Yesterday I complained foolishly about the snow & Mother Nature’s yearly beating we get each winter. When I turned on the news this morning, I felt like a real jerk…we could have it so much worse. For the second time in little over a month, the western hemisphere has been struck by a catastrophic earthquake- this time 8.8 on the Richter scale. Now before someone raises a stink about us not having blogged about the tragedy in Haiti- if you’ll notice, we really didn’t do much blogging last month due to transitions/movements. What happened in Haiti was terrible, and it is really great how much of the world has banded together to raise money, food, supplies, and volunteer work to help the people in need. Now sadly, the same is needed in Chile, where the 8.8 quake hit. It is still too early on to tell what kind of damage has been done and the number of lives affected. As soon as I heard, I contacted a friend in New York who has friends & family in Chile- he hasn’t been able to reach them. Plus, the earthquake is not the only tragedy today; because of the magnitude of the earthquake, waves traveling at the speed of an air jetliner are headed toward Hawaii- a tsunami is coming. Safety warnings have gone out in Hawaii, California, and all the way up the coast to Alaska. The tsunami is expected to hit Hawaii at 11:19am local time, 4:19pm EST. We can only hope and pray that people find safe shelter from the storm.
Yesterday we got in t-shirts for a benefit at Musica, “Akron Rocks for Haiti”. A great mix of local musicians are getting together to raise funds & awareness for the American Red Cross/Haiti Relief fund, including Umojah Nation, House Popes, Ryan Humbert, Roxxymoron, Freez-R-Burn, and Peep. I was planning to blog about them today, little did I realize there would be much more to talk about. It’s likely that relief & aid for Chile & the Pacific will be addressed at the show as well. If you haven’t contributed to the relief efforts in Haiti, now is the time. The Red Cross will be in need of more supplies/funds/help due to today’s events. Call your local American Red Cross (there’s one on West Market St), Google, find out how you can help.
We are now four weeks into our sort-of new venture of Rubber City Clothing- Highland Square. Since April 2009, the store had been known as 
As I’ve mentioned many, many times before, growing up, I HATED Akron. You might say I was quite miserable with my hometown. Once I moved out of state and was away for a few years, I oddly began to miss the Rubber City. That sense of longing grew to love, and after moving back two years ago, I am happily committed to Akron (got a pre-nup just in case). I can honestly say- and not because I work for a company based on “Akron-pride”- that I truly love this city. So I was a bit ticked off this morning when I read a little 
If Akron is SOOOOOOO miserable, why is it that I can think of at least a dozen friends that moved away from Akron only to move back because they missed it? Or better yet, why is it that we have not one, but SIX companies devoted to Akron pride: Rubber City Clothing, Revivalist, Campfire, 10x Your City, RockEveryWear, and Made in Akron, and all are doing pretty well. For the last year and a half, I have lived & breathed Akron. I meet all kinds of people that live here, are from here, or are just visiting, and RARELY is it that I hear anti-Akron bashing. Sure this city isn’t perfect, but no place is. I’m really curious as to the deciding factors that the geniuses at Forbes used to compile this list. There are hundreds of other cities that probably don’t have the parks, restaurants, nightlife, local shops, industries, historic homes, and really awesome t-shirts that Akron does. Who does Forbes think they are? I can’t rely on the opinion of a company run by that goofy looking guy that tried to run for President & wasn’t funny hosting SNL.