good for something: We are the Champions, my Friends

We made it. First off, thanks to all of you who supported all my efforts in raising money for the Orange County AIDWalk, whether it was a donation, passing word of my effort, purchasing a tote bag, or encouraging words. It's been a long number of weeks and you were the wind beneath my wings, people! I came $40 shy of my goal but I am NOT complaining, every bit helps to those affected by this devastating illness. I know OC AIDSWalk supports services that provide assistance to those affected by AIDS and HIV including food, transportation, housing, legal assistance, primary medical care, and prevention education. So thank you all for being a part of the solution.

To Susan, Jennifer, and Cheryl who participated in my Dymo for a good cause raffle, please e-mail me your shipping addresses. I've got a cursive dymo for each of you. I appreciate your kind donations as well as your love of Dymo!

And last but not least, the Walk itself. First, did I mention that my girl's design was voted on our team t-shirts? It was put on the back:

What can I say? I loved it--the anime girl with the big head, the field of sparse flowers,the simple message. I'm proud of her efforts and she was really pleased to see her work on the shirts.

Another highlight--walking behind this guy for a spell:

There's something about hearing Madonna's "Hard Candy" CD being blasted from the storage pocket of an electric scooter going 2 mph, ridden by a mature man with a towering rainbow flag that, frankly, tickles me.

Despite that you lose your WalkTeam in the crowds pretty much immediately, I have to confess that physically-speaking, the OC AIDSWalk at Angel Stadium is one of the easiest walks there is. Believe me, I've done my share of charity walks including one for March of Dimes years ago that was 30 km (18 miles) long. This one is about 5 km, but it simply is a giant flat walk around Angels Stadium, culminating in a lap on the warning track on Angels field itself. I felt a little bad for the folks who were put at the various checkpoints along the way to cheer us on--they were cheering and rooting for us as if we had finished running a seventieth mile uphill--because seriously, it's a harder walk getting to the Rainforest Cafe from Macy's at South Coast Plaza or to the movie theaters from the parking structure at the Spectrum than it is doing this walk...but, of course, their enthusiasm for the event was appreciated.

A highlight last year on the field was getting put on the JumboTron as you walked on the warning track. I had my girl re-walk in front of it so many times as I took pictures of the JumboTron that eventually the camera guy sighed, I think that's enough... This year, instead of the JumboTron, they allowed access to the dugouts while playing an endless loop of Queen's We are the Champions and Survivor's Eye of the Tiger. Here we are, with the help of our friend Lindsay, expressing the various emotions of the culminating Walk (L to R): distraction, sweaty elation, befuddled exhaustion, and are-we-done-yet?