July 31, 2004
Music Of The Night
I saw Phantom of the Opera last night with my mom and sister. I sat in the Orpheum's balcony this time, which I think I prefer to being on the main floor. The performances were quite good and the house was sold out, which shows that there's still an appetite for extravagant musicals here in the Midwest. The lyrics to the music are undeniably hokey; Andrew Lloyd Webber is no great lyricist, but the man can craft a tune that sticks in your head with a stubborn tenacity.
I had to go over to my sister's apartment this morning because she needed my nurse's help assembling furniture that she bought from Ikea. Yes, the Twin Cities is finally civilized: we have an Ikea. The Siegel clan isn't terribly adept with tools and assembling things, which makes the Ikea Experience all that more interesting. However, I am tempted to go there and get a new bookshelf. After all, I have an excuse for getting other people to put things together for me.
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July 30, 2004
Help Is On The Way
John Kerry delivered a stellar speech last night that exceeded my own expectations. It embodied a muscular optimism that is somewhat of a departure from traditional Democratic messages. Kerry's pledge to "restore honesty and credibility to the White House" is a clever spin on Bush's campaign theme from 2000. If Kerry/Edwards can stay disciplined and keep pounding home a message of hope and national renewal, I like our chances in November.
I'm looking at the list of other Humphrey Fellows. Quite a few lawyers, community activists, business leaders, nonprofit executives, a couple reporters. An eclectic group, which should mean that we'll get some good discussions and exchanges of ideas. One of the co-directors of the Fellows Program is Tim Penny, a former congressman who ran for governor as an independent two years ago.
Cable companies are starting to offer tiered Internet service, with premium speeds at a premium price. Time Warner will be offering a 6mbps service for about $70/month. Would I pay for faster access? It's not like I'm on BitTorrent all time downloading the latest pirated movie. Still, it'd be sweet to have the extra speed, just because I can.
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July 29, 2004
Back To The Ivory Tower
It's going to be a busy fall for me. I received a letter yesterday informing me that I've been accepted as a Humphrey Institute Policy Fellow. I and about thirty other young professionals will be meeting once or twice a month to solve the world's problems and create the perfect meritocracy. I expect that it will be a little like being back in school, which actually sounds like fun. There's also a study trip to Washington DC in February. I'll finally make it to the East Coast, which I've been wanting to do for a while. As long as the city doesn't get hit by some freak snowstorm while I'm out there. And I can only hope that the Forces of Good occupy the White House by that time. I have no idea what our schedule will be like, but I hope I have time to check out the Smithsonian and the Supreme Court. Big shout-out to my friend Adam and my boss MaryAlice for convincing the good people at the Humphrey that I'm more than just a pretty face.
My buddy Michael Drivas, proprietor and Chief Geek at Best Brains Comics, has a great write-up in the Minneapolis paper today. He just moved to a new location (1027 Washington Avenue, in case you're interested) near the site for the new Guthrie Theater, which the article uses as a springboard for a discussion of old prejudices about comics and how comics have now attained a certain chic quality. Here's my favorite quote from the article:
"Everybody is a geek about something," Drivas, 38, said. "You can't tell me that a guy who's so into fantasy football that he buys specific publications and subscribes to particular Web sites to get information is any less geeky than a guy who goes to comic-book message boards and writes about what he thinks Marvel and DC should do."
I've been a customer of Best Brains for about a year and it's nice to see Michael get the attention. Can't wait to see the new digs, Michael.
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July 28, 2004
Devil In A Blonde Wig
Huh. According to Ann Coulter, there is no such thing as a pretty, liberal woman. According to Ann, a liberal woman is some kind of hairy humanoid who smells bad. Hmm, I wonder if all the cute liberals I know are aware of this. If you can tolerate more of Ann's completely whacked psyche, go read the article that USA Today rejected. You know something has to be seriously messed up when USA Today rejects your article. Besides hotel guests and people waiting in airport lobbies, does anyone actually read that paper?
