LisaSpoAvonWalk

I'm kind of in a weird mood... it's all sorts of satisfying to be at the last walk... and I desperately need to finish and move on to other things... like really focusing on work for awhile. But, I'm also a good bit from my fundraising goal, so, realistically, I'm expecting to continue fundraising through October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month). I know I don't *have* to meet my goal... I've way surpassed the minimum to walk all 8 walks, so, I could technically let it go. But, I don't do well with not meeting goals. Even if, looking back, maybe it was a bit over-reaching, I can't really wrap my head around just giving up on it.

Wow... I have to add... Camden Toy rocks!! Abby and I got him to sign a bear when we went to the Buffy con last month (he played the lead gentleman, Gnarl and the Ubervamp on Buffy). Incredibly nice and funny guy. I just went to his website to write and ask him to post something about the auctions and he'd already posted something on the homepage! So cool!!

Camden's actually featured in three different auctions... his own bear, a "Buffy Demons" bear (along with James Cleary who played Clem and George Hertzberg who played Adam), and the signed program from Moonlighting Rising.

The folks at theonering.net were also nice enough to post about the Sean Bean auction... which I'm sure had a great deal to do with the bids jumping up to $107. :)

Well, as Joe said... "It's ON!"

Yep... Phase 3 of the Project Teddy Bear Auctions (34 of them!) are LIVE! You can check them out here: http://user.auctions.yahoo.com/show/auctions?userID=lisaspoavonwalk&apg=1&f=&s1=item&o1=a&alocale=0us

6 bears already have bids on them!!

This time around, I've got two additional auctions... a Serenity mini poster signed by Gina Torres and a program from a Buffy Convention with 10 autographs in it... including Anthony Stewart signing "Save breasts" and Christian Kane signing "I Love Boobs!". Check them out here: http://www.lisawalks.com/auctions.htm

Please feel free to spread the word about select auctions or all of them to anybody you think might be interested!! As always, all winning bids go to The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer... I'm still more than $6,000 from my $25,000 goal, so, I'm hoping for some big bids!! ;)

Thanks so much!!!! :)

I had an *excellent* weekend!

Friday was nice and lowkey... Abby came over and we watched some Charmed and just hung out. I managed to sleep about 9 hours, too, which rocked my world.

Saturday, Christian and I did an about 7-mile long walk. We skipped our regular Central Park and upper Hudson River Park routes and started from his place down in Chelsea... covered the bottom part of Manhattan, around Battery Park, and headed over the Brooklyn Bridge and down the Brooklyn Promenade. It was a *perfect* day for a walk and an awesome one all around. Yay! We had a late lunch at a little diner in Brooklyn and then hopped on the subway home. :)

Sunday was mostly about charity... with a break for HOCKEY!

Set out with my brother around 10:30 for the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS flea market. They sell all sorts of theater memorabilia and have auctions for all sorts of really cool stuff... but, what I was interested in was the celebrity table... Broadway and soap stars signing autographs... basically, they have about 15 an hour and you pay $20 to go through the line and they'll sign up to 2 things each. They had people like Tim Curry, Lynn Redgrave, Sutton Foster, Anthony Rapp and dozens of others scheduled.

This is bordering on ridiculous, but, I got *40* more tags signed yesterday!

Now, they charged $10 for photos, so, I only got a handful of photos, but, I think they're good ones (and the Trekkie one only cost me $5... I struck a deal with Christian Anderson [the new Trekkie]... I told him I'd buy one of his "everying in life is only for now" bracelets if he'd sign a bear. ;)):

It was tiring, but, really fun. I was wearing one of my "Save the Boobs" shirts and got quite a few looks and comments and questions from people... including a lot of the celebrities signing! I passed out a lot of cards with my URL on them and we'll see if anybody actually buys anything. I'll crack up if I see any familiar names showing up in my Cafepress reports. :) The first time I went through the line, one of the guys doing sort of "color commentary" on the whole thing asked me about the shirt and had me explain over the mic what I was doing. I said I was "charity double-dipping" and doing all the walks, etc.,... and he said how great that was and made everybody applaud for me. :)

I was also excited because this gave me a chance to thank some of the people who'd already signed bears that have been auctioned off this year. I printed out their pictures with the bears and a thank-you card that I had made up thanking people (either signers or buyers) for their support of Project Teddy Bear and The Avon Walks. I had envelopes for Denis O'Hare, David Hyde Pierce, Anthony Rapp, Tracie Thoms, Jessica Hecht and Norbert Leo Butz.

I got to personally give them to DO'H, DHP, AR and TT... left the one for JH and had to take the one for NLB home.

