Visit the kelpforest....

Yes, Yes, Yes! I think I've been saying for years, at least since high school, normal is overrated!

Normal is overrated. Normal is arbitrary and evasive. Nobody is normal; we all bring our own uniqueness to this world that should be appreciated for what it is. A very large portion of the “normal” people I see are anxious and unhappy...

So, to all of you “normal” people out there I say: get over it. Don’t be afraid, and please lose the pity. After you involve yourself with these and other kids with disabilities your life won’t be “normal,” but who needs “normal” anyway? We all need to lose a little “normal.”

http://thinkingautismguide.blogspot.com/2010/08/arbitrary-normality.html

(I would also add to this author - why is normal so highly aspired to? And those of you who think you're normal, and look down on those who you consider "abnormal" or raise eyebrows at those who act or dress a little "wierd"? You're not.)

By the way, this entire blog, The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism, consisting of guests posts by a number of different bloggers on autism (parents, teachers, health care professionals, and especially, autistic people themselves) and eventually to be published as a book, is excellent. I want to send a number of the posts here to everyone I know (well, who doesn't see this here).

(I note the original post of this essay is being jumped all over by Jenny McCarthy's disciples, who don't seem to have actually read the thing.)

( Others I Like on this topic (but there are tons more): )

Wow. This is a fantastic set of blog posts I've been reading in stages over the past week or so. Today, the author was kind enough to make a post with links to all the connected pieces in one place (oh yeah, that's called a Table Of Contents, right). My brother had asked me for stuff to read to help him understand Angus a bit better, and while I've been meaning to sit down and make up a list, I think this is a great place to start. I would encourage reading even if you don't think you know anyone autistic, because chances are, you do, and you (or even they) don't know it.

http://momnos.blogspot.com/2010/03/toast-to-inclusion-autism-education-in.html
(Series of posts linked to in this post is what you want to read)

Angus is not exactly like Bud; he's a couple of years older and fairly good at talking - although he does use some scripts and echolalia, he's not dependent on them. He's in a regular classroom for subjects he's good at (so far, science, social studies and computer lab), and in core classroom for subjects he's not so good at (language arts and math). He's now in middle school where classes in different periods are arranged like this anyway, so he's actually had a headstart on getting used to that. He's had an aide for four hours a day to keep him on track, but his latest IEP plans for aide time to be faded to about half that. He's not on any medication. However, there are quite a few similarities - he gets anxious and frustrated easily, gets very anxious when he realizes an adult he knows is not in view, does not deal easily with sudden changes -i.e. family changing their minds on what movie they're going to watch. He hums a lot (so do I). Loud environments stress him, although he's getting better at that. He definitely needs the movement breaks; we call it gallumphing and he's done it almost since he started walking; the spinny thing is fun, too (hell, I used to do that when I was a kid). His shoes wear out in front first, because he still tends to walk more on his toes. We have never made a big deal out of his issues, which are fairly mild compared to some; he's just Angus to us and quite frankly we had to have them pointed out to us to realize he had them. However, with people who get impatient with him, maybe this will help. I wish I had been creative enough to come up with something like this. I also wish everyone could have the kinds of teachers Bud's seem to be.

Hmm. Pharyngula.com (a biology/atheism blog) seems an unlikely place to hear slash referred to, even if he's doing it sarcastically (the piece in question, not slash in general). Although, I suppose I shouldn't be suprised; PZ mentions science fiction and fantasy enough that I know he's a fan. However, doesn't slash just refer to fanfiction?

Glad to see him give a plug for NO on Prop. 8, too, even though he's in Minnesota. The YES signs have been popping up all over my neighborhood, and it's enough to make me sick. Especially the little joyous dancing family with upraised arms (specifically with a large Male and Female). The pro commercials are absolutely hateful. I feel like making a giant sign for the front window with "My Marriage and Family are Fine - What Are You So Threatened By?" or "Prop. 8 = Bigotry, plain and simple." Especially since most gay people I know (including in my family) grew up with a parent of each gender, so the "omg, they want to subvert the children" argument just doesn't wash.

So I've recently been using Google Reader since I can get it on my phone (and since LJ insists my inability to log in must be the phone's browser's fault, nevermind that I can log into bunches of other sites). It's something else to read on the bus when I'm between books - yeah, I know, like I need more?.

