Random stuff: what it says on the tin...

(I've come back to edit the bullet point about Chuck -- rereading it, I realized I had so many thoughts, I left key bits out of a key sentence)

• Okay, so I cut my own hair, Friday night, and was tweaking it through the weekend... which meant I was spending more time than usual looking closely at my face in the mirror. And I noticed something.
  
  You know that the our faces are naturally asymmetrical, right? And that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the face? Here's a Web page that talks about that: Face assymmetry.
  
  ...Anyway: after looking at my reflection for the umpteenth time Saturday night, I noticed that my left eyebrow is markedly arched, and my right eyebrow is flatter and tending toward furrowed-ness. It's as if the analytical side of my brain is looking at the world and saying: "Grr! Eedjits!" And the creative side of my brain is looking at the world and saying: "Oh, Really?!"
  
  It struck me as highly lollerous. And yes, I LOL'ed.
  
  
  
• I had a meta dream, this morning. I dreamt that I had a weird dream, and I ended up explaining my weird dream to people in my dream, and explaining how I thought my weird dream was giving suggestions for what we should do next (also, one of the characters in my dream was. Oh, and for some strange reason, Danny Rebus (from the new version of The Electric Company) was one of the people I was working with... (Here's His page on the Electric Company Website).
  
  
• My cat Amanda is being particularly talkative today: walking around the house loudly declaring ...something... to the world at large like a Shakespearean actor doing a soliloquy.
  
  
• (I almost put this one in things making me happy list from May 31, because I like it when the lightbulb clicks on about something. That 'aha!' moment feels good. ... Except this time, that light also illuminated something unpleasant. So I left it out. And I'm sticking it with "random" instead)
  
  I recently realized something about why I find Chuck so entertaining to watch, and while I will probably miss it when it's gone: For what's not in it: Disability.
  
  Now, I was actually surprised when this notion clarified in my mind (as if floating slowing from the murky depths of a silty pond, until it bobs up on the surface, all shiny like). Normally, I despise the erasure of "my kind of people" from the world, but the lack of disabled people from even the background crowd scenes means that in the entire four season run of the show (So far, I hope this post doesn't jinx this) means I could sit back, relax, and not worry that I'd have to watch any of the following plot points:
  
  
  1. That someone is going to "fake" a disability, in order to avoid suspicion or notice (which means, in real life, that people with disabilities are always under suspicion).
  
  
  2. That possible disability is used as a threat for a fate worse than death.
  
  
  3. That bitterness over having a disability is regarded as a reasonable motivation for wanting to hurt others or seek revenge (in an: "Oh, well. Of course that makes sense," sort of way).
  
  
  4. That shame over becoming disabled is likewise seen as reasonable excuse for not asking for help, even when going on as if nothing has changed actually results in the death of innocent people.
  
  
  5. That averting a feared disability, is portrayed as the happiest of happy endings, especially if the person who escaped this terrible fate is pretty. ... as long as you're "Beautiful" and "Whole," your life will be nothing but sunshine and lollipops for ever after.
  
  
  The fact that I do have to brace myself against those story lines in every other hour-long drama (and a few sitcoms) on television in the last (unspecified number of years) or so, is very, very depressing.
  
  
  
  
• Thanks to trouble for pointing me to a transcript of Jay Smooth's video that I posted, last night:
  
  ( How to Tell People They Sound Racist )
  
  
  One reason why this is making me especially squeeful right now is that I'd just finished reading the bit in Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (Appiah, 2006), where the author makes the point that sharing someone's values isn't really important, and what we should be worrying about instead is agreeing on proper actions.
  
  Philosophical convergence for the win!

My latest Zazzle thing... and why this little hobby is feeling more and more like activism

(Description I've written to go with it, in my store):

(Quote)
Graphic of a cartoon style thought balloon in blue, with the words "Yeah, I get what you're saying (even between the lines)." The text has cast shadows in muted gold and shocking pink.

It's amazing what some people will say about the disabled -- even when we're right there. This hat can help remind them that we are not sack of potatoes or potted plants.
(Unquote)

(picture & link):

Between the lines by Chimerigons
See more Disability culture Hats

( example of hatefulness that I'm up against, in the 'marketplace of ideas,' cut because it's disgusting )

I'm trying to come up with designs almost as fast as my spoons will allow me, but at this rate, it feels like I'll never be able to catch up, especially since those pity and cure designs aren't recongized as the derogatory shlock they are...