Finally got around to watching the premiere of Stargate Atlantis last night. Not bad: interesting twist on the explorers-stranded-far-from-home trope. A couple of the actors kooked kinda dumpy, i.e. like regular people, which is good to see. I've seen a few episodes of the original Stargate and one thing that really bugs me about that show is that no matter what strange and exotic world they visit, the natives always speak perfect English. I understand that you can't have a different form of babbling every week, but at least make an effort to come up with a somewhat believable explanation about why this is so. Have everyone stick a Babel fish in their ear, put a universal translator on their belts, but do something.
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July 27, 2004
Blowing Bubbles
I thought about getting a few shares of Google during its IPO, but no way am I dropping a C-note and change for one measly share. Didn't we learn our lesson from the dot com bust a few years ago? I'm a big fan of Google, but all this manufactured hype and outrageously priced stocks smells suspiciously like 1999.
I'm back in my old wheelchair again. The ventilator tray on the new chair is screwing up the chair's balance, causing it to tip whenever I turn and the wheels to spin in place when I try to go backwards. Not cool. I'm a little frustrated with the supply company for not doing a better job of addressing these problems before I took the chair home and discovered them on my own. They're promising to fix it next week, but they don't sound too confident. The chair is a very new model and nobody has ever tried to put a vent tray on it before now. Which makes me the proverbial guinea pig, which in turn is a proverbial pain in the ass.
One advantage of having an All-In-Wonder card is that I can throw up a see-through window that doesn't cover up the underlying workspace. I have CNN right now and Kennedy just finished speaking. I think that's the first time I've heard Bush's name mentioned during the convention. The best speech I've heard so far is Bill Clinton's. He illustrated the differences between the Democratic and Republican agendas with shrewdness and panache. You want tax breaks for the wealthy and more debt burden on your kids? Vote Republican. You want better health care coverage for your kids and budget surpluses? Vote Democratic.
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July 26, 2004
Deliver Us From Spam
Dante should have created a separated level of Hell for comment spammers. I got hit with over 400 spams yesterday. I'm seriously contemplating taking out a contract to find these scumsacks and introduce them to the joys of ventilator-assisted breathing. I saw that the creator of MT-Blacklist won the award for best plug-in for Moveable Type 3.0, which gives me hope that better protection may soon be available to ward off the evildoers of capitalism.
Seth Shostak at the SETI Institute thinks that we will discover a radio signal from another intelligent civilization within the next 25 years. And with any luck, my computer will be the one to find it. It's fun to contemplate the effects of such a discovery on society. After the initial freak-out, I wonder if it would be kind of anti-climactic. After all, any response we sent would take decades, if not centuries, to get there. And that's assuming we would even be able to decipher their message. Still, a lot of organized religions would have to seriously reevaluate their cosmologies. But I bet a lot of adherents would simply refuse to believe such a discovery, no matter how much evidence you shoved in their faces. It would be Evolution vs. Creationism, Part Deux.
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July 25, 2004
Promise Me: No Ewoks
I like the title of the next Star Wars sequel: Revenge of the Sith. It has a sort of old school ring to it. I wasn't a big fan of the first title's obscurity and the second's B-movie cheesiness. Let's just hope the actual film doesn't suck.
Back to work tomorrow. It's been a good week off and the upcoming week looks to be busy as well, with a few Kerry-related events and my mom and sister coming to visit Wednesday. And I need to get back to the book. The summer is slipping away much faster than I would like.
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July 24, 2004
Clear The Air
For those of you who have requested Kerry buttons and stickers, they are coming. This week has been tremendously busy and I haven't been able to sit down and stuff envelopes. But I should be able to get them out next week.
Yesterday was a lot of fun. Saw The Bourne Supremacy, a good old-fashioned spy movie. I don't think I saw one CGI shot in the whole film. Some may find the plot a bit labyrinthine, but I enjoy movies that require the audience to pay attention. Then we had dinner at The Local, an Irish pub on Nicollet Mall. The weather has been unseasonably dry and pleasant over the last few days, which meant that we could eat outside in comfort.