David Hyde Pierce and Denis O'Hare both opened the envelopes right away and seemed really amused by the pics and appreciated the pictures. It was very cool. :) Anthony Rapp totally remembered me from the Today Show and explained that I was the one with the bears to Tracie... he asked me how much they'd raised and everything. It was awesome. :)

I also got to tell Dan Fogler from the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee that some of my friends had found his show even funnier than Spamalot... and to tell Boyd Gaines that I'd seen him in Love's Labors Lost in Baltimore years ago... and to ask Logan Marshall Green (Trey) if he'd be coming back to the OC to cause more trouble. ;) Jordan Gelber, from Avenue Q, also told me that he'd been to my website!

After a few rounds through the autograph line and fighting the crazy crowd at the photo booth... I went home and relaxed for about a half an hour before heading down to MSG with Kara for the Ranger game!

I'd never been to a hockey game in NYC before (actually hadn't been to a pro hockey game at *all* since my first, in Chicago, in 1996) and it was a blast! It was pretty empty... hopefully just because it was a pre-season game. But, there was a fight less than 5 minutes in... and the Rangers WON! Good stuff. :)

I got back on the subway with Kara and her daughter, but, hopped off at Times Square again to check out the benefit for Hurricane Relief at the Gershwin Theater. I hadn't been sure if I'd be up for it after my busy day, so, didn't buy a ticket ahead of time... figured I'd just stop at the box office right before and try my luck. They still had tickets so I went ahead and grabbed one. I was up in the back of the mezzanine, but, you really can see everything from every seat in that place.

The show was *amazing*... Ben Vereen and Liza Minelli hosted... performances included Bernadette Peters, Bebe Neuwirth, Susan Lucci, Megan Hilty, Soshana Bean, Bill Irwin, the casts of RENT, Avenue Q, the Spelling Bee, Wicked, All Shook Up, Hairspray and others.

The cast of the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee did this interpretive ballet about the government's reaction to Hurricane Katrina... I thought it was hysterical, but, even I wondered if it was appropriate for that context. Pretty ballsy, though... I'm curious to see the feedback/reactions.

I think my favorite performances (besides actually getting to hear Liza Minelli sing a bit of Cabaret!) were Megan Hilty doing "The Alto's Lament" and Bebe Neuwirth singing "But the World Goes Round" (the lyrics just really worked for me and she was amazing). Oh! And the guy who played Judd in the last Oklahoma revival singing "You'll Never Walk Alone." I love that song.. and he's wonderful. He's in that Trailer Park Musical right now... I might have to go try to see it! The Hairspray cast was amazing, too... who knew Danny Glover's wife in the Lethal Weapon movies was such a wonderful singer???

One of the fun, random things about where I was sitting was that there were a few empty seats there and performers kept coming up to watch when they were on the stage... so, we had the dancers from Wicked, Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker, Christopher Sieber, Jai Rodriguez and a few others at different times. It was cool. :)

After the show (we didn't get out until past 11:30!) I, of course, went to the stage door. If nothing else, I figured I could get a couple of pictures of people who I hadn't paid for at the flea market. ;) So, I got Barrett Foa (from Avenue Q)... and got a signature and pic from Megan Hilty (Glinda in Wicked). I got a signature from Ben Vereen, but, no picture. And Liza Minelli didn't sign anything, but, she walked right past me and I got a picture of her getting into her car....

All in all an incredibly fun, and productive, weekend. :)

Ha! Interesting horoscope today...

Isn't it time you connected with some people who want to change the world as much as you do? Eclectic, creative types like yourself thrive when they're surrounded by similar mental and emotional energy, so look for ways to hook up with others who have the same kind of altruistic impulses that you do. The stars definitely say that being grounded in some satisfying group interaction is exactly what you need at this time.

Hmm... let's say I connect with a couple thousand people who want to fight breast cancer this weekend? ;)

Speaking of which... I'd love to see some of you this weekend if you feel like coming out and supporting the cause and, of course, me and Annie.

Friday night is dinner at Becco at 8:00 for some good ole' carbs. :) Just let me know if you can make it... I have a reservation for 15 and need to know if I need to adjust it up or down.

Saturday and Sunday are walking, walking, walking! I don't really expect anybody to come out to the opening ceremony on Saturday (6:30 AM at the South Street Seaport), but, if you want to come to the end of the walk, that'd be groovy... I think I'll get back to the Seaport around 12:30 or 1 on Sunday. When I cross the finish line, that will be 314.4 miles I've walked this year to fight breast cancer!

