One of life's simple pleasures =

when your checkbook balances.

::falls out of wheelchair laughing::

From the Gimp Parade

For Stacy

Got distracted from CSI by hearing Jon Secada singing out of my roommate's TV, so I decided to let the VCR finish taping it and come do some stuff on the comp. I'm checking my email and reading pals' journals and posting to my lists when Faith Hill's voice starts crooning from the WinAmp.

It's been almost six years, and I still can't listen to "There You'll Be" without thinking of my sister. In the year or so before she moved to Illinois, we fought and couldn't see each other's POV to save our lives. We drove each other crazy. Despite all that, deep down inside, I knew my sister loved me and cheered for me. I know even now she is beside me, guiding me and helping me through the craziness of my life.


There You'll Be -- sung by Faith Hill

When I think back on these times
And the dreams we left behind
I'll be glad 'cause I was blessed
To get to have you in my life
When I look back on these days
I'll look and see your face
You were right there for me

In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky
In my heart there will always be a place for you
For all my life I'll keep a part of you with me
And everywhere I am, there you'll be

Well you showed me how to feel
Feel the sky was in my reach
And I always will remember all the strength you gave to me
Your love made me make it through
Oh, I owe so much to you
You were right there for me

In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky
In my heart there will always be a place for you
For all my life I'll keep a part of you with me
And everywhere I am, there you'll be

'Cause I always saw in you my light, my strength
And I want to thank you now
For all the ways you were right there for me
You were right there for me
For always

In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky
In my heart there'll always be a place for you
For all my life I'll keep a part of you with me
And everywhere I am, there you'll be

Are you freaking KIDDING me???

My friend Kim turned me on to this great blog called The Gimp Parade, and I just read this infuriating entry about women with disabilities living in nursing/group homes who are denied access to feminine hygiene products and/or forcibly given birth control treatments to save workers having to deal with a "mess."

I just can't even decide where to begin the rant.

We're back!

For photos of the pre-pre-game excitement I'm about to describe, visit Sarah's online photo album.

Last week, everyone with a UNO email account received an announcement about the city trying to assure that there were at least 1000 people to be on the field at the Superdome Monday to listen to U2 and Green Day just before kickoff of the Saints' first home game since December 2004. Sarah, Rachel, and I separately responded saying hell YES we wanted to go, but an email came down the pipe on Friday saying they had all the attendees they needed.

Saturday as we were leaving Walmart, some random guy who wanted to buy Reba an LSU shirt (because her service dog cape is "LSU purple") informed us there would be a lot of free concerts outside the Superdome all day Monday, including the Goo Goo Dolls. First step in the office door on Monday morning, Sarah said to me, "Let's go to the Dome. Let's go see the Goo Goo Dolls."

"OK," I replied without even a thought about the potential crowd we'd experience. I hate crowds. I'm in a wheelchair. I get tripped over. I get run into. I get elbows in the head.

Sarah's pictures give you just a taste of the sheer number of people we were hanging out with. At one point, we were twenty feet or less from the stage. In Sarah's words, "We're so close, the Goo Goo Dolls could spit on us if they wanted to." I couldn't see a thing. There were so many people there that even the pounding of music you normally feel in your body wasn't as intense as it should have been at that proximity.

I could hear and enjoy the music, but I couldn't see anything but Saints fans' hind ends. Sarah's apt description: "Dawn saw more ass than a proctologist."

I was jostled, I was bumped, I was climbed-over, I was driven into people, and I was a serial killer of beer cans and feet.

I had the time of my life.

I wish I had the words to describe the energy of the Dome and the city yesterday. It was love of football, it was love of home, it was a family of thousands coming together at the same place and the same time to say, "We will not be beaten. We will reclaim our home and our identity. We are still here. Nothing can defeat us."

The stickers and magnets you see all over the city say it all:

Rebuild. Relive. Rebirth.

The facts that the Saints played better than they have in years, that they made some amazing plays, and that they WON their homecoming game is due so much to the dedication and love and commitment of every single soul in the Dome and in the city yesterday. One could not be at the Dome all day yesterday or even watch the game last night and NOT believe that the fans helped carry that team to their phenomenal victory.