The Minneapolis City Council has passed a smoking ban for bars and restaurants that takes effect next March. And it's about time. I'm looking forward to going out and not coming home smelling like an ashtray. The smokers will probably whine some nonsense about their civil rights, but I am of the opinion that public health trumps anyone's right to suck on a noxious mixture of tar and tobacco and exhale the fumes in my vicinity.
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July 23, 2004
XXXI
Ack! I'm officially over 30. I woke up feeling decidedly less cool than I did yesterday. Before you know it, I'll be watching the Nightly News with Tom Brokaw and wearing cardigan sweaters. I think my friend has some birthday mischief planned, so we'll be departing soon. And I also have to spend the iTunes gift certificate my sister so generously provided me. And last night my nursing staff threw a little party for me, which was quite nice. Who knows what the year will hold for me. The readership for the blog has been inching up steadily and it would be great if that continues. Work is going very well and finally feel like I'm doing the kind of stuff I always wanted to do. A little romance would be welcome, but I'm in no rush. And the book is slowly but surely moving towards completion. In other words, life is good.
While I'm out, take a look at this spoof on "This Land." It's been circulating on the Net for some time, but it's brilliant and I had to give it a plug here.
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July 22, 2004
There Can Be Only One
Ah, Dennis, we knew ye too well. The Kissing Bandit has decided to give up the ghost and endorse Kerry. It's nice of him to concede before the convention, giving his two (or is it three?) delegates the opportunity to quietly switch their Kucinich pins for Kerry pins. And they did manage to get a few words changed in the party platform regarding the war. I might even watch his speech at the convention. But I still want some written assurances from the guy that he won't accost any more people with disabilities without their express written permission.
I'm waiting for the wheelchair guy to come fix my chair. He said he would be here in fifteen minutes. That was an hour ago. And I still need to take a shower, but I can't because the guy might show up any second. I'm not a morning person to begin with and this isn't improving my mood.
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July 21, 2004
New Ride
Wired has an article about individuals who take it upon themselves to make websites more accessible for people with visual impairments. And then get promptly sued or fired for their transgressions. You would think that most companies would be aware of accessibility guidelines for web design by now, but as in architecture, some people remain oblivious to best practices.
My wheelchair has finally arrived. It needed some minor tweaking after I brought it home. The torque was out of whack and the chair would rock back and forth anytime I tried to turn around. Felt like I was riding a bucking steer. That's been fixed, but the footrest is too high and my feet cramp if I leave them there too long. Getting a new chair is a little like getting a new car. It takes a little getting used to after you take it home from the dealership.
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July 20, 2004
Doesn't Play Well With Others
Maybe I can talk Charles into flying back next month when Doom III is released. I'm curious to see whether it will live up to the hype, but I think I'll survive even if I don't get to play it. I'm probably fulfilling my annual quota of computer-game-playing during this week. It's so much nicer to sit back and order someone else around: "Go left! No, right! Shoot!" Much less strain on the neck. But I find that I still get bored with multi-player options in games. My friend has been playing a lot of multi-player Halo and it just seems repetitive. I guess I prefer games that are driven by a cohesive storyline. And in single-player games, you don't have annoying 14-year-olds with monikers like "Fartmonkey" and "Butt Pirate" running around and calling everyone "faggot." There's something about on-line games that brings out a homoerotic streak in young men.
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July 19, 2004
Mirth
Yesterday, Charles and I were watching an episode of MST3K that I hadn't seen before and there was a scene...well, you kind of had to be there, but it had me laughing so hard I had to make a conscious effort to remember to breathe. When I'm really laughing (not a polite ha-ha but the kind of laughter that borders on delirium), I don't make a sound. Instead, tears run down my face and I'm basically a mess. Some people have mistaken that look of mine for one of intense pain, but people who know me well don't get too excited when I get like that, as long as I'm not turning blue.
Tomorrow: the new wheelchair. Finally.
