Okay,
They should be my last pre-published post since I probably will be back up and running next week. No promises though. I found this interesting article. Please take a look.
http://ganolen.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/182/numeral
Getting settled
Okay,
So at this point, I may be getting settled at our place in Virginia . I don't know when I will have things fully up and running again. For now, this will have to do for today's post. The following link is a book featuring encouraging essays on how some fathers cope with having a disabled child..
Interdependence and vulnerability in society
Okay,
Two days ago, I discussed the massive amount of responsibility that having a disability has on a person. Today's post sort of goes along with the same subject. In both of the links below, authors explore the importance of the interdependence and vulnerability in society. Why? Because it humbles us, making us realize how lucky we are; it also makes us realize that having human contact is an essential part of life.
Please feel free to take a look:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91244099
Note: this second link is a part on the Disaboom webpage on which you have to subscribe
http://www.disaboom.com/Blogs/srains/archive/2008/06/08/discovering-the-strength-of-disability-interdependency.aspx
Two days ago, I discussed the massive amount of responsibility that having a disability has on a person. Today's post sort of goes along with the same subject. In both of the links below, authors explore the importance of the interdependence and vulnerability in society. Why? Because it humbles us, making us realize how lucky we are; it also makes us realize that having human contact is an essential part of life.
Please feel free to take a look:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91244099
Note: this second link is a part on the Disaboom webpage on which you have to subscribe
http://www.disaboom.com/Blogs/srains/archive/2008/06/08/discovering-the-strength-of-disability-interdependency.aspx
If I Knew Then..
Okay,
As you read this, I will probably be at home in the midst of boxes and packing paper. It certainly is going to be a change. But I am ready to move on; it's strange that as you grow you began to view your life differently. I have big hopes and dreams for this new chapter in my life. Hopefully within the next couple of years I will find the person I want to spend the rest of my life with and settle down. So I did that for a for now, I will enjoy being single. Taking each adventure as a stepping stone towards making me the person it and future wife that I want to be.
That being said, today's topic is one that I borrowed from the 39th annual disability blog. The topic is: If I knew then.
To be honest, I myself am not quite sure what they mean. To me, it means: If I knew then what I know now, would I do anything differently? But you can see it for yourself, the blog can be accessed at: Http://wheelchairprincess.com/blog/2008/06/12/if-i-knew-then-disability-blog-carnival-39/
With disability comes great responsibility
So,
It's Friday and it's hard to believe it a few days I will be traveling across a few different states. I am unsure about a lot of things right now, but I'm hoping for the best. I have a couple posts already planned for you in the coming week, so look out..
Anyway, I have always told my readers that I wanted to make sure every post was written in a positive light. I think the following links supports me in this assertion . Like me, the author believes that we are all supposed to be role models in whatever situation we are in. Another words, with our disability comes great responsibility. We often are seen as beacons to those that might not have none, showing people that anything is possible even in the darkest of circumstance. But that is partly because of what we hold dear in a life. For some, it might be faith, as it is for me. Still, I'm not perfect, no one is.
That being said, the author of the blog below explores this idea even further and presents a startling connection between a father and son as support. Please watch the youtube it will bring tears to your eyes.
http://adhdgift.com/with-disability-comes-great-responsibility
It's Friday and it's hard to believe it a few days I will be traveling across a few different states. I am unsure about a lot of things right now, but I'm hoping for the best. I have a couple posts already planned for you in the coming week, so look out..
Anyway, I have always told my readers that I wanted to make sure every post was written in a positive light. I think the following links supports me in this assertion . Like me, the author believes that we are all supposed to be role models in whatever situation we are in. Another words, with our disability comes great responsibility. We often are seen as beacons to those that might not have none, showing people that anything is possible even in the darkest of circumstance. But that is partly because of what we hold dear in a life. For some, it might be faith, as it is for me. Still, I'm not perfect, no one is.
That being said, the author of the blog below explores this idea even further and presents a startling connection between a father and son as support. Please watch the youtube it will bring tears to your eyes.
http://adhdgift.com/with-disability-comes-great-responsibility
Encouragement: The Ministry in South Africa
Hello Everyone,
Since I am starting a new adventure on this road called "Life", I thought I'd feature some people who are doing the same. A newly married couple from our church is answering a call to Ministry in South Africa. They will serve as the people that oversee a guesthouse meant for missionaries who come to visit from time to time. Another aspect of the job is overseeing the finances.
