Thinking of Japan & Hawaii (and ways to help)

I left for work too early this morning to know about the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan and then Hawaii, and only found out once I checked my twitter feed on my break, now that I've read the news that's pretty much all I can think of today. After checking up on a few friends, I know they're OK (thank you Facebook!), but I know they have friends they haven't heard from yet. Frankly, it seems wrong to go on blogging as usual like nothing happened. I've been checking on NPR and the Red Cross to see if they've set up any disaster relief, but haven't found anything yet. Either way, the Red Cross is a worthy cause to donate to, disaster or no. My thoughts are with Japan today and hope that if you or your loved ones are in any of the locations effected, that you all are out of harms way.

Update: there is now an option to donate directly to the Japan relief fund on the Red Cross website, to donate go here. You can also donate $10 to the Red Cross by texting REDCROSS to 90999.

(Photos from my 2004 study abroad in Niigata)