Tattoo You - Not Just for The Rolling Stones!

Okay, I think the red and black of he original cover artwork is still striking after all these years.  To think that in August it will be 30 years since the release of this album.   And just to remind us all of the great songs this album brought us let's list all the hits The Rolling Stones brought us with this iconic album;

1. Start Me Up
2. Hang Fire
3. Slave
4. Little T and A
5. Black Limousine
6. Neighbours
7. Worried About You
8. Tops
9. Heaven
10. No Use in Crying
11. Waiting on a Friend

What?!? Not enough you say, well here is the first track for  your listening enjoyment;

	The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Now after my last posting about my existential musings you may be asking yourself what is all this levity?  Okay, before you think I am about to float to the ceiling ala Mary Poppin's Uncle Albert



let me explain.  You see about 20 years ago I decided I wanted a tattoo.  But one of the things that always kept me from getting one was what do I get and where did I want it.  Initially, as a classical ballet dancer I didn't want to get anything that showed so I thought I would get a tattoo on my lower back where my tights (well, I usually wore tights, it sometimes depended on the whim/capriciousness/sadistic tendencies of the costumer) would cover the artwork so as not to distract.  Although I had in mind this really great Celtic design that I had found at the Irish Festival in Dallas one year (and much to Amy's chagrin I kept the t-shirt on which it was printed until it was in such a state of disarray/disrepair that I finally had to get rid of it), I finally had to give up that idea because I was afraid I would end up something like this;

(Of course it could be a metaphor for his optimistic outlook where he eats rainbows and poops butterflies)

Yes, for all of you "How I Met Your Mother" fans, that is Ted Mosby's "tramp stamp" that he received in Season 3 as he was trying to get over Robin's "hooking up" with Gael (played by Enrique Iglesias).  He ended up meeting Amy (not mine, the characer played by Mandy Moore) and at the end of the episode he gets drunk and ends up with the above little momento.

As the years went by I still held on to the idea that now I wasn't performing I could get my Celtic design.  However, as time went by and I got a little more taste in my life I realized that the lower back tattoo was not really my style. Then I thought I would get a Smiley Face tattoo put on my right ankle to cover the smile-shaped scar left over from my reconstructive surgery.  But I never got around to it.

And then I had my little incident this summer in which I made God laugh and as a result I ended up with with this little reminder (WARNING!  ITS A PICTURE OF MY SCAR A FEW DAYS AFTER THE ACCIDENT SO IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH, SKIP RIGHT PAST IT)

I did warn you!  But because of that experience I knew that I wanted a tattoo that would remind me of the fact that I survived this accident with only a few scars to show for it - no broken bones, no permanent damage and (as the ER doctor reminded us while I was in my Morphine haze) I didn't die.

But first I had to wait for the settlement from the insurance company since I knew from past inquiries that what I wanted would not be cheap.  When that finally came in I actually tried a few places but they all told me that what I wanted was "out of style" - okay I think those places failed Customer Service 101!  Well the check finally came in but I didn't know where to go becuae I also did't want to end up with hepatitis.  So I asked Corinne who is the nurse practitioner at my general physician's office.  She led me to a place called Ink Alternative in Ronkonkoma.  After a few attempts I finally was able to book a consultation with her last Saturday to come in this past Wednesday.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous since I had never been in a tattoo parlor before other than to ask about having my dream artwork done.  As far as I knew it would end up looking something like this;

(We have ways of making you attractive - or at least of putting on your tat!)

Fortunately, it was nothing like that and I didn't have to worry about cleanliness or hepatitis!  Now granted, I wasn't looking to become the next cover model for an updated version of Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man;

(A great novel by the way, in case you've never read it)

Nor did I want to be the subject of a song in the style of Groucho Marx;



Or, if you prefer, the "updated" Muppets version;



Okay, okay so I'm off on a tangent - I swear some day I'm going to have myself tested.