The couple did not take this decision lightly; they had visited the country before on a "vision tour". During this time, they got involved in church activities, immersed themselves in the culture. Despite the small church size, (around 180 people), they feel God has led them there to serve as a influential part of Far Reaching Ministries. As well as ministering to people, they will participate in worldwide Christian functions such as Passion Kampala. This is a free two day concert for college aged students to hear the Word of God.
For information on any of the above agencies, go to:
Far Reaching Ministries
http://www.farreachingministries.org/
or
Passion Kampala
http://www.268generation.com/worldtour/lowbandwidth/index.php?filename=kampala-english.xml
New Kiribati
Earlier this month, the president of Kiribati warned the nations of the world that his country will be gone by century's end. Submerged under rising sea level, a casualty of climate change.
And even if, by some ridiculously well-timed miracle, everyone reduces their carbon footprint to near zero, the 92,000 island inhabitants “may be at the point of no return” where reversing the effects of the emissions already in the atmosphere will not come before their atolls get flooded. The president thus asked for help in resettling his people.
While very impolitic, he should demand from the worst polluting nations that as an act of “redemption” they should set aside “reservations” in prime real estate, for instance, some of the Hawaiian islands, where the entire population can collectively forge a new set of geographic identitites instead of being dispersed in diasporic communities around the world.
Maybe China is open to the idea of deleting a part of the Tibetan plateau and exporting the pulverized geology to the Pacific. They will, of course, argue that this a form of carbon emission trading.
Or the European Union could give the president an order or two of Vincent Callebaut's Lilypad.
Quoting Archinect, where we first saw this featured.
LILYPAD is a true amphibian - half aquatic and half terrestrial city - able to accommodate 50,000 inhabitants and inviting the biodiversity to develop its fauna and flora around a central lagoon of soft water collecting and purifying the rain waters. This artificial lagoon is entirely immersed, ballasting the city. It enables inhabitants to live in the heart of the sub aquatic depths. The multi functional program is based on three marinas and three mountains dedicated to work, shopping and entertainment. The whole set is covered by a stratum of planted housing in suspended gardens and crossed by a network of streets and alleyways with organic outline. The goal is to create a harmonious coexistence of humans and nature, exploring new modes of cross-cultural aquatic living.
Kiribati would probably need a less pimped out version, unless, of course, they realign their economy away from fish and phosphate towards eco-tourism — which leads us to wonder: will future climate change refugees become a new caste of service sector workers inhabiting a sort of Floating Hotel & Duty Free Mall, the port of call that comes to you, wherein the fine art of the greeting and linen folding is treated as a Masonic secret passed down from one generation to the next?
In any case, some more unabashedly digital images.
Meanwhile, this is MER, by PLOT, now BIG and JDS.
The Vortex of 80,000 Nikes
Life of The Disabled Community
Okay,
It's five days until I began part one of the big move to Virginia. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here. On Saturday, I leave for the weekend and then only return to retrieve my stuff on Monday and Tuesday. Then we proceed on to part two- taking a road trip to Virginia. There are still some basic details to be cleared up, but hopefully God will take care of them soon enough. I don't know the next time I'm going to have Internet after Tuesday of next week, because we are getting the cable and everything turned off around that time, so I am hoping to have some of my posts pre-published. If my readers don't hear from me, you'll know why.
Anyway, on to today's post..
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live someone else's life?
A new and controversial show on FX is trying to be a average people just that chance. In this eye-opening reality show, people are given a month to live as the other person would. They encounter the same difficulties, trials and triumphs that anyone would in their situation .
In Sunday's rerun, former NFL football star Ray Crockett wonders what it would be like to be disabled. During the first four days, he realizes he is at a distinct advantage having the money to make his home handicapped accessible. His point is made even more clear when the house of his disabled mentor . During the month, Ray also gets involved in such activities as wheel chair rugby and watches as someone undergoes rehabilitation therapy.
-- -- --
Citation for TV Program: "30 days " , FX channel 50 Detroit, at 10: 30 PM., June 16, 2008. (Original air date: June 10, 2008)
NL 2028
This sounds like a very interesting exhibition:
What would it mean to the Netherlands if we were to organize the Olympic Games in 2028? How do you ensure that the stadiums used for the Games can still have a proper function afterwards? How do you organize the infrastructure and mobility for the Games? Do you combine all the functions in a single building, or do you spread the Games throughout the country?
