Uh...Loser!

This is what the sun looks like when it is embarrassed by a human:

I know it isn't nice to call names, but the Sun lost. Ya lost! Beaten by a puny mortal. Though the E-class had a lot to do with that. A lot. And my copilot/navigator Kirsten (ShamRock). But not least of all, all my supporters and friends around the country. I was doing this for myself, and everyone out there that suffers from a mental illness either in themselves or adjacently like my wife. Just know that you can do it, it does get better. I thought it was curtains for us in the mountains and bridges since it was so dark and the roads were so aggressively against us. I'm completely sold on an E-class though. That thing powered through, took the punishment of the turns, and gave us a little fun going through the tunnels and such. All in all a good time.

One

Tonight I get on an aeroplane, definitely can't take a fast train since those don't exist in the United States really. We can't be bothered.
Check in, meet up with ShamRock, get some sleep, get the car, piddle around with the toys on the car and around L.A. then head to the pier to get this whole thing started. January, or last June seems so far away when I started planning this thing. It will be so weird to have it all come together.

I'm open to suggestions of what to do in San Francisco after I get there. Preferably stuff that's open early in the morning. I'm trying to connect with a friend who is also heading to the Sunshine State around the same time as me, but we'll see. It's a big place.

Don't forget to check out my Google+ Hangout (Live! or OnAir!) from the Santa Monica Pier before we get started driving, here. Let me know if the link doesn't work or you can't see it. You may need to have a Google account to use it, or know someone who does. Hopefully we have decent data coverage for most of the trip, though since it will be ocean-road-mountain for much of the trip, I'm not holding out hope for much. Now, for your entertainment and trip down some nostalgia lane:

We did a Thing!

Yes, that number on the right there in the donation widget is correct. We made it past our goal! I'm so excited! I can barely only use one exclamation point per sentence!

Again, thank you everyone we all made this possible. Yay! It turns out it IS easy being green!

End of Year wrap-up

All right then. I've told my boss and a couple co-workers, and a few friends about this, so now it has to happen for sure. I have my letters written to Brandon Marshall Foundation advising/inquiring about how to proceed and my intentions, I just need to get them sent. I think I'll wait until the fervor of the holidays settle down.

Oh, sorry, now reading through my posts, I haven't made exactly clear my intentions. Right.

Summer Solstice 2014 I'm driving the Pacific Coast Highway in California between sunset the 21st of June from the Santa Monica Pier and sunrise at the Golden Gate Bridge on the 22nd of June. I'm calling it 'Finding A Way Through the Dark' (working title anyway) because the PCH is one of the best roads to drive for views and general road loveliness. I will be driving in the dark, thus negating most of that beauty, and simulating/demonstrating what it is like to have a mental illness. I'm doing it because the mission of the Brandon Marshall Foundation aligns with what I feel is the root of a lot of our 'social' problems these days; bullying, sexual abuse, domestic abuse and suicides often stem from mental illness in some way or other, but here is the language from the Foundation's site:

The Brandon Marshall Foundation is devoted to raising awareness for mental illness and help others gain access to the resources that they need to recover. Our mission is to partner with leading mental health charities and service providers to:

• SPREAD THE WORD about mental illness which effects 1 in 4 individuals
• FIGHT STIGMA that for so long has been unfairly tied to mental illness
• EDUCATE people so they know the facts about mental illnesses, which are very treatable
• ADVOCATE for public policy solutions to support our cause
• PROVIDE RELIEF to those individuals who are suffering through connecting them with organizations and institutions where they can receive the care they need
• BRIDGE THE GAP between patients, clinicians, and the public, and
• CHANGE the face and the future of mental health so that those who have suffered in silence, who spent years of their lives feeling trapped by their own emotions, and who once thought that they had reached a place beyond hope will have the opportunity to build a better life for themselves

The Brandon Marshall Foundation