Copy-pasted from a reply to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
badbookworm:
I'm currently under the northeast quadrant of Hurricane Irene... the probably won't come over for another 6 hours or so, and then it will be about another 8 hours before it clears out. I consider the fact that I have Internet / electricity at all a bit of a miracle. So I'm using it before I lose it.
Additional: I woke to rain about 9 am. Don't know how long it had been raining. The rain totals for Chesapeake reported about an hour ago said we'd already had 7 1/2 inches of rain. So...
badbookworm:I'm currently under the northeast quadrant of Hurricane Irene... the probably won't come over for another 6 hours or so, and then it will be about another 8 hours before it clears out. I consider the fact that I have Internet / electricity at all a bit of a miracle. So I'm using it before I lose it.
Additional: I woke to rain about 9 am. Don't know how long it had been raining. The rain totals for Chesapeake reported about an hour ago said we'd already had 7 1/2 inches of rain. So...
Let me be clear: my cup hath runneth over with privilege my entire life, and I know it: White, cisgendered, heterosexual, economically affluent, English-as-first language, First-world citizen, cognitively normal, and probably more that I haven't even considered.
Still....
( Who pulled my chain on this topic, this time? F'ing IRENE, that's who! )
Cerebral palsy, according to the latest C.D.C. National Health Interview data, affects roughly 0.4% of the population.
It's not the most common cause for general physical disability (including blindness, deafness,* fatigue, chronic pain, immune deficiency, etc.).
It's not the most common cause for mobility impairment among people in general (spinal chord injury, arthritis, M.S., stroke, etc., are all more common).
It's not the most common disability, in general, to affect people from childhood onward (including cognitive disabilities, immune deficiency problems, etc.).
It is the most commonreason label for a cluster of reasons that young children are mobility impaired.
When a TV show for toddlers and preschoolers (such as Sesame Street) features a "kid around the audience's age in a wheelchair (or using a walker or crutches)" as a synecdoche for all difference, to teach tolerance, there's a pretty good chance that that kid is living with a cerebral palsy diagnosis.
And even though (as I have said here, before) no two people with C.P. ever have the same condition, the main facets of C.P. do (In my not-so humble opinion) give us reason to see ourselves as part of a common community and subculture within the broader Disability Community.
To whit (and this is all My Own Opinion -- even if you have CP, too, I do not claim to be speaking for you -- this is just the result of a brooding and ruminating over the years:
*I'm including deafness for those Hearing people who lose their sense of hearing, but do not identify as culturally Deaf.
Still....
( Who pulled my chain on this topic, this time? F'ing IRENE, that's who! )
Cerebral palsy, according to the latest C.D.C. National Health Interview data, affects roughly 0.4% of the population.
It's not the most common cause for general physical disability (including blindness, deafness,* fatigue, chronic pain, immune deficiency, etc.).
It's not the most common cause for mobility impairment among people in general (spinal chord injury, arthritis, M.S., stroke, etc., are all more common).
It's not the most common disability, in general, to affect people from childhood onward (including cognitive disabilities, immune deficiency problems, etc.).
It is the most common
When a TV show for toddlers and preschoolers (such as Sesame Street) features a "kid around the audience's age in a wheelchair (or using a walker or crutches)" as a synecdoche for all difference, to teach tolerance, there's a pretty good chance that that kid is living with a cerebral palsy diagnosis.
And even though (as I have said here, before) no two people with C.P. ever have the same condition, the main facets of C.P. do (In my not-so humble opinion) give us reason to see ourselves as part of a common community and subculture within the broader Disability Community.
To whit (and this is all My Own Opinion -- even if you have CP, too, I do not claim to be speaking for you -- this is just the result of a brooding and ruminating over the years:
- Posture and movement, like vision, are given almost magical status and meaning. Slouching, crookedness, crawling, limping, are all linked, symbolically, with animal nature, rather than human nature, and also with the quality of a person's moral character. Navigating through that social stigma in the same years that we are developing our sense of Self must leave as strong a mark on our minds as differently-moving leaves on our muscles and bones.
- There is no single cause for CP, and in fact, despite (or even because of) medical advances and advanced prenatal and neonatal care, cases of CP have increased over the last 30 years. This (IMNSHO, again) puts "lame and crippled" children-who-grow-to-adults in a similar "Monstrous" category as those children who are born with limb differences (the original meaning of "monster"), simply because the condition/s are a physical manifestation of the Unknown and Therefore Scary. ...And this may be why the Official, "expert" definitions of CP still include a heavy assumption of mental retardation, even 45 years after the hospital psychologist recommended that my mother place me in an Special Institution for my entire life.
- All disabled people, whatever the cause, are more likely than not to be minorities within their own families. And therefore are less likely to find "safe harbor" in their own homes against the general bigotry of society at large. ...I recognize that the same is true for homosexual and transgendered and genderqueer people as well, but it's a lot more difficult for people with physical disabilities to "pass" as normal, and thus protect ourselves from -isms. And for kids with CP, this struggle usually starts from day one of our lives (Although the diagnosis of CP can be given as late as four years old, in the First World, 90% of cases begin at birth or earlier).
- Audrey often tells me of J's troubles with The Public (her other main client -- a just-turned-five boy with a different type of CP than mine). And her tales of woe and argh and wtf bring back memories of my own experiences -- mainly, the cultural assumption among figures of authority (Doctors, nurses, therapists, teachers) have the right to claim authority over a person with CP's body -- to physically grab it and manipulate it and perform surgeries on it... and to swoop in and pat you on the head, kiss your cheeks, move your wheelchair, etc. without so much as a by-your-leave.
I survived all that with my personhood and sense of self and integrity intact, and I wouldn't have it any other way. But I think I have sacrificed my comfort with physical and emotional intimacy to get there... And so, am now facing the Oncoming Storm and the Future beyond that alone. And that makes me lonely and sad.