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July 18, 2004
Making A Statement
Anybody want some really cool Kerry 2004 disability-themed campaign buttons? It has the universal wheelchair icon with "John Kerry" spelled out in American Sign Language. I'm selling them for $2 apiece as part of fundraising efforts for the local Kerry/Edwards Disability Steering Committee. If you would like one, send me $2 via PayPal to msiegel1@mn.rr.com. I'll cover postage and I'll even throw in a free bumper sticker with the same design. All the cool gimps will be accessorizing with them this fall. And if you can't afford the $2, let me know and I'll still send you stuff. I'm all about spreading the meme.
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July 17, 2004
Slight Delay
My friend arrived at 8:30 this morning instead of 6:30 last night as originally planned. Apparently, the weather was really bad in Chicago last night, grounding all outgoing flights. He wasn't too happy about spending the night in O'Hare and I think he's functioning on only a couple hours of sleep. Then again, I think he napped while we were watching an old MST episode that riffed on a particularly horrendous movie.
Looks like Apple might soon be announcing a new line of iPods.
Meanwhile, I'm down to less than a gig of hard drive space on my current iPod.
I believe I have mentioned that my birthday is this coming Friday.
The previous three statements are completely unrelated and no hidden agenda should be interpreted from their content.
Charles is patiently waiting for me to finish writing so we can play more Madden 2004, so I better oblige him.
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July 16, 2004
Searching For Bobby Fischer...
...is no longer necessary. Japanese officials arrested him today on passport violations and he may be deported to the U.S., where he's wanted on charges of sanction violations for playing a tournament in Yugoslavia in 1992. When I started playing chess, Bobby Fischer was the first chess "celebrity" I had ever heard of. And then as I got older I learned about his odd behavior and his virulent anti-Semitism. Now he strikes me as a sad, pathetic man who squandered any opportunity he might have had to achieve true greatness.
The UN has a list of ten stories that the world should know more about. One of the stories concerns work on an international treaty to protect the rights of people with disabilities. The article provides a good overview of past UN instruments dealing with the rights of PWD and how to the proposed treaty will be a more comprehensive declaration of their rights. The article also makes some interesting observations about rights as a function of a nation's economic resources. Can a PWD living in the United States and a PWD living in Cameroon or Syria expect the same rights and protections? If a country doesn't have the resources to make buildings accessible or to provide basic support services (like education), do those inadequacies constitute a fundamental violation of an individual's rights? These are fascinating questions and the policy wonk in me yearns to be involved in these discussions. I read that the UN may set up a monitoring body to oversee enforcement of the treaty once it's signed and I'd love a chance to interview for that kind of job. I'm well aware of the UN's shortcomings, but I respect the ideals for which it stands and I believe it has the capacity to work for real change in the world.
My friend is flying in tonight. Blogging may be more abbreviated over the next week, but should still proceed on schedule.
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July 15, 2004
Bust A Move
Kristine from United Cerebral Palsy e-mailed me with a news of a get-out-the-vote effort called DontBlockMyVote.org. The site promotes voter registration and it also urges people to write their congressional representatives todemand better access at the polls and increased funding for accessible voting technology. It's good to see a big organization like UCP working to get people with disabilities involved in the political process. We still do a crappy job of mobilizing ourselves compared to other GOTV campaigns. I remember hearing that at one of the previous Democratic conventions, either 1996 or 2000, they had a room set up for delegates with disabilities where they could discuss disability issues with campaign staff. Nobody showed up, which probably didn't motivate the staffers to do much more outreach. I think it's important to remember that if we want candidates to address our issues, we have to show that we actually vote in significant numbers. Otherwise, all we're doing is complaining.
A couple days ago I download Angel Demar's single "Who Runs This" from iTunes. For lack of a better expression, it's da bomb. I believe my booty was actually shaking, and that's saying something for a man in my condition.