Rebuild. Relive. Rebirth.

Say it loud and say it proud, New Orleans:

We're back!

Superdome Reopens -- Halftime Report

The Saints are up 20-3 thanks to some truly amazing plays.

I hope no one finds the pods -- NOLA needs this Saints team.

I'll tell you all the pre-pre-game excitement as soon as Sarah sends me the pics.

For a taste of pre-game (which I didn't get to attend), go to Rhapsody and download the special U2/Green Day song "The Saints Are Coming".

Now back to my TV.

Favorite smells

The air before, during, and after the rain.

Wheat stubble burning.

Wood burning in a fireplace.

The brine of Lake Pontchartrain.

My dad's chili cooking in the oven.

Banana bread cooking in the oven.

New arrival

Please help me welcome to the world Samantha Danielle, born to my friends Brian and Sabrina on September 21.

See -- I do get out

Started yesterday off pretty slowly. Took a bath, washed my hair, walked Reba, then leisurely ate some SEEDuction bread with cream cheese while watching this week's taped eps of "EUReKA" (no WAY is Henry actually going to leave, I won't allow it) and "CSI:NY" (love Gary Sinise). Then my friend Sarah and her boyfriend came over, and the four of us did some running around. First, we went down to Magazine Street to a bath shop Sarah found a couple of weeks ago.

Let me just say that I HATE driving on Magazine Street. It is so freaking narrow, and I always feel like I'm going to side-swipe a parked car. In all actuality, they need to not let people park on Magazine, and then it wouldn't be so bad.

So I wasn't all that impressed with the bath shop. Their scents weren't true to what they were supposed to be (amber didn't smell like amber, etc.), and it was way too expensive. Or maybe I'm just a soap snob ever since I started making my own. I do admit that when I saw a scent called "oatmeal, milk, and honey," I thought to myself, "Why have a soap that just smells like oatmeal, milk, and honey when you can make soap that actually has those in it?"

After the bath shop, we went to Michael's where I bought four pounds of olive oil glycerine, two packs of soap molds, and soap dye. Then we went to a "western" store so Greg could look for a belt, then we went to a Goodwill store where Sarah found a groovy serving tray, Greg found a really nice print, and I got a sweater. Then there were adventures at Walmart. I think we asked not less than three times "Where's a taser?" because of the screaming children. Man, I hate kids in Walmart.

Upon returning home, Erika was here. Before she could do anything, she insisted on giving me my birthday present. She made me a beautiful necklace, and when I have a chance, I'll take a photo of it and post it. She helped me put my stuff away and go to the bathroom, then we were off again. We went back to Magazine Street (::sigh::) to a restaurant called Nacho Mama's. Over my grilled chicken quesadillas and E's tortilla soup and fish taco, we caught each other up on our lives since we saw each other last (Labor Day).

After we were full, we drove over to Canal and Broad Streets to a bar called Chickie Wah Wah to hear my officemate Kim's boyfriend's band play. The sound was turned up a bit too loud, but otherwise Big Sam's Funky Nation was a great listen. Guitar, bass (Kim's bf), drums, keyboards, sax, trombone, and one very entertaining, mucho-dancing band member. About halfway through the first set, though, I had to make a beeline out the door for some fresh air. A woman standing next to me lit up a cigarette, and I think something about where she was standing in relation to the ceiling fan blew her smoke right into my face. Set off my asthma. I got outside, coughed a few times, and then I was OK. E and I hadn't been outside ten seconds when the bar owner Dale came out. He had seen us making a hasty exit, thought something had happened, and came to check on us. How sweet was that? We explained, he made sure I was OK, then we had a nice conversation before he went back in. Very nice guy. Then Andrea, Jessa, and Kim (my officemates) came out to check on me, too. When we went back in, E and I stayed in the back by the door, and we finished out the set. Just before heading home, the sax player (who kind of reminded me of a guy named Isaac who used to help my brother) tried to pick up E. ::laughs, shakes head:: I can't take her anywhere.