BUT (lastly): - Whether the severity of our CP is Level I (walks without limitation) or Level V (Transported in a manual chair -- that is, without any autonomy of movement), we've hardly ever moved through the world normally. I've "met" (online) and know of people who didn't get diagnosed with CP until they were well into adulthood, but they've known, all their lives, that they were clumsy and awkward. Learning about the world and ourselves through that filter from day one gives us unique ...um... "leverage" in problem-solving and learning that even other mobility-impaired folks, who come upon the experience of Different-Moving later in life, don't get.
And that's why people with CP (among other disabilities) have always been, and will always be, part of Humanity -- the idiosyncratic ways that we move are the spark that leads to crucial inventions that benefit the species.
So, for that (among other things), I'm proud to be the monster that I am...
*I'm including deafness for those Hearing people who lose their sense of hearing, but do not identify as culturally Deaf.
There's been a Wildfire blazing away in the Great Dismal Swamp nature reserve for weeks, now.
And yesterday's earthquake, of course.
And now, there's a Cat 3 hurricane that's set to graze our coast on Saturday.
Oh my!
Grocery shopping done: am now well stocked with bottled water, shelf-stable food (high-calorie, high protein, meal-replacement shakes, canned bean salads and soy and noodle stews I can eat cold if I Have to, cereal and fruit bars, powdered milk, shredded wheat, canned meat and fish [also good for luring kitties into the one interior room without windows -- since I can't scoop them up and carry them in]). On the to-get list: flashlights and duct tape (I want to make wall sconces, so I can hang them from the wall, and not have to worry about trying to hold one while driving my wheelchair.
I also have a hand-crank powered radio.
On the upside: Irene is sliding to the east with every passing hour. So maybe all we'll get is a good, dousing rain to put out that wildfire. And if I Don't need all that food for the immediate future, I won't have buy groceries for a while, yet. :-)
But I may be without internet/phone for a while, after Saturday.
---
In the meantime, in order to stop myself from sliding into a "Catastrophic Thinking Spiral," that prevents me from acting, and just gives me a tummy ache and prevents me from sleeping, I am going to Carry On as if everything is normal.
I'm thinking about writing a couple of "Formal Introduction" paragraphs for my Zazzle store, where I explain my philosophical link between monsters, Disability Culture, and Celebration of the Creative process, and how those three things fit together. And also to explain why I don't make my pieces open to customization, but if people like my style, and have a snarky/humorous idea for a slogan or product they'd like to see, they can email me, and I'll try to come up with something for them. ... Maybe the total no more than 250 words. ???
And also thinking of my next chapter in my Eloise story.
And yesterday's earthquake, of course.
And now, there's a Cat 3 hurricane that's set to graze our coast on Saturday.
Oh my!
Grocery shopping done: am now well stocked with bottled water, shelf-stable food (high-calorie, high protein, meal-replacement shakes, canned bean salads and soy and noodle stews I can eat cold if I Have to, cereal and fruit bars, powdered milk, shredded wheat, canned meat and fish [also good for luring kitties into the one interior room without windows -- since I can't scoop them up and carry them in]). On the to-get list: flashlights and duct tape (I want to make wall sconces, so I can hang them from the wall, and not have to worry about trying to hold one while driving my wheelchair.
I also have a hand-crank powered radio.
On the upside: Irene is sliding to the east with every passing hour. So maybe all we'll get is a good, dousing rain to put out that wildfire. And if I Don't need all that food for the immediate future, I won't have buy groceries for a while, yet. :-)
But I may be without internet/phone for a while, after Saturday.
---
In the meantime, in order to stop myself from sliding into a "Catastrophic Thinking Spiral," that prevents me from acting, and just gives me a tummy ache and prevents me from sleeping, I am going to Carry On as if everything is normal.
I'm thinking about writing a couple of "Formal Introduction" paragraphs for my Zazzle store, where I explain my philosophical link between monsters, Disability Culture, and Celebration of the Creative process, and how those three things fit together. And also to explain why I don't make my pieces open to customization, but if people like my style, and have a snarky/humorous idea for a slogan or product they'd like to see, they can email me, and I'll try to come up with something for them. ... Maybe the total no more than 250 words. ???
And also thinking of my next chapter in my Eloise story.
On Saturday evening I posted a link to the news of the mass shooting in Arizona without comment besides the fact that it made me sad. But over this weekend, I also realized that I need to do more speaking up. I am still reluctant do open a Facebook or Twitter account, but I can still do things like write letters to the editor, at least once in a while (I think the last time I even attempted it was back in 2004).
Today, the local call-in radio show (on my public radio station) was inviting people to call in with their ideas. And if you couldn't call, to send an email. I couldn't get to the phone before the hour was up, so I got on-line after breakfast to send them one. And I got hung up on the wording (And what's the etiquette on formal email salutations, these days, especially if you're not sure who's reading it on the other end? Do emails need the same sorts of salutation and introductory remarks as traditionally posted mail?).
So here's where I say the same thing over and over, while I figure out the best way to say it. I wouldn't mind if you shared your preference in comments.
Main point: It's time to expand the concept of "Fighting for our freedom," and "Honoring those who serve" beyond the military.
NB: In this community, the military (especially the Navy and Air Force) has been the number one employer since World War 2. So anything that could be construed as "dissing" the military is potentially incendiary, and thus my nervousness regarding the wording of my argument.
( Iterations on a point beyond this point )
*Sigh* and now, the day is basically over, and we're on to the next news cycle. Reminds me a bit of this recent XKCD comic: http://www.xkcd.com/844/ -- writing "good code" is very much like "writing good."
Oh well, I think this is something I need to work out and get out there in one form or another, even if it's not to this particular radio program on this particular day.
Today, the local call-in radio show (on my public radio station) was inviting people to call in with their ideas. And if you couldn't call, to send an email. I couldn't get to the phone before the hour was up, so I got on-line after breakfast to send them one. And I got hung up on the wording (And what's the etiquette on formal email salutations, these days, especially if you're not sure who's reading it on the other end? Do emails need the same sorts of salutation and introductory remarks as traditionally posted mail?).
