Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Thanks to the generous support of MANY family and friends, I raised the minimum amount of money for the Tahoe Ride! Now it is onward to my goal of $3,000!!! If you haven't donated, it is definitely NOT too late. I am raising money through the middle of May!

I am currently in Phoenix and I should be in town for the next couple of days/weeks. Does anyone know of anything fun to do in Phoenix? My guidebook described it as "Las Vegas without the casinos or Los Angeles without the beaches!" In otherwords, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot to do on the evenings! Any advice would be most welcome

HUGE HUGE news on the fundraising scene! Yesterday I recieved a massive check that brings me only $126 away from the minimum to enter the Tahoe race! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED ON MY BEHALF!

If you are in Oakland in the next few weeks, be sure to check out Adrienne Miller's show at 21 Grand.. She is currently showing some great photos from a recent trip she took on the Trans-Siberian Railway... (BTW, Adrienne is a good friend of mine from college. When not doing artsy work, she is actually an water-resourse engineer specializing in Native American issues.)

My uncle, Wally, just got information on my grandfather's Trail Gote motorcycles published on a website dedicated to trail gotes!

I had an interesting coincidence the other day. It turns out that I have a closer connection to the man that I wrote about in my fundraising letter than I realized. David Roberts, a man who has undergone treatment for Leukemia, is married to a woman who used to work at my company. It turns out that many people in my office know of David personally, and in fact, one person plays on a soccer team with him. More proof that we live in a very small world!

The other day when I was riding around Marin County as part of team-in-training, a man who has been fighting Leukemia for years mentioned a little girl that he uses for inspiration when he is riding up the unbearable hills. The girl is Alex, and she is five years old. Recently she went through her sixth relapse into Leukemia.

I sent my Leukemia and Lymphoma Society letters out to the people of my work today, and someone cut a $35 check on the spot! How cool!

For all you West Coasters out there, check out Westlog. This is a blog put out by a family friend, Suneel, who went to UCLA journalism school with my aunt. Quite interesting stuff...

One man with Leukemia started an interesting support network for people with Leukemia. Check out his story here.

Does anyone else ever read the "explainer" section on Slate.com? Here is the latest article explaining a little corner of the news on why US soldiers wear the flag "backwards" on their right shoulder. I always like the explainer section, and I rarely miss an article.

Steve and I added a new person to our training ride this morning. We took a fellow tnt'er (team-in-training member) named Michelle up to the top of Skyline Blvd today. The ride was beautiful (and COLD). On the fundraising front, I didn't get any checks today, so I still sit at a total of 5 checks for $383. That means that I am a total of $2,017 away from the minimum necessary to participate in the race and $2,617 away from my goal. Check out the progress page I put up last night. I'll be updating this page periodically throughout the season!

Thanks everyone so far for you wonderful (and HUGE) contributions to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on my behalf. I've already raised $383 off of five checks!!! With more to come! I'll keep you updated.
For those who don't know, I'll be riding around Lake Tahoe as part of the America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride - Lake Tahoe to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. To learn more about Team-in-Training, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society or the Tahoe Ride, just follow the links.

We just got back from LA, where we picked up our new ('81) Mercedes... Pictures to follow on the tyr's domain website...

While I'm playing around with this weblog, I should also mention that a friend growing up is now an up-and-comming rock star. Check out Ben Chamber's band's website at tealeafgreen.com.

In high school, I played varsity baseball with a Jason Lane, a guy who is now playing in the majors! Check out his ESPN page, or his Sports Illustated page... NOTE TO SELF: Tell my grandma that he played for USC in college!

While I'm at it, I may as well link to my website.

Anna seemed to find this site quite amusing... Let me know if you can't figure it out! (tyr@lmi.net)

My favorite site on the web. The link will take you to my mom's photograpy site!