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July 14, 2004
Up & Coming
Hugh Gallagher died today. Professor Gallagher was one of the first scholars to do serious work in the area of disability studies. He wrote a biography of FDR that focused on his decision to hide his disability from the public. He wrote on the Nazi plans to exterminate people with disabilities, which was a big source of inspiration for my law journal article. I had the opportunity to hear him lecture a few years ago and I was impressed with his thoughtfulness and breadth of knowledge.
You want to know how much of a geek I am? I get excited over things like a new remote control for my entertainment center. I read a few reviews of the Harmony remote and managed to score one off of eBay. It had me a bit flummoxed at first because it doesn't work like a traditional universal remote. It doesn't have separate function buttons for each component. Instead, it focuses on activities--watching TV, watching a DVD, etc. But where this remote really earns its cool factor is its ability to be programmed on the web. So after a little experimentation, I had it customized to suit my needs and I'm quite happy with it now.
My boy Obama is delivering the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, confirming his status as a rising star in the party. If I was an Illinois resident, I would be quitting my job to join his campaign. And with Ditka deciding he'd rather endorse Levitra than run a campaign, it looks like Obama has clear sailing between now and Election Day.
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July 13, 2004
Lines Are Open
Ditka? :snicker: Ditka? :giggling uncontrollably: The Illinois GOP really is desperate. Ditka is no Schwarzenegger; Schwarzenegger at least had some political connections and a basic grasp of the issues. Ditka is a pitchman. He can sell little pills for male impotence, but I can't see him having a serious debate with Obama about Social Security or Iraq. It would be embarrassing. Let's hope Illinois Republicans come to their senses and realize that the Senate election is a lost cause for them this time around.
I've written before about my involvement with VSA Arts of Minnesota, a non-profit that promotes access to the arts for people with disabilities. They promote artists with disabilities and bring artists into the classrooms to work with kids with disabilities. We're having a silent auction in September and I'm on the hunt for donations. If any of my readers can hook me up with sports tickets, theater tickets, gift certificates, or other goodies in the Twin Cities area, drop me a line. I'm working my personal network as well, but I figure what good is a blog if you can't beg once in a while on behalf of a good cause?
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July 12, 2004
Brain Candy
The past few years may have made me paranoid, but these discussions about possibly delaying the November election give me pause. If a dozen cities are wiped out by nuclear bombs, then maybe I can see the merits of postponing an election. But barring something spectacular, I can't see the logic in this kind of thing. Bush may be concerned that the country will follow Spain's example and give him the boot if we're attacked again. I think that oversimplifies what happened in Spain. Voters there were pissed because the ruling party initially tried to pin blame for the attacks on ETA when all of the evidence pointed to Arab terrorists. If not for this cover-up and its fallout, the government might have won reelection. And if something like that does happen here, it's impossible to say what the political ramifications are. People may get scared and decide Bush needs to stay. Or they may get angry and decide new leadership is needed. Either way, a delay in elections would feel a lot like martial law to me.
From an editorial in today's NY Times: "The survey, by the National Endowment for the Arts, also indicates that people who read for pleasure are many times more likely than those who don't to visit museums and attend musical performances, almost three times as likely to perform volunteer and charity work, and almost twice as likely to attend sporting events. Readers, in other words, are active, while nonreaders — more than half the population — have settled into apathy." The author makes an interesting observation about how incidences of depression seem to rise in correlation with our increased consumption of television and other electronic media. He has no data or research to support that claim, but it's still an interesting basis for an argument. On a purely anecdotal level, I've noticed that I feel just...I dunno...icky if I watch more than 2-3 hours of television at a time. Like the mental equivalent of eating too many Doritos. I don't get that feeling if I read for the same amount of time. I'm not sure reading how reading got its reputation as the pastime of the bespectacled, intellectual elite tucked away in the salons of their ivory towers. The proliferation of big-chain bookstores in towns big and small seems to belie that notion. Our public school system can probably share in some of the blame for this trend. Too often, kids are introduced to reading as simply another chore forced on them by the adult world. It's something to endure, not enjoy. And that festers into adulthood and is in turn passed on to the next generation.
