Delayed Ripples: Most Important Thing You’ll Read in 2012

â┚¬Å”No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you’ve come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself.â┚¬Â â┚¬â€¢ Madonna

The past weekend was the Out of the Darkness Community Walk to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and I participated for the second year in a row. A wonderful, positive event and â┚¬â€œ please keep this between the two of us â┚¬â€œ I wasn't in the mood for it.

I have no idea what was up my butt, but couldn't wait to make the trek around Lake Baldwin and hop on my bike to get home. Every conversation I overheard sounded like the most inane dribble to me; I'm sure I made record time around the lake as I tried to get away from various pockets of chatter. A group of elementary school teachers who would have been right at home backing up Moon Zappa on â┚¬Å”Valley Girl,â┚¬Â a cluster of ex-frat boys who talked loudly about â┚¬Å”Eye of the Tigerâ┚¬Â as they played it a little too loud (â┚¬Å”Who doesn't like â┚¬ËœEye of the Tiger'?â┚¬Â Uh, present.)â┚¬Â¦

I could go on, but why give further evidence of what a giant ass I was being? Participating in a suicide prevention charity event, trying to resist the urge to flippantly mutter â┚¬Å”I'm going to stab myselfâ┚¬Â is an embarrassing thing to confess â┚¬â€œ in fact, I'm not sure why I am admitting it. I took my vile disposition home immediately after the walk, even foregoing the traditional releasing of the doves which, you might recall, I loved last year.

Out of the Darkness raised over $25,000 and $115 of that was from me. As I rode my bike home, hoping to leave my attitude alongside Corrine Drive somewhere, my thoughts were consumed with how to raise more money next year. I had intended to raise $500 and falling short didn't sit well with my Mr. Poopy-Pants within.

Take a look at some photos from the walk here. To find out more about the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and their important work, click here.

You're used to Rippling on Monday, so I hope this doesn't completely throw your week out of whack. I wish I could say I'm so important that I didn't have time yesterday, but the truth is I just didn't budget my time well. These Ripples are too good to wait until next Monday, so let's get to it.

Sam Branson is Smokin' Hot
Antarctica log 11 – Occupy World Street
If I were filthy rich, I would want to be like the Branson family of Virgin fame. They live a great life, but also do an admirable amount of good with their money. Here's an illustration Sam Branson (@BransonSam) recently tweeted: â┚¬Å”100% of all Virgin Atlantic’s profits are invested into research and development of clean fuels. We’re trying very hard to make it clean.â┚¬Â Richard Branson is blogging about his current trip to Antarctica to learn more about climate change; in this posting, he relays an idea from same to create an Occupy World Street movement.  An excellent idea that should be embraced, before it's too late.

29 is the New 30?
Love in Action
I’m getting this to you a bit late, but there’s still most of the month left. Take Part has a cool project that you can join in on. For each day in February, they provide you with a task that will make the world a better place. You can even receive a text letting you know what the task is for that particular day. Along the way, you may find activism a bit more exciting than you anticipated â┚¬â€œ you'll buy condoms, you'll say F*ck on Twitter, and the world will be better for it. I am a little confused as to why it is called â┚¬Å”30 Ways in 30 Daysâ┚¬Â when there are 29 days in February 2012. If you figure it out, let me know.

Forget = Death
AIDS Memorial Park
I was unaware that there is a movement afoot to create an AIDS Memorial in New York City, ground zero for the epidemic in our country. The winning concept, called â┚¬Å”Infinite Forest,â┚¬Â has been selected by a panel that includes the likes of Kenneth Cole and Whoopi Goldberg. Knowing of it now, I will follow its progress and look forward to absorbing its energy one day.

A Must Read
One Town’s War on Gay Teens
This fantastic piece of journalism from Sabrina Rubin Erdely in Rolling Stone may be the most important thing you read all year. An incredible account of how homophobia has taken a deadly toll on the youth of one town. As with any good slice of the journalism pie, this piece couldn't be more timely. Think of what our raging debates about marriage equality is saying to our youth. Politicians spewing sound bites of homophobia that half the time I figure they don't even believe. What are the long range effects of that hate? If you only read one Ripple this week, read this one, and share it.