It’s official. We are eliminating our cable TV service in a few days. I’m done with Comcast, done with their fees, their crappy customer service and the rest. We’ve got Netflix, Hulu Plus services, a Roku on Steve’s office TV and a Google TV upstairs. With the Wii and a PS3, we can have all the other TVs access Netflix as well. I cannot wait to hand these cable boxes back to Comcast and walk away. We’ll still have internet with them, which stinks, but $100 per month is better than over $200, right?
Here’s a random thought. The Science Channel has a show that we just discovered that I think is hysterical. It’s called Monster Bug Wars. Somehow (haven’t figured it out yet) they pit 2 “deadly” bugs against each other to see which one is victorious. Big, nasty spiders, creepy beetles, gargantuan swarming ants. They show each bug and how it attacks & defends its territory, then bug experts talk about what they think will happen. Then they film the 2 bugs’ encounter and, inevitably, one bug dies and gets eaten by the other – the victor. The hysterical part is added in post-production. Because apparently the bugs themselves are not interesting enough, they add in tiger growls, lion roars, snarling, gnashing and other sound effects that are not at all indigenous to the insects being shown. In one shot, some sort of big centipede crawls to the top of a branch and kind of lifts half of its body off the branch, sniffing or sensing or whatever centipedes do. As it does, a great tigery growl comes out of the speakers. I burst out laughing. In another scene, as the two bugs encounter each other, the chorus of Carmina Burana bursts forth. Absolutely ridiculous and almost camp in its over-dramatization! Check it out if you have the chance.
Okay. Another change of subject. I am trying to be a better blogger. Meaning 3 things: trying to blog more often, trying to attract more readers and trying to encourage more commenting. I’ve got some ideas for ways to do this, but I’d love to get some feedback from all y’all. I know there’s not a ton of you out there right now, but could I ask a favor? If you read my blog and enjoy it, could you tell one person about it? Maybe link a friend to a post you like or hit that “Tweet It” button over at the right of each post? Like a post on Facebook (see bottom of posts) or share it on one of the other sharing buttons I have at the bottom of each post? I know I’ll never be the Pioneer Woman or anything like that, but I’d love to develop a readership of people who really like my writing style and what I have to say.
On my end, I’m thinking about doing more themed posts. Back when I was doing scrapbook designing, I did a lot of writing about creativity. I’d love to share some of that and be really encouraging in terms of awareness, seeking opportunities, becoming open to finding creativity in our day-to-day lives. I mean, we all have a creative aspect to our lives. We might be a photographer, a blogger, a scrapbooker, a mom looking for suggestions or whatever, but we all need creative outlet in our lives. Sometimes we just have trouble finding it, y’know? So, I’m committing to write more and share more than just my ridiculous rantings. I also promise to respond to any comments within 24 hours. I’ve been pretty lame about responding to comments – though I read and take every single one to heart. So I will absolutely respond within 24 hours.
Any other ideas?
I just was fiddling around in my admin for my blog, updating & changing some settings, and I realized that I had some people contact me over the past 6 months or so that I was never aware of! I feel terrible because I never responded since I never knew these people had taken the time to write.
First off, I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I didn’t get them, but maybe it’s because they were marked to email me directly and the email address was wrong. Hopefully, I’ve corrected it now.
Secondly, I wanted to address some issues that came up in two of these emails. These two readers were appalled with my complaining, whining and poor parenting of Henry in particular. They apparently are of the mindset that all I do is complain about Henry and that I do not see him for the blessing he is. That I need to stop treating him like he has Down Syndrome and just treat him like my other kids and expect the same from him. And that I’d better get off my big, fat butt and take the pacifier away and get him potty trained.
Let me say that if I have been primarily talking trash about Henry, I apologize. I use this blog as a forum to work out what’s in my head, what struggles I’m having, vent about things that are going on and sometimes to let off steam. I also use it to rejoice about awesome things that have happened, to try to spread awareness about Down Syndrome and to talk about my life day-to-day. I’ve always said that my main objective here is to be honest. If you’re looking for a blog where everything is rainbows and unicorns and I talk about all the amazing things I’m accomplishing and how awesome and perfect my life is, you’ve come to the wrong place. There are tons of blogs like that, if that’s what you want. I’ve never done that and I will never do that. You can count on honesty here. If I’m having a hard time or had a particularly trying day, I will share it. If Henry reaches a milestone or something fantastic happens, I will share it. If Henry’s behavioral issues make me want to take a hostage, I will share it. If you consider that “complaining” and “whining”, perhaps this blog is not for you. I consider it the truthful sharing of one mother’s journey. I don’t claim to be perfect and I couldn’t even if I wanted to be. I am doing my best, however, and I hope most of you can see that.
