Final NaNoPlea: NOWD

Sunday night I will be joining over 200 people in the Julia Morgan Ballroom for the Night of Writing Dangerously for a writing, fundraising, fun-filled extravaganza! I raised some money last year and have raised a little bit more this year for the OLL which runs NaNoWriMo and the Young Writers' Program - as well as Script Frenzy.

An awesome organization for this incredible, seemingly impossible, riotous writing event for 30 days.

Consider donating even $5, $10 or what you can to this great cause.

Click my link below to add your funds. And thank you!




.

Night of Writing Dangerously

.

Over the last couple of years I have written frequently about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month ). It has been a great exercise, an amazing and inspiring experience, and the novel I am currently revising towards publication originated during the event. This year I am going one step further and plan to attend the "Night of Writing Dangerously" in San Francisco. This fundraiser is not for me - but for the parent organization and their Young Writers' Program, as well as NaNoWriMo.

The following is the official fundraising letter.

On November 21st, the Office of Letters and Light will be bringing together the most mighty of endurance novelists for an event that will define our generation forever. I'm speaking, of course, of National Novel Writing Month's Night of Writing Dangerously. It's a write-a-thon, and it will take place in downtown San Francisco at the beautiful Julia Morgan Ballroom.

I will be there, writing my heart out and raising money for the Office of Letters and Light, NaNoWriMo's parent nonprofit. Attendees like me must raise $200 to get in the door, and from there, a rich array of prizes, delicious food, and sumptuous writing time awaits.

But this is not about me getting a treat-filled night of literary abandon. This is about children and adults getting the encouragement, structure, and inspiration they need to achieve their creative potential. Proceeds from the event will fund National Novel Writing Month's free creative writing programs in hundreds of schools and communities around the world.

The Office of Letters and Light does inspiration like nobody else (did I mention they're making me write an entire novel this November?). And on their behalf, I am asking you to donate.

Thank you for supporting me in my novel-writing quest, and for helping the Office of Letters and Light create a more engaged and inspiring world.

If you'd like to make a donation to help support the Young Writer's Program and NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) - which will help get me qualified to be a Night of Writing Dangerously participant, visit my fundraising page - every $5, or $10, or $20 will help!

.

AIDS LifeCycle

.
I have a friend and co-worker who is participating in the AIDS LifeCycle event. She attended the orientation meeting just a couple hours ago. Tomorrow morning she will head out at 4:30 AM to begin the 545 miles in 7 days bicycle ride.

Tammy has trained hard and is an excellent fundraiser.

I wanted to give a cyber shout out to her and to invite everyone to check in to see how the 2500 bicyclists are doing on this incredible event.

What a cause and what amazing people to do this.

Here is a map of their route:

You can click here to follow the riders or get more information.
.

Laugh for Livability

This looks like a fun upcoming event I found...

Join in for an evening of laughter at CLF's 2010 LAUGH for
Livability show!

LAUGH is an evening filled with spoken word,
sharp-tongued political satire and musical talents from our region's leaders and
rising stars. Cocktail hour + silent auction and dinner lead into the main event
where you'll see long time favorites along with surprise guests at this great
event! The proceeds from this evening of fun will benefit the Coalition's work
to connect issues, organizations and individuals to ensure a livable region for
everyone.

LAUGH is Friday, February 19, 2010, 6 p.m

at the Melody Ballroom....

Portland, Oregon

get your tickets
NOW!

seconds do count

originally posted at Run Around For Write Around Portland on Sunday 9/20

This morning I participated in the Komen Race for the Cure. A small group of friends and I decided to do the Women's 5k Untimed Run.

Remember, me, the walker? And I just said I did the run? What we really did is that, out of the 7 of us, 2 were going to run, 3 of us are in training for the half-marathon, and the other 2 were planning to walk.

It was a brilliant plan and it worked. We started near the back of that event's pack - with the slower runners (over 10-minute miles). Our original plan was to to all run across the start line and then the walkers to slow to our walking pace (either training or regular walking) after a block or two.

Luckily, the start was so slow that everyone except those in the very front were fast walking across the start once you got there. Even the smaller pack of runners were starting out walking due to the number of participants.

So - the deal with the few seconds is this. I kept up a pretty good pace, although I know that one of the two I was walking with was slowing her pace for us. After we did the up and over the bridge, loop up on Naito to make it the full 10k and then headed back for the finish line, I saw the timer coming into view.

I was pretty bummed when I got close enough to see the numbers and not just the red glow on a black rectangle. I could see that I was going to cross that finish line at about 49 minutes and that was slower than my recent times of similar length. I computed the numbers in my head. Bummer. Too slow.

