Beyond the Chair

This guy deserves an ovation: Drew Shelley, Beyond the Chair.

Note: The following bio is blantantly ripped from Drew's website. Talk about a hero, this man refuses to let his disability rob him of adventure, excitement, and lust for life. Bravo, Drew.

Andrew Shelley has a great life. By day he is an engineer, and by night loves to listen to music and DJ. He is also an avid weekend warrior, often exploring the remote hiking trails of Southern California and the sand dunes of the surrounding deserts. Andrew Shelley, Drew to his friends, is what most people would call a successful guy, with one unique trait; Andrew has muscular dystrophy, a disease that is characterized by the progressive weakening and degeneration of muscle. To keep with his lifestyle, Drew relies on a 260 lb power chair specially equipped for extreme off-road use.

Always up for a greater challenge, Drew will embark on a solo extreme world tour in March of 2007 that would make the most weathered of adventurers cringe. His journey will bring him to some of the most remote and almost completely unreachable corners of the globe. Drew will trek through the outback of Australia, cut through the jungles of Indonesia, and even navigate across the landscape of India. Each portion of his journey presents unique difficulties for Drew to overcome with both the use and transportation of his chair. Throughout this adventure, Andrew will rely on his sheer will, engineering background, and his extreme power chair to do what is difficult for some and impossible for most. His journey will be an inspiring adventure that will demonstrate the power of human potential to overcome all odds. It’s a journey he will face alone; a journey beyond the chair.

If you're on MySpace, you can friend him here: Beyond the Chair

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Having finished Super Mom Saves the World, by Melanie Lynn Hauser, I'm now into Kristy Kiernan's debut novel, Catching Genius, which, btw, is genius. And the cover is one of the most beautiful covers; don't you just want to crawl into the screen and sit in one of those chairs overlooking that endless ocean. I'm logging off to read. Check back later.

The Reading List:

• THE TEAHOUSE FIRE, Ellis Avery
• THE KOMMANDANT'S GIRL, Pam Jenoff
• WHISTLING IN THE DARK, Lesley Kagen
• PROMISE NOT TO TELL, Jennifer McMahon