Julielyn

Update: There will be a candlelight vigil tonight at 6pm on Turner Street between Grand River and Clinton. Thanks to the City of Lansing for shutting down the street. Everyone is welcome to come and in tribute to Robert's life and legacy. The Old Town Commercial Association will be collecting donations for Robert’s family, including food and well wishes, in the OTCA office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. As of 1:30 p.m., no memorial services have yet been made public.

I've been in Old Town all day, I didn't know what to do, so I took flowers and a candle. The Old Town Commercial Association is planning a candlelight vigil for later tonight. I'll try to keep folks posted. Thanks for mentioning this, Robert was a priceless gift to everyone who was touched by him.

Regardless of how much time is left, decorations left to hang or goodies left to bake - thanks for putting this stuff up, really gets me in the mood!

Perpetual Motion is my favorite solo album of Bela's - however if we're talking about the whole band - Live at the Quick is one my favorites along with 'Left of Cool' - very fusion based. They are one of those bands that you just have to see - whether its a DVD - Live at the Quick is awesome - and I'm sure you'll enjoy it (check ebay). It's so much more than just music. Lots of documentary stuff, history, background, artist interviews. Very cool. Each of the guys are so individually talented, they all have solo albums (which are equally incredible!) - Vic Wooten on the bass (one of the most talented I've ever seen!) Jeff Coffin on winds (primairly sax, but he can do it all! You have to see him play two Tenor's at once - its nuts!) and Futureman (Wooten's brother) on the 'drumitar' - his own percussion instrument that is incredible just to see played). They took 2005 off as the band so they could all tour for their solo stuff. Definitely, definitely check them out. If you're into extremely talented musicians who aren't afraid to experiment, push limits, innovate and jam like nobody's business, you need to check them out. You won't be dissappointed! www.flecktones.com Have fun!

Hi Gang - While riding my 145 miles for the Get Your Guts in Gear ride this past weekend, I noticed that there was a Django Festival on beautiful Whidbey Island just north of Seattle. I was curious, being the jazz fan that I am ( and a huge Django fan!) and if it hadn't been for the ride (70 miles a day for 3 days with 55 other riders!) I definitely would have stopped. Turns out that the festival starts in a couple weeks. If anyone's able to go - please fill us all in, I'd love to go, but can only afford one trip to Seattle every couple months! : http://www.djangofest.com/nw/home.htm

Hi Friends - Well last weekend was the ride, and what a fantastic time was had by all, particularly Chelsea and I! They say a picture was worth a thousand words, and so without breaking tradition, here is our thanks to all of you who helped us raise almost $21,000!!!! (The checks keep coming in - and folks have till the 1st of October to donate!) http://julielyn.smugmug.com/gallery/1802593/10/89889605 (click on the link to see the full size pic and read the poster!) The Lansing State Journal will be doing a follow-up story shortly, and I promise to share it with all of you. Just one question - will you ride with us next year? :-) (To see all 145 pictures from the trip visit http://julielyn.smugmug.com/gallery/1802593 and keep checking back on http://www.myspace.com/julielynrides for what happens next! In health and happiness, ~Julielyn

So much I owe to all of you at Organissimo.org, particularly Joe, Jim, and Randy. I know without a doubt that if it weren't for all of you, this update would not have been possible in today's Lansing State Journal... http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...40347/1001/news All of you have helped me raise what is now amounting to almost $11,000 and still growing. It's amazing! Another reason for this post...the ride quickly approaches! It's this weekend, and Chelsea and I fly out of Detroit Thursday morning. We'll begin the ride at 6am on Friday morning, and hope to have each day's leg (all 70 miles worth of it) completed by 2 or 3pm, local time. I'll call soon after to a friend who's offered to very generously update my blog while I'm out there (no internet access in the campsites where we'll be staying each night). Best I can tell you is check around 8 or 9pm EST to see how things have gone for that day. I'll be back in Michigan on Monday evening, and do my best to truly update then. While I'm gone, I'd like to offer some food for thought. Even though I've not yet done the bike ride myself, I know I'll be back to do it next year. I just can't help but wonder if next year might find me with a rider or two from this forum? I think it would be a fantastic thing! Until next time... ~Julielyn www.myspace.com/julielynrides

GREAT NEWS!!!! I found out yesterday (but I had to share it with Joe first!) that I have exceeded my personal goal of $10,000 in fundraising for the Get Your Guts in Gear bike ride!!! So many generous donors, and I know quite a few of them came from here, thanks to Joe, Jim, and everyone else!! In other great news, Chelsea is now up to $1645, just $205 shy of her minimum fundraising goal of $1850. Her personal goal is $3500, so if you haven't already, and are so inspired to give, please do!! www.ibdride.org All you need is her name, Chelsea Hannert, and her rider number S-53. I was lucky enough to see Joe last night, and I told him that my words of the month are "Wow!" and "Thank You!" and rightly so. Your generosity and faith in me continue to inspire and humble me. Please read the Lansing State Journal next Monday, the 14th, as they will be doing a follow-up story in the "Updates" section. For those of you outside of Michigan, you can read it online at www.lsj.com. If any of you have Crohn's Disease/Ulcerative Colitis and/or an ostomy, or know someone who does, please either email me, private message me, or leave me a message on the myspace page below so that I can ride in honor of you/them and add them to my Scrolling Honor Roll on the myspace page. You can also track me daily on my blog also on the myspace page. Thank you soooooo much again! ~Julielyn www.myspace.com/julielynrides

I wish I could say that head south to the city of Rock n' Roll made things a bit more tolerable, but it's hotter (if that's possible!) here in Cleveland. I drove down here and it was a whopping 102, and it's only 87 right now at 10pm. Here's hoping Michigan cools down in the next couple days before I get back!