Without going into the convoluted math I do in my head (round here and approximate there to make it easy to compute) - the actual numbers came out better when I had a calculator. It's funny - because I keep forgetting that knocking off .1 or .2 of a mile to make it easier to divide, or ignoring the true seconds and rounding up - it all works against me when I'm looking at pace.

What went as a disappointing approximately 17-minute miles to an acceptable actual calculation of 15.2-minute miles showed me that, yet again, seconds do count.

The little pieces of time, the actual measurements, each step, counts.

Just like each $5 or $10 or whatever amount our friends, family, co-workers can drop in our hands or put on our FirstGiving pages counts for Write Around Portland.

Click on the "donate now" button on the left to contribute whatever amount you can afford. Thanks!

copy: walking around for write around

I will be walking the 10k Mayor's Walk in the Portland Marathon. I am a walker, not a runner - and I'm fine with that. I am not a race walker, I am a walker who is increasing her pace little by little, with a current goal of doing under 17 minute miles in a half marathon in November. And I'm okay with that, too.

I read Loren's post [on the Run Around for Write Around Portland blog] with a knowing nod about what keeps you going when you don't feel like it. I am just coming out of one of those stretches where I've had to drag myself out the door to go for the 5-mile pace building training walk, or the 8-mile distance building walk, or to walk up and down the hill to Mt Tabor 5 - 7 times. And that's been okay, too.

So what does keep me going?

Sometimes it's noticing how I'm feeling - like the time two weeks ago when I took a day off due to fatigue, and it was the day after my training day off. I was feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. So on the third day I set out on my training walk and I'd gone only a fraction of the miles I had to go and that cloud of doom lifted and I thought, ahhhh. Recognizing that my body has become used to the daily routine. Easier and cheaper than another therapy appointment or anti-depression medication *grin*. Or it's my partner telling me I've become a little crabby and wouldn't a walk feel good? And I know she's right. And it does.

Sometimes I keep going because I've signed up for some events and rallied others to join me on events I haven't signed up for yet. An example is that Sunday I thought, there is no way I can do that 8 miles today and then I remembered that, after the Mayor's Walk, my next event is the half-marathon in Seattle in November. Which now feels not so far away; and I'm out the door with shoes laced and my Camelbak full with a package of Stingers in my pocket.

The same is true of writing. If I go too long without being actively engaged in the writing process, I get cranky. I start feeling bottled up. Stuck. And sometimes I have to completely close that internal critic's eye and just write. I keep myself enrolled in a "Lit Star Training" course with Ariel Gore so that writing is kept on my list of things to do, with weekly assignments and peer feedback. And I find submission deadlines to give me an end-point or a reason to keep revising.

I write because I have something to say.

I walk because I feel better when I do and because I don't want to lose the muscle I've gained or gain the weight I've lost.

I walk and I write because sometimes I find myself smiling for no apparent reason, except that it feels good to be alive and I have something to look forward to. Or maybe I have a kayak tucked in the back of my car. Or snowshoes in the closet waiting for the snow to fall.

Or I find myself halfway up the four flights of stairs to Write Around Portland to pick up my facilitator's bag and realize I didn't even consider taking the elevator.

Originally posted on
Run Around for Write Around Portland

walking, writing, fundraising!

My next walking event is the Komen Race for the Cure 5k on September 20th. I will be walking with a team of friends and friends of friends, the MissFit Alliance. Yes, this team was born out of the MissFit Dragons (dragon boat team).

The next big event after that is the Mayor's Walk, 10k, which is a part of the Portland Marathon. Write Around Portland, is doing a fundraiser in conjunction with the Portland Marathon and its associated events - for walkers and runners. This amazing organization is one of the many which has been hit with budget cuts due to decreased funding. The staff of Write Around Portland, who are the original founders (plus one), as well, have decreased their work hours in response - which has not decreased the amount of work they do, only the amount they are being paid. They use their funds very well, run an excellent program, and have served our community well.

I don't generally do fundraising in conjunction with my walking events. But this time is different. You can read more about my story and reasons for supporting them on my FirstGiving page - where you can also be a donor of whatever amount you feel you can afford. You can either click on the button below, or click on the widget at the top left.

Honestly, I would not be fundraising if I didn't stand behind the organization 100%. As a volunteer facilitator for them, I have seen firsthand the difference their workshops make in people's lives.

Think about it. Even $5 will make a difference.

politics: Change Congress Donor Strike

From the Lessig Blog:

The donor strike continues at Change Congress (no money to any representative who doesn't commit to citizen funded elections).

Here's a simple (and it's FREE!) link to send back to anyone asking you for money:

http://change-congress/no

Share freely.