Anyway, after much deliberation I decided I was going to get something that would be meaningful to both the moment and to myself.  I decided on a tribal band in the shape of a bicycle chain with the word ádhúil inscribed inside of it.  The bicycle chain is obvious and the word ádhúil is the Irish word for "lucky".  I had my friend Rita (who is Irish) help me with the translation.  The problem is that there is no direct translation for "lucky" as translation is an issue.  You sometimes can't translate literally into Irish, for instance the sentence "I was lucky " would translate as "Bhí an t-ádh liom", literally - "the luck was with me"with the word "ádh" meaning luck.  When you delve further into the translation (and there are many discussions/arguments in the cyber community about this) you can find that the words ámharach, ádhúil, séanmhar all translate into "lucky"  with the phrase "Fear ámharach" translating to mean "a lucky man".

In any event, all of the people I consulted agreed on one thing; if I was to use the word "ádhúil" then I had to make VERY certain that the "fadas" (the little accents over the vowels) MUST be in the right places.  So as I consulted with Amalia (A FABULOUS TATTOO ARTIST BY THE WAY - but more on her in a bit), I made certain that she understood that.  Of course I told her it was my first "tat" so I'm sure she thought I might back out or that I was just some office jockey that was looking for some way to express my mid-life crisis.  But she booked me for this past Wednesday and I went into the office.  I really didn't know what to expect since when I went in for the consult everyone there (including the new customers waiting for consuls) had multiple tattoos and piercings.  Here I was the clean cut(ish), short, white boy with unblemished (except for scars) skin and only three piercings (all in my ears).

So I went on Wednesday evening after a nice dinner with the family for what I thoguht would only be an hour and a half experience.  It turned out to be so much longer than that.  We first had to trace the pattern onto my arm and make sure that it was placed correctly.  I took a couple of tries but we finally got everything positioned the way we wanted it.  I originally was going to have a simple band go around with the word floating in the middle of two unattached ends but as we started playing with the design we came up with a way to attach the ends of the chain and to make it encircle the word.  I liked the design so that's the way we decided to go.

And now came the hard part.  Now don't get me wrong, I knew there was going to be some pain involved and I knew it wouldn't be as painful as having a lip tatoo (don't get me started) but it wasn't going to be comfortable.  However, since I have a reasonably high pain threshold (though not as high as Amy's) I figured I'd be alright!  And actually, it was kinda fun.  After the initial "getting to know you" stage (about ten minutes into the process) Amalia and I started chatting about family and raising kids.  Then her significant other Dan came in and we really got into the whole conversation about raising kids and especially in Northport.  Turns out Amalia and Dan live in East Northport!  What a small world it is after all.  We had some good conversation and despite the fact it ended up taking three hours instead of the initially anticipated hour and a half, it really didn't feel like it.  At the end of the night Amalia even told me how impressed she was that I held up with the pain since a lot of people get "squirmy" at the end, especially when they're having work done on sensitive spots like the insides of their arms.  Again, it could be in lots more sensitive areas, but that's not for me.

So today it's still a bit sore but not as bad as on Thursday and Friday when Sarah accidently smacked me on the arm a couple of times.  I'm really happy with it (I'd better be since it's kinda permanent) although in retrospect I should have her do it a bit lower.  I really thought it would show with my cycling jersey on although it would be hidden when I wore regular clothes.  Ah well, I'll just have to roll my sleeves up because after waiting this long, I am going to want to share this;

Because when all is said and done (and despite my existential "blue funks") I really am happy with my life.  After my last posting a lot of friends have contacted me to remind me to keep pushing on because in the end it is all worth it.  Thank you Bonnie for your kinds words.  As long as I have a wife like Amy, kids like Sarah, William and James, and all of my friends (including all of you cyber friends), I truly am "Fear ámharach" - A lucky man!

Stay well and with any luck I'll see you on the road tomorrow!