Today's agenda: watch this week's taped episodes of "CSI" and "Numb3rs," do some reading for my research, and recopy my stats notes. Not necessarily in that order.

It's almost 1:00. I'd better get to it.

Oy!

So, tonight I was interviewed by the editor-in-chief of The Driftwood, UNO's campus paper.

You see, I am trying to get some activities organized for Disability Awareness Month, and Veronica (who used to write for the paper) thought it would be great to get a story about UNO's decided lack of accessability in the paper. I was actually supposed to meet with this guy yesterday, but after all the fun of flooding the night before, I was in no mood to talk to anyone.

The editor came to the apartment this evening instead. We spent an hour discussing the frustrations of my previous UNO incarnation and my plans to address them in the coming days and weeks. I told him that Veronica envisioned a very in-your-face kind of writeup but that I didn't think it would be appropriate at this time since I haven't had the chance to talk to anyone since my return. I even expressed apprehension about running an article at all at this time, and I especially didn't like the idea of focusing the entire story on me. I'm not the only student with a disability on this campus (though I often feel like I am), and as such I shouldn't be the only one represented. By focusing on me, he said, it gives a more personal angle to the overall inaccessability. He seems like he'll do a sensitive writeup.

He did say he was surprised by me. I guess after talking to V, he was expecting someone a bit more . . . militant. That wasn't the word he used, but I could read in his face that was what he was thinking. I told him I could get that way if forced to, but the time isn't right for that attitude. He seemed rather taken aback by that. I guess if my introduction to the story had been V, I would be, too.

He embarrassed me at one point by telling me he thought I was "courageous" for stepping up and bringing some of these issues to light. It isn't courage, I replied. It was just something that needed to be done, and I didn't see anyone else doing it.

I'm not a gimp activist. I've never envisioned myself in that role. I am the kind of person to speak up when I feel a wrong is being done. This university is doing wrong by not making sure that ALL of its students have access to buildings and safe living environments. I have to say something, or all the powers-that-be will keep their heads buried in the sand.

::sigh:: This was my sister's shtick. She was much better at this than I could ever hope to be. It's been a long time since I've had to wake people up -- haven't had to do much of it since those days in the Buhler Unified School District. I just hope that tough kid is still living somewhere inside of me.

Apartment update

The furniture is back in Veronica's room, but two fans and the dehumidifier remain at least until tomorrow.

We (as in V or one of my attendants) also have to rearrange the living room again because the maintenance guys put everything in their default positions, and V and I had put things in different places. ::sigh::

Fun meme from Jennifer

Appetizer: What was the very last song you listened to?
Whisper the Words by Lila McCann is currently coming out of the WinAmp.

Salad: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy having your picture made?
About -10.7.

Main Course: Besides a bookmark, what is something you've used to keep your place in a book?
A bill, the book thong Lynlee made for me (actually in the book I'm reading currently), a stick of gum, an envelope, embroidery floss, a folded paper towel, a pen . . . among others. I use pretty much whatever's at hand.

Dessert: Name a food that you like that most people don't.
Green bell peppers and onions.

Last night

Last night around 10:00 p.m., Veronica's and my upstairs neighbors started making a bunch of ruckus. This was not the first time we'd heard these two fine specimens of stereotypical college-aged manhood, but they did seem to be banging/dropping more than normal. At one point while I was going to the bathroom, I thought they might even be fighting (judging by their raised voices), but I decided they were just being rowdy. Then this:

Veronica: Is it raining?

Me (from the throne): I don't think so.

V: I hear water.

Me: Sometimes when the neighbors behind us run water in their sink or tub, or the neighbors above us flush the toilet or drain the tub, you can hear water in the pipes.

V: It's weird, because this sounds like rain.

Then, just as I was getting off the toilet, the building fire alarm went off. So there I was, my naked rear hanging in the wind, thinking, Oh for pete's sake. V stepped outside to see what was going on (after pulling up my undies) and was informed by the National Guard-people who stopped by for a show that no one knew what was happening. She got me laid down in the bed, and after a few more trips in and out, I heard the water, too.