What I have now:
Dooce - doesn't everyone read this? Well I hadn't been, but now I'm getting caught up.
LAist - I can't keep up with this one, and LA is really not that close to home, but what affects LA often dribbles down to Orange County, and I do get up there occasionally
Beach Blog - Orange County beachehttp://beach.freedomblogging.com/s and stuff. Lots of surfing contests, but other things that affect local communities as well.
Junk - the plastic bottle raft makes its way across the Pacific
Bug Girl's Blog - Entomology and other interesting thinks things
Neurodiversity Weblog - this has been a bunch of legalese to get through lately because of legal proceedings against the blogger, but very interesting...
Aquarium of the Pacific - Aquarium volunteers and others

and various others, mostly friends or fannish things...

My Google Reader Shared Page - I only just discovered this, I may have to put a link over there on the left...

While I have a bunch, not all of them update everyday, so what do you guys read outside of LJ? I'd love a few more suggestions - preferably not too photo heavy; I can read those at home, but my phone is iffy on downloading pictures, so I often just turn them off. People as well as topics are welcome...

Looked at my cruise entries and realized they posted out of order - I didn't think I sent them that way, but that's how they showed up. As soon as I get my pics organized, I'll add them to those entries if you'd like to backtrack.

In the meantime, this is my roommate Elizabeth's log for her students, posted day-by-day as we were out there - she's a participant in the Teacher-at-Sea Program so she's waay more detailed than I was. I feel a little ashamed of myself. Plus she's got some fantastic pictures - I really had camera envy (my pics = see? see that little tiny black dot?! That's a dolphin's DORSAL FIN!! AN ALBATROSS! A SHIP, EVEN!). Ahem. The link:

http://teacheratsea.noaa.gov/2007/eubanks/index.html

Also, just found the chief scientists blog at the TOPP (Tagging of Pacific Predators) website:

http://www.topp.org/blog/suzannekohin

Looks like she only did the first leg, and then her boss took over:

http://topp.org/blog/russvetter?page=1

Nifty! I didn't know they were keeping blogs, too! (Edit - Suzy emailed us later saying that the webmaster had changed all of her entries, so she doesn't really consider it her blog.

Scientist/Author Carl Safina (Eye of the Albatross, Song for a Blue Ocean) was along for the first leg (I was on the third). I wish my writing could be half as poetic as his prose. His blog of the cruise can be found here:

http://carlsafina.wordpress.com/2007/07/05/welcome-to-the-hotel-californshark/

(This page is his first entry on the cruise - link to the next can be found at the bottom right of the entry)

Interesting - hope to hear something about it when it's published. We'll see what John Dvorak has to grouse about then.

Yesterday's entry in Dooce gives an hilarious accounting of Heather's dog finally passing a corndog stick he ate quite a while ago. Hilarious to me and other parents, I guess, who have not quite passed the obsession with poop that develops when you have un-pottytrained children. What really got me though, was that at the bottom of the article, complete with photo of the offending object that had made a complete migration through a dog's entire digestive system, were the ubiquitous Google ads - for corndog fryers, and corndog equipment.

So Neil Gaiman posts some pictures of himself and the fans respond:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/officialgaiman/190852.html?thread=2633348#t2633348

I love the comments here...hee! D'ya think he even realizes or did he do it on purpose? I can't say that struck me when I read Neverwhere, but I don't think my copy had a photo.

(edit: 10/23/05 - The entry is gone now, but had to do with someone reading the character description of the main character and then turning and looking at Neil's photo on the back of the book. [photos referred to are here] He looks exactly like the description. ;) )

( From another photo shoot for a previous book )

On July 24, 2004, I participated for the first time in Project Blog, a 24 hour event to raise money for charity. All participants made entries every 1/2 hour for twenty-four hours. Thank you to everyone who sponsored me to help fund the Nikki Hospice Foundation for Pets. If you'd like a peek at the madness:

5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
12:00 a.m. to 5 a.m.

So I'm thinking of doing this. I found out about the Blogathon last year right after it happened, and this year, it's taking a year off. These people have started this as an alternative. Although I'm not sure what charity to do it for or whether someone here at home will object to me running over to the computer every 1/2 hour for 24 hours (probably).

I was thinking of Habitat for Humanity (one of my mom's favorites, and someone at work is working on their own house through them), Project Angel Food (a meals on wheels program for AIDS shut-ins), or ?

Would anyone here sponsor me if I did? I'd sponsor you, too, if you decided to do it.