(Moral: Don't assume you have the perfect piece until you've seen the guidelines)

So -- The Submissions Call for the Disability Blog Carnival went up today at Rolling Around in my Head. It reads, in part:

(Quote)

Just write about the things you commemorate. I'd like this to be a joyous carnival - let's give the lie to the fact that we in the disability community live lives of quiet sorrow and tragedy. Let's make it clear that we are a raucous group of people who can party with the best of them.

(Unquote)

Oof. I guess that means If my grief over Mother's Death would not be a good match, then.

... Meanwhile, while my overall life is far from tragic, I have always really hated being in the middle of loud, raucous parties. I know he was going for the opposite of "quiet sorrow," for rhetorical effect... but still.

But I still want to contribute to this. So I have ten days or so to come up with something completely new.

So I guess this is my "Turn Signal."

My Mother: The Awesome (and a request for help with a bit of visual detective work)

A couple of old photos of Mother, that I'd like to preserve, so I scanned them. Unfortunately, neither have any indications of a definitive date. Which I would especially like for the second photo.

Audrey thought that, because that second photo is clearly an official event, the historical information must be around somewhere. And maybe I could try looking online. (What she doesn't realize is that Philipstown, NY has been pretty much run with all the professionalism of a private hobby for the last 130 years, or so...).

Good News: The City does have a website! \o/
Bad News: The dates posted on all city blog posts are from 2009. /o\

What do you think my chances are of talking to an actual human being who can answer my questions, if I try calling the town clerk and asking someone to look up information on something that happened close to 30 years ago?

Yeah... Not getting my hopes up.

That second photo: does it look more like 1980, '88, or '90, to you guys?

( two medium-large pictures behind cut )