My heart sank. I'd heard that sound at Wheatshocker more than once.

We were getting flooded from above. A sheer waterfall in V's bedroom and bathroom.

It took maintenance forever to get there, longer to shut off the water, longer still to come check on us. A water-extraction company was called, and we were told it would be 1:30 or 2:00 a.m. before they could get there. In the end, they left our apartment alone for the night and concentrated on sucking water from upstairs so we wouldn't take on more.

What we know:
1. The upstairs neighbors' sprinkler went off.
2. According to them, "It just went off on its own." ::rolls eyes::
3. The head maintenance guy said something about finding fireworks in the apartment.
4. Veronica smelled "something burning" on her multiple trips outside.

So now I am ensconced in the office so I don't have to hear the three fans and the dehumidifier currently running in the apartment. I'm exhausted because we had people in and out of our place until about 2:00 and because my roommate was stifling me with her angry energy and because I had to get up at 7:30 to get ready for class.

Fortunately, no one today has presented me with any other challenges, difficult or easy. I do not have the wherewithal to deal with much -- I am so emotional from being so tired that trying to decide what to eat for lunch brought me to tears.

Now that's tired.

I feel like I should post something . . .

. . . but . . . eh.

Oh, wow

White buffalo calf born in Wisconsin

Quick updates

I found out Thursday that I received my first research grant. It's not much -- only $500 -- but it's more than I had three days ago. I can get fish tanks and water treaters and filters and air pumps and air tubing. Or at least, get a good start on those things.

In other news, my home Internet has been on the blink off and on for a week now -- more off than on, especially the last three days.

From Jennifer's blog

The idea is to write thirteen things you love/hate about something.


Thirteen Things I Love/Hate About New Orleans

1. I hate Ray Nagin.

2. I hate that so many people are still homeless and there seems to be no money or anyone willing to help them.

3. I love beignets.

4. I love my friends here.

5. I love the food. In very few places can you have this kind of variety.

6. I absolutely love the Spring fog.

7. I hate the street conditions. Potholes that would swallow Reba whole.

8. I hate the inaccessibility.

9. I hate the excuses for the inaccessibility.

10. I love Lake Pontchartrain at night and the sound of the waves hitting the pilings.

11. I hate the refineries, but . . .

12. . . . I love the glow of their lights at night.

13. I love the live oak trees.

Fun Meme

1. Your Middle Name:

2. Age:

3. Single or Taken:

4. Favorite Movie:

5. Favorite Song:

6. Favorite Band/Artist:

7. Dirty or Clean:

8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:


HERE COMES THE FUN ... ... ...

1. Do we know each other in real life?

2. What’s your philosophy on life?

3. Would you have my back in a fight?

4. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?

5. What is your favorite memory of us?

6. Would you give me a kidney?

7. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:

8. Would you take care of me when I'm sick?

9. Can we get together and make a cake?

10. Have you heard any rumors of me lately?

11. Do you/have you talk(ed) crap about me?

12. Do you think I'm a good person?

13. Would you drive across country with me?

14. Do you think I'm attractive?

15. If you could change anything about me, would you?

16. What do you wear to sleep?

17. Would you come over for no reason just to hang out?

18. Would you go on a date with me if I asked you?

19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?

20. Will you repost this in your blog for me to answer for you (or email it to me if you don't have a blog)?

Swiped from Lynlee's blog

Today, we gather to be reassured that God hears the lamenting and bitter weeping of Mother America because so many of her children are no more. Let us now seek that assurance in prayer for the healing of our grief stricken hearts, for the souls and sacred memory of those who have been lost. Let us also pray for divine wisdom as our leaders consider the necessary actions for national security, wisdom of the grace of God that as we act, we not become the evil we deplore.

-Rev. Nathan Baxter, Dean, Washington National Cathedral - 9/14/2001



Hecitu yelo!

Let me just go on record as saying . . .