In regards to the specific addresses about Henry? I have 4 words for you. YOU DON’T KNOW HIM. Henry is not a typical child with DS. He is not an atypical child with DS. He is, I believe, I child with both DS and autism. At this point in time, Henry cannot be reasoned with. Henry cannot understand time out. (and to the person who suggested strapping him in a chair? Hell to the no.) Henry has a pacifier because his sensory issues are so overwhelming that if he’s not being tended to one-on-one, he has to have something to meet those needs. If he doesn’t have the pacifier, he jams both his hands in his mouth to the wrist (this is literal) and spends the entire day with moist, creepy hands and face – spreading germs everywhere and setting himself up for the worst chapping scenario in the history of winter. Without the pacifier, I have to keep his hands slathered in Vaseline to prevent them from cracking and bleeding. The pacifier is on a strap. He puts the pacifier in his mouth and then uses the strap to stroke his face, arms – whatever he needs. His sensory needs are through the freakin’ roof.
And potty training? Excuse me why I pee myself laughing. Henry has absolutely no awareness of his elimination functions at this time. I am 100% of the belief that you cannot potty train a child until they are aware of what’s going on down there. Otherwise, YOU are the one who’s potty trained as you put the child on the toilet every 30 minutes, hoping to catch him/her at the right time. I have tried. He simply doesn’t understand. He will get there, but at this time, it ain’t happening. And for anyone out there to second guess what’s going on in my household with children they’ve never met is so arrogant, I can’t even form words for it. Let me repeat it: YOU. DON’T. KNOW. HIM. Those who do understand everything I say and every struggle I’m having.
For those readers out there who felt that they needed to chastise and upbraid me, I simply ask that you don’t judge till you’ve walked a mile in my shoes. Just because what you order me to do has worked for child X that you know or met or heard about means 100% of nothing for me and mine. I pray that you will never be blessed with a child like my Henry because you will probably destroy him in your single-minded attempt to make him/her behave the way you “know” is right.
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The greatest living contemporary artist is the Creative uninhibited child at play. -Roger Von Oech
“Whoa” was the first thing I thought when I read this. How incredibly true this is. Who is more uninhibited than a child? After I read it, I thought about my Steven & how he plays. He doesn’t care what anybody else thinks – he does what he does & it all makes sense to him. He isn’t looking for mass approval or kudos or even understanding. He’s just expressing what’s in his brain. And it makes perfect sense to him. He creates things out of pieces that, to my jaded eye, have no relevance or connection – but he makes it work. As soon as I understand what he’s doing, it makes all the sense in the world.
Take some time. If you have children, take some time to watch how they play. How some pillows become a dangerous bridge that saves them from certain death. How they make what they have into what they need. How they’re not afraid to get dirty or silly or look foolish – they just let it all hang out.
And how can we, as artists, hijack that ability for use in our art?
My last post gave me an idea and I want to share it. I think this would be a cool idea for one of those “Right Now” moments – if you’re a scrapbooker or an artist or whatever. What a neat moment in time! Here, I did it:
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Do it! Right now! Tonight! First thing in the morning! Your whole bookcase or just a shelf. Take a snapshot in time of what, literarily, is important to you right now. Maybe throw it in your journal with a quick jot about maybe why you chose some of these books. Or where you heard about them. If you’ve read them, what you thought. If you haven’t, are they on your “to-do” list? I think it really gives a look into where you are, where you’ve been. What you dream about. What you wish to change.
Do it! And, if you do, please, please, PLEASE leave a comment & link me to your picture, your blog post, your scrapbook layout.
It’s been a week. Every surface of our house is crawling with the plague.
Remember how I had this horrible tonsillectomy and was out of commission for 2 weeks so that I wouldn’t have to think about strep anymore?? Remember that? What a load of crap THAT was.