So here's where I say the same thing over and over, while I figure out the best way to say it. I wouldn't mind if you shared your preference in comments.
Main point: It's time to expand the concept of "Fighting for our freedom," and "Honoring those who serve" beyond the military.
NB: In this community, the military (especially the Navy and Air Force) has been the number one employer since World War 2. So anything that could be construed as "dissing" the military is potentially incendiary, and thus my nervousness regarding the wording of my argument.
( Iterations on a point beyond this point )
*Sigh* and now, the day is basically over, and we're on to the next news cycle. Reminds me a bit of this recent XKCD comic: http://www.xkcd.com/844/ -- writing "good code" is very much like "writing good."
Oh well, I think this is something I need to work out and get out there in one form or another, even if it's not to this particular radio program on this particular day.
o_O Um. It's snowing...
Dec. 25th, 2010 10:40 pmRemember how I wrote that Mother Nature was thumbing her nose at my contempt for 'White Christmas' a little bit back?
She's doing it again. With a vengeance.
It's like a frikking snowglobe out there.
They're saying it will continue all night, and all through tomorrow, and even a bit into Monday.
They're saying we'll get four to eight inches (that would have been a lot even to me as a kid, living in New York, 20 years ago).
Of course, she's also thumbing her nose a bit at the people who go around humming That Hollywood song, too. Because she waited until late at night, after all the family photos have been taken, and the kids are in bed.
Heh.
And then, they're saying we'll get thunderstorms after the snow...
...I know: o_O
She's doing it again. With a vengeance.
It's like a frikking snowglobe out there.
They're saying it will continue all night, and all through tomorrow, and even a bit into Monday.
They're saying we'll get four to eight inches (that would have been a lot even to me as a kid, living in New York, 20 years ago).
Of course, she's also thumbing her nose a bit at the people who go around humming That Hollywood song, too. Because she waited until late at night, after all the family photos have been taken, and the kids are in bed.
Heh.
And then, they're saying we'll get thunderstorms after the snow...
...I know: o_O
It started snowing early this morning. It kept snowing all day (sun just came out, within the last few minutes, and there were still flurries falling past my west-facing windows just before I came in here to type this).
It's not enough snow to actually hide the ground beneath, but each holly leaf on my shrubs has its own white cap.
Humph!
Why am I contemptuous of "White Christmas?" Because it puts too much importance on superficial, external conditions.
Even if you are completely secular in your outlook, the end of one year and preparation for the next, provides a perfect oportunity to take stock of your life and your relationships as they are in the here and now, and to celebrate what is real, and important. Bringing in artificial snow machines, and or decorating every shop window to look like it fits within the artic circle, just to fit some ideal of a song made famous in a Hollywood Movie is the opposite of all that.
And if you're religious in your outlook, and actually celebrate Divine action within the Mortal realm at this season, well... putting snow around the Manger is even more troublesome.
Though I do admit, the snow out there right now looks mighty purdy. :-)
It's not enough snow to actually hide the ground beneath, but each holly leaf on my shrubs has its own white cap.
Humph!
Why am I contemptuous of "White Christmas?" Because it puts too much importance on superficial, external conditions.
Even if you are completely secular in your outlook, the end of one year and preparation for the next, provides a perfect oportunity to take stock of your life and your relationships as they are in the here and now, and to celebrate what is real, and important. Bringing in artificial snow machines, and or decorating every shop window to look like it fits within the artic circle, just to fit some ideal of a song made famous in a Hollywood Movie is the opposite of all that.
And if you're religious in your outlook, and actually celebrate Divine action within the Mortal realm at this season, well... putting snow around the Manger is even more troublesome.
Though I do admit, the snow out there right now looks mighty purdy. :-)
GIP -- the quote from Mother icon.
Jun. 6th, 2010 05:07 pmI'm not sure I'm happy with it. I may try again, in 100% greyscale, like a weekday newpaper comic. Also, I may want to to put some indication of a background in -- maybe just a couple of lines showing separation between a floor and walls, or a variation in shading to give a sense of depth.
In any case, I intend to use this icon (or whatever evolves from it) in the context of griping about culture, and the like, because that's the context in which this exchange between Mother and I often took place.
Also, I seem to have two more icons uploaded to my Dreamwidth account than I do to LJ. On scrolling through the two icons pages, one jumps out as obvious.... the other, not -- I can't figure out which one it is. This means I probably have way too many icons, if I can't keep track of them. It may be time for an icon cull.
In other news part-the-first, I've been debating whether or not to post about those old Soviet/Russian animations that kept up all night, recently. Yes? No? It's you I'd be inflicting them on.
In other news part-the-second, it's hot today... the kind of heat where I can feel it seeping through the walls of my house, even though all my windows are shut, and my central conditioning is on.
ugh.
In any case, I intend to use this icon (or whatever evolves from it) in the context of griping about culture, and the like, because that's the context in which this exchange between Mother and I often took place.
Also, I seem to have two more icons uploaded to my Dreamwidth account than I do to LJ. On scrolling through the two icons pages, one jumps out as obvious.... the other, not -- I can't figure out which one it is. This means I probably have way too many icons, if I can't keep track of them. It may be time for an icon cull.
In other news part-the-first, I've been debating whether or not to post about those old Soviet/Russian animations that kept up all night, recently. Yes? No? It's you I'd be inflicting them on.
In other news part-the-second, it's hot today... the kind of heat where I can feel it seeping through the walls of my house, even though all my windows are shut, and my central conditioning is on.
ugh.
Okay, because I crossposted this from DreamWidth to Livejournal (my default, unless I'm doing a poll), I've got replies in both places. I'm rounding them up and counting them up (this was a not-poll poll, basically) and posting further comments here, so the two halves of my access / friends list can see each other. The snippets of replies are snippets, and taken out of context. To see what people said in the fullness of their own words, here are the links to the reply threads at DreamWidth and at LiveJournal.
