Like everyone, my heart goes out to Japan and the devastation they’re experiencing. My husband lived in the Sendai area of Japan for two years as a missionary and has had a few sleepless nights practicing his Japanese by emailing old friends, and hoping to get a response back. We’ve been glued to cnn.com at night watching updates and have been planning out our own emergency preparedness and escape plans (this site is helpful). This isn’t the first large-scale disaster, but it’s been particularly difficult to watch as no other country comes close to Japan’s level of preparedness. I  heard on NPR that we are at least 5 years behind Japan in the type of technology to properly build, predict, alert, and organize our citizens (although can anyone really be prepared for a disaster of this magnitude?). It’s a little bit of a wake up call, don’t you think? I’ve been working on packing our ‘go bag‘.
Are there any things you’re doing or thinking about differently?

A few links:
Apartment Therapy posted some ways to help and donate here.
100% of the profits from this $25 by W+K Studio  goes to help Japan. My new office mate, Victoria, had a great idea to display it in her window (Oh! did I tell you I’m sharing an office a couple days a week with some other San Francisco bloggers? More on that later!)
Also, if you haven’t seen this video, it’s incredible. I’ve been following this facebook page and it’s been really interesting as a Westerner. These before/after photos are really insane.
On a happier note: Two incredible survivals stories about a 4 month old baby and a man found 10 miles out to sea

Other ideas on how to help?