MVRDV (in collaboration with the Academy of Architecture Rotterdam and the Berlage Institute) investigated the feasibility and the spatial chances of the 2028 Olympic Games in the Netherlands. Themes such as climate change, water management and energy production were connected in various ways with solutions for stadiums, infrastructure and accommodation for athletes.
If you don't find yourself nowhere near the Netherlands before the exhibition ends in September 21, you can purchase the book.
We also have a proposal.
A special gift on his graduation day.
Hello everyone,
I know I've been running behind the last couple of days. That really can't be helped, buying a house in Virginia has gotten me and my family on a emotional roller coaster. But things seem to be looking up. Anyway, I got this link just today from a close friend. It's amazing what people can do if they really put their mind to it.
http://www.foxbaltimore.com/players/news/cover_story/vid_295.shtml
I know I've been running behind the last couple of days. That really can't be helped, buying a house in Virginia has gotten me and my family on a emotional roller coaster. But things seem to be looking up. Anyway, I got this link just today from a close friend. It's amazing what people can do if they really put their mind to it.
http://www.foxbaltimore.com/players/news/cover_story/vid_295.shtml
Naumachia in the Courtyard of the Palazzo Pitti held on 11 May 1589 and Other Adventures in Froth
Pruned turned 3 yesterday. To mark the start of Year 4, we return briefly to our first post, specifically to the referenced book edited by Joy Kenseth, The Age of the Marvelous, because, should it need to be disclosed, the Marvelous has been the overall theme of this blog from its inception and Kenseth's volume our editorial guide. We dredge, in other words, the interweb ether for “anything that lay outside the ordinary” and has “the capacity to excite the particular emotional responses of wonder, surprise, astonishment, or admiration.”
In the chapter written by Mark S. Weil, then, we see the above etching of a naumachia, or mock sea battle, in the flooded courtyard of the Palazzo Pitti. Staged as part of the festivities of 1589 celebrating a Medici marriage, it was “intended to amaze invited guests with their visual effects and to impress them with the wealth and power of the court.”
As illustrated by Orazio Scarabelli, eighteen Christian and Turkish ships do their stylized dance in front of a miniature fortress. Oars and sail masts interlock like the limbs of Busby Berkeley showgirls. Voluptuous hulls ram into each other in diagonal confusion. The once solid ground is now a vacillating carpet of faceless actors performing on cramped, presumably cacophonous pageant floats. Man, which had just been fleshed out and deified by the likes of Michelangelo, reverts back into the murky crowd. It's Mannerist mayhem in the bowels of Renaissance clarity.
And could you believe that that wasn't even the showstopper? Weil quotes Alois Nagler describing the program before this naumachia:
The greatest excitement was caused by a garden which, propelled by invisible forces, moved into the courtyard and unfolded on all sides to the tittering of birds. In the garden were imitations of towers, fortresses, pyramids, ships, horsemen, and animals all made out of greenery. A cloud of birds swarmed up before the Grand Duchess and one of the animals landed in the bride's lap, a good omen.
Weil, unfortunately, doesn't provide an image, if there is one.
In any case, the staging of a naumachia has not gone entirely out of fashion. If we don't count military exercises in such anxious terrains as the Taiwan Strait, the Sea of Japan and the Persian Gulf, the most recent one, of similar monumental scale, was carried out for the opening ceremonies of the Barcelona Summer Olympics in 1992.
We see the Mediterranean Sea rendered as a pointillist foam of humanity, each singular speck wearing a costume that seems to have been repurposed from loose tiles at Gaudí's Park Güell into gigantic Pringles. However individualized each one may appear up close, seen from the bleachers they coagulate into a kind of anti-humanist whole, flowing and ebbing in tandem, self-organizing, as if unconsciously following the physics of hydrology. They inundate. They make waves. They shudder as though whelmed by rough weather.
Navigating this simulated froth are the two belligerent sides of the fake naval war. On one side are the monstrous inhabitants of the deep, such as the Hydra with its inflatable tentacles vigorously flagellating in the currents. Other beasts reside here, too. There is plague and hunger and maybe even boredom, but which of the three is — or whether all of them are — theatrically evoked by The Giant Virus-like Spiky Ball and The Teeming Shoal-Army of Knives is difficult to pinpoint.
