Joss Whedon

Hey Peeps. I know you’ve been linked here before, but as the dread hour approaches (it’s just like that really tense sequence in “Far and Away” right before the Oklahoma Land Rush where Criminal Minds Guy totally disses Tom Cruise’s gnarly horse except there’s no sad Native Americans and I just lost many many potential bidders with my “Far and Away” love, didn’t I?) I cannot help but nudge. And, by way of compensation for said nudging, check in with my e-peeps. Answer some R.A.Q.s (recently asked questions.)

First of all, why the auction? Because I believe the chance to sit next to me, with my distinctive yet unsettling odor, will cause people to give Equality now Eleventy Kabillion Dollars. Each. I might have numbers slightly wrong. In fact I might be dining alone. But the fact is, when Kai and I said to each other that it was time to stop talking about the problems and start doing something, this was the first thing I thought of. It had been on my mind for a while, not just as a chance to help a cause, but to create a really memorable, uncommon fan experience. Uncommon not just for them but for me. Hear people talk. Dive in, get silly. The cause is deadly serious, but mixing the serious and the silly is more than my stock-in-trade: it’s almost a mission.

I have read your words (not the long ones with many syllables, but a lot of them) and the question “Why not a raffle?” has been broached. In truth, I’d thought of doing both, but this being my maiden voyage, pared it down. Maybe I made the less awesome choice (see above re: dining alone) but it will, at the very least, get the name Equality Now into a few more eardrums, which is not nothing. I’ve heard some Browncoats might be pooling a raffle into a bid, which I think is perfect. I hope that flies.

Why all the background checks and ‘right to refuse’? To protect against false bids and scary people. The latter was designed more for actor-types than people like me – I have seen some wildly creepy fandom around my actroid buds – but it’s standard and it’s safe and there it is. It does make the process less giddy, but it’s practical, which we have to be right up until we start ordering appetizers. (Hmmmmm, appetizers…)

Will the evening be awesome? The evening will be scumptralescently awesome, as long as the following subjects are avoided:

Art
Politics
Feminism
Buffy
Buffy Actors
Buffy Key Grips
My Face
The War of the Roses (the war, not the movie)
Food
Odors, Mine
Hammacher Schlemmer
Lions

So there you have it. I can’t wait. And let me bring you all up to speed on some other stuff as well. Par examplar: Comiccon. Panel? Why yes, thank you for asking. Saturday afternoon (mere minutes after waking from that fabulous, non-lion-mentioning evening) I’m doing a “Darkhorse Presents: Me” panel. Slightly less intimate than the dinner, but I’ll try to keep it lively. Really lively would be announcing that I’m actually moving ahead on a greenlit filmed entertainment. Dontchya think? Pretty sure that’s not gonna happen by then, but know that I am working around the clock (well, near a clock) to put together a number of drool-worthy projects. I’m tired of down-time. I’ll keep you posted, either at the con or here on this very webular page. Be like Xander in “The Zeppo”: Have Faith (Oh, ZING!) (I’m so over.) I know the Con will bring knowledge of at least one thing new – a small thing, but it grins me to think on.

That’s enough for now. Let the auction commence! (at the appointed time.) Have a great 4th of July – something totally historical happened then! And thanks to all the peeps at the Singalong. Marty and I had a crazy good time, even if we felt bad for poor defenseless Dawnie. (Every time you tell her to shut up, remember who wrote what she’s saying.) (That’s right. The kid’s with me.) And huge props not only to Mr McClung but to the video making peeps. I was particularly happy to see Kristine Sutherland getting the love. Long overdue.

And so…I vanish!

 j.