contactus@englewoodelementarypto.com

We are now 14% of target and still have several months to go

Every pound is going to make a difference, and we have a lot to raise, please donate to Diabetes UK via my justgiving website by clicking on the link below

Los donativos se pueden enviar por PayPal a elise.hendrick@gmail.com

Algunos habrán oído de mi proyecto actual y primer libro, Reunión – crónica de viaje. Para los que oyen de ello por primera vez (la gran mayoría), el proyecto se resume a continuación:

Reunión – Crónica de viaje es una crónica tanto instrospectiva como graciosa de un recorrido por Alemania, Austría, Polonia, la República Checa, Italia, España y Francia que durará aproximadamente un mes, y que se iniciará en el otoño del 2010.

Reunión se va a tratar tanto de los espacios intermedios – las estaciones z los trenos  – como de las ciudades que se van a visitar. Es que muz a menudo suceden las cosas más interesantes – una parade alucinante, un encuentro casual, un momento de una absurdidad sublime – en el camino y no el destino. En la crónica también se les echará un vistazo a los activistas, amigos viejos y nuevos, y conversaciones y entrevistas espontáneas que se producen mientras recorro el continente. Unas partes del prólogo se pueden leer navegando a http://reuniontravelogue.wordpress.com.

Según lo tenía planificado, el proyecto se iba a financiar en parte mediante los ingresos percibidos por mi actividad de traducción multilingüe, y en parte mediante los donativos recibidos por l@s amig@s de las buenas lecturas y l@s lector@s de mi blog Meldungen aus dem Exil (http://meldungen-aus-dem-exil.noblogs.org). De acuerdo al plan, la fecha de partida era el día 1 de octubre de 2010.

Cabe puntualizar que existen buenos motives para tener palabras distintas para lo planificado y lo efectivo. En un momento crítico para el financiamiento del proyecto llegaron dos meses en que no recibí más que unas traducciones pequeñas, y tampoco había muchos donativos (lo que es muy entendible – en estos tiempos el fomento de jovenes satiristas no constituirá una prioridad presupuestaria para la mayor parte de la gente). La idea era de juntar por lo menos US$2500, preferiblemente entre US$3000 y US$5000, para cubrir los diversos gastos de viaje (vuelos, Eurail Pass, etc.).

Al fin de cuentas recibí aproximadamente US$150 por el camino de los donativos.

Quisiera agradecerles a todos los que ya donaron. Desgraciadamente debido a la economía que tenemos, necesito $2000 – $2500 más, para poder lanzar el proyecto. Sé que eso es mucho, sobre todo al pensar que se trata de US$2000 más de lo que reciben los compañeros del metal rojo por sus 70 días de calvario, y por supuesto lo entiendo. Por otro lado, si 45 personas donan US$44 cada una (o 90 personas donan unos US$22 cada una), ya habré juntado la cantidad mínima. Y si se encuentran tant@s lector@s generos@s hasta el fin del 14 de octubre, podré empezar a viajar – cosa esencial para el proyecto, dado que se trata de una crónica de viaje – ya el 15 de octubre.

Donations Can be Sent by PayPal to elise.hendrick@gmail.com

Some of you may already have heard of my current project and first book. For those of you (the overwhelming majority), who are hearing about it for the first time, here’s a brief summary:

Reunion – A Travelogue is a humourous, introspective chronicle of a one-month journey through Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, and France, which is slated to take place in Fall 2010.

Reunion will be as much about the spaces in between – the train stations and the trains – as it will be about the cities I visit. Often, the most interesting things – a bizarre layover, a chance meeting, a moment of sublime absurdity – happen on the way someplace rather than in that place. The travelogue will also look at the activists, old friends and new, and random conversations I encounter was I make my way through the continent. A sneak peak at the prologue can be found at http://reuniontravelogue.wordpress.com.

The plan was to finance the project partially through the proceeds of my multilingual translating business and partially via donations from friends of good reading and readers of my blog Meldungen aus dem Exil (http://meldungen-aus-dem-exil.noblogs.org). The planned departure date was 1 October 2010.

