody.com You could put a banner on your myspace or blog and maybe I can print up someones book for them. Or even an email saying howdy would be much appreciated. Cheers. I love you. D

This is one of my favorite Derrick Brown videos. Take a look.