People who live incapri0mni's reality.
People who live in Aide Audrey's reality:
Okay, so Audrey is not entirely insane; it seems that many of you (even those of you who prefer sidewalks) are able to walk comfortably along the shoulder of the road without an absolute, spine-quaking dread.
However, I am not entirely insane, either, and many of you agree with me that sidewalks / pavements are an attribute of an advanced, civilized society.
It seems to boil down to this: what you grew up with is what you consider normal and safe.
( My reply: A couple of notes (this got long) )
People who live in
capri0mni's reality.- jesse_the_k: Yes, I'll travel in the road (against traffic) if I absolutely have to, but I hate it.
- meloukhia: I'm pidedal and I *loathe* being forced onto the shoulder with a passion.
- spiralsheep: Human beings deserve pavements as much as cars deserve roads.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rob_t_firefly: I can comfortably walk on the shoulder [...] However, I vastly prefer sidewalks where available.- daibhid_c: Where I live, nearly everywhere has sidewalks/pavements. Most of the exceptions are busy highways...
- (LiveJournal User with a f'locked journal): I walk where there's a sidewalk. If one side of the road has a sidewalk, and the side I'm on doesn't, I'll cross.
- scarfman: Definitely prefer sidewalks.
- pedanther: In my daily life, we have sidewalks. And where we don't have sidewalks, there's generally at least enough room on either side of the road for a person to walk without having to go into the road itself.
- lizziebelle: I walk on the side of the road if I have to, but I much prefer the sidewalk.
- elfycat: Our suburbs are partially not side-walked. In the day time, when it's bright, it's okay. [... ...] But yes, overall, sidewalks are clearly superior to the shoulder of the road.
People who live in Aide Audrey's reality:
- blinovitch: If the shoulder is available, I walk on it without qualm. [...] I'm reasonably confident of using the shoulder in the daytime.
- alto2: Where I am now, I think most neighborhoods have sidewalks, but I often prefer the road because it does not tend to have the issues sidewalks do; to wit, the tendancy for the individual sidewalk materials/tiles (for want of a better word [capri0mni's note: A better word is "pavers," perhaps?]), to have dips, cracks, etc. [...] Tarmac seems to handle such things much more gracefully than concrete.
Okay, so Audrey is not entirely insane; it seems that many of you (even those of you who prefer sidewalks) are able to walk comfortably along the shoulder of the road without an absolute, spine-quaking dread.
However, I am not entirely insane, either, and many of you agree with me that sidewalks / pavements are an attribute of an advanced, civilized society.
It seems to boil down to this: what you grew up with is what you consider normal and safe.
( My reply: A couple of notes (this got long) )
Originally posted this in LJ, 'cause I included a poll (which is now outdated, because I've already made the big decisions):
It was an odd feeling, waking up to gaze blearily at the bedside clock, vaguely register that it read something like 7:47, in glowing red numbers, drift back to sleep, then wake up again, a little bit later, to see it not glowing at all.
This happens, occasionally, when a fuse trips, or something, and usually comes back in a few minutes. So I drifted back to sleep again.
But when it Still wasn't on by ten something, I got out of bed and called the power company to report the outage.
Not five minutes after that, there's a knock on the door (and me, not dressed yet -- still waking up), and a utility man in a yellow safety vest, raps on my window and talks through the glass that they know my power's out, and they're working on it.
For the next little-over four hours (every clock but one in this house relies on electricity from the grid), two Dominion Power utility trucks were parked on either side of the entrance to my cul-de-sac and workers were busy dig-digging away.
When the power came back (I knew, because I heard the refrigerator kick on), I went to look at the one clock that runs on batteries, and it read a bit past quarter past two. The clock on my oven was blinking, and it read 8:36 (the time the power went out).
So: 5 hours, middle-aged (forty-something) minutes.
Then, there was the bit introing the poll....
It was an odd feeling, waking up to gaze blearily at the bedside clock, vaguely register that it read something like 7:47, in glowing red numbers, drift back to sleep, then wake up again, a little bit later, to see it not glowing at all.
This happens, occasionally, when a fuse trips, or something, and usually comes back in a few minutes. So I drifted back to sleep again.
But when it Still wasn't on by ten something, I got out of bed and called the power company to report the outage.
Not five minutes after that, there's a knock on the door (and me, not dressed yet -- still waking up), and a utility man in a yellow safety vest, raps on my window and talks through the glass that they know my power's out, and they're working on it.
For the next little-over four hours (every clock but one in this house relies on electricity from the grid), two Dominion Power utility trucks were parked on either side of the entrance to my cul-de-sac and workers were busy dig-digging away.
When the power came back (I knew, because I heard the refrigerator kick on), I went to look at the one clock that runs on batteries, and it read a bit past quarter past two. The clock on my oven was blinking, and it read 8:36 (the time the power went out).
So: 5 hours, middle-aged (forty-something) minutes.
Then, there was the bit introing the poll....
*Clings to her Internet like a squid with velcro mittens*
Okay, so last Monday, there was a massive storm with thunder and lightning and flooding.
Or, there was all of that in neighboring places. Here, it was just a rainy, rainy day. I couldn't even hear thunder in the distance. But when I tried to log onto the Internet, discovered that I had no connection. Spent several hours trying to follow the Verizon "Reset your router trouble-shooting" directions to no avail.
Decided to take a break with a hot shower, to wash away my "Argh!" frustrations,* and when I got out of the shower, and went to call Verizon Tech support, I realized I had no dial-tone on my phone, either.
Cue a montage of phone tag, between verizon, an electrician, and verizon again, when I'm doing it by borrowing Audrey's cell, and therefore, having to wait 48 hours between each phone tag "turn."
So yeah, nothing bad happened to me, except for "connectivity withdrawal syndrome."
Oh, and the battery in my van died, because a dome light was left on, and we didn't know it.
...Won't be able to get that jumpstarted until Wednesday...