. . . that overly-cautious doctors can be a real pain in the fanny sometimes. I went to student health today to pick up a cup to take home to collect a urine sample. I wanted to see if I have a UTI 1) because I had one right before I moved down here and I want to make sure the Levaquin cleared it, and B) because I have a couple of new attendants who have wiped me backwards and I almost always wind up with a UTI after that. First, I had to talk to the nurse. Then I had to talk to the overly-cautious doctor who is worried that I have a neurogenic bladder that isn't voiding completely and that's why I'm winding up with "all these UTIs." She started making noises about having my attendants straight cath me and/or me having a bladder US to make sure I'm voiding completely. First, I have had more than my usual number of UTIs in the last five months because I have had kidney stones. Second, my attendants are not medical professionals and thus will not be cathing me. Lastly, I have had two bladder USs in the last month by my urologist back home, and he said I'm fine. Just please let me go, I have meetings to get to.

THEN I had to meet with a second, more senior doctor who explained to me WHY they wanted to do all these things. I calmly and politely told her (as I had the first doctor) I appreciated their concern, but I didn't see why I had to have another US when my urologist had cleared me twice. Apparently, doctor #1 neglected to give doctor #2 that little tidbit of info. Doctor #2: "You've had one? It was fine? OK, I'm happy! Take your cup home and bring us back the urine sample."

Finally! Unfortunately, by that time (an hour later), I had missed an appointment with a prof and was fifteen minutes late to a departmental seminar given by my friend Sarah. ::sigh::

Up-note: I am to stop taking the bicarb and get my blood checked early next week to see how my blood pH is doing. I'm actually a little concerned about stopping it cold-turkey, and I'm debating continuing on it through the weekend and discussing it more with them on Monday.

Lunch on Karma

One of my pals/attendants and I made plans to have lunch at Angeli on Decatur today.

(Aside: that makes the third time in a week and a half that I've eaten there -- LOVE the place!!)

Rachel had a friend visiting from Lafayette, so naturally we invited him to go as well. When he got in Moby, he held up a $50 bill and said, "Lunch is on Karma today." Story goes he had gone to some barbecue/gathering yesterday, had a beer, and gave the host $5. Said host refused the fiver, but Joel said, "Just take it. It'll be good for my Karma." That night, he found the $50 in the stairwell at the dorms.

So we had lunch at Angeli, being joined by Taylor, a fairly groovy chick/friend of Joel's that we happened to see as we were crossing the street. Our total came to $39.50, and we left the entire $50. Maybe we'll all accrue some good Karma by leaving the waitress a 30+% tip.

A few words to encourage myself

From Reba McEntire's I'm a Survivor

The baby girl without a chance
A victim of circumstance
The one who ought to give up
But she's just too hard headed

Last weekend and this weekend and everything in between

So last Saturday, Erika and I decided to have lunch at Angeli on Decatur and do a little checkup on our favorite Quarter shops and hangouts. We shared a yummy sandwich of bacon, lettuce, tomato, mozarella, and pesto (mmm, I'm hungry for another one), then headed further into the Quarter to try to see if the place selling Belgian chocolate was still open. We got side-tracked by a French Market booth with groovy handmade bags, but what really distracted us was a little lapidary shop that had just opened that day. The husband hand-mines his stones in Arizona and/or Mexico or has friends who send them to him. He then polishes up the stones and creates some pretty amazing pieces of wearable art. His main shop counter was a fireplace mantle and surround he had scavenged from someone else's home demolition. In fact, all of his display cases were window frames that people have thrown out during post-Katrina cleanup. By the time we oohed and aahed over everything in the "shop" (it's more a booth than a shop), the rain was moving in. We ran for Jackson Square, trying to beat the rain and hide out in a coffeeshop, but we were still a half a block away when the sky opened up. E, Reba, and I took shelter under an overhang, but we still got a little wet whenever the breeze kicked up. Fortunately, I had my raincoat on the back of my chair and E had her umbrella, but poor Reebs . . . . We waited about a half an hour before giving up. E walked back to Moby (my van) and brought her around to where Reba and I were hiding. We came back to the apartment, bathed Reba, made hot cocoa, and watched my DVD of "Elizabethtown."