It started with Henry. He came home a week ago with one of his noses. All nasty and green and I knew he was sick. By the time the weekend was over, Steven was sick and I was starting to feel it. And Sunday night, William developed pink eye. So Monday I took Steven, Henry & William to the doctor. Henry had a sinus infection and Will had pink eye. Steven seemed to be just a virus. Tuesday, Maggie woke up sick and I was feeling it hard. I took her to the doctor and we both tested positive for strep. Awesome. Just awesome. And everyone I’ve told just goes, “But…wait….you had your…..you can’t…” and I just go, “I know“. By yesterday, William and Steven were worse, so I took them back. It looks like William’s developing an ear infection and he was running a fever of 100-101, so she put him on an antibiotic. Steven got nothing – still looked viral. Now 4 out of 6 of us are filled with antibiotics. To say that I’m annoyed would be an understatement.
So…what have I been doing? I got back into my crochet. A while ago, I had bought some random skeins of really, really fat, super bulky yarn because after seeing this on Pinterest, I decided I had to work up something like it. (By the way, if you’re not on Pinterest yet, snap to it. It is such an inspirational place if you have any interest in any type of art, craft, writing or just looking at pretty things. I’ve been on there for months now and I think it recently opened up for everyone – due to the massive influx of new pinners I’m seeing. If you’re there or thinking about being there, click here to follow me!
But, I digress. I bought 6 skeins of different kinds of the bulkiest yarn I could find (which is still not even close to what is pictured in my pin). I pulled that out to start making an afghan that I thought would come together quickly. Unfortunately, the yarn’s so fat and the hook is so big that I’m going through the yarn too quickly. And it wasn’t cheap yarn. Where does one find reasonably priced, incredibly bulky yarn? I had 2 skeins that were $40 apiece and I cannot use any more of that, thankyouverymuch. Even if I had the money, I can’t justify spending $500 on an afghan. That would be ridiculous and stupid. I found some on etsy for $12. I just hope I can get the afghan finished without having to buy any more. This will already be the most expensive blanket ever.
I also started on a scarf for Steve. I found a really nice pattern on Ravelry.com that is a really nice, masculine scarf. I’m using a nice charcoal wool that’s got some fiber-ness to it. In order to start it, I had to teach myself 2 new stitches – the Tunisian simple and Tunisian purl stitches. I thought they’d be hard, but they weren’t. They make a really dense weave that’s more like knitting than crochet almost. I think it’s going to be just beautiful, but it’s going to take a while as it has over 100 rows and I’m only on row 14.
I’ve been reading more and actually bought more books. I’m insane, I know. I got a couple more biographies that looked good. Starting with:
I’m about halfway through this one and it’s so fun. I remember seeing Willow when it came out on video and I loved it. (He was Willow, in case you were wondering) Reading how he got his start at age 11 in Return of the Jedi and all the following roles he’s played. I’m also still reading the Bruce Campbell book and it’s good. I really enjoyed reading about the nightmare of making Evil Dead.
I also bought
I know I’ve talked a lot about how my bookcase is just stuff full – almost exclusively with books I have yet to read. I thought I’d share it with you – give you an unsolicited peek into my psyche. You are what you read, y’know?
Okay – here’s a wide shot of the whole bookcase. Yes, one shelf is about half taken up by a basket filled with yarn. Let’s take a closer look:
On this shelf is all my zombie stuff. As you can see, I’ve got 4 big anthologies there, none of which I’ve read. There’s a Dave Barry, Graham Norton’s autobiography, Neil Gaiman, and Erik Larson behind the little frame. (That’s Steven as a baby in that frame, by the way) and a Dalek peeking from the right.
The next shelf is all books I haven’t read. Some (auto)biographies, some humor, some literature. And my big, fat, Walking Dead anthology. I actually think the only books I’ve opened are the Mindy Kaling, the Dawn French and the Walking Dead. So many books.
And the bottom shelf. Mostly scrapbooks, a couple of magazines, yearbooks. Plus a big, ridiculous Martha Stewart homekeeping handbook, and the Darrell Hammond and Carrie Fisher books I’ve finished.
So that’s my bookshelf. I don’t know if I’ll ever be finished. People need to stop writing, y’all.
Here’s to better health. And some big, fat, chunky yarn.
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