And I'm about 5 days behind on my Screnzy script... Hope that I can get over that, now that Mr. Google is back to answer the questions that come up.
*(and I also cut my own hair again -- it's jagged and uneven all over, but at least, I'm no longer inhaling hair down my windpipe every time I inhale to sneeze. So it's got to look better than it did, right?)
Okay, so last Monday, there was a massive storm with thunder and lightning and flooding.
Or, there was all of that in neighboring places. Here, it was just a rainy, rainy day. I couldn't even hear thunder in the distance. But when I tried to log onto the Internet, discovered that I had no connection. Spent several hours trying to follow the Verizon "Reset your router trouble-shooting" directions to no avail.
Decided to take a break with a hot shower, to wash away my "Argh!" frustrations,* and when I got out of the shower, and went to call Verizon Tech support, I realized I had no dial-tone on my phone, either.
Cue a montage of phone tag, between verizon, an electrician, and verizon again, when I'm doing it by borrowing Audrey's cell, and therefore, having to wait 48 hours between each phone tag "turn."
So yeah, nothing bad happened to me, except for "connectivity withdrawal syndrome."
Oh, and the battery in my van died, because a dome light was left on, and we didn't know it.
...Won't be able to get that jumpstarted until Wednesday...
And I'm about 5 days behind on my Screnzy script... Hope that I can get over that, now that Mr. Google is back to answer the questions that come up.
*(and I also cut my own hair again -- it's jagged and uneven all over, but at least, I'm no longer inhaling hair down my windpipe every time I inhale to sneeze. So it's got to look better than it did, right?)
Gr, Argh! Finish the damn work, already!!
Mar. 25th, 2010 03:45 pmSomewhere around here, in a place nearby, but a direction I cannot pinpoint, workers have been chain-sawing trees* since about 10 this morning six hours ago). I can't officially complain, to tell them to shut up, because they're not violating any noise-time restrictions.
But -- DAMN! It's getting on my nerves, and I can't concentrate on my writing, and I'm still trying to finish working on my outline / Treatment for my Script Frenzy graphic novel script**
The sound is not overly loud, but it's unrelenting. And it's got this pitch and resonance, that if a symphony composer put it into his latest opus, it would immediately tell the audience that:
"This is the part of the musical story where something really bad is about to happen."
-- all minor chords, with some discordant overtones. And there's no place I can go in the house to get away from the sound.
And it's put me in a really bad mood.
...
Ah! They've stopped. ...it's after 4:00. Maybe they're heading back to the office to fill out their work reports so they can head home at 5:00.
*crosses fingers*
(nope. they've started again)
*decides to take a Tylenol for her headache.*
*(as best as I can figure)
**(Yes, I finally decided on that as my format. If it turns out well, and I'd like to see it as a completed project, it would be easier to find a single artist to work with, than find a cast of dozens for a stage or radio play, or a cast of several dozens and a production crew for a feature-length film)
But -- DAMN! It's getting on my nerves, and I can't concentrate on my writing, and I'm still trying to finish working on my outline / Treatment for my Script Frenzy graphic novel script**
The sound is not overly loud, but it's unrelenting. And it's got this pitch and resonance, that if a symphony composer put it into his latest opus, it would immediately tell the audience that:
"This is the part of the musical story where something really bad is about to happen."
-- all minor chords, with some discordant overtones. And there's no place I can go in the house to get away from the sound.
And it's put me in a really bad mood.
...
Ah! They've stopped. ...it's after 4:00. Maybe they're heading back to the office to fill out their work reports so they can head home at 5:00.
*crosses fingers*
(nope. they've started again)
*decides to take a Tylenol for her headache.*
*(as best as I can figure)
**(Yes, I finally decided on that as my format. If it turns out well, and I'd like to see it as a completed project, it would be easier to find a single artist to work with, than find a cast of dozens for a stage or radio play, or a cast of several dozens and a production crew for a feature-length film)
Quote:
VA. ATTORNEY GENERAL SUES OVER FEDERAL HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL
A spokesman for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court immediately after President Barack Obama signed the landmark measure into law. Attorneys general from 13 other states joined to file a similar lawsuit in Florida.
Unquote.
*facepalm*
Why didn't I accept the pressure from my aunt and cousins, and move to Philadelphia-region, when I the chance, instead?
Note: Insurance companies have used a child's cerebral palsy (or asthma, or whatever) to deny coverage of families. Medicare will help pay for (some, and increasingly less) coverage of the extra cost of raising a disabled child. But that coverage can end (depending on the bureaucracy) when the kid turns 21.
And the Canadian government is trying to deport a French family (that it initially invited) because one of the daughters has CP and is an "Excessive Burden" on the state. So I don't expect I could escape north, for better healthcare.
Do you see why the story I'm working on for Script Frenzy feels totally plausible to me (except for the deliberately dodgy skience parts)?
[ETA: and another "gr": the wording of a sidebar link in the article I referenced, above: "Daughter's ill health makes family an 'excessive burden'"
Cerebral palsy affects how you are able to move, period. It is not an illness. Granted, if the parts of your body you have trouble moving are those you use to eat and swallow, it can adversely effect your health, but it is not an illness, in and of itself. And later in the that same article, the writer expressly said that the girl has not required one bit of medical intervention -- rehabilition services (probably physical therapy, maybe help with writing and such in school), but no hospital care.]
It's snowing again. It's sticking again.
Feb. 6th, 2010 04:05 pmThis is the first time in twenty-one years that this region has seen snow twice in one week.
But I'm not expecting the one-to-four inches the local paper told us we could maybe see.
None of the cities around here have any snow-plowing equipment for clearing residential streets (four-and-two lane highways, but none of the roads that feed into the highways, so people have to stay home anyway). The plan in place for dealing with snow is: "Wait for Mother Nature to melt it for us." Usually, that works just fine. Snow that fell the day or night before is usually melted by the next noontide.
But this last time we had a big snow (on Saturday) most of the Seven Cities were closed through Wednesday.