Sunday, E and I decided to try to catch a Katrina memorial concert at Louis Armstrong park. We left Reba at home in case the rain came again (there was a 60% chance), drove back to the Quarter, and had lunch at Mona's Cafe -- Mediterranean food makes the tummy happy. We mosied up Royal so I could find Erzulie's Voodoo Shop and maybe see my friend Anna, checking out various shops on the way. I've decided Royal Street is a tease street. I found a small herb shop, but there are two huge steps. Same at Erzulie's. MOST of the shops and galleries are inaccessible. ::sigh::

Two groovy places of note:

1. We stopped into an art gallery featuring Caribbean artists, and we discovered the lady has OLD Mardi Gras beads from 1900-1950 made out of Czechoslovakian glass. I bought a string.

2. A hotel called The Soniat House has the grooviest freaking inner courtyard. The doorman let us go in and check it out, and we just wanted to stay there all day. It was a good 10-15 degrees cooler than the street, there was a beautiful fountain and moss growing on the walkway bricks, and classical music playing softly under the ripple of the fountain. You simply cannot have stress in that place.

After a respite in a corner Royal Street grocery store (we thought rain was coming again, but after 45 minutes of munching chips and reading the Times-Picayune and watching the Discovery Channel on the store TV, nothing happened), we finally made it to Louis Armstrong Park. We got to hear two Katrina-inspired songs by a group called The Voice of the Wetlands, then there was a looooong break while we waited for a drumming group to set up. E saw about a hundred people she knew, and I got to meet the boy she had gone out with the evening she had come to see me at the hotel. He's a quiet Brazilian lad with an adorable smile. So completely cute.

I love my friend Erika, but sometimes I hate her, ya know? ::grin::

While we were visiting, some folks finally got on stage, talking about what was coming up next. I was only half listening, but then a name was said that just about made me pass out.

Chief Arvil Looking Horse.

For those of you who don't know, Chief Arvil Looking Horse is the 19th keeper of the sacred pipe of the Lakota tribe. If I were a Catholic, he'd be the Pope.

Even though there were people talking around me, I could still hear his quiet voice speaking about coming together as one to heal ourselves, the city, the nation. When he sang a heart song, I got chills and nearly cried -- but for the first time in a couple of weeks, a good cry. The peace emanating from him was amazing. How could all those people around me be so oblivious to it all?

In the week since, I've found a new sense of peace and calm. I'm starting to find my rhythm, even if I'm still trying to find a schedule with my attendants. My neck muscles still tighten at the end of the day, but they don't give me a raging headache.

Maybe it really WILL work out, just as Anita and Jess said it would.

In the last week, I've started looking for articles of info on Gambusia (the fish species I'm thinking of using in my studies), I've started catching up with friends, and I've enjoyed some of the early Lily smiles (the six-week-old baby of my friends Danielle and Mike).

Today I went with my friend/attendant Rachel to Whole Foods and bought Seeduction bread (yes, that is spelled correctly) and various and sundry organic yumminess. I also finally heard from Chad this afternoon -- he's been laid up the last three weeks after somehow injuring his knee while backpacking. He thinks he was just carrying too much weight. As he said, "My respiratory system and muscles could handle the strain, but apparently my joints couldn't." He's having an MRI this week to "make sure I didn't tear something up." Leave it to a boy to wait almost a month before going to the doctor. Tomorrow I will brave the bus to meet Erika in the Quarter for her birthday. Monday I will read for my classes.

And that's all I have to say about that.

From the CBS "Numb3rs" website

CARL SAGAN AWARD

Congratulations to NUMB3RS co-creators and executive producers Cheryl Heuton and Nicolas Falacci, honored with the Carl Sagan Award for the Public Understanding of Science. Presented by the Council of Scientific Society Presidents, this award honors those who have become concurrently accomplished as researchers, educators and magnifiers of the public's understanding of science.