The actual closing ceremony is at 3:30.

Of course... there are also lots of opportunities in between to catch up with us and walk for a bit or just cheer us on...

Best locations for friends and family to safely cheer the Walkers on:

Saturday, October 1, 2005

(note: I generally walk about 3 miles an hour and we start at 7:00, so, you can use that and the mileage for each cheering station to figure out approximately when I'll get there. I'll also have my cell phone on me. :))

Christopher Street Fountain (mile 2.80) - Christopher St. & West Side Highway
Peak viewing times: 7:00am 8:30 am
Directions: Subway #1 train to Christopher St./Sheridan Square or PATH train to Christopher Street. Walk west to Hudson River.
Site Notes: This is a lovely waterside fountain in the newly renovated Hudson River Park, overlooking the Hudson River. It is quite a large, open area; it can accommodate up to 100 people. This is a good opportunity to see walkers off at the very beginning of their journey.

Soldiers & Sailors Monument (mile 7.20) - Riverside & 89th St.
Peak viewing times: 8:30am-11:30am
Directions: Subway: #1 train to 86th St. Walk north 3 blocks and west two blocks to Riverside Drive.
Site Notes: This is a beautiful historic monument in the heart of Riverside Park. The plaza is mid-size and can accommodate approximately 50 people.

Plaza Lafayette (mile 12.50) - 181st & Cabrini Boulevard
Peak viewing times: 9.30am 12.30pm
Directions: Subway: “A” train to 181st St. Walk west 2 blocks to Cabrini (down hill, towards water). For drivers, also easily accessible via the GW Bridge.
Site Notes: The most important morale-boosting station of the day! Help encourage walkers as they take on the “Big Apple”—the hill leading up to the 13.1 half-marathon finish point. There is limited space at this corner; it can accommodate about 30 people. In case of crowding, cheerers should feel free to spread out along Cabrini Boulevard to cheer on walkers as they climb the hill.

J. Hood Wright Park (mile 13.90) - 351 Ft. Washington Ave at 174th St.
Peak viewing times: 10:30am 1:30 pm
Directions: Subway: “A” train to 175th St. Park is right across the street on Ft. Washington Blvd between 173rd St. and 175th. For drivers, also easily accessible via the GW Bridge.
Site Notes: This is a big, lively playground area; can accommodate up to 75 people. The park is a good place to cheer on the 26-mile walkers as they set out on the second half of the route.

Columbia University (mile 17.40) - 116th St. at Broadway
Peak viewing times: 11:00 am-3:00pm
Directions: Subway #1 train to 116th St (exits onto Broadway) Walkers will enter through the main gates at Broadway and W. 116th and continue through campus to Amsterdam.
Site Notes: Welcome walkers as they pass through the elegant iron gates of New York’s oldest and grandest university campus. This site is quite spacious; it can accommodate approximately 100 people.

Central Park West between 110th and 87th Streets (mile 19-20.5)
Peak viewing times: 12:00 pm -4:30 pm
Directions: Subway: B/C trains to 86th, 96th, 103rd, or 110th Street
Site Notes: Support the walkers as they stroll down New York’s iconic tree-lined boulevard. Please note Central Park West is an active walkway for both walk participants and general public; please be considerate and spread out along the sidewalks to allow foot traffic to pass. The area can accommodate approximately 75 people.

New York-Presbyterian Hospital (mile 23.5) - 525 East 68th Street at York Ave.
Peak viewing times: 11:30am 5:30pm
Directions: Subway: #6 train to East 68th St/Hunter College. Walk four blocks east to York Avenue.
Site Notes: Join New-York Presbyterian Hospital, generous medical sponsor of the Avon Walk New York, at the last cheering station of the day as they cheer the walkers down the home stretch! This site is somewhat small; it can accommodate about 40 people.

Sunday, October 2, 2005

Starbucks Plaza (mile 2.8) - 1102 1st Ave. at East 60th St.
Peak viewing times: 7.30am 10.00am
Directions: Subway: 4/5/6 trains to 59th St or N/R/W trains to Lexington Ave/59th St.
Site Notes: Rise and shine with a cup of coffee and greet walkers as they start out their second day’s route! Starbucks opens at 6.30am. Plaza with benches out front can accommodate up to 50 people.

Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at the United Nations (mile 3.7) East 47th St. at 1st Ave.
Peak viewing times: 8:00am 10:30am
Directions: Subway: 4/5/6 trains to 42nd St/Grand Central Station; walk 5 blocks east to
1st Avenue, 5 blocks north to 47th Street.
Site Notes: The whole world is cheering on the Avon walkers! You can too, here at the home of the United Nations. Bring your favorite flag to wave on the walkers! This space can accommodate approximately 75 people.

