Promotion!

I'm pretty bad at replying to the emailed offers of stuff to promote on my blog. However, I can muster the enthusiasm to pimp things that I am genuinely interested in:

1. Today the UPS guy brought my pre-order of Making Mathematics with Needlework. Appears not to be available yet from Amazon; I got mine straight from the publisher. Every quantitative-oriented crafter should have one. Scratch that, everyone should buy this book.
   


2. I sent $500 of my own money to the Center for Excellence in Education. I strongly support their programs. They run a fantastic summer program that takes bright kids from all over the country (and all over the world) and brings them together for an intense six-week research experience called the Research Science Institute. Unlike a lot of other summer programs that charge tuition, RSI is completely free for the students. If you think that this sort of program should continue to exist, you should send some money, too. If you can't spare $500, I can promise you that they'd be happy if you sent anything (even $10). And CEE is a 501(c)(3) organization, so if you itemize, you can get money off on your taxes. I don't itemize, and I still sent them a large chunk of cash. If you give enough money (check to see if your employer matches donations), the RSI staff will coerce one of the students to write you a thank you letter!