There are, one must say, good reasons for having separate words for planned and actual. At the precise critical moment for fundraising, two months of only small translations punctually made their appearance, and not much was to be had in the way of donations (understandably, in times like these, most people probably do not count the promotion of young Left satirists as a budgetary priority). The goal was to raise at least $2500, preferably between $3000 and $5000, in order to cover the various travel costs (flights, Eurail Pass, etc.).

My fundraising efforts ended up bringing in donations in the amount of about $150.

I am very grateful to everyone who has already donated. Unfortunately, the laws of our lovely economy mean that I need another $2000 – $2500, if I’m to make a go of the project. That’s asking quite a lot, especially considering that it’s about $1995 more than most defrauded homeowners can expect to get from the government, and I of course understand that. On the other hand, if 45 people each donate about $44 (or 90 people each donate about $22), I will already have reached my minimum. And if that many generous readers can be found by the end of the day on 14 October, I will be able to begin the travel – without which the project would be impossible – as early as 15 October.

Spenden per PayPal an elise.hendrick@gmail.com

Die einen oder anderen werden schon mal von meinem derzeitigen Projekt, meinem ersten Buch gehört haben. Für diejenigen (die große Mehrheit), die davon zum ersten Male hören, sei das Projekt hier noch einmal kurz zusammengefaßt:

Humorvoll und introspektiv zugleich begleitet Reunion (voraussichtliches Veröffentlichungsdatum: Mitte Januar 2011) Publizistin und Übersetzerin Élise Hendrick auf einer Reise durch Deutschland, Polen, Österreich, Italien, Spanien, Frankreich und Tschechien, wobei sie nach 10jähriger Abwesenheit vom Kontinent die Bekanntschaft mit vertrauten Orten erneuert und Orte exploriert, die sie bislang nicht kennengelernt hat. Aus dem, was ihr unterwegs so begegnet und den spontanen und verabredeten Interviews, die sie unterwegs führt, entsteht ein Buch, das halb Reiseabenteuer, halb gesellschaftlich-politische Bestandsaufnahme in ihrem gewohnten, akut satirischen Stil ist. Die ersten Abschnitte des Prologs sind bereits auf der Projektseite http://reuniontravelogue.wordpress.com zu finden.

Finanziert werden sollte das Projekt teils über Einkünfte aus meiner mehrsprachigen Übersetzungstätigkeit, teils über Spenden von Freunden der Literatur und meines Blogs Meldungen aus dem Exil (http://meldungen-aus-dem-exil.noblogs.org). Soll-Abreisedatum war der 1. Oktober 2010.

Aus guten Gründen unterscheidet man zwischen Sollen und Sein. Pünktlich zum kritischen Zeitpunkt kündigten sich zwei Monate an, in denen nur kleinere Übersetzungen angeboten wurden, und Spenden waren auch nicht viele zu haben (in Zeiten wie dieser denken die meisten bei der Haushaltsplanung sehr verständlicherweise nicht vornehmlich an die Förderung linker Nachwuchssatirikerinnen). Ziel waren mindestens 2000 EUR, am liebsten aber zwischen 3000 und 5000 EUR, um die verschiedenen Reisekosten (Flugtickets, Eurail Pass, usw.) zu finanzieren.

Reingebracht hat der Spendenaufruf umgerechnet etwa 100 EUR.

All denen, die bereits etwas gespendet haben, bin ich sehr dankbar. Leider will es die Wirtschaftslage so, daß ich noch etwa 1500 bis 2000 EUR benötige, wenn das Projekt noch möglich sein soll. Das ist recht viel verlangt, liegt es doch etwa 1495 EUR über dem von der FDP gewünschten Hartz-IV-Regelsatz, und dafür habe ich vollstes Verständnis. Wenn aber 45 Menschen etwa 34,- EUR (oder 90 Menschen etwa 17,- EUR) spenden, ist die Mindestsumme schon erreicht. Und wenn sich bis 14. Oktober eine derartige Anzahl spendabler Literaturfreunde findet, werde ich schon etwa am 15. Oktober die Reise antreten können, ohne die das Projekt gar nicht möglich wäre.