On the other side are the heirs of Hercules, adventurers exploring the undiscovered contours of this temporary landscape. They wear dominatrix costumes and act in very broad strokes, but again, whether these details are intended to scale their performance for the jumbo television screen and the exaggerated dimensions of the stadium is hard to know. Nevertheless, these heros win the battle, or at least survive the attacks. To commemorate their victory over Evil, they found a city that would later grow into Barcelona.
Their ship, meanwhile, is constructed out of Cor-ten steel; that is, we think it's Richard Serra's favorite medium. Otherwise, it's something metallic, an expression of Catalonia's industrial virility. This is the Olympics, after all, and everything about this twentieth-century naumachia is practically drowning in symbolism.
If one were to pursue an extended political reading of this elaborately staged spectacle, one can make a case that it's a subversive call for an independent Catalonia. Barcelona, the choreographers argue, has its own creation story, its own mythology and even its own national epic akin to the American Civil War and the French Revolution. Before Franco, Ferdinand and Isabella, the Moors and even the Romans, the city already had a history. Moreover, you will not find here bullfighters or flamenco dancers wearing their peinetas and maniacally clucking their castanets — which at the turn of the 19th century were arbitrarily co-opted and standardized as the national identity; in Catalonia, that blood sport and those quaint customs might as well be of English origins. And you will not see here evidence of Andalucia, which apparently is the hegemonic national landscape. Instead, in this corner of the Iberian peninsula, you'll encounter a foreign landscape, a sea-drenched terrain (until recently, that is) populated by the worldly love-hybrids of Picasso and Jean-Paul Gaultier.
Since we are talking about the Olympics, all of these lead us to wonder: will there be a naumachia during the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Games?
After Barcelona, the next three Olympics had their own watery musical. Atlanta evoked the swamps of the South; Old Man River made an appearance. Sidney told the creation story of Australia, who, like Aphrodite, emerged from the sea. And in Athens, the Mediterranean Sea was rendered again, that time with real water. If Beijing were to follow precedence, spectators would be privy to a hydro-extravangaza. After all, China is building the biggest water project in the history of the world; staging a naumachia would be a walk in the park.
Returning to the mock sea battle at the Palazzo Pitti, Weil remarked that the production “served to reinforce political dogma, such as the superiority of Christian forces over those of the Turk.” So will the Beijing festivities also “reinforce political dogma?” The answer, of course, is that they will. You can be sure that naumachia or no naumachia there will be propaganda to be broadcast from Herzog & de Meuron's stadium to an audience in the billions.
Or next door inside the frothy facade of the aquatics center.
Lined around the flooded courtyard, the Chinese will see their divers and swimmers herald their official re-entry into the world stage as a muscular nation. The rest of us will simply be impressed by the show of wealth and power.
Adventures on the Continental Shelf
You may have noticed..
Okay,
So you may have noticed a new inspirational link on my page. This one holds special purpose in my heart, not only because of the people it involves, but because of the mission it takes on. You see, the blog not only follows two of my closest friends on their journey to become a newly married couple; it also follows them as they answer a call to the mission field. Where are they going?
Panama
For more information, feel free to go to:
http://www.thelivingletter.blogspot.com/
So you may have noticed a new inspirational link on my page. This one holds special purpose in my heart, not only because of the people it involves, but because of the mission it takes on. You see, the blog not only follows two of my closest friends on their journey to become a newly married couple; it also follows them as they answer a call to the mission field. Where are they going?
Panama
For more information, feel free to go to:
http://www.thelivingletter.blogspot.com/
The Return of the Sewer Divers
Hazmat diving may be the worst job in science according to MSNBC, but perhaps a form of ultra-niche tourism could be developed out of it.
It will be marketed to extreme adventurers no longer thrilled by skydiving or free solo climbing or locking one's head in the clasp of a crocodile's jaws and, still craving that rush of adrenalin, may be attracted to the possibility of swimming “into clouds of waste, inside nuclear reactors and through toxic spills on America's coasts and inland waterways.” Or how about a lake “full of urine and liquid pig feces” and littered with “needles used to inject the pigs with antibiotics and hormones?” A sublime landscape that must surely terrify your soul, metaphorically and, if your suit gets punctured, literally.
After their adventures, they will be told that an hour or two in these high-risk-environments-turned-diving-parks have given them an understanding of the natural and built environment greater than what they would have gotten from spending a week camping at Yellowstone National Park.