Now, there's snow on the ground again. But it's shallow enough that I can still see dried leaves and grass underneath it.
Still, I think this may be enough to scratch that brain itch that demands a winter before the spring. The first flowers of spring can be more depressing than cheerful when you realize winter has passed without you even noticing it.
But I'm not expecting the one-to-four inches the local paper told us we could maybe see.
None of the cities around here have any snow-plowing equipment for clearing residential streets (four-and-two lane highways, but none of the roads that feed into the highways, so people have to stay home anyway). The plan in place for dealing with snow is: "Wait for Mother Nature to melt it for us." Usually, that works just fine. Snow that fell the day or night before is usually melted by the next noontide.
But this last time we had a big snow (on Saturday) most of the Seven Cities were closed through Wednesday.
Now, there's snow on the ground again. But it's shallow enough that I can still see dried leaves and grass underneath it.
Still, I think this may be enough to scratch that brain itch that demands a winter before the spring. The first flowers of spring can be more depressing than cheerful when you realize winter has passed without you even noticing it.
In other news:
Jan. 30th, 2010 04:19 amThe snow has arrived! It's falling! It's sticking to the ground!
I think one reason I wanted the snow to keep its promises, is I want to return to my childhood.
And squeeing at snow is a childhoodish thing to do.
*squee*.
I think one reason I wanted the snow to keep its promises, is I want to return to my childhood.
And squeeing at snow is a childhoodish thing to do.
*squee*.
I skipped NaNoWriMo this last November. And now, I'm itching for a yearly project for 2010.
And in ScriptFrenzy! (Yes, the exclaimation point is part of the name, like the game show Jeopardy!), you're allowed to partner with someone.
Should I finally actually write up my Disabled / Microraptor-human Chimera Superhero blot bunny into a real thing (outlined here)?
If so, anyone want to join my team to work on it (I'm better at prosedy and poetry than I am at scripts)?
(Stage play scripts, screenplay scripts and comic book scripts are all allowed. ...I know even less about writing comic book scripts than I do for plays or films)
In other news, the weather personalities on the tv, all keep telling me that it will start snowing here in less than ten hours, and keep snowing for twenty-four hours, and that we might get Six-And-A-Half Inches...
Um.
[Edited to fix an oopsie: When I wrote this, last night, I should have written "Less than 22 hours, instead of less than 10... If you're reading this now, however, it is less than ten. The snow will start falling after dark. --A.M., P.M. eh... details!]
I haven't seen that much snow since my childhood in New York...
Um.
And in ScriptFrenzy! (Yes, the exclaimation point is part of the name, like the game show Jeopardy!), you're allowed to partner with someone.
Should I finally actually write up my Disabled / Microraptor-human Chimera Superhero blot bunny into a real thing (outlined here)?
If so, anyone want to join my team to work on it (I'm better at prosedy and poetry than I am at scripts)?
(Stage play scripts, screenplay scripts and comic book scripts are all allowed. ...I know even less about writing comic book scripts than I do for plays or films)
In other news, the weather personalities on the tv, all keep telling me that it will start snowing here in less than ten hours, and keep snowing for twenty-four hours, and that we might get Six-And-A-Half Inches...
Um.
[Edited to fix an oopsie: When I wrote this, last night, I should have written "Less than 22 hours, instead of less than 10... If you're reading this now, however, it is less than ten. The snow will start falling after dark. --A.M., P.M. eh... details!]
I haven't seen that much snow since my childhood in New York...
Um.
Most of this is taken from a comment to ![[info - personal]](https://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trouble, but with some stuff added, and other stuff removed:
Reason One: This weekend, as a project (as yet uncompleted), I decided to collect various examples of local cities' "name logos;" I was surfing around the cities official webpages, and snagging the .jpgs.
Anyway, on Virginia Beach's homepage was the announcement that two branches of their public library would be temporarially closed. At first, my heart sank, thinking: "Economic Trouble!" But that wasn't it at all.
They were closing the branches for one weekend, to replace the old circulation desks with shiny new ones that are ADA*-compliant!
Reason Two: Today, while I was visiting my own home-branch library, I had the opportunity to point out to one of the librarians that people were leaving those rolling step-stools in the aisles, making it hard for wheelchair users to navigate. I suggested a few friendly signs to remind patrons to return the stools to the end of the aisles when they were finished with them.
And she thought that was a very good idea, and she would pass the suggestion on to the woman who makes all the library signs. She said she'd never thought about that before, but of course that made it harder for me, and I shouldn't have to deal with it.
Awareness Win!!
Reason Three: The books I can nao haz:
The Artemis Fowl Files, by Eoin Colfer.
I saw posters for some of these books near the (what used to be) the Y.A. section, and remembered hearing an interview with the author on NPR. I didn't remember what the author had said, but I did remember putting the series in my mental "I want to read that!" file. Only. The YA section wasn't the Y.A. section anymore -- they're still reorganizing the library, and today was the day to move the Y.A. books. They'd already shelved F-
Z, but the first half of the fiction section was still on the carts (It was when the librian was retrieving the Artemis Fowl books from the book cart that I mentioned the idea of friendly, helpful signs).
Anyway, I've read the first chapter of the first novella in the volume, and apparently, the series is about fairy land as imagined if fairy land is now as technological and urban as Modernday Earth. I like it very much, so far.
Sun Dancing: A Vision of Medieval Ireland, by Geoffrey Moorehouse. This one is a complete blank. I got it because I thought maybe I should just get out of my comfort zone of genres I know I like. I picked it up because I liked the font in the title. It turns out, reading the informantion on the flyleaf, that it's an historical novel about Early Christianity. That's why I put it in my bookbag, instead of back on the shelf.
Emily the Strange: Lost, Dark & Bored (Volume 1), created by Bob Reger, Illustrated by Buzz Parker, Written by Bob Reger et al. This was from the Graphic Novel section, though it really seems to be more a graphic anthology of short stories. The physical condition of the volume is poor to bad (pages are tattered and falling out, but so far, they seem to be all there.