A Matter of Perspective - Existentialist Musings

So today I'm having another one of my periodic Existential moments to which I am prone.  This is not to say that I only have them when I am in a lying down position (Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat in a reclining position? - Here's the answer), but I do tend to have some existential moments when I'm in my moments of solitude.  And, wonder of wonders - many of them happen to be while on the bike.  Of course, with my Thursday commute to New Rochelle (75 miles round trip) I do tend to muse quite a bit from behind the wheel of my car.

However, back to my initial tack (yes, a nod to my nautical in-laws) of my most recent brush with existentialism.  I have never been one to do things the easy way.  When I was in high school back in Ansbach, Germany


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I wanted to be really good at something.  For some reason the thing I fixated upon was wrestling.  I guess I figured that if you were only 4'10" tall in high school that was one thing where being small would be an advantage.  Anyways, this is what I looked like back in the day;

and

I was never amazing like Freddie, Rainer or a few of the others but I was good and I worked my tail off.  Afer the first year, when I was basically a "mat rat" and would get squashed every day, I decided I was going to work harder than anyone else to get better.  I started a routine where I would get up and run 3-5 miles every single day to build up my stamina.  I would run in rain, cold and even snow and back before global warming we would get three foot snows on a fairly consistent basis in Southern Bavaria!  Nevertheless, I kept slogging away and kept working at it because I wanted to be better.  I even started lifting weights almost every day with one of my neighbors in our little basement gym we created in his storage room (all the apartments had their own storage room in the basement - it was a cool little warren of "dens").  I also got into soccer (another sport where short, guys could excel) and was not too bad at it but wrestling was really my passion.

 I never got incredible but I was good and I even would go and work out with one of the German wrestling clubs (which is how my German got sehr gut) and when my dad got stationed at Fort Hood, TX during my senior year (yes, tell me how much it sucked to go to three separate high schools in you senior year) I would wrestle with the Army team that was stationed there.  I became sort of like a mascot to them and although I couldn't compete with them, I got some incredible training.  I even thought about trying out for college teams but many of them didn't want to see me since I wasn't competing on a high school team and wouldnt't go to a regional, much less a state or national meet.  Instead I threw myself wholeheartedly into Forensics and that began the long road to eventually performing musical theatre in Southern Bavaria only 45 miles from where I went to high school in good old Ansbach! 

That of course led me to the career where I met my wife, many good friends and had a great life until I decided that settling down and having a family was much more important than the disappointment I was facing as a performer.  It's taken me many years to finally realize that the frustration I was experiencing at the time I left "the business" was due not to my own failings as a performer but rather to the capricious nature of the wheel of fortune that permeates the theatre business - being "in the right place at the right time".  Sometimes I ruminate on where I would have ended up if I would have just stuck it out another year as I was still receiving phone calls out of the blue to perform or dance captain up to three years after I "retired". 

No, my frustration with "the business" was born out of my belief (and the ethics taught to me by my career military father) that if you did the right thing, worked hard and always tried your hardest people would take notice and you would receive the rewards (job, promotion, accolades, parts, etc.) that you deserved.  Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way with performing but I didn't know that then and I was never really good at playing politics or networking (sometimes known as "sycophantism", "obsequiousness, "brown nosing", "ass kissing", etc.) and the other non-performing areas of the business.  I was really good at taking class, working hard and trying to be better.  I wish I were more like Sally from You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown , then I probably would have weathered it out longer (and yes, even though I'm not a big KC fan, I like the number)



But I was not as thick skinned as you need to be to thrive despite all the rejection of constant auditions and never getting the roles you really want.  I think now I would be much better at it as life has taught me more about patience (okay, I don't always have the most of it, but much better than I was back then) and I have come to realize that it is not just about talent - 15 years of being on the other side of the table has taught me that as well.  When all is said and done I am one of those described by a favorite poet (James Kavanaugh) as "too gentle to live among wolves".   Despite my underlying anger at injustice and inability to follow the rules (I guess I get that from my military upbringing) I am not a violent person and I still believe that if you treat people honestly and fairly and with compassion and empathy you can be happy and people will appreciate you for the good person you are.  And I still believe that if you work hard and work at being a better person you can reach your dreams.

