easy rider

In kindergarten i hopped for 15 minutes dressed as a bunny to raise money for children and adults living with neuromuscular disorders.

In 2nd grade i got a yellow skip it for my birthday. it had a counter on it to keep track of the number of times the plastic ball came about my ankle. I beat nuno cordeiro from portugal on the skip it count during recess, exceeding the 3 digit allowance of skip its per skip it.

i was also really good at hula hooping for one summer, and remember rocking a side pony, some pink spaghetti pants, and my hips for what seemed to be an eternity at my cousin's high school graduation picnic.

Sadly, after having lived a little, these great feats of human endurance seem downright silly...achievements just minor enough to know that hula hooping and eating a hot dog at the same time won't pay my rent. (even if i look hot in pink spaghetti pants.)

but let's not get too depressed on here. .

sure it's hard working a 9-5, paying college loans, keeping up with rising gas prices, making my own food, cutting checks for rent that makes my blood curdle, and having to stay fabulous like all the time..
but that's not to say that the daily grind has actually shattered my dreams of doing the things i love forever and always into googleplexinfinity and beyond.

thanks to the folks out there who are determined to do the things they love for a really really long time:

like dean karnazes, who can run 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states, 700+ miles down the pacific coast to san diego, and across the world's most extreme deserts and still feed his family and release best sellers.

or david blaine, who can encase himself in a block of ice in new york city, stand perched like a gargoyle for 35 hours on a 90 foot pillar in bryant park and make it to bed with a hussie like Madonna

then there's this asshole who calls himself an artist (i still give him kudos for doing something for a long time.)

sure, these folks are spectacular and practically superhuman (aside from that last gig i mentioned)

but how about
this person?

who seems normal like you and I, and is taking a chance by doing something for a long time without sponsorship from north face or a list of readily available celebrity hook ups.

he's taking the time to be extraordinary, because you wouldn't think it, but most everyday people (including you!) can swing that way.

He's biking from oregon to boston to raise money for his very own Trips for Kids chapter in Western Mass. That's about 65 days of riding, covering an average of 75-110 miles a day, and 5100 miles total, which (in my book) amounts to doing something great for a very long time.

so support him on his quest for endurance, for reminding us that we can all be extraordinary, and for his efforts in making the world a better place.