Daily Journal, July 23, 2019, on raising money, raising awareness and having fun while doing it

Slow down hoss. Things are moving slower now. After that frenzied state of MikeMadness.

We raised thousands of dollars over the weekend for Lewy body dementia. It will pay for research for a cure of Lewy body, the second leading form of dementia after Alzheimer’s..

Yes, I still have it. The basketball tournament, the socializing, the games and rallying isn’t going to suddenly block the bombardment of destructive proteins trespassing in my brain. But I’ll be damned if it didn’t help on a several levels. This is living. Even when you know you are dying. There’s a ‘thing’ about it, maybe it’s human empathy I’m trying to express this ‘thing’ with this blog.

I got a nice comment on my blog the other day from someone who said he started reading this blog for the music reviews, but then became interested in learning more about the disease and says he has been hooked by my story as a person living with the disease.

This is exactly how I wanted it to work. His comments can be read in full in the comments section of this blog but he said:

Thank you for putting so much information out into the world in such a positive way, and spreading the word about LBD as you do. It’s not an easy subject to tackle, or to even talk about, and you seem to do both superbly.
I’ll admit that I got hooked on your reviews of your lp collection, as you seem to have some similar tastes as me, but then I found that along with the musical explorations, I was getting more and more interested in your story and your cause. Now I just can’t stop reading.
I hope this finds you well. I’m looking forward to more of your insights, and I enjoy going down the rabbit hole with each new post. I listen along to the artists as I read.

So what’s this about again? This is about families coming together. I had 20-plus relatives over to support the cause with money and with love. (My nephew Zach Cohen won the 3-point contest.)

We’ll have all winners listed in my next story when I firm up donation totals and ready the photos.

Still awaiting some donations to be processed. Hurry up if you’ve put it off. MikeMadness.org

Stay tuned to this website and AL.com for specific amounts raised and where they will go and lots and lots of pictures. from UAB which graciously donated the Rec Center facilities and Trim Tab Brewing where we got dunked, sang Karaoke and sipped beverages and ate delicious authentic tacos from a food truck . Great atmosphere, kids loved both the Karaoke and dunk tank as you might imagine.

Thanks Trim Tab for donating 10 percent of sales on Saturday to the cause.

My song for Saturday, or today for that matter is by The The. No, that’s not a typo: there are two ‘The’s. (And nothing else)..