One of my favorite teacher movies is The Dead Poet's Society. Granted, its no Goodbye, Mr. Chips but it does have an incredible scene (there are so many) in which Robin Williams' character (John Keating) works to instill in one of his young charges (Neil) that he does indeed have a poet within him;
He is, of course (for the learned amongst you), referring to Walth Whitman's masterwork "Song of Myself" and the 52nd "stanza" which reads;
The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab and my loitering.
I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.
The last scud of day holds back for me,
It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow’d wilds,
It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.
I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,
I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.
I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.
You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.
Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.
To read this in its entirety, you only need to click here.
Or to use the Dr. Seuss version (you can fast forward to 9:09 for this one);
Although I do like the updated version of this classic (especially Carol Burnett's treatment of the Sour Kangaroo) and the Broadway version of Seussical: The Musical, there is just something so timeless and classic about the original animated version.
So I need to vent. It may be just the frustration of wanting to be heard, or it may be born out of the need to let out a mighty Yawp in the manner of Walt Whitman and be counted but I need to vent about what's going on with Connor's Army.
You see, A New York Times writer is riding cross country to retrace a trip he took 18 years ago. He has a blog which I have to admit is much better than mine - hey, he's a professional writer, it had better be. But he is also making his trek on a custom-made titanium road bike with flat handlebars, he's only staying in hotels, and he's getting all the exposure that working for one of the most well-known newspapers in the world can bring.
Its all well and good that a single person is making a cross country trek on a bicycle. Thousands do it every year, many for charitable groups. But what is so damn infuriating is that this person is getting so much coverage when he is doing it for purely selfish reasons. It seems as if this is his way of expressing his mid-life crisis. Now granted, he does admit that he has some physical ailments that will make this less than ideally comfortable and I truly feel for him. However, as I ask my acting students all of the time, what is his motivation?
Now I don't want this to just be a pity party for one. Yes, perhaps I am experiencing a little of the sour grapes syndrome:
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| As our cousins the Girls of the Golden Afternoon would say, "ewwwwwwww" |
and I do know the old story of Aesop's fox and the grapes;
One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing to quench my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are sour."
Moral: It is easy to despise what you cannot get.
And maybe to and extent that is what this is - I am belittling his physical efforts and discomfort because I cannot get the coverage. But it is just so damn frustrating to wish to do something to help others and not be able to get anyone else interested.
You see, part of the problem seems to stem from the fact that I'm not doing this because (God forbid) something has happened to one of my children or one of my family members. It just feels like because I am doing this for altruistic reasons, no one wants to help. To date we have NO DONATIONS that have been made to the link at Sunrise, I can't seem to get to the 1,000 mark on facebook (however, you can like us by clicking the link to the right), I can't seem to get any more sponsors to commit to help underwrite the costs that this trip will entail, and I can't seem to get any press coverage except for the articles that Amy and I wrote for The Bicycle Times.
WHAT GIVES??????????
I am soooooo grateful to all of you who have actually viewed these blog entries. Even though I only have 52 followers, I can see that I have had over 8100 views since I've started this blog. I truly would like to thank each and every one of you who has read this far, not only the continuing blog but this particular entry, and I would like to ask you for your help.
You see, my family is spread far and wide and some of them still continue to deal with health issues. To ask them to go beyond what they've already been able to do to support me is just not feasible right now. The only people working on this enterprise are my wife Amy and myself. We don't have a staff, we don't have a huge network of friends who are making calls and soliciting donations for us - all we have is the two of us trying to make this happen and in doing so make an incredible summer possible for eight children that we may never even meet.
HOW CAN THOSE OF YOU READING THIS HELP?
I am throwing out a challenge to The New York Times, The Daily News, Newsday, USA Today and/or any other big newspaper companies out there. They've covered the elite people who ride cross country and have huge budgets and support teams. Phil Keoghan of the Amazing Race did a cross country ride for MS - and I don't want to denigrate from his noble deed. But if you look at his equipment, his chase vehicle and all the other support he has its not all that arduous.
I would like to challenge The New York Times, The Daily News, Newsday, USA Today and/or any other big newspaper out there to cover me during my preparation time and during the cross country ride next summer! I will give them an exclusive daily blog and I will cover step by step the entire logistics planning, training and the journey itself. I am not doing this trip on a custom titanium frame or on a Trek bike donated to me by the company. I am riding cross country on a Diamondback frame I dug out of the trash (I've contacted Diamondback and they won't even sponsor me) and with parts I have bought off of Craig's List, Ebay, Internet companies and/or pilfered from other bikes I have found.
I would like to challnege The New York Times, The Daily News, Newsday, USA Today and/or any other big newspaper to cover a REAL person riding cross country to help others.
How can you help? If you have any connections to any of these papers or if you know anyone who has connections to any of these companies, pass on my challenge to them. See if they are willing to see what REAL people are willing to do to help others, isn't that the entire point of giving? I don't want the publicity for me (and that seems to be the double edged sword here) - I want to publicize Sunrise and make people aware of the camp and one way they can give - by pledging to Connor's Army CX.
Is it sour grapes? Yes and no. I'm sour because it doesn't seem fair that the only people who can get coverage for their causes are the well connected or the famous. When does the average guy get the chance? Isn't helping children with cancer forget about their disease for a summer a worthy cause too?
Yet We Go On.....
Becuase that's what we'll do. Although we can't seem to attract sponsors and no one is donating, the ride WILL be happening. We hope that once people hear about it they'll be moved in their hearts to spare 5, 10, 15 or 20 dollars - with enough donors we can reach our goal. If we can just get 2500 people from across the country to each give 20 dollars, eight children's lives will be changed forever - and isn't that worth the challenge.
So if you have any connections to papers or sponsors please let us know, the bike is ready, I'm getting ready, all we need is the funds for the kids.
Okay, enough Venti(ng) for now, I promise!
Stay well and I'll see you on the road!
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