Katz’s Deli (mile 7) corner of Houston and Ludlow
Peak viewing times: 9:30am 12:00pm
Directions: Subway: F train to 2nd Avenue. Walk east on Houston 2 blocks to Ludlow
Street.
Site Notes: Visit Katz’s Deli, a neighborhood institution in the vibrant Lower East Side.
The site can accommodate approximately 15 people for overflow cheering area, walk one block further east to the ABC playground.

Brooklyn Heights Promenade (mile 10.5) enter promenade from Columbia Heights
between Cranberry and Remsen Sts.
Peak viewing times: 10:30am 2:30pm
Directions: Subway: #1 train to Clark Street. Walk 4 blocks west to Columbia Heights; multiple entrances to Promenade from Columbia Heights, overlooking the river.
Site Notes: Here is your last chance to cheer on the walkers before they begin their triumphant trek across the Brooklyn Bridge. Take in phenomenal views of the Manhattan skyline from one of Brooklyn’s most charming historic neighborhoods.

Of course, if you'd like to make a donation... you can still do that here (I'm about 74% of the way to my $25,000 goal!). AND the next batch of auctions (this is the Whedonverse/Stargate/other Sci-Fi wave!) launches tomorrow... Stay tuned. ;)

Thanks so much for all of your support!!!!! :)

Damn! Viggo Mortensen is going to be on Letterman tomorrow... which, I think, means he taped today... which means he's in the city right now. BUT, I don't see him listed on any of the talk shows tomorrow morning... wah! My co-workers think I should just wander around all night... with a sign... trying to find him to sign a bear. *sigh* I got flustered talking to Sean Bean... I'm not sure I could handle meeting Viggo. But, hey, it's all for a good cause. ;)

Wow... this is pretty crazy to realize, but, the 8th and final Avon Walk for 2005 is just about a week away (October 1&2)!! I can't believe it!

Anyway... some related details/info

1) Carbo loading dinner on Friday, September 30th... back to Becco this year. They have a great fixed price "Sinfonia di Pasta" for $21.95 as well as an a la carte menu. They also have a pretty extensive $25 wine list.

I've made a reservation for 15 people for 8:00 on September 30. PLEASE let me know ASAP if you would like to come. If we get more than 15 people, I'll ask people in groups to make some additional reservations, I think this should work out okay, but, would probably have to be done soon.

2) If you want to come out and walk a bit or cheer the walkers on, you can find more information about the opening and closing ceremonies and cheering stations along the route here:

http://www.avonwalk.org/site/PageServer?pagename=nwy_Lets_Walk

Victoria is coming all the way up from Florida... you local folks have it much easier! ;)

3) I'm getting ready to order the shirts I'll wear for this last walk. If you've made a donation in honor of someone, please check here to see if their name is on the list of people I'm walking for. If it's not, please let me know ASAP so I can add them to the site and to my shirt. I'll need this info by the end of the day Saturday, when I intend to order the shirts.

4) It's not too late to still make a donation if you have someone you'd like to donate in honor of. You can do so here: http://www.avonwalk.org/lisaspo Then just email me the name to add by Saturday. :) Of course, you can also just make a donation because you want to ;)... I'm 69% of the way to my $25,000 goal!

5) (Sort of) speaking of shirts... Cafepress is highlighting breast cancer awareness items in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness month next month. If you order something from their "highlights", they donate $1 to the American Cancer Society. A couple of my items are featured... squish a boob, save a life and bald is beautiful. Of course, every purchase from my store includes a donation to the walks.

6) Has a blister....

7) There are still more auctions coming up... the next wave of bears will go live on 9/27 with another wave in October. I also have bracelets, a painting, chocolate and other items that will also be available... stay tuned. ;)

8) If you've been doing fundraising for the cause, now is the time to get your donations in! You can do it with a straight donation on my avon page (http://www.avonwalk.org/lisaspo) or, if you've raised $250, you can make your donation with a purchase in this section of the store to get something that shows off your fundraising chops. :) (Actually, if you'd like a shirt or totebag with any other different design on the front and the "I raised $250" message on the back, just let me know and I'll put it together for you. :))

I'm sure I'll think of stuff to add to this list later, but, in the meantime... Thank you *so much* for all of your support!!!! :)

lisa

Pictures from LA! http://www.lisawalks.com/2005/la

Includes the walk, of course... also, dinner with Keely, Stacey, Christian and Chad... hitting the beach and the Santa Monica Pier.... lunch with Kristy and Ron.... staking out the red carpet for the Flightplan premiere (of *course* I had to get some bears signed with Kelly while I was in LA! ;))