Walk Now for Autism Speaks:

The walk is coming up quickly!!! The walk is on Saturday, September 25th. Here’s the link to the Walk page so you can register to be on our team: MN Walk Take a look at the side bar on the Walk page. See the “Top Fundraiser” box? Partners for Excellence, yup, that’s us! Register and come help us support a cause that is near and dear to all of our hearts!

Cookbook:

We have over 250 recipes, so thank you everyone! We are really excited to see how the turns out — and more importantly all the new things we can start making for dinner! YUM!

Spa Night:

We are hosting a Spa Night (and possibly a Purse Party as well!) at the Burnsville Partners location on Friday, October 15th from 7-9pm. Cost to attend will be $5 (all of which will be donated) and 40% of all purchases will be donated as well.  So, ladies and gentlemen, come on out and get pampered!

Fall Festival:

The fall festival will be held on October 23rd, from 3-8! We are hoping to get some live music to go with our games and prizes!!

Bracelets:

We found some beautiful bracelets that we will be selling for $15 (a steal, really!).  Check in at the front desk of North St. Paul, Edina or Burnsville for order forms, or email us @ partnersforautism@gmail.com to place your order!

Other things to keep your eyes open for:

An online auction and much more!!

“Just $10 to go!” I thought. “Wow!”

For a while, I pondered whether or not to go ahead and donate the $10 myself so we could hit the $3,500 mark and celebrate. But I decided to wait.

I’m glad that I did because donations came in today from two very special people, neighbors of ours for many years: Elaine and Peggy. Having their donations put me over the top was a bit of an exclamation mark to the drive for $3,500.

Elaine has been a wonderful neighbor to us over the years. Sadly, her son Christopher, diagnosed with cancer not so long ago, just passed away. He was about the same age as I am now, I believe, in his early forties. Losing a child at any age has to be one of the hardest things any parent can endure. I just can’t imagine. My heart goes out to her. I’m grateful that she would support my fundraising efforts when she clearly has so much on her mind and heart right now.

Our neighbor Peggy knows what it’s like to fight cancer. She’s been valiantly battling the disease for some time now… and she continues to persevere, always with a diligent determination. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if I happened to see her during the swim leg of my triathlon. Seems like I always see her at the pool when I’m training!

I’m grateful to them for pushing me over the top.

At the same time, every dollar and every contribution has gone some distance in reaching the $3,500 goal. I’m so thankful to everyone for their generous support. We truly needed a lot of people to make this happen.

I am also blessed to have my wife Maureen’s support (Thanks, sweetie!). She believed right from the start that we would accomplish this goal and she spent time over the last few weeks to help raise awareness. I have to admit that I was intimidated by the number; $3,500 seemed like such an imposing figure. But, as I said, people came together behind this worthy cause and made it happen.

That’s one of the things about life: rarely can we do it alone. How does that saying go? We alone can do it… but we can’t do it alone? Well, something like that.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who helped raise $3,500 for lifesaving cancer research. And for those who would still like to be part of this, you still have time to donate through my page. I will then do the rest by kicking cancer’s ass in Washington, D.C.

Woo hoo! I can’t wait.

Liam celebrated his 12th birthday this week and raked in quite a handsome sum of birthday money. He could have spent it all on himself… but he didn’t. He chose instead to make a $50 donation to my triathlon/cancer fundraising effort.

This was such a selfless gesture on his part… well, I couldn’t be prouder of him.

He still had a ton of fun on his birthday. His Dad and I took him and his friends to play paintball.

And then Isabel took a stand of her own. She and her friend Zoha set up a lemonade stand today. They sold lemonade and cupcakes and pulled in about $20.

Again, they could have chosen to spend the money on themselves. But they had other plans. They donated all of the proceeds to my triathlon/cancer fundraising effort.

Wow!

I think this is probably one of the most amazing things that has come out of this whole experience for me… that what I’m doing, with my wife Maureen’s full backing and support (thanks, sweetie!), has caught our children’s attention and encouraged them to do what they can to make a difference.

What can I say? Just so so cool!

I’m feeling so grateful for everyone’s support. We’re now at 83 percent of our goal! Just 17 percent to go with about 10 days to do it… and every little bit helps, whether it’s birthday money or lemonade sales! Way to go, Liam, Izzy and Zoha!

