Sorry, it's been so long

Total miles run since entry to NYC marathon/this year: 24.12/342.61
Total distance(in miles) swam since entry to marathon: 1.38
Exercise calories burned since entry/this year: 4,028/59,993
Weight: 199
Beers in last 24 hours: 0
Total money raised to date: $290


Originally, I had wanted to post the picture of me being totally mod to coincide with my birthday, but I got so sidetracked I didn't have a chance to post for a couple days. So here, belatedly, it is. I think I was like 3 or 4 when this was taken. You'll notice further down below, a picture from the "Hey Dork!" days, when I was in some invention contest or something and we converted an old Star Wars toy into something that was supposed to be a trash compactor, I think ... I don't know.

So this evening, I'm going through the mail and I come to a card from my grandmother. Inside, is some kind of maxi-pad which she has sent me, she says, to stave off any embarassment I might be feeling from having to urinate uncontrollably as a result of the multitude of beer I've had in the last couple days.

She is making broad assumptions of course, that I, Edward Baker the First, would ever do such a vile, vile thing - you know, like invite 20 or so of my closest friends over and oversee the kind of drunken debauchery that would have put the most lecherous of the Roman Empire's heirarchy to shame.

But, alas, her assumptions are true. I did do such a thing, and when the wreckage was counted - a keg, a bottle of tequila, a $200 bar tab, nine pizzas, two boxes of hamburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, chips, soda, three packages of water balloons, and eight bodies scattered around the house (inlcuding one baking in the hammock after sunrise), the 30th birthday had concluded. And all we had left were memories, and a lot of them.

I'd like to say the madness is over, but Wednesday brings my friend RB's bachelor party, and Saturday, his wedding. Then, and only then, can I return to the kind of placid stability and hard core regiment that makes a marathon runner true, or some nonsense like that. Actually, it will be nice to settle back into a routine after all these fun and games have passed. But first come visits from old remnants of "The Crew." I'm talking old friends like Art, and Garret and Aaron.

Before I get to crazy delving into my personal life, I have some BIG, BIG, BIG thanks to hand out. First to the lovely and charming Vicki from Chico, California, who came through with a very nice, and unexpected contribution. I miss you, Vicki ... it was nice to hear from you. Let me know if you decide on the next run.

Secondly, I'd like to thank my friends over at New West Records, and especially their publicist Traci, home of my very favorite band in the world, The Drive By Truckers. New West has been kind enough to donate a hand-signed, limited edition John Hiatt and the Mississippi All-Stars poster, of which only 300 were made, each hand-screened onto a special type of imported French Paper. They retailed in the hundreds of dollars when they were available new, and this poster will become part of my charity auction to raise money for the cause.

Also, I have to give a big shout out to my girl Beth, who very graciously donated two very historical Life magazines from the week of, and the week after, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, in addition to rare silver gel photographs of Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton. Beth, you have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you.

Also, my friend Jillian has come through with donations of several things she had in her files – including autographed rare 7" vinyl records by The Vines and The Walkmen.

All of these things will be auctioned off soon, keep posted for details. I would expect the auctions to take place as soon as the wedding passes and things return a little more to normal around here.

In other news, I found out about a group of about 20 people from the Phoenix area doing the NYC marathon. They even have a coach they train with, and about 10 of them are involved in fundraising with Team for Kids, and they've asked me to join their group effort to raise $20,000+ for the Team. I'm not sure how I feel about that just yet, and I've asked them to give me a couple days to think it over. I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons - I guess there really aren't many cons. I just don't want to get involved with something where I end up doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and some other people slack off – like what would happen in group projects in college.

If I do join the team, though, the people seem really nice. And there would be television coverage of our training and our marathon run by one of the local networks, KTVK Channel 3. So, I think that would be a huge benefit.

I'm in a bit of bliss right now, as my birthday really was a kick-ass one. In addition to getting to see mom, and spend a great night with my closest of friends, my sister and my brother-in-law completely surprised the hell of me by buying me an iPod, which I probably never would have bought for myself. So as I sit here typing, I'm loading this baby up with all kinds of stuff from my CD collection. Thank you, Electa and Andy, for the big surprise. And thank you to everyone else for the donations, and the support, and all the love you've been sending my way.

Sorry for the delay in blog updates, too. Regular postings shall now resume.

Oh, and last but not least – Team for Kids has a new donation site up, as well. If it's easier for you, you can now go straight to www.TeamForKids.org and click on the donation and click on the donation link, then click on the donate for a member button. My race number is 58138.

Until tomorrow, friends ...