Damn. I definitely *didn't* train enough between San Francisco and now. Everything hurts. (You know it's bad when I don't even have the energy to download my pictures!!) But, I did finish all 26.2 miles! Now it's off to bed so I can get up and do (half of) it again tomorrow!! :)

Walk update! Headed to LA for Walk #7 tomorrow! Passed an important fundraising milestone this week... my total currently stands at $15,526... not only did we pass $15,000, but, blew past my total for last year!! Closing in on $25,000... you guys rock!!! :)

Just, you know, in case you want to make a donation... here's that URL: http://www.avonwalk.org/lisaspo :)

My birthday Friday was great! Game night was a rousing success and I hope to do it again on a regular basis. :) Thanks so much to everyone who came out and played. Pics are here: http://www.lisaspo.com/images/090905

Saturday, my friend Julie came up to visit from DC. You know me and my friends... I rarely let anybody go... we've been friends since the 7th grade and I just love her to death, so, it was a great birthday present to have her here. I treasure friendships like that... we can go months without talking and years without seeing each other, but, it will cycle... and then we'll have a period where we see each other a bunch. But, no matter what... the friendship doesn't change and when we see each other, everything picks up right where it was. I'm incredibly lucky to have a lot of friendships like that.

We had a great day... went to see Hairspray (and, as Baltimorons, laughed a little harder at some of the jokes than a lot of other people) from my very favorite seats (1st row mezz, baby). Then dinner with Christian and Chad at Afghan Kebob. Then out to Brooklyn to celebrate the Birth of Blerg. Then a very special shared experience... our first White Castle!

OH! I was also on Today in New York on WNBC Saturday morning. It was *really* fun and I think it went well. Everybody was incredibly nice and we had a nice, long 3 minute segment. I had a *huge* brain fart and deleted it from my DVR, but, I think they're going to send me a tape.

It was pretty funny... after I left the studio, I was waiting for the subway and this guy came up to me and asked, "Were you just on NBC?" *blink* It was so random! Apparently, he'd been watching at home right before leaving for the subway. :)

A few weeks ago, Christian, Chad, Annie and I had talked about doing a "tip to tip" walk on Saturday, but, then Julie was coming up on Saturday, so, we switched it to Sunday. It always seems a little weird planning something on September 11th, but, this felt right to me... not sure I can think of a better way to spend the day than with very good friends enjoying the city.

Danny and I headed up to Dyckman Place and, after a bit of confusion since we took the wrong subway line, met up with Christian and Chad at The Cloisters. It's so beautiful up there... you can almost forget you're still in the city. Met up with Julie at 138th street as we came out of Riverbank State Park and kept going down to 96th street. Took a little detour for some lunch at Famiglia Pizza where we all loved the pizza but rolled our eyes at the awful mother next to us. Danny went on his way and the rest of us hit the path again. Stopped for a bit to watch hundreds of bikers roar down the street and then to put Julie in a cab. Ended our 15.5 mile jaunt at the South Ferry Subway station. :)

Pics are here: http://www.lisawalks.com/2005/091105/

Had a *great* time guest bartending at Fred's! First, had dinner with a bunch of friends from work... then let the *real* bartender handle a little rush that had sprung up before getting behind the bar. I was basically allowed to pour wine, beer, sangria and Spodaliciouses (Spodalicisi?). But, I also learned how to make a martini (well, didn't so much learn as just mix what the bartender told me to ;)). I totally wore the wrong shoes (platform flip-flops), so, I was moving pretty slow, which sucked, but, other than that, I think it was a rousing success. I even helped a few people who weren't in our group. ;)

We raised $270 that night!! Thank you *so* much to everyone who came... we had about 30 people there!! :)

Pics are here: http://www.lisawalks.com/2005/freds0912

For those of you in NYC, time to start planning for the walk here... the final one!! Dinner on Friday night will be at Carmine's on the upper west side (around 91st and Broadway) at 6:30. Please let me know if you'd like to come... I'll want to make a reservation in the next couple of weeks.

Also, if you want to come out and walk a bit or cheer the walkers on, you can get more info about the route and cheering stations here: http://www.avonwalk.org/site/PageServer?pagename=nwy_Lets_Walk

Okay... off to try to get three days of work done today so I can leave at 6:30 for dinner with my friend Ben and then leave in the morning with a clear conscience. ;)

Happy Wednesday! :)