So here is where my existentialist questioning has come in.  And to put us all in the proper philisophical frame of mind, a little Monty Python;



I really am starting to question what is the point of working so hard when its still about who you know and what type of connections you can make.  First of all we've run into road blocks in trying to raise the funds we need for the cross country ride.  At first when the angels at Smiles for Scott came forward and made the $5,000 grant I thought "thank you God, we are on our way and we can make this happen).   Now, afer countless letters, iquiries and please, we still can't get over the $10,000 mark.  So, we had to postpone the ride until next summer. 

And now, in trying to use the entire "networking" idea I've reached out to over 1500 people on facebook.  I've asked people to follow this blog, to "like" the Connor's Army facebook page and to show support for what is really a worthwhile cause.  Instead, I've only succeeded in annoying some people, some people aren't even "liking" the page (some of whom are former students who were very supportive of the original mission") and many (about 400) haven't even replied.  Its very frustrating since I think people might believe I'm doing this for my own self aggrandizement.

To be honest with all of you (I think there are a few more than 50 of you who read this so please do me a favor and sign up to be an official follower) I'm losing hope and as my catechumin training reminds me, I find myself slowly slipping into the sin of despair.  I'm not angry at God but I am starting to wonder if what I do with my life matter to anyone.  I worked over the summer and I saw the difference that our efforts as a staff had on those kids and I really felt moved to do something more - just as I did when I first formed Connor's Army.

Now I feel like I want to somehow make it possible for more kids to be able to experience Sunrise and to help them have the experience that will help change their lives and give them hope and joy.  But the road blocks I'm running into just seem to be getting larger and larger.  How do I get over them?  How can I get people to support what we're doing?  I sometimes read facebook posts where people really write about the most innane things and they get 75 responses and "real" dialogue happens right there on their face book page.  I ask people to simply take 15 seconds to add Connor's Army to their likes and they act like they can't be bothered.

I know there are some of you who read this and I apologize for my ranting.  Amy and my good friend Laurelle both would recognize this as being in one of my "blue funks" that I am periodically prone to.  Or, as the magnet on my refrigerator says, "An Irishman has an abiding sense of tragedy which sustains him through temporary periods of joy."   Well, I wouldn't say that I'm that bad but it is getting difficult. 

	Feel Free - Message in a Bottle - Police .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

I would like to ask a favor of you dear readers.  Consider this a message in a bottle if you will.  I don't need an ego stroking, its not why I do what I do, but I would truly appreciate any input you could give me.  I'm really looking for creative ideas on how to overcome these two problems; raising support and raising funds for Connor's Army.  I know I'm a good person and what I'm doing is worthwhile and you dear readers are the choir to whom I am preaching.  My question to EACH of you is "how do WE reach others"?  How do we show others that in supporting and giving to these kdis they bring back postivie energy to themselves?  I really am looking for any ideas you might have.

I am not going to give up, I'm too much of a fighter (okay, read hard headed, sutbborn, obstinate, bullish, etc.) to give up but I am feeling the need for help so I'm asking - will you help me?

Of course, in that great philisophical belief "it could always be worse" I offer to you the experience of this track racer - WARNING! THE FOLLOWING VIDEO IS A LITTLE GRAPHIC AND NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH - but I figure if he can get back on the bike and ride, I will somehow find the means to ride cross country for Sunrise!


UCI World Cup 2011 - Awang's Splinter Update from British Cycling on Vimeo.

And that's why I like riding on the road and not on the track!  Oh, and by the way I'm getting some body art done on Wednesday!  I'll be posting a blog with photos about that later this week!

Stay well and I hope to see you on the road soon!

And the Wheel of Fortune Turns Again

So in medieval philosphy The Wheel of Fortune, or Rota Fortunae, is a concept referring to the capricious nature of Fate. The wheel belongs to the goddess Fortuna, who spins it at random, changing the positions of those on the wheel - some suffer great misfortune, others gain windfalls. Fortune appears on all paintings as a woman, sometimes blindfolded, "puppeteering" a wheel.  Often she looks something like this;

Now this is not to be confused with the Pat Sajak show we all know and love (particularly since my wife Amy was once a major winner on the show);



No, we're referring to the entire idea of fate, of course with the addition of the entire blindfold issue, we might be tempted to confuse her with "Lady Justice";

Or, if you follow the headlines (particular as justice pertains to cyclists rights) as seems to be all too common today, this version;

But that's really not what this posting is all about (at least not yet).  What I want to share with you all is the capriciousness of fortune and this week it has come on so many different levels.

First of all, the downside of the turning wheel.  I know I've mentioned numerous times about my cycling accident in July (I Made God Laugh Today) and how I think it has effected me on a karmic, spiritual level.  However, this past week I discovered another physical effect that I previously not known about.  Apparently, at some point during the accident I also hit very hard on my right hip.  For a long time I had a large scrap and a bruise in the area right below my right hip bone.  A bit of the bruise is still there.

Well, last weekend I did some shoveling and cleaning up around the house to get a little dug out from the event that was Snowmageddon!  Well I guess I must have twisted wrong because I woke up Monday morning in a lot of pain.  Now, you have to understand as a dancer I do have a pretty high pain threshold and I can take a lot of punishment.  As a matter of fact, my back has been sore and/or hurting pretty consistently for the last two months or so.  However, Monday's pain was a new level so I called my friend Dr. Scott Torns to see if he could fit me in.  He got me in that morning and did a series of tests and came to the conclusion that I probably twisted my L5 vertabrae;

Which probably accounts for why I have had pain in my lower right back for so long.  Anyway, he's been working on me now and everything is getting better (without the need for pharmacological help!).  The downside of all of this is that I haven't been able to ride my bike this week.  I've been leery of getting on the bike and undoing all of his hard work.  However, that will hopefully be taken care of as I finish these last adjustments.  I'm going to try to get out on the bike this weekend to try my hand as the weather is supposed to finally warm up.

So that is the physical condition of me (and by extension Connor's Army) but there has also been an interesting turn of the wheel in regard to the emotional and financial situation.  No, we haven't gotten a new infusion of sponsorship cash in hand (although, again, if ANYONE is reading this that has a connection to any potential sponsors - LET ME KNOW!) but we have had a lot of people come forward this week with offers to do some fundraising on behalf of Connor's Army.

First of all is my friend and colleague Peter Haughwout.  He is one of the founders of a collective of artists known as Art Studio 85.  Their group has a primary goal of "entertaining our audiences through a myriad of media. In attempts to evoke emotional responses from a growing New York community, it is our studio’s desire to appeal to all of the senses and to eventually reach individuals internationally."  They "regularly engage in discussions on topics such as philosophy, current events, religion and metaphysics just to name a few" while "Group critiques and required pilgrimages (visits to exhibition spaces) allow our artists to remain competitive and current in their creative fields."  I personally know many of these artists as many of them are collegues of mine at Syosset High School and I have seen their work first hand.  Go on their website and check it out - I wish I had a quarter of their talent with a pencil, paintbrush or clay.

Pete and his group are putting together an art exhibition at the Walt Whitman museum for early April and they intend to run it as a benefit for the museum and Connor's Army!  We don't know how much it will generate but every little bit will help us towards our gaol.  With any luck we may be able to raise another $1,000 through this event!  More would be a blessing of immense proportions but we'll start small and that would be enough.  Yet, there's more!  He is hoping to do a similar show in June with student artists that traditionally has a very large turnout.  With any luck, we'll have the funding we need before that event and all of the proceeds from the June show can go directly to Sunrise Day Camp.

Also, one of my former students has a comedy improv troupe at Emerson and she is putting together a benefit show that will be held next Friday night!!!!  THANK YOU MEL!!!!  As soon as I get more information about that event I will post it here and also on our facebook sites as well!  With any luck that will generate a goodly amount as well.

And finally, and this offer really touched my heart, one of my former acting students who is now involved in a lot of the after school clubs has offered to go door to door in Syosset and ask businesses to support Connor's Army.  She is also going to approach the student government about sponsoring us as well!   She floored me when she made this offer and I can only hope that more of our "Army" can help us with smaller fundraisers such as this.  Please, any of you who have the opportunity no effort is too small since every dollar raised for the cross country event brings us one wheel length closer to the finish line!

Thank you everyone for believing in us and believing in our mission!  Please keep those fundraisers coming and I will keep letting you know how close we are to making this happen and changing the lives of these kids.

Now, keep your fingers crossed that when I go out this weekend I don't mess up Dr. Scott's adjustments!

Stay well and I'll see you on the road!

The Other Side of the Coin - Down but NOT (totally) Out! Please Read to the Very End!

So the weather up here on good old Long Island has been, to put it mildly, Sehr Schlect!  All you have to do is realize we've already used up all our snow days to know we (like everyone else in the country) have ahad a really bad winter.  I haven't gotten a lot of riding done (hence the dearth of posting) since I only got to ride yesterday for the first time in two weeks.  Between the snow, the ice, the sub-freezing temperatures and the last of my graduate classes, not a lot of opportunity has been had to ride.  So as yesterday was World Cancer Day and despite the fact that the temperature was 17 degrees at 6:30 in the morning (with a wind-chill of 9) nothing was going to keep me from riding my bike to work!

However, there is an old adage that says there are two sides to every coin and I have to realize that there is probably a reason for my not riding - maybe my knee is finally supposed to heal because of the (forced) rest.

So if we are truly going to embrace the optimistic philosphy that the glass is half full then we should remember that for everything that can be construed as a down turn there is always an up turn.  Otherwise, our view of the coin having two sides might end up like this guy's;

which is most decidedly (and obviously) pessimistic.  Other great two-face individuals who are/were probably pessimists include the two-faced Roman god Janus;

and former President George W. Bush;

(A man equally adept at looking at both sides of the issue - or talking out of both sides of his mouth)

But I choose to try to look at potential down turns as opportunities to learn and perhaps learn and grow.  That doesn't mean that I won't sing the blues a bit (though not as good as Josh White);



And I'll be very honest, I'm singing the blues real hard right now - at least on the inside - but more about that later.  Right now, I have to dwell on the good side of the coin or I'll end up a human version of this coin;

(The proper term is uniface coin)

Of course with all of this talk about coins and money you would think I had turned in to a Numismatist.  But of course the paradox of that hobby is that you have to have money to collect money!  Again, another topic I will turn to later.

Despite the fact that yesterday was a day we remembered a lot of people who are fighting cancer, we also received some really incredible news!  The National Association of Secondary School Principals has named Sarah New York's top Middle School youth volunteer of the year in the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards!!!! She gets $1000, a medal, and a trip (with one of us) to DC for the national awards ceremony April 30-May 3. Only one middle school student and one high school student is chosen from each state.  29,000 young volunteers participated in this years program and she's one of 102 that were chosen for this honor.

Needless to say, THIS IS HUGE!  She was nominated by Mr. Hoss, her middle school principal, and we received the news yesterday.  Its all due to the work she has been doing with Lemon Aid as she tries to raise money to replant the trees that have been cut down in our home town of Northport due to either disease or "other considerations".  We are incredibly proud of her as this is validation of all that she has been doing to put into action her conviction that everyone, no matter how old, needs to contribute to helping save and restore the environment.

And then there is the other side of today's coin toss;



I think if finally became evident today that the Connor's Army Cross Country Ride is not going to happen - at least not this year.  This has been a very hard and very emotional decision/realization for me and to tell you the truth I'm still trying to see the glass as half full but I really don't know any more how I can.  I'm trying to look at this as a learning moment but my spirit is so crushed right now that it is difficult.  I really believed that somehow we would get the funding, that somehow people's compassion would come through and help us make this difference in the world.  I've prayed, sent out positive energy, tried to do things that would cause positive Karma and I even tried to look at the fact that maybe the reason I wasn't killed in my bicycle accident this summer was becuase I was meant to do this.

For months I have been writing about how I really feel the need to do this - to give back to the world in the best way that I can.  We know that once we announce the ride to the media, people will donate to Sunrise Day Camp and we would be able to raise the $50,000 that could make such a difference in the lives of eight children.  But we don't know if we would be able to get all of that money between now and the end of August.  We just don't know anymore.

Amy and I finally had to realize that although the sponsorship money is coming in, we're still $6,000 of what we need to have commited to us to know this is possible to do.  The people at Sunrise and I both agreed that there was no reason to put a link up on their website where people could make the donations to Sunrise until we knew for certain the ride was going to have the sponsor funding we needed.  With a projected starting date to begin riding of late June, even if we had the cash in hand right now we're not sure we could get the word out enough so that people would go online and make the pledges to make our goal possible.  Since we can only do this once in a lifetime, we don't want to do it and end up only raising five or ten thousand dollars.  If we're going to do it, we have to do it right and really reach (or at least get darn close) to our goal.

I am literally in tears right now as I write this because of the frustration and the sadness I feel about making this decision.  Much of it is my own damn fault for not getting myself into gear at the beginning of last summer to get sponsorships in place.  But I wasn't sure.  I needed to know that the place for which I was going to raise the money was the right place.  After spending the summer there, I know in my heart that Sunrise is truly the right place and I WILL RAISE THE MONEY!  This money would make such a difference in the camper's lives and I know from having worked with them that they appreciate what they get from Sunrise each summer.

So we are going to continue soliciting sponsors and asking people to join our facebook page and to keep pushing to make this happen - its just going to have to happen in the summer of 2012 instead.

If I didn't have a family and I was younger with no responsibilities I would have no qualms with just taking a plane out to California and starting to pedal east biking for eight hours a day and sleeping in a corn field somewhere.  But I have people that depend on me now and I just can't take those risks anymore.  Don't get me wrong, the plan has never been to travel in luxury - far from it.  I'm hoping to save as much of the sponsorship money as we can so that anything that is not used will then be added to the $50,000 we'll raise in pledges.

But if we're going to do it we have to do it right - we owe it to the kids of Sunrise because they deserve nothing less.

I will keep riding to get my body ready.  I will keep blogging to tell you how things are going (besides, we have another cycling event to benefit Sunrise coming up in June), and we'll keep soliciting sponsors so that as soon as we know we have the monies in place we will start contacting the media, doing e-mail blasts, posting on facebook and reaching out in any way we can to make this happen!   You can follow all of this on the Connor's Army Facebook page or by becoming a follower to this blog (all you have to do is go to the right and follow the directions to become a follower).

If there are any of you out there who have ANY connections whatsoever to any businesses or corporations who might be willing to make a charitable donation or engage in a corporate partnership - PLEASE give us their information and contact us on Facebook.  We only have $6,000 to raise so with enough leads perhaps we can reach our goal soon!

So here is the bottom line (AND YOU CAN'T PUT THIS IN THE BANK!)  Connor's Army WILL be crossing America in the summer of 2012 and we WILL raise $50,000 for the kids of Sunrise!

Meanwhile, stay well my friends and I will see you on the road!