This is another one I know nothing about, but decided to borrow because I want to branch out and become more comfortable with the literary form, and also, I was drawn to the cover.
*That's the Americans with Disabilities Act (realizes not everyone reading this necessarily knows that)
trouble, but with some stuff added, and other stuff removed:Reason One: This weekend, as a project (as yet uncompleted), I decided to collect various examples of local cities' "name logos;" I was surfing around the cities official webpages, and snagging the .jpgs.
Anyway, on Virginia Beach's homepage was the announcement that two branches of their public library would be temporarially closed. At first, my heart sank, thinking: "Economic Trouble!" But that wasn't it at all.
They were closing the branches for one weekend, to replace the old circulation desks with shiny new ones that are ADA*-compliant!
Reason Two: Today, while I was visiting my own home-branch library, I had the opportunity to point out to one of the librarians that people were leaving those rolling step-stools in the aisles, making it hard for wheelchair users to navigate. I suggested a few friendly signs to remind patrons to return the stools to the end of the aisles when they were finished with them.
And she thought that was a very good idea, and she would pass the suggestion on to the woman who makes all the library signs. She said she'd never thought about that before, but of course that made it harder for me, and I shouldn't have to deal with it.
Awareness Win!!
Reason Three: The books I can nao haz:
The Artemis Fowl Files, by Eoin Colfer.
I saw posters for some of these books near the (what used to be) the Y.A. section, and remembered hearing an interview with the author on NPR. I didn't remember what the author had said, but I did remember putting the series in my mental "I want to read that!" file. Only. The YA section wasn't the Y.A. section anymore -- they're still reorganizing the library, and today was the day to move the Y.A. books. They'd already shelved F-
Z, but the first half of the fiction section was still on the carts (It was when the librian was retrieving the Artemis Fowl books from the book cart that I mentioned the idea of friendly, helpful signs).
Anyway, I've read the first chapter of the first novella in the volume, and apparently, the series is about fairy land as imagined if fairy land is now as technological and urban as Modernday Earth. I like it very much, so far.
Sun Dancing: A Vision of Medieval Ireland, by Geoffrey Moorehouse. This one is a complete blank. I got it because I thought maybe I should just get out of my comfort zone of genres I know I like. I picked it up because I liked the font in the title. It turns out, reading the informantion on the flyleaf, that it's an historical novel about Early Christianity. That's why I put it in my bookbag, instead of back on the shelf.
Emily the Strange: Lost, Dark & Bored (Volume 1), created by Bob Reger, Illustrated by Buzz Parker, Written by Bob Reger et al. This was from the Graphic Novel section, though it really seems to be more a graphic anthology of short stories. The physical condition of the volume is poor to bad (pages are tattered and falling out, but so far, they seem to be all there.
This is another one I know nothing about, but decided to borrow because I want to branch out and become more comfortable with the literary form, and also, I was drawn to the cover.
*That's the Americans with Disabilities Act (realizes not everyone reading this necessarily knows that)
Went to the library on Friday...
May. 24th, 2009 06:00 pmAnd they've made even more changes. The bulletin board on which different posters were displayed, announcing all the library's upcoming events, has been replaced by a shiny flat screen computer monitor-type thing, where the graphics for each event are shown one at a time. So you can't just take it all in, but have to stand there, and wait for the events to scroll through.
And there's now only one librarian on duty at the circulation desk. All the other stations have been filled with self-service units, where people check out their own books. This eliminates the waiting line. But I liked waiting in line at the library. It gave me a chance to see the faces of other people, and get a glimpse at what they're checking out, and to say hello, and smile at children.
They also seem to have removed the reference book shelves, as far as I could tell, so you now have to put a request in for them in advance and get them at the counter, or something (I suppose it prevents theft, or something, but still...).
They're turning the library into a place that is high tech and efficient. I, normally, squee over high tech, and am happy with efficiency. But that's NOT what I go to the library for.
Also, a graphic novel I was looking forward to checking out (Rex Libris about a crime fighting librarian) was missing from the graphic novel rack, even though the catalog said it was there.
So today, I did a word picture to express my mood about this situation, instead of practicing drawing bird wings, like I'd planned:
And there's now only one librarian on duty at the circulation desk. All the other stations have been filled with self-service units, where people check out their own books. This eliminates the waiting line. But I liked waiting in line at the library. It gave me a chance to see the faces of other people, and get a glimpse at what they're checking out, and to say hello, and smile at children.
They also seem to have removed the reference book shelves, as far as I could tell, so you now have to put a request in for them in advance and get them at the counter, or something (I suppose it prevents theft, or something, but still...).
They're turning the library into a place that is high tech and efficient. I, normally, squee over high tech, and am happy with efficiency. But that's NOT what I go to the library for.
Also, a graphic novel I was looking forward to checking out (Rex Libris about a crime fighting librarian) was missing from the graphic novel rack, even though the catalog said it was there.
So today, I did a word picture to express my mood about this situation, instead of practicing drawing bird wings, like I'd planned:
1) This icon is by angevin2, who made it from the the cover art for the newest Penguin edition of The Winter's Tale (the post with all of the icons she made for this set [along with a key to the titles] is here). Now that I know there is a new edition of this play, I may buy it -- it's so much more fun reading single-volume plays than it is to try and haul out the Complete Works tome, trying to hold it on your lap, failing, and dropping it on your foot... I'm just saying.
4) On Sunday Night, I heard a loud boom. It shook my windows and the floor of my house, a bit. I thought it was one of my neighbors, doing a project outside, and maybe dropping a heavy piece of metal machinery into the bed of a truck. It turns out that it might have been Russian Space Junk.
3) YES, I KNOW I AM POSTING OUT OF ORDER. I'm feeling very surreal and non-linear today.
2) I have been slow to work up my summaries of Frontiers of Justice, and for that, I appologize to the people on that filter.
In the meantime, I want you all to think about this point, brought up by someone who's in the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
gimp_vent community (who shall remain anonymous, because s/he is currently trying to outwit the insurance company), but I'm deciding to pass on this information and related thought, because there needs to be a change. And change will not happen until there is a massive shift in public consciousness. And there will be no shift in consciousness as long as the people who bear the brunt of these policies only talk about them in private.
( cut for length, RAGE-inducing triggers, and the resulting obscenity )
5) One reason I love watching the new educational programs on TV for learning how to read is that, every few years, there are new methods for teaching reading and understanding language, so that, every few years, I get a chance to look at words that I've come to take for granted in a new light, and notice again just how nifty they are. When I was in first grade (six years old), I was only told that "Y" had a bunch of different sounds, and it's so complicated that the only thing we could do is learn certain words by rote and drill.
Last night on The Electric Company there was a bit about the letter y, and it was pointed out that:
Well, yeah. I thought that syllable pattern was nifty. Give it a try, yourself.
(of course, "gynocology" breaks a couple of Y's "rules". But that's Greek for you).
angevin2, who made it from the the cover art for the newest Penguin edition of The Winter's Tale (the post with all of the icons she made for this set [along with a key to the titles] is here). Now that I know there is a new edition of this play, I may buy it -- it's so much more fun reading single-volume plays than it is to try and haul out the Complete Works tome, trying to hold it on your lap, failing, and dropping it on your foot... I'm just saying.- 1.a) On Friday, there was a radio interview with Germaine Greer about her newly-out-in-paperback book, Shakespeare's Wife. From what she was saying (to be fair, I haven't actually read her book yet), I think she was making some pretty big assumptions. But what really annoyed me was that none of the women who were calling in to talk to her wanted to talk about Anne Hathaway or Shakespeare.... They all wanted to talk about "Women Today are Doing Feminism Wrong (or not)."
If I'd been within easy reach of a phone, I would have called in and talked about how I now fantasize about meeting Anne, instead of Will. He wrote such impressive women, so he must have known some impressive women, including his wife and daughters. And to illustrate my point, I would have quoted from The Winter's Tale, and how Shakespeare portrayed the very happy marriage between Lady Paulina (pictured), and Lord Antigonus (Dead; pursued by a bear, because he obeyed the king, instead of listening to his wife). So, yes. If you haven't read (or heard) The Winter's Tale, GET TO IT!!
4) On Sunday Night, I heard a loud boom. It shook my windows and the floor of my house, a bit. I thought it was one of my neighbors, doing a project outside, and maybe dropping a heavy piece of metal machinery into the bed of a truck. It turns out that it might have been Russian Space Junk.
3) YES, I KNOW I AM POSTING OUT OF ORDER. I'm feeling very surreal and non-linear today.
2) I have been slow to work up my summaries of Frontiers of Justice, and for that, I appologize to the people on that filter.
In the meantime, I want you all to think about this point, brought up by someone who's in the
gimp_vent community (who shall remain anonymous, because s/he is currently trying to outwit the insurance company), but I'm deciding to pass on this information and related thought, because there needs to be a change. And change will not happen until there is a massive shift in public consciousness. And there will be no shift in consciousness as long as the people who bear the brunt of these policies only talk about them in private.( cut for length, RAGE-inducing triggers, and the resulting obscenity )
5) One reason I love watching the new educational programs on TV for learning how to read is that, every few years, there are new methods for teaching reading and understanding language, so that, every few years, I get a chance to look at words that I've come to take for granted in a new light, and notice again just how nifty they are. When I was in first grade (six years old), I was only told that "Y" had a bunch of different sounds, and it's so complicated that the only thing we could do is learn certain words by rote and drill.
Last night on The Electric Company there was a bit about the letter y, and it was pointed out that:
- When y is the vowel at the end of a one-syllable word, it makes the "I" sound.
- It makes the "EE" sound when it's at the end of two- (or more) syllable words
- It makes the "ih" sound in the middle of words
- and it makes the "yuh" sound only at the beginning of words.
Well, yeah. I thought that syllable pattern was nifty. Give it a try, yourself.
(of course, "gynocology" breaks a couple of Y's "rules". But that's Greek for you).
Accidental wildlife viewing
Mar. 25th, 2009 03:04 pmSo, last night, on the late evening news (23:00), there was a live on-location report about recent gun violence at a local commericial gathering spot. The reporter was standing in front of a four-level parking garage where the shootings occurred. I wasn't really paying much attention to what she was saying because my eye was drawn to a small animal walking around in the background across the street behind her, snuffling along the ground, from my left to my right.
My thoughts went like this:
"That's a really strange looking stray dog..."
"Wait... is that a cat?"
"If there are rats that big hanging around those bars, the cameraman would be zooming in for a close-up..."
"Oh! It's an Oppossum!"
*Squee!* \o/
The opossum ambled off screen just as the report gave her tagline and sent it back to the studio. The anchorwoman made no mention of any animals in any backgrounds, so I'm wondering if anyone there even noticed...
Normally, I'd be worried about rabies when I see an opossum, but then I remembered that's for 'possums in the daytime. And it was definitely night when I saw this one. They're omnivorous scavengers, and I wouldn't be surprised if the pickings were particularly good there, what with pizza and cheap Chinese food being for sale inside.
My thoughts went like this:
"That's a really strange looking stray dog..."
"Wait... is that a cat?"
"If there are rats that big hanging around those bars, the cameraman would be zooming in for a close-up..."
"Oh! It's an Oppossum!"
*Squee!* \o/
The opossum ambled off screen just as the report gave her tagline and sent it back to the studio. The anchorwoman made no mention of any animals in any backgrounds, so I'm wondering if anyone there even noticed...
Normally, I'd be worried about rabies when I see an opossum, but then I remembered that's for 'possums in the daytime. And it was definitely night when I saw this one. They're omnivorous scavengers, and I wouldn't be surprised if the pickings were particularly good there, what with pizza and cheap Chinese food being for sale inside.
