1. As morbid as this sounds, there are people who automatically turn to the obituary section as soon as they get their hands on the morning paper. If you’re one of those folks, you might want to log on to Legacy.com, which focuses on those who have moved on to their next lives. Not only can you find obits and even funeral homes through searches, but you can also submit a life story for a special person you want remembered. There’s also a very touching section devoted to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, where you can sign the National Book of Remembrance.
2. Bono, Jennifer Lopez, Destiny’s Child, Alicia Keys, Michael Stipe, and Britney Spears were just a few of the artists who contributed to a cover of the Marvin Gaye classic “What’s Going On.” This recording is particularly special not only because of the artists, but because proceeds from this song go toward the Sept. 11 Fund and Artists Against AIDS Worldwide. (Unfortunately, the CD single won’t be out until Oct. 2.) Stroll on over to whats-going-on.org and find out how to make donations and look at who sings which lyrics.
3. Tell your relatives to get out the heart pills… National Coming Out Day is Oct. 11. Gay Stories: Coming Out (www.bibble.org/gay/stories/comingout.html) has a slew of items related to tellin‚ about yourself, including what to do when things don’t go so well (and, yea, unfortunately that happens). The Human Rights Campaign’s National Coming Out Project (www.hrc.org/ncop/) is another excellent page with loads of info.
E-touch me at turn_it_up@hotmail.com.