When August rolled around, I started taking stock of how far I had come from since the start of training and how much further I have to go. Here are my thoughts.

The Swim: Endurance Wanted
I’m not where I need to be yet. Yes, my overall technique and form are vastly improved. Yes, I’m counting on the wonder of the wetsuit to help. But I still need to be stronger to go the full distance and not tire myself out for the bike and run. I expect to swim a lot of laps in the pool for the duration of August and hopefully make it out to some of the Team In Training group practices. I’ve missed a lot of those, even though I’ve still gotten in the workouts. More on that in another post.

Oh, one more thing on the swim. To the woman in my lap lane a week or so ago: “Why don’t you take off those flippers and show me how tough you are then?!” I don’t know if you’ve ever swam with someone in a lap lane with flippers, but they’re flying past you as if they’re aquaman or aquawoman. I was feeling more and more deflated each time she passed me!

The Bike: Feelin’ Strong!
I knew this would be the one part of the race where I’d feel the most confidence, and so far that’s ringing true. I feel great pedaling and I believe it should be an advantage that I’ve been training on my mountain bike all this time. That said, I need to get on a road bike and make the necessary adjustments before the race. I know it will feel different and I don’t want to let inexperience on the road bike drag my performance down. Overall though, I feel good about getting through 24 miles on the bike.

The Run: It Is What It Is!
I’ve had a couple of recent run experiences that I’d like to share.

The first run happened last weekend. I biked a hard 20 miles and then immediately set off on a six mile run, the same distance I’ll be taking on in Washington, D.C. My legs felt like jelly for the first quarter mile, but then I got into a rhythm. Still, my legs felt heavy for most of the run. At about mile 3.5, the run became more of a mental challenge. It was almost as if I had to will myself through the rest of the workout. You think about a lot on these runs, and I thought about all kinds of things that people go through. Many times, it’s not their physical strength that sees them through, it’s their will, their heart and their spirit. I already have the sense that I’m going to need that kind of strength to finish the last leg of the triathlon in September.

The second run happened yesterday. I felt… good! What a turnaround from last weekend. I established a rhythm early on in the run. Before I knew it, I had completed half of the three mile run and was heading back to the start. This run was by far the best I’ve had in my training to date.

But here’s the reality. Though that run was the best, I probably ran no faster than usual… it just felt easier and more fluid. Yes, I can incorporate some speed training in the time I have left before the event, but I don’t expect to dramatically improve my time. For me, the run is what it is… and I expect to run at a slower pace than I’d like.

I’ve never been a fast runner. A fast skater? Yes. I can skate fast (thank goodness for my hockey game!). But I’m not a speedster on the running track and probably never will be. Even when I trained for the Detroit half marathon, I didn’t make much progress in building up any running speed. Maybe if I was lighter? Yes, that would help!

The Fundraising:
I’m still feeling overwhelmed at the early support. Thanks to those who lined up behind me, I reached 65 percent of my $3,500 goal within a couple of weeks. Since then, the fundraising has stalled almost to a complete halt. I’ve focused more on my training and, of course, life goes on and I have a ton of other priorities and worries.

Nonetheless, we have raised $2,270 to help fight cancer… and I’m grateful.

I am working on a fundraiser at the swim club our family goes to. I’m hoping to raise a couple of hundred dollars there before the end of August. I am also going to go out to some of my friends and neighbors in Birmingham to see if they would like to be part of this.

And, of course, I’m hoping for more support from those who are already aware of what I’m doing and why. I know many of us have been touched by cancer in one way or another. In some cases, cancer has forever shaped and changed our lives.

I want to help put an end to cancer and I want your support. You can contribute to my fundraising efforts on my Team in Training page. Believe me, every donation, big and small, will help me reach my $3,500 goal. I know we can beat this disease… but only if we do what we can. Your help means a lot!

A couple of weeks ago, I was unsure whether I’d have a chance to reach my goal of at least $3,500 to fund lifesaving cancer research. I hadn’t yet gone out to family and friends for support. I hadn’t even told anyone what I was planning to do, why and for whom.