Nodding in agreement, one of them will say, “It felt like Nature was going to digest me alive.”
Speaking of sewers, fantasizing about possible Illinoises was a lot of fun, so we've been imagining quite a few more, including an Illinois in which the Land of Lincoln has been converted into a giant eco-machine treating the nation's entire sewage output.
Gone are the cornfields and the wheatfields and the vegetable fields, and embedded into the Jeffersonian grid in their place are vast constructed wetlands recycling wastewater by natural means.
Moreover, they will double as parklands — the nation's largest national park.
Everyone's shit will be piped in from every state. Even the most toxic effluent from industries will be trucked in, for there are townships specially vegetated with super-bioremediating plants and bacterium to suck up heavy metals and render extremely carcinogenic chemicals inert. Of course, the required infrastructure may be expensive and incredibly carbon intensive, but the financial and environmental costs will be offset multiple folds by this alternative form of waste management.
There will be a lingering smell in the air, but it will never get any worse than a local pig farm during a hot, muggy August day.
Sewer Divers
Alarming facts
Hi Everyone,
I came across this article due to my Google alerts. It's amazing to me that even though we live in the United States of America, it's still a daily struggle to get the special education needed for the disabled community. I guess I was one of the lucky ones to have the money and parents who saw what I needed to get a better education and stood firm until I got it. I think that's all it comes down to- knowledge of a disability and how to help your students excel in the classroom.
http://peidisabilityalert.blogspot.com/2008/05/one-quarter-of-disabled-kids-not.html
I came across this article due to my Google alerts. It's amazing to me that even though we live in the United States of America, it's still a daily struggle to get the special education needed for the disabled community. I guess I was one of the lucky ones to have the money and parents who saw what I needed to get a better education and stood firm until I got it. I think that's all it comes down to- knowledge of a disability and how to help your students excel in the classroom.
http://peidisabilityalert.blogspot.com/2008/05/one-quarter-of-disabled-kids-not.html
Faith Versus Works
Hey everyone,
This last weekend has been a difficult, yet rewarding one. After an endless search and what seemed like an impossible circumstances, we finally have a house. It's very similar to the one we live in now; but with a bigger basement apartment for me. After all, I will be living in a new state- not exactly sure about the disability advocacies they have to offer.
Today's topic was inspired by yesterday's service at my church. The sermon was entitled: The Gospel of Grace. In Galatians 2, the power of Grace is explored. At first glance, he is amazed at the work being done and commends them. On the other hand, Paul warns the disciples about the danger they are encountering by trying to follow all of God's commandments. In this case, it's excluding the Gentiles. He reminds them that although God's commandments are important; it's not the goal. The laws are important because they point out a need for a Savior- a need for Jesus.
Thinking upon this, I was reminded to keep a careful eye on my objective in doing this blog.
While I do write in this blog on a daily basis, I have to make sure my heart remains in it for the right reasons. I don't know what I'm getting at exactly, the strange thing is I knew what I wanted to say on Sunday, when I thought about writing this.. maybe you can make more out of yourself.
This last weekend has been a difficult, yet rewarding one. After an endless search and what seemed like an impossible circumstances, we finally have a house. It's very similar to the one we live in now; but with a bigger basement apartment for me. After all, I will be living in a new state- not exactly sure about the disability advocacies they have to offer.
Today's topic was inspired by yesterday's service at my church. The sermon was entitled: The Gospel of Grace. In Galatians 2, the power of Grace is explored. At first glance, he is amazed at the work being done and commends them. On the other hand, Paul warns the disciples about the danger they are encountering by trying to follow all of God's commandments. In this case, it's excluding the Gentiles. He reminds them that although God's commandments are important; it's not the goal. The laws are important because they point out a need for a Savior- a need for Jesus.
Thinking upon this, I was reminded to keep a careful eye on my objective in doing this blog.
While I do write in this blog on a daily basis, I have to make sure my heart remains in it for the right reasons. I don't know what I'm getting at exactly, the strange thing is I knew what I wanted to say on Sunday, when I thought about writing this.. maybe you can make more out of yourself.
Another thing, the 39th Carnival blog is up. Ironically, the topic is disability and faith/religion. Hope you enjoy! http://disstud.blogspot.com/2008/05/disability-blog-carnival-38-is-up-now.html
Until next time,
Debbie
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