Though I did participate in an MS Walk a few years ago, when I got an e-mail from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society about their MS Auto Rally, I was intrigued. Could this be an experience on par with the action depicted in the fine feature film Midnight Madness?

Well, I am hoping so, at least. Together with my husband and trusty friend millionaire anime translator Neil Nadelman, we shall ride around in our car through Concord, MA doing deeds!

You can even give our team Golgo 13 and the Solid Snakes one whole American dollar if you like!

The organization’s fundraising goal for this event is $35,000, but right now they’ve only met 18% of that goal. With a couple weeks to go, I’m feeling bad. I’ve made my (initial) goal and wouldn’t mind raising more dollars for them because they are an extremely deserving charity. I know from experience! Take it from a satisfied customer, they make a big difference. But yeah, sales pitch aside, I am really looking forward to this. It was hard to settle on a team name. I went back and forth between the two names (Golgo 13 and the Solid Snakes, which is our Rock Band band name, and Toyota Prius and the Recalled Brakes which I just thought was funny) for a while. This sounds like so much fun: you get clues and you drive around obscure parts of Concord, MA. So yeah, it could indeed end up like the plot of Midnight Madness. Will Christian stash marshmallows inside of the navigation computer? We’ll see!

I ordered a bunch of stuff from Shinzi Katoh. Unfortunately, none of it is for me, but it is for other, charitable purposes. Still, I thought I’d share.

Shinzi Katoh is a zakka artist from Japan. This gentleman makes some of the loveliest and most adorable illustrations you could conceive of, and some that you probably couldn’t. I first became of this guy and his work via the world of bento. I saw some cute bento stuff with awesome artwork, wondered about it, discovered its origins. To die for!

Anyhow, here is a sample of some of the stuff that a lucky person could win from the Anime Boston charity raffle to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Central New England chapter:

But that’s not all! Oh, no! This is most of it, though, so don’t get yer hopes up! Other additions will include a cookin’ book and perhaps a couple of items to get a person started off on making their own cute lunches for on-the-go munching.