To Shop for the Cause at Amazon!

Yes, I’ve been under the weather and out of the loop when it comes to reminding you to donate money this October to a worthy cause - Breast Cancer Research.

But Meghan McCain jugged - er, jogged - my memory.

So check out this Amazon link to find a myriad of products in all price ranges that go to support various breast cancer charities. There’s something for everyone!

Also, thanks to noted breast-lover RS McCain, from whose site I swiped the photo that Her Beastiness has already deleted from Twitpic. Dear Meghan - you can’t erase the Internet.

Products that donate to breast cancer research:

Travel mug. Trudeau Cool Down Polycarbonate Hydration 24-Ounce Bottle, Breast Cancer Awareness, Pink

24 oz bottle. $9.99. 5% of money goes to BCRF

There is a whole host of things for sale in October and throughout the year that help pay for and promote breast cancer research. Usually these items are pink, which rocks my world, because I’m a pink junkie. My laptop, camera, iPod, cowboy boots and even my pearls are all pink. my BlackBerry Pearl from Telus (Canada) is pink, and a portion of the proceeds went to breast cancer research.

The downside to my charming pink computer is that it’s HUGE. Seriously, grossly large. Weighs as much as a two-year-old, which is a joy for lugging around airports. Mostly when I carry the damn thing, I have hot fantasies about owning a Mac Book Air. I have no idea why I felt driven to buy the 17″ instead of the 15″, but whatever.  I digress… This unfortunately means that I can’t buy pretty and stylish laptop bags. I have to have monstrous, ugly vinyl/canvas things that look like they were designed for war. I can’t have something like this:

Click picture for more info

Click the picture to be taken to Amazon. 10% of the sale of this bag ($129.99, includes shipping) goes to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Compared to similar bags from Spade or Coach, this bag is not only an inexpensive value, but promotes a great cause. Fits “normal” sized laptops, netbooks and tablets up to 15.2″.

Save the ta-tas! And carry your laptop in a good-looking, sturdy conversation-starter!

*Yes, I know I’m wearing purple in that image and not pink. Shut up. Since when did you people start complaining about breasts, anyway?

Thanks to @AshSaysSo on Twitter for the title idea.

Today, help a sister out.

Every woman over the age of 40 should get a yearly mammogram. They’re painful, but not painfully expensive. Unfortunately, not every woman can afford one. It’s not one of those things that should be put off.

National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) offers us the opportunity to donate mammograms to those who need them and can’t afford them.

Listen up conservatives! This is a good deed! If enough people do good deeds like this, then the government has no reason to pass socialized medicine. Think about it!

Click here to donate a mammogram to someone who needs one. Looking out for each other. It’s what we do.

October is almost upon us. In addition to being the month the Good Lord chose to deliver me to this spinning ball of mud, it is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Given that I have had such a boobtacular year, with Mark Steyn mentioning my ta-tas almost daily for weeks - including on the Rugh Limbaugh Show - I thought I ought to give a little something back.

Each day in the month of October, I will highlight a different product or service that will assist in breast cancer research. It might be a donation you can make directly, or a product you can buy that gives something back to one of the research foundations.

Some of those foundations I’ll be highlighting include:

Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF)

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Canadian Cancer Society

National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF)

As each person is different, you may have a particular foundation you prefer to align yourself with - or one you would prefer not to. Each day my feature will tell you who receives the money, and how much. It’s up to you to make a choice.

For all my female readers, I hope you’ll care for yourself and do regular breast exams. In addition, schedule a mamogram. It’s difficult for those in socialized countries to book mamograms if we are under the “risk” age, but if you have any reason to suspect you may be at risk for breast cancer, be your own advocate and demand one. Don’t let some bean counter put your life in danger.

This actually made me cry at my desk:

Susan Dahl had been homeless for four months in Colorado and had just survived a harrowing 10-hour bus trip through sleet and snow. Hungry and broke, all she wanted to do was get back to family in Minnesota.

That’s when a tall man in a red coat and red hat sat next to her at the downtown bus station, talked to her quietly and then slipped her $100.

The man was doing the work of Larry Stewart, Kansas City’s original Secret Santa who anonymously wandered city streets doling out $100 bills to anyone who looked like they needed it.

“There was this fella named Larry Stewart,” he tells a man in the bus station. “He was an old friend of mine. He was called Secret Santa, and every year he would find a few people who might need a little money and he would ask that you pass on the kindness.”

People respond differently to the gesture. Some cry. Some scream. A rare few even say, “No thanks.”

Others take the money and offer their own gifts. like Robert Young, who was homeless and had only 20 cents in his pocket. When Secret Santa gave him $200, Young, 50, took out an old notebook and ripped out a song he had written.

“It’s yours now,” he told Secret Santa, who thanked Young, and carefully tucked the pages into his pocket.

There is no doubt that Larry Stewart will be at God’s table for Christmas this year.

The infinitely gut-wrenching and very, very effective Toronto Sick Kids “Believe” campaign has kicked off again.

Watch it. You’ll then probably want to go here.

Whoever created that campaign was a fucking genius.