I’ve been keeping my head down lately, because my heart cannot take any more negativity. There’s all the awfulness in the world, and then my best friend is in hospice with the nth recurrence of brain cancer. She fought hard for four years, which is a lot longer than many with glioblastoma get — and her daughter is getting a break from her profs at MIT, they are letting her spend a lot of time down here. I go visit as often as I can, but she is sleepy a lot; I try not to think of any one visit as being the last. Another friend died in a car accident in January, and a friend’s mom — who I called my substitute mom when my parents lived overseas – is in the hospital with heart failure. So you can see where my heart is a little fragile.
My birthday is Thursday, I’m doing the Hill Country Ride again this year & I’d really love $54 donations, but really any donation is more than welcome.
This is the 30th year of AIDS Walk Austin & I’ve done every damn one of them. I love the AIDS Walk & the Ride and the people who work at AIDS Services of Austin & the other agencies. They are an example of how we should be — caring for each other, carrying each other. If you haven’t met me, I’m just a teensy bit of a U2 fan, so yeah that was a reference to a song.
One love, one blood, one life, you got to do what you should.
One life with each other: sisters, brothers.
One life, but we’re not the same.
We get to carry each other, carry each other.
One, one.
I’m doing the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, weather permitting, on Saturday — there’s a 50% chance of thunderstorms. Right now, they’re saying later in the day Saturday but yesterday they were saying Friday night/Saturday morning, so I’m not sure they have any idea really. As you can see by the picture, I’m not the fittest chick. But I do this ride, because it matters. It literally feeds people, gets them subsidized meds, social workers to help with all the things us healthy people don’t think twice about.
The Hill Country Ride for AIDS is coming up soon, and today, April 13, there is a matching challenge so your donation will be doubled. So I thought I’d share some music & ask for donations. If you want to skip the U2 song & my babbling, you can make a donation at my Hill Country Ride page. And here is an article AIDS Service of Austin put on their site about me doing the AIDS Walk & this ride every year & a picture of me with all those t-shirts: http://www.asaustin.org/…
This diary is about my fundraising effort for the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, but if you know me, you know that I usually use music in these diaries, so: there has been a lot of “us” and “them” lately. “We” are good and pure, “they” are awful. This is not true. Neither statement is true. We are here to elect more & better Democrats — because we believe they will do better for our country & our world. We want things to get better — we know things can get better. Please, can we be good to each other? The best thing about the AIDS Ride is that it is a day of the way you wish the world was. People help each other, people cheer each other on, push each other up hills…. It is just beautiful. I want to live in that world.
My birthday is Wednesday, and it is time to start training for the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, which will be in April. And fundraising for it, too. So for my 53rd birthday — I’d love for people to donate to my 18th Ride? How many $50 donations can I get? There will be music & stuff because — hi, have we met?, but if you want to skip that part & just donate, here’s my Hill Country Ride page
Hi. These past days, hearing about the convention, my heart just wants to curl up & hide in a corner. I can’t stand all the awful things that are being said, the horrible ideas, etc. So I used to be a preschool teacher & was raised by a preschool teacher — I can’t deal with meanness & petulance. I need to start raising money for the AIDS Walk, so I thought I’d create a diary filled with niceness — happy music & stuff like that. And links where you can donate to my AIDS Walk Austin page
If you donate, here’s some examples of what your money does:
$35 covers one rapid HIV rest – we know that 40% of HIV+ people don’t know it yet. Through testing, we can get them into life saving care, and further reduce the spread of the virus. And there has been a really alarming rise in diagnoses of young people — this is really needed.
$60 pays for a one month supply of medical prescriptions. Medications can reduce the virus so much that it keeps someone healthy and also reduces the risk of passing it along. And did you know that only 1/3 of all HIV-infected people get anti-retroviral therapy?? I think we can do better than that, so here’s where you can donate to my AIDS Walk page
$120 provides education for 440 people. Education is one of the most important tools in reducing new infections.
$250 provides 3 family counseling sessions. It can be devastating for a family when a member is diagnosed, and we know that an intact family unit promotes health and provides a built in support.
$500 provides a month of rent for one family in supportive housing. Assistance with food, daily chores, trips to medical appointments and social support create a foundation for continued health and a step toward independence.
$1,000 gives 450 home cooked meals for hospice patients. When in hospice, there are often unique food needs. You can make sure that final days are spent with delicious food that doesn’t upset someone’s stomach.
So if we’ve met, you know the thing that makes me happiest is U2. I promise, not all the songs will be them, but here’s one I love, California (No End To Love) and this one has good shots of my gorgeous silver fox, Adam, so I like it:
So, there’s a song that makes me happy. And if you want a happy, positive place to hide from the big speech at the convention, here it is. What makes you happy?
