DISABILITY BLOG CARNIVAL: A Few of Our Favorite Things

13 December 2007 at 23:27 (Community, Coping strategies, Disability Blog Carnival, Humor/ Fun Stuff)

 

Description: a photo of part of my desktop, a faux-oak surface with several items lined up along the back edge, (left to right) a clear green plastic desk lamp; a piece of mirror glass on the desk holding the quartet of a green-swirled globe of art glass from Scotland, a faceted crystal, and a small green beaded keepsake tin, and a purple glass tray with green beach glass from the North sea and pieces of granite from Loch Ness; a green glass bottle; several clear green plastic desk accessories including a stapler, tape dispenser, page holder, a tool caddy with green scissors and pens and suchlike, and in front of these is an electric mug-warmer with an old mug bearing the inscription, “SAVE THE EARTH (IT’S THE ONLY PLANET WITH CHOCOLATE)”. The photo has the post title added in the blank area near the top that reads, “A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS”.

As you may have guessed, shiny or clear green objects are some of my favorite things. This photo doesn’t even show the prismatic green tissue box, photo frame, green fidget-widgits, or Rosie’s habitat with the green lid. Having these things on my desk to use and admire makes me happy. (And that is the mug-warmer I mentioned in my own post on favorite things.)

We all have a number of little things that not only delight us in small ways, but also make life just so much more pleasant, and even help reduce our stress loads. These tend to fall into three categories: technology that enables us to do things, creature comforts, and human interaction. Got your cuppa? Cats and dogs settled down? Then let’s begin!

Techno-wow

At Planet of the Blind, Stephen Kuusisto finds that his favorite things “far more challenging and complex topic when filtered through the grinder of disability” and then manages to find quite a few things, including tastier hot dogs (that’s some disability grinder!) Over at The Gimp Parade, Kay is eying an interesting vehicle in a photo from Laos, what appears to be a beautifully done moped-taxi for a wheelchair user. Greg at Pitt Rehab also has a list of spiffy hardware — including some pirate booty — when he describes “A few of my favorite things”. Dave Hingsburger says with more than a note of covetousness, “I Want a Ted” — of course, you’ll have to bop on over to his blog Chewing The Fat to find out just what a “Ted” is.

Creature comforts

Broadcast media can be a great diversion. Sometimes Wheelchair Dancer finds herself getting the blues from “The News of the Day”. So when not practicing, performing or recovering from such, she can be found doing some TV watching, catching up on episodes of CSI and contemplating “Disability on TV” in episodes of L-word. (I might note that there’s been a number of disability-related episodes of CSI as well.) María Fernández presents an uncommon subject in her Learn a foreign language blog, a YouTube of one of Victor Manuel’s Songs done en Español, a poignant song about love and mental disability, “Sólo pienso en ti”.

Books rank high on many people’s lists. Sunny Dreamer titles her post “Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens” — and then mischievously goes on to describe — books and movies! Nihilistech over at Brightly Colored Sporks of Revolution has managed to read over 60 books so far this year. (I’m flabbergasted!) On the other hand, Miss Crip Chick is vexed and says, “i don’t feel so special today” as her bookstore doesn’t carry any of the sort of disability books that she wants to buy, just warm-fuzzy books for caregivers. Ettina takes time to list a number of her special interests at her Abnormaldiversity blog (I had to smile reading the list, as we’ve had so many of these at our house, too).

Human interaction

Cilla Sluga writes a powerful post at Big Noise, where she describes that supporting others by teaching activism has “No Shortcuts”. Dr Deb Serani posts a reminder about something that slipped by me, December 3rd is/was International Day of Disabled Persons, a “December ‘Word’ Awareness Day” sponsored by the United Nations. Another INTJ, Warren Wong goes for the practical and offers some concrete tips for “How To Feel Better And Be Happier” on his Personal Development blog.

The humanities played a large role in a surprising number of people’s posts. In an essay that transcends the inner and outer worlds, Donimo’s Body of Work blog includes examining the complexities of autumn leaves in “Fall under Foot”, but is still left yearning for greater vistas. Sarah Lewthwaite looks at provocative and sometimes disturbing sculptures in her post, “Disability Rights and Wrongs: Mona Hatoum” on her blog 32 Days Remaining. Looking into the future of history studies over at her blog, Knitting Clio, Heather Munro Prescott examines how clarifying guidelines for “Historians and IRBs” can make research easier and better. Looking back into the past, The Purloined Letter examines “Bodies in Art” of the Renaissance and finds a little person in a less commonly-seen pose. This reminds me of the article describing an angel with Down syndrome in a 16th century Flemish painting of the nativity. Which in turn leads me to one of my favorite posts in this Carnival, the Teen Possibles who announce: “It’s really fun to have Down syndrome”!

Did you miss writing a post earlier, or were you too busy to get a blog entry submitted for this Carnival? Feel free to post about some of YOUR favorite things here in the Comments!

The next Disability Blog Carnival is scheduled for 10th January, hosted by Connie Kuusisto at [with]tv’s blog. As always, you can submit your blogpost here.

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