So I guess I should conclude this rambling by thanking Miss Kay Summerfield, my kindergarten teacher at Anne Sullivan School. She was the one who taught me to read when I couldn't have been much more than 3 or 4. And it never felt like a chore.
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July 11, 2004
Oasis
Went to the lake yesterday. Lake Calhoun, to be specific. Should have brought my camera, as it was a beautiful day and lots of other people had the same idea as I did. Minneapolis is kind of unique in that it has a chain of lakes in the heart of the city. I saw lots of people out in sailboats and windsurfing. For someone who lives this close to the lakes, I should make an effort to get there more often.
This site has got to be one of the weirdest ones I've ever seen. As someone with a tracheotomy, I can sort of see the humor in this kind of thing. But I've never had the urge to play a harmonica with the thing. Now, I have poured beer down my G-tube, but that's a tale for another entry.
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July 10, 2004
Lie To Me
Here's a gallery of books covers of H.G. Wells's (is that apostrophe right? I can never remember the rule for words ending in "S") War of the Worlds. Note the covers of some of the editions from the mid- and late 1960s. Trés trippy. Looks like a few artists were doing book covers to fund the occasional acid weekend.
With the impending visit of my friend, I need to remind myself to go out and buy some real food. I think all I have in my kitchen right now is a box of Cheez-Its and some stale Pringles. Oh, and here's a couple pieces of hard candy on my desk. I have a deck on my building that has several grills, so I have a feeling we'll be utilizing that a lot. As long as he's not expecting me to bake a quiche, I think we'll be okay.
Hayden Christensen annoyed the hell out of me in the second Star Wars movie, but I recently saw him in Shattered Glass and he actually impressed me in that film. He plays Stephen Glass, the reporter at the New Republic who decided that made-up stories were more interesting to write than anything real life has to offer. He brought just the right amount of whiny obsequiousness to the role to make it compelling but not grating. I hear the real Stephen Glass is now an attorney. How the hell did he get past the character fitness portion of bar admission? Believe it or not, character does count when someone applies for the bar, although admittedly the standards can be somewhat subjective.
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July 09, 2004
Geek Fetish
According to Deidre Woollard, guys who read comic books are totally hot. I must be hanging out in the wrong comic book store, because I never meet any girls dying to hear my critique of the latest Supreme Power. I was having coffee with a woman last weekend and I somehow let it slip that I read comics. And I was a little disappointed in myself because I said it like I was admitting to something embarrassing, like occasionally wetting the bed. So if I ever see this woman again, I'll be sure to proclaim, "Yes, I read comics! And I'd be delighted to discuss their literary and artistic merits with you in the context of our postmodern society. If Umberto Eco says comics are literature, then who are we to argue with him?"
Bloggers are getting press credentials for the Democratic National Convention. I'm a bit sorry I didn't follow through on my own plans to blog from the Convention. But I'll be very curious to see what kind of coverage bloggers can deliver. I hope they take the time to tell the stories that Big Media can't be bothered to cover and that we get some good policy discussions, rather than just "So-and-So gave a speech and this is what they said."
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July 08, 2004
Damn Bean-Counters
Oh look, another article about blogger burnout. It seems that the only thing more cliched than writing about the blogging "phenomenon" is writing about bloggers sick of writing. It's like celebrities complaining about fame, although any fame gained through blogging is admittedly dubious. I really admire the hard-core bloggers, but that kind of obsessiveness simply isn't in me. I spend maybe an hour each day on my entry. If things are really slow that day, then maybe I'll do a second entry, just for the hell of it. And sure, there are some days when all of you are reading this and slapping yourselves to stay awake. But I figure that the good stuff balances out the lesser efforts. When someone starts paying me to do this, then I'll worry about whether I'm consistently entertaining. Until then, I'm afraid you'll have to take what you can get.
I found out that the Tamarack Clinic, the place working on my new wheelchair, is closing its doors. This is extremely disappointing news, as they are probably one of the best seating clinics in Minnesota, if not the entire Midwest. I first went there a couple