And what’s next?

I have given money to several charities over the years, but one of my favorite non-profits actually doesn’t require donations — but you are still able to help those in need.

If you haven’t heard of Kiva, it’s an awesome concept: making small loans to teeny businesses in very underprivileged parts of the world.

I’m such a fan, I wrote a sort of Kiva primer for SheKnows:

Make a difference right from home
I have helped buy cows in Azerbaijan, food in the Dominican Republic, clothing in Kenya and fund construction in Mexico. But I’m not an aid worker or missionary, and I haven’t been to a single one of these countries. How, then? Well, I’m a sort of modern-day armchair lender: a web-based microlender.

Read the whole article here — and here is a really sweet review on the piece. <blush>

Finally published the first article based on the interviews I did a couple weeks back! This piece is really just about the various reactions to the show being cancelled. (I know… a day late and a buck short. It’s taken a long time to get all the chats transcribed — nearly three hours of audio — and they’re still not all done, actually.)

Atlantis goes into stasis

Stargate Atlantis ends its series run: Cast and crew react to the news

When word broke at the end of August that Stargate Atlantis, one of the shining stars in the Sci-Fi Network galaxy, was being cancelled with its 100th episode, ardent fans weren’t the only ones who were stunned. After all, the show was only in its fifth season, and was more successful than ever. So what’s the story? SheKnows visited the Stargate set in Vancouver, and talked to three of the series regulars as well as the show’s executive producer to find out.

Read the whole article here at SheKnows.com

Stargate Atlantis article #1 on SheKnows.com

I managed to get the chance to journey up to Vancouver a couple weeks ago to visit the set of Stargate Atlantis. I was there to interview the cast and crew for a series of articles to run on SheKnows.com… but I was really there ’cause SGA is one of my favorite shows. Rather than letting a writer set up some phoners with the troupe, I decided that (a) I could do a better job since I know the series very well, and (b) I really wanted to do this. (I mean, if you are into a sci-fi show… who wouldn’t?!)

I got what seemed like a VIP tour: met most of the stars of the show, the exec producer and several other cool behind-the-scenes peeps.

What also rocked is that I also had the chance to play on the sets! I got a picture with the Atlantis base Stargate, at one of the desks in the control room, sat in the chair at Stargate Command from which incoming wormholes are announced, and even got to sit in the captain’s chair on the bridge of the Daedalus! (That set also served as the Apollo and the Prometheus ships.)

Hey — no apologies for geeking out over this.

I can’t publish most of the photos I took on SheKnows, as there are various legal/union/other issues apparently with such publication — but I’d think it would be cool to post some teeny thumbnails here on my own personal site. Yeah?

My fab Stargate tour

Row 1: With Rachel Luttrell (who plays Teyla) on the Stargate Atlantis set / In the control room
Row 2: At the SGC  / On the bridge of the spaceship

More about the experience will be revealed as I publish the articles over the next couple of weeks.

… have moved!

Find them just over a notch at andwhatsnext.com/bands .