Finally, I started letting people know and asking for any support they could offer.

The response? Amazing! Within a short period of time, the generosity of some dear family members and friends has produced $2,245 to help fight cancer. This is 64 percent of the $3,500 I hope to raise at a minimum! I’m shooting for $5,000 as a stretch goal.

Fundraising doesn’t come easy to me. In all honesty, I don’t like it and I’ve never liked it!

However, I’ve found this experience to be different.

Perhaps it’s because my frame of reference is different. I’m motivated, more than ever, to help fight this disease. No killer, after all, is more challenging or more destructive than cancer. And, of course, I’ve been touched by this disease with kidney cancer claiming my mother, prostate cancer having threatened to take my father and ovarian cancer having killed my wife’s cousin Patsy many years ago.

Of course, I know many others who are either battling cancer right now, have suffered from it or lost their lives to this horrible disease. Some people I know well. Others, not so well… but I feel for all of them and their families.

I sometimes wonder what it must feel like to hear the words: “You have cancer.” Shocking, certainly. And yet, perhaps it’s not so shocking. About 40 percent of men and 45 percent of women will hear those words during their lifetimes. About one out of every four of us will die from cancer.

If we can help change these statistics, then let’s do it! Because we just never know when those three little words, “You have cancer,” may be spoken to someone close to you. Indeed, many of those who have thrown their support behind this cause and my triathlon/fundraising effort have shared with me how they’ve been touched by cancer. They understand how important it is that we participate and fight back against this killer disease.

I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all those who have helped me get to 64 percent of my goal. I am humbled, really. Humbled because I’m so grateful that you would take the time to donate and help me fight back… but also appreciative that you would choose to support my triathlon endeavor. I feel like you’re saying, “I’ve got your back,” “I believe in you,” and “You can do it,” and I have to say that it’s an amazing feeling to have people get behind you.

So, 36 percent to go! To those who have made this possible, THANK YOU! I am truly touched by your generosity and kindness.

To anyone reading this who has yet to contribute, I would be thrilled to have your support in this fight against cancer. Any amount is appreciated and will go a long way toward reaching my goal and making a difference.

This differs from the existing $10 option in that availability is essentially unlimited. For $10, only the first 200 people will be able to get their copy. For just $2 more, you are automatically entitled to a copy the minute it’s printed and ready.

How to buy your copy in advance:

1. Go to my Indiegogo.com funding page.

2. Insert the amount of your payment ($12).

3. Select the second “PERKS” option:  “$12 = Advance Copy“

4. Process your payment through the PayPal link at the bottom of the page, or send your cheque to the address shown.

5. E-Mail me at elise . hendrick AT gmail . com to inform me of your payment and provide shipping information for your copy.

First of all, two anonymous donors have contributed a total of USD 100.00 over the past couple of days.

Thank you both very much!

As a thank-you gift, they will be getting free copies of the finished book once it’s printed. 198 more free copies are available for anyone who makes a donation of USD 10.00 or more.

Second of all, I’ve set a release date for the English edition of Reunion – A Travelogue. My plan is to release it in mid-January 2011. This will give me about a month’s time to edit and organise all my notes and individual vignettes into book form, format it, and get it ready for printing.

Thirdly, my plan is to self-publish using an on-demand printing service (unless anyone knows of a publisher that might be interested in the project).

Lastly, as an additional means of financing the project, I intend to pre-sell copies of the book at a discounted price to anyone interested. I still have to set this up, and I would, of course, greatly appreciate advice from anyone experienced with this.

http://www.indiegogo.com/Reunion-A-Travelogue

Our Disney Princess Half Marathon Central Florida TNT team will be holding a great fundraiser to help us meet our fundraising commitments on Saturday, February 13 at Uptown Park Wine Bar.

WHEN: February 13, 2010  6PM-9PM

WHERE: Uptown Park Wine Bar – http://uptownparkwinebar.com/index.html

COST: $10 per person, which includes your first drink!

We will also be raffling off amazing gifts, including wine baskets graciously donated by members of our local community. Come have a Ladies Night with us and Support a Great Cause!

I will update with additional details as they become available. Cheers!