So maybe you're wondering, hey gala, why haven't you been telling us what's going on in that little brain of yours? I've donated some serious cash to your cause, and now there's no feedback? You aren't thinking of backing out, are you? ARE YOU?
To tell the truth, things are a little overwhelming right now. My 15 credits seem to be exploding in front of me before they come to a quick halt in the first week of April, and for some reason, this time of semester always seems to make my brain seem a little more dense.
Result? A minor meltdown!
This came after a busy day, which included nearly getting wiped out by an SUV at a crosswalk while cycling downtown to interview a local bike shop owner. The interview is part of a short video Candice and I are putting together for our class fundraiser event on Sunday. The idea is to question local shopkeepers about the empowering effects of running a business, in an attempt to further understand the benefit of microcredit loans, as we believe they enable 3rd world entrepreneurs to do something similar. The bike business was proving to be rough on this sunshiny friday morning, however, and his commentary didn't really suit the answers we were looking for, so we kiboshed the interview... but only after I got to wait in my favourite cafe nextdoor for about 1.5 hours and harass the owner there. Poor guy, stuck with me... he seemed nice about it though...
Did you say Fundraiser?
Yes! No. 2, coming up! The "Bike for a Cause" Stanley park pledge ride with afterparty at Steamworks is happening this Sunday (the 15th - sorry mom, I'm missing your b-day!) at 10:30am... with a beautiful forecast of slick, wet, cold, depressing, Vancouver special, rain - not to deter any potential riders from coming out, of course.
This fundraiser has a dual feature of being the final result of a semester-long project for an upper level Communications course I am taking at SFU. The goal of our project has been to inspire people to get on their bicycles, and realize that by peddling ourselves around the city, we become self-sufficient, and empowered human beings: 2 elements of life that we would be bare without.
Our hope is to have at least 20 riders bike around the seawall - even those who don't have bikes. We've gotten great support from the bike community in donating us loads of prizes, volunteers, and bicycles for the 1 hour trek. Steamworks has also helped out in letting us rent a room free of charge or minimum spending fee, and has given us some gift certificates to give away, as well! It's all pretty cool stuff, but I have to admit that the bike industry side, and asking for donations has been mostly Candice, my project partner's, suave work. At the Steamworks portion of the event we're having a woman from Global Agents for Change speak about the organization and microcredit, as well as a cool dude give a run down on bicycles!
I mean what I said though... I donated, and you can't back out now, Gala.
The fundraising has been wonderful... truly. Especially the part where I get 'real' mail delivered to my house with nice letters from really neat people, and the part where I get to have good conversations over coffee and/or beer with great friends and family that I haven't seen in a while. A girl in my class last week approached me and said, "hey! I saw that article!" I guess she has always wanted to do a big bike trip, and felt inspired, so she wrote me a $50 cheque on the spot.
The only thing now, is to do those tummy crunches I keep whining about.
nuts and bolts,
gala
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