Ugh.

[capri0mni]

Two biological facts about me:

1) Ever since I was about 8 or 9, it has been usual for the "parting shot" of a bout with the Common Cold Virus (after the sniffling, sneezing, sore throat, etc. is out of my system) to be a flare up of cold sores on the insides of my lips and cheeks. It's just been the usual way for the virus to work its way through me.

2) My asthma, which I've kept mostly symptom-free for these last six years or so, with a daily dose of Benedryl-clone, is triggered by mold, dust, smoke and ...stress.

---

Last night, I had a flare up of asthma symptoms, even after my usual daily dose. And this morning, even though I had no outward signs of a cold, I woke with a cold sore.

I've also had intense, bordering-on-nightmare dreams, these last two nights, which I can't remember well enough to describe, except that they involved punching and fighting.

... I think, perhaps, this last week of waiting through Irene, knowing that I had no easy way to evacuate (and no way to hide in the closet or bathtub during the storm, as experts all say you should), has taken a temporary toll on my immune system.

This whole week, I've felt like I'm fighting jet lag.

So: tell me a happy thing? Please?

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Chances are good that one of my favorite blind snark-mistress will be contacting you soon.

[capri0mni]

ooh! That's as mysterious as a fortune cookie!

Does "snark-mistress" come with an official badge? It should... or maybe a hat (with a feather!).

[trouble]

School starts soon! I am so excited! :D!

[kestrell]

Initially, JK's post made me go, *squee!* That's me! And then I got all sad-faced when I thought, Hey! What if JK's actually writing about some other snarky blind woman? And then I experienced a snark surge, and thought, I'll show that blind snark mistress-wanna be who is the snarkiest one of all, mwahahaha!

So anyway,, I hope you were talking about me behind my back, because otherwise, some blind woman somewhere is not going to know what hit her.

Greetings, Capriuni! JK recommended you to me as the perfect person to help me with tweaking an idea I had for a t-shirt. Tell me if you wish to hear more.

[capri0mni]

Yes, Please! I love tweaking ideas....

I also love t-shirt / general wearable art (I wish these print on demand places let you put designs on shirt sleeves as well as shirt fronts and backs, and around the collars, though I recognize that may be a technical nightmare)

[capri0mni]

Yay! Going through a course catalog is even more fun than flipping through a Christmas toy catalog.

[kestrell]

I know what you mean about being able to go wild with design elements. I mean, people talk about understated and taste and all that stuff, but I think it's jus sighted people being stingy with the eyeballs. I did some tie-dying with a friend a couple of months ago, and the colors she chose were browns and greys, and I'm like, hey, this orange isn't loud enough.

On to my t-shirt idea.

Some context: a blind friend was asking on her Facebook page about an accessible Scrabble game, and I suggested a site, but she said she wanted a version she could play with her sighted mother and brother.
My reply: What?? You want games that both you *and* the sighties can play...together??? That is some crazy-ass rainbow-sprinkled radical utopia you are living in, girl.

Another person strongly feels that this needs tob e a t-shirt, but I feel it needs some tweaking.

What can you do with the phrase "crazy-ass rainbow-sprinkled radical utopia"? My initial thought was to stick a "Welcome to my" in front, but I feel it needs something more, perhaps the word "accessible" should be in there somewhere?

And, of course, the design needs to be grab-your-eyeballs bright.

[capri0mni]

Actually, I think the words need to be paired down. When it's on a shirt, it's a moving target -- something you glimpse passing a stranger on the street -- and also, bits of words are liable to get lost in the folds and creases of the fabric (especially if you're a wheelchair user, and are sitting down all the time, and covering up half the design with your seatbelt [/gripe]).

And the meaning of the missing words can be replaced with the grab-your-eyeballs graphics.

How about (as a first pass at tweaking): "Welcome to my rainbow-sprinkled utopia!" with a graphic using variations of the icons for blind access wheelchair access and "normal public" access all (I don't know) dancing together? And the 'crazy-ass' implied with cartoon images of valentine hearts with smiley faces and wings?

Too bad these print on demand companies can't bedazzle the clothes...

[kestrell]

What you say about paring down the words makes sense--I'm not a wheelchair user, but I'm short and have cleavage, so pared down is still a good idea. I think I like this pared-down version, bu I still have some emotional attachment to suing "crazy-ass" as a modifier, as I feel there needs to be some slight touch of irony/snark to make it really sound like me. Perhaps I'll include the access symbols along with a nice gothy guide bat.

I sense that this will sudenly seem perfect at about mdinight, when I'm no longer reading Mac/VoiceOver documentation.

[capri0mni]

Right. And Rainbow-sprinkled can be illustrated with rainbow sprinkles!

"Radical" can be cut out, because utopia, is, by definition, radical.

[jesse_the_k]

Horrors. I am so sad that my habitual hyperbole would trigger imposter syndrome. Of course you are the person to whom I am referring, and it seems that you've accomplished the connection in record time. Connecting w strangers is one of yr superpowers! Best wishes to the creative process.