More good news!!! Today I found out that so far I've raised $5060!!!!! The last batch of donations that came in were from folks all over the country, most of whom I don't know, and I continue to feel honored and blessed. Chelsea is at $900, and so please keep her in mind as we focus on getting the additional $950 she needs to raise to meet the minimum fundraising goal of $1850 before the ride begins on the 17th. For those of you who'd like to follow me day-by-day as I continue on my journey, I've started posting a daily blog on my myspace page. Get a little glimpse into what it's like training for this HUGE ride from the eyes of someone with Crohn's Disease and an ostomy. Tomorrow I'll travel to the Rock 'n Roll capital - Cleveland, Ohio to continue to promote the Get Your Guts in Gear Bike Ride at the National Conference of the Young Ostomate and Diversion Alliance of America (YODAA) which is a support group of the United Ostomy Associations of America, for those of us 18 yr-olds to 30-somethings who live with ostomies. As Vice President of the UOAA it's my responsibility to represent the Executive Board to the various networks, such as (YODDA). I'll definitely be sharing the story of Joe and Michelle, and the generosity of all of you on this board. Since the article came out, I've been asked to speak for several groups. In September, I'll be speaking to the Lansing chapter of the UOAA in the Sparrow Medical Building. I'm awaiting confirmation of several other dates, and I'll keep you posted. I'm very pleased to share that both Chelsea and I will be at Organissimo's next Lansing show at the end of September at the Creole Gallery. It will be an honor for both of us and we hope to meet some of you there! Thank you so much again, ~Julielyn www.myspace.com/julielynrides

First off, I have some good news. Chelsea is up to $900, and to the halfway mark of reaching her required fundraising mark of $1850. For those of you who donated, thank you! This humid Michigan heat is making it unbearable to ride in, so I'm working on doing some cross-training in the form of swimming and working out in the gym. The Honor Wall on my Myspace Page is growing, and I'm hoping to make it even longer! If you know someone who has Crohn's/Ulcerative Colitis or an ostomy and you want me to ride for them, email me, or private message me on here. Right now I have people from 10 different states represented on the Honor Roll. I hope that come Aug. 18th, its up to all 50 states and even some other countries! I've included Joe and Organissimo under my "Special Thanks Goes To..." section, and I hope that they get lots of new fans out of it! I must admit, I'm running into a bit of a brick wall getting the Detroit media interested. I can't really figure it out either. There's 2 well-known local TV personalities who are both active with the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, but neither one of them has returned phone calls or emails. Something interesting, Michigan has a really high number of people with IBD, partly due to the large Jewish population, particularly in SE Michigan. IBD is more common in people of certain Jewish ancestry (doctors don't know why). If anyone has any connections in the Detroit media that might be interested, by all means, please send them my way! Thanks again everyone!!!

Wow! Thank you everyone again so much! I just wanted to let all of you know, that you can read more about me, the ride, and how Chelsea and I are doing on our journey through a page I've created on MySpace. I tried to make the page as informative as possible, and there's lots of great resources for everyone to be educated. www.myspace.com/julielynrides On there I have set up a scrolling Honorarium for everyone who I will be riding for. I want to see this list grow, so please email me if you would like add the name of yourself or a loved one. As soon as I figure out html (I'm self-teaching myself right now) I'll be putting up a fundraising thermometer so you can see how Chelsea and I are doing towards our goals. I hope to also post pictures during the ride so you can literally be there with me as we ride. Thank you again, and keep checking back as the ride grows closer! With Gratitude, ~Julielyn

Wow, I have been so awed by the support of Joe and everyone here at Organissimo as I prepare for my bike ride. Thank you, so very much. Joe's courage in sharing his and Michelle's story has touched me deeply, and I promise to carry Michelle with me as I ride next month in Washington State. It's people like Joe and Michelle that are the inspiration for why I'm doing this ride. So many people, too many people, live daily with Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis, with no known cause or cure. It's a devasting disease, and I hope to help find an answer to all of our suffering. Since that fantastic article by Nicole Geary at the Lansing State Journal came out last week, I've heard from people as far away as California, Texas and New York, and plenty who suffer daily right here in Lansing. A boy, as young as 10, right here in Lansing, going through ostomy surgery to alleviate his Crohn's, and woman who has spent her life's work researching Crohn's and hasn't had the courage to talk to her doctor about the ostomy surgery that she needs have emailed me to say thank you. I'm overwhelmed. And then there's all of you, perfect strangers, united by music, the universal language, who have stepped up and supported myself and the other riders. I feel truly blessed. I do have good news to report as well. The June Get Your Guts in Gear Ride in New York raised more than $250,000! We're hoping to well surpass that next month in the Pacific Northwest ride. I promise to keep you posted! Thank you again, so much. www.ibdride.org Julielyn Gibbons S-43 Chelsea Hannert S-53