A Weekend of Advancements

Total miles run since entry to NYC marathon/this year: 53.54/372.03
Total miles swam since entry to marathon: 1.38
Total miles biked since entry to marathon: 12.2
Exercise calories burned since entry/this year: 8,423/69,445
Weight: I think our scale is broken - it said 204.5 (I doubt I gained 7 pounds since yesterday)
Beers in last 24 hours: 2
Total raised towards goal: $495

First, let me get some big thank yous out there to two more people who have stepped up and made donations - my friends Staci and Melissa. Melissa, for those of you who do not know her, is an extremely talented writer and novelist, whose works can be found at any bookstore across the nation - only, because I do not make last names public here for protection of their privacy - I guess that's really all I can say. She was extremely instrumental in my early years as a writer, and has offered me priceless guidance and advice throughout my career. Her donation is an added bonus, considering how much she has already given me. Thank you, Melissa.

The other donation came from my friend Staci – my date to the prom way the hell back in 19-something or other. I was speaking with her the other day, reminiscing about what are, seriously, some of the best memories of my youth. They're the kind that stay wrapped up in this warm glow of innosence and discovery. I remember prom, concerts with she and my buddy Mark, cruising around in Dodge Ram – man, all this stuff that just makes me smile. Staci, if we can't catch up during this stay in Arizona, we have to do it next time. Anyhow, thank you so much.

This weekend was an insane blur. I went to the Jurassic 5 concert on Friday, which was unexpectedly phenomenal. On Saturday, I took Beck to the zoo because the weather has been so nice here (check the video above). We also went for ice cream and to the car wash. I wish I had taped Beck in the car wash. It made me laugh, but he was truly terrified of the brushes banging on the windows and roof. Every time the brushes would do a pass and finish, he'd scream out: "All done!" and then the brushes would come back and starting hitting the windows and roof again and he'd scream out in terror. Later that day, Heidi and I went to a 31st birthday party for our friend Lisa. We went to Cowboy Ciao and Kazmierz, two of our favorite places in the area. Cowboy has excellent food and nice ambience, Kaz is a wine bar with a 60-page wine selection. Quite decadent, really. I drank. Heidi drove. Guess that's as good an arrangement as any.

On Sunday, we went back to the zoo because the boy seems to like it so much. The orangutang there had a baby in January and today it was actually outside hanging out with its mom - so BK got to see a baby monkey and he said, "Hi, baby," to it, or something like that.

Mom, the flamingo pic is just for you.

What else? Oh, some items are finally up for auction on eBay - most of it is just DVDs and music memorabilia, none of which any of you probably want, but if you're interested in finding it on eBay and making a bid, just ask and I'll tell you what to look for.

The other day Bang and Megan complained that I didn't give them full disclosure on everything we've got coming up here as part of the fundraiser. So, allow me to summarize: First off, there are three wine tasting events, on the second Sunday of August, September and October. The first of these is at Tapino, 7000 E. Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale on Sunday, August 13 at 4 p.m., Admission is $25, which includes appetizers and approximately six wine samples. All $25 goes towards our charity. As I have information about the additional tastings, I'll post them. Also, we have an upcoming dinner that has been donated by Outback steakhouse, where we can have up to 200 people come for a steak dinner at $25 a head. All proceeds from that event will go towards our charity, as well. We haven't set a date yet, though. In addition, Nike has agreed to match dollar-for-dollar, up to $5,000 of our cash donations. So, we have a lot of stuff going on.

There's not much more to report here, but there will be tomorrow. I've been sitting at the computer for a long time tonight ... I've gotta go relax.

Catch y'all later ...