has a humorous essay published in a book for a worthy cause! http://tinyurl.com/brwalj

On Aug. 16, 2008, Christian and Stephanie Nielson, young parents of four children, were in a small-plane crash in Arizona. Their flight instructor, Doug Kinneard, was killed, and the Nielsons sustained near-fatal injuries. Christian suffered burns on more than 30% of his body; Stephanie, 80%. They remained unconscious and in critical condition for weeks.

The reason this incident came to my attention is that Stephanie is the sister of Chris Clark, and Chris and his wife Lisa are two of my best friends. I’ve mentioned them in “Snide Remarks” many times, usually under their pseudonyms Monty and Claire. Their children include Miles and Owen, the latter of whom once had bees in his head and the bees were crazy. I love the Clarks dearly, and that includes their extended family, most of whom I’ve met and laughed with several times.

Anyway, Christian and Stephanie are doing miraculously well. They’ve been transferred up to Utah, where most of their family lives, and Stephanie’s siblings are helping with the kids. But there is still a long road of recovery ahead of them, and that road is paved with obscene hospital bills and other medical costs.

Before the accident, Stephanie wrote a blog called the NieNie Dialogues (get it, StephaNIE NIElson?) that was popular among her fellow young moms. The blogging community has rallied together to support her and Christian, organizing auctions and other fundraisers and setting up a recovery fund, and now those efforts have led to a book — a book that includes a brand-new, previously unpublished “Snide Remarks” column by me, Eric D. Snider.

The book, entitled “Something Cleverish,” was the brainchild of Sue at Navel Gazing at Its Finest. The idea is that since Stephanie was a popular blogger, a few dozen of her fellow bloggers would contribute humorous essays to create a funny, lighthearted book that people will enjoy reading, with all proceeds going directly to the recovery fund. There are 43 writers in the book, of which Chris Clark and I are the lone males. I don’t know if you’d know any of the other writers, but the list of them (with links to their blogs) is here. The essays they contributed to the book aren’t about Stephanie; they’re merely in her honor.

My article is called “In Which It Is Hard to Throw Away a Desk.” It’s a fairly typical “Snide Remarks” column in that it relates an incident from my personal life that makes me look foolish and shortsighted. I believe you will enjoy it.

And the only way for you to read it is to buy this book.

Yes, I’m blackmailing you.

The book costs $19.60. It’s published on demand by Lulu, which takes $8 for itself to cover printing costs. You can also buy a digital copy, which you can download immediately in PDF form, and Lulu doesn’t take anything — the entire $19.60 goes to the recovery fund. Either way, you’re supporting a worthy cause, and you get a book full of amusing prose to boot, including a “Snide Remarks” column that you can’t read anywhere else.

If you prefer to just donate a pile of cash to the recovery fund, details on how to do so — via PayPal, check, or bank transfer — are here.

I can tell you that the family is extremely grateful for all the support they’ve received so far. More fundraisers are on their way, including one next week in Provo. I hope you will buy the book, perhaps multiple copies, or contribute to the recovery fund in some other way. In the meantime, thank God for your blessings, and go hug your kids why don’t you?

@ranielle Were you there?? I didn’t see you! And what on earth was the FIRST movie you saw in 2009, if it was worse than this?

“New in Town” is the worst movie I’ve seen in 2009. (Granted, I missed “The Informers” at Sundance.)

I left Utah on Saturday, stopped in Boise for the night (making sure not to stay in the hotel where I almost got shot), and arrived safely in Portland yesterday afternoon. But echoes of Sundance still reverberate, and here we shall address them.

First, Cinematical has a handy list of which Sundance films have been purchased by distributors, which means they will eventually play at a theater near you. These are just the ones that sold during the festival; if history is any guide, there will be several more deals made this week, with a few more trickling in over the next few months.

Next, here are the films I reviewed during the festival:

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@devincf QUIZNOS??!? WHO DO YOU THINK I AM, BILL GATES?!!

Day 9 (Friday, Jan. 23)

I did some more sleeping around last night. With Childress having gone home a few days ago, Weinberg was now sharing Davis’ room, and I was kindly permitted to sleep on the floor. Weinberg and Davis were furnished with earplugs, and everyone passed the night peacefully, except for me, as I was sleeping on the floor.

But sleeping at the Yarrow, even on the floor, has its benefits. It makes it easy to stumble to an 8:30 a.m. screening that’s being held in the same hotel. Theoretically, you wouldn’t even have to put shoes on, since it’s just down the hall and the hall is carpeted. I’ll have to try that next time.

The 8:30 a.m. movie in question was “An Education,” written by Nick Hornby and starring new up-and-comer Carey Mulligan (she was also in “The Greatest” at Sundance) as a British teenager in the 1960s whose stuffy, unimaginative parents don’t understand her love for art and literature and French things. It had been widely acclaimed throughout the week, which is why Sundance posted another screening (at the last minute, as was the festival’s wont this year). I’m not sure I loved the film, but I definitely liked it.

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has safely returned to Portland but has a strange craving for Burger King.

Sundance Diary Day 8, including some anti-jackass ranting: http://tinyurl.com/cj33wj

Day 8 (Thursday, Jan. 22)

What I’ve learned about film festivals is that when the chips are down, you can always count on the movie geeks to lend you a hand. Weinberg helped me put out feelers to see who had someplace I could crash on last night, and Drew and Dan of HitFix came through with a couch. I felt bad for Dan, who had to share the room with me and had not been informed of my snoring tendencies, but as it turned out there wasn’t much sleep in his future anyway, as he had to be up early to cover the Oscar nominations. Drew, a snorer himself, had already been quarantined in the other room. They should just put us all on an island together and let us snore each other to death.

Ever since Sundance and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences got on the same cycle a few years ago, like sorority sisters, the Oscar nominations have been announced during Sundance week. Today’s nods, including one for Heath Ledger, came on the one-year anniversary of Ledger’s death. As usual, the nominations were 95% what everyone expected and 5% UNFORGIVABLY OFFENSIVE SNUBS AND NO ONE WILL EVER TAKE THE OSCARS SERIOUSLY AGAIN!!!!!! Or at least that’s the word on the blogs. I know that by failing to nominate “The Dark Knight” for Best Picture, the Academy angered a lot of nerds. And we all know that movie geeks aren’t easily outraged.

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