Archive: December 2003
Firefly
My daughter received the Firefly DVD for Christmas, and we’ve been watching one or two episodes per day. What a great show! Interesting characters, really witty dialog, comic plotting … I wish there was more!
I’m not interested so much in a Firefly movie; I like the idea of the slow unfolding of events and characterization [...]
Unsuccessful
I am not a good disability activist. I don’t have enough staying power. Might have something to do with how I’m so tired all the time.
I went to the board of my choir last year and got permission to look for a new, more wheelchair-accessible rehearsal facility. Spent weeks on the phone during November and [...]
Lazy days after Christmas
This time off work thing is very fine.
I finished The Life of Pi, which my son gave me for my birthday, and The Dress Lodger, a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law. Both were very thought-provoking, not light bedtime reading.
Today my husband and I drove up into Rocky Mountain National Park and he was shocked to [...]
Christmas report
It’s been an interesting holiday. We have no guests, and we didn’t go anywhere. I tend to get a little morose about the tension between celebrating German-style, the way I was raised, and celebrating American-style, like my husband’s family, and this year managed to get more morose than usual.
(German-style: on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, [...]
Glurge
I learned an excellent new word today: glurge.
From The Word Spy:
(GLURJ) n. A sentimental or uplifting story, particularly one delivered via e-mail, that uses inaccurate or fabricated facts; a story that is mawkish or maudlin; the genre consisting of such stories.
There must be a special subset of these stories dealing with disabilities and/or handicaps, like [...]
Today
Today is my birthday.
Today is the first day of two weeks off work, which I am so ready for.
Today I managed to find Christmas tree candles, thank goodness (because it’s a little too late to get relatives to mail them from Germany, my usual source). Yes, that’s candles that go on the tree that we [...]
Disability in Film
The British Film Institute has an incredible website on the representation of disability in film (or “moving image media”, as they call it). It’s chock-a-block full of stuff.
Brecht followup
Another followup, this time to my question about a Bertolt Brecht quote:
This quote is (in its entirety) a poem by Brecht called Motto, which can be found in Bertolt Brecht: Poems 1913-1956.
The German original:
In den finsteren Zeiten / Wird da auch gesungen werden?
Da wird auch gesungen werden / Von finsteren Zeiten.
Accessible America Finalists
Following up on Most Accessible Town?:
The National Organization on Disability today announced 11 finalists in its third annual Accessible America Contest.
And they are:
Alexandria, Virginia
Austin, Texas
Bloomington, Indiana
Cambridge, Massachusetts (announcement on home page, very nice)
Chicago, Illinois
Columbia, Missouri
Fountain Valley, California
Jacksonville, Florida
Los Angeles, California
Miami Beach, Florida (all GIFs and tables, they’ll have to work on that)
Phoenix, Arizona (check out [...]
Bruised
A while back there was a discussion on braintalk’s Multiple Sclerosis Forum about the pros and cons of the two styles of forearm crutches, full cuff and half cuff.
I prefer full cuff, because they stay on even if you’re not holding them. One poster said he was afraid of getting full cuff crutches, because when [...]
Lingerie
I need a new full slip, since the one I have is so 40 pounds ago. I’ve been to Target, Sears, Penny’s, Victoria’s Secret and Dillards. Have the women of the world conquered the twin problems of static electricity and thin fabrics? Because with the exception of Dillards, none of these establishments sell slips anymore. [...]
Symbol Inversion
When I went out for lunch it was snowing, and there was just enough stuff on the back windshield to obscure my view. I pushed the little button on the dash with the snowflake on it.
Ten minutes later I realised the little snowflake button was the airconditioning, not the defrost.
Chionophobia
I love shovelling snow.
I have never been fond of exercise; any periods of physical fitness I’ve enjoyed have been accidents of circumstance. For a while I pumped iron, dutifully. I’ve walked, dutifully. But I love shovelling snow.
One midnight, after a twenty-four inch snowfall and an argument with my husband, I shovelled for hours under the [...]
Guilt
I am so ashamed of myself.
I’ve apologized (a very embarrassing moment), and now I’m trying to get out of the rut of whacking myself over the head with my behaviour roughly every 30 seconds.
Candidates’ disability platforms
The National Organization on Disability has put together a very handy guide with links to the candidates’ websites along with links to their statements on disability (if any).
Regional Dialecticisms
A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks?
Creek or stream
What is the thing you push around the grocery store?
Grocery cart
A metal container to carry a meal in?
Lunchbox
The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in?
Frying pan
The piece of furniture that seats three people?
Sofa
The device on the outside of the house [...]
What is it?
From Symbols.com, emphasis added:
Physiologically rules the electric impulses in the nervous system.
In mundane astrology Uranus rules over astrologers, occultists, inventors, and those who are connected to aviation, spacecraft, electronics, and modern scientific breakthroughs. Such things as computers, electronics, and space technology are all ruled by this planet.
Spread the love
I’m catching up with CavLec, and making a note to be sure and read her regular expressions page (because I can always use a good refresher), and then I scroll down to this. Suddenly, it is a good day. I’ve got the big ol’ goofy grin, too.
Headlines
Disability is an issue for all of us
New Way to Diagnose MS
New MR technique may allow earlier diagnosis of MS
Symbolism
Here’s a really interesting website: symbols.com - an online encyclopedia of graphic symbols. Looks like a good source of ideas for icons and other graphic elements, not to mention lots of cool factoids about mythology.
The Agony of Dialup
Another weekend, another computer…
My sister-in-law could use a computer, and my husband reminded me that we have a brick of a laptop, a Toshiba Satellite 1605CDS, lying around the house somewhere.
I found it, dusted it off, and inventoried it. Windows 98, 475MHz AMD K6-2 processor, 160MB RAM, 4GB hard drive (I love how the spec [...]
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