In less than one month, I lost two of my three kitties. We had to put Felix The Bear to sleep, because he was suffering from acute renal failure. Three weeks later, Sketch Wheaton, who had Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, and nearly died from congestive heart failure back in January had a heart attack and died on my bedroom floor, in my wife's arms, while I was in Las Vegas writing about the poker tournament. (That's Felix The Bear on the left, and my Fat Boy, Sketch, on the right.)

Their vet bills are well over $7,000, and I'm having a fundraiser to help cover some of those costs.

A bunch of WWdN readers suggested that I put up a PayPal donation box, but I just don't feel right taking something for nothing. I think I have a good balance, though: I have about 100 copies of Just A Geek here in my house. Lots of people have asked me where they can get autographed copies of Just A Geek . . . so I figured I could put up that PayPal donation box, but you'd get something kind of cool in return.

Until Friday (May 6, 2005), I'll be offering these signed copies at the "Fundraiser" price of $50, which will include a copy of the eulogy I wrote for The Bear, saddle-stitched with his stumpy little face on the cover. I realize that not everyone has the money or desire to dump $50 bucks on a book, so at the end of the week, if there are books left, I'll reduce the price to $30, which is just five bucks over the cover price.

If there is enough interest, I'll offer some copies of Dancing Barefoot, as well.

In the boxes below, you can enter the name of the person you'd like me to dedicate the book to, as well as any special message (keep it reasonable. I'm not going to write anything about how I loved being in prison with you.) If you choose no message, I'll write something like, "Get your geek on!" or "My thumb is stuck in my eye!" or maybe just, "To Melllvar."

Thank you so much for your support.