It's back... though not exactly with a vengeance

You ever get that feeling that the world is moving twice as fast as you are, and it's just passing you by? As much as I hate to say that I'm waiting for something good to happen, because I realize what a miracle life is and truly do appreciate every moment, well, I've kind of been waiting for something good to happen.

Maybe it's the weather, or the lack of it. Maybe it's burn out. Maybe it's because I haven't been home in 7 weeks. Or maybe those stupid life curves we graphed in precalc on our T-83's when we first got them actually hold merit. Or maybe, between papers, midterms, and a crazy schedule that allows not much of a social life, there legitimately has been very little to be excited about.

So that should explain the lack of entries over the past 12 days. There just hasn't been much to write about.

But I think I'm coming around. We (the Cords) have back to back shows Friday and Saturday and another one March 3rd, I only have one midterm, one final, and 2 final papers left, my friend Arun is gonna throw another sweet party this weekend, and I've been formulating my mad sweet plans for the summer. I also found "The Pokey Little Puppy," a story my parents used to read to me all the time, in Wal*Mart (the bane of my existence, though I'm powerless to stop it) the other day. But getting back to the summer:

This is a letter I'm sending out to people, asking for donations. Read it if you'd like to get a better idea of what I'm doing with my 10 weeks, and consider, if you're able, making a donation to help me meet my goal.

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This summer, I’ll be participating in a cross-country cycling trip to benefit affordable housing efforts with an organization called Bike & Build. Starting on June 15th in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and ending 3859 miles later on August 19th in Vancouver, British Columbia, I’ll be joining 29 other 18-24 year olds on this transcontinental fundraiser. While on the road, we’ll meet with members of the communities we pass through, tell them about our trip and the affordable housing issue, and help them become involved in efforts to alleviate the problem. There will also be several days when we will trade our bikes for hammers and help construct affordable homes with Habitat for Humanity affiliates or local housing organizations.

In order to participate in Bike & Build, each cyclist must raise $4,000. The proceeds from the trip will be used to fund other affordable housing projects, including, I’m happy to report, a $40,000 grant to Dartmouth’s Habitat chapter. In this way, Bike & Build acts as a double-edged sword: while college students like me ease the poverty housing situation by volunteering our time and energy building houses, donors contribute by equipping us with the funds we need and could not otherwise provide. In the end, we’re working toward the same goal: confronting the affordable housing situation, building healthier families and more secure communities, and revitalizing neighborhoods. And so I’m writing to ask that you support me and Bike & Build by making a tax-deductible donation. I’ve enclosed a copy of my itinerary for the trip, and am hoping that you’re able to sponsor me for $1/mile over the course of any one day, week, or even state (in the case of Montana, that would be about a month). Your donation, together with the money I’m saving and the contributions of others, will have a serious and definite impact on the affordable housing landscape throughout the country.

In addition to the itinerary, also enclosed are a brochure which contains some more information about the program as well as a donation form, and an envelope addressed to Bike & Build. If you’re making a donation and writing a check, just put my name on the “memo” line. I can’t tell you how excited I am for this trip – seeing the country in such a unique way, all while contributing to a great cause. I hope that you consider making this donation, and I think you in advance for your support.

P.S. You can check out Bike & Build on the web at http://www.bikeandbuild.org/, and can even follow the links to my picture and bio with the “Northern US 2006” roster!

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As for the enclosed brochure, if you'd like me to mail one to you, just ask and I'll get it out right away. And I'll post the itinerary within the next few days, if for no other reason than to let people know where I'll be and when.
Sweet.

This trip will probably be the most awesome experience of my life. However, because, well, I'm awesome, my adventure won't end in Vancouver (for very practical reasons).

At the end of the trip, Vancouver (yeah, the entire city) hosts us for 2 nights before we're made responsible for getting ourselves back home, wherever that may be. Turns out, it's almost $200 cheaper to fly out of Seattle (a 2 and a half hour drive south) than Vancouver.

So:

On the 21st, I'm taking a bus out of Vancouver and getting into Seattle at 12:30. I booked my flight at 11:55PM, which means I'll have more than 11 hours to tour Seattle. And why not, because, really, there aren't a whole lot of reasons to go to Seattle unless you're traveling through or visiting someone, so if you've got a chance to see it, take it. And anyway, I might be doing both since I am actually traveling through, and a friend from Dartmouth lives there and we might meet for a few hours. Maybe she can even give me a ride to the airport (you know, Helen, us Math 3 victims have to look out for each other). Regardless, after I ship my bag home UPS so I don't have to carry it around with me everywhere, I'll check out the Space Needle and maybe the original Starbucks or take a picture of some garage and tell people back home it's the exact location where grunge started. Should be a good time.

My flight connects in Atlanta before I land in Newark, which I arranged so that I could catch some sleep since I'm extending an open invite for people to meet me in Penn Station on August 22nd, probably some time around 12:30. It really would be nice for me to see everybody, and I thought it would be cool for a bunch of us to do something like that together since most people are going back to school that week (Tara and Jesse, please accept my apologies for not being able to do it sooner). The 22nd is a Tuesday, so we won't be able to see a matinee, but I figure that's a good thing cause it'll give us an incentive to do something few or none of us have ever done before or at least not in a long time. (Take a walk through the Village or Chinatown, take the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building, go to a comedy club or an off Broadway show or the Central Park Zoo... something like that).

Obviously the 22nd is a long way from now, but if you think you'd be interested (and I know already some people are) just mark it on your calendar and hopefully we can get together.

That should just about do it for now... thanks to the people asking me where my blog went... it's nice to know I'm writing for an audience (slightly) larger than just me. And I promise as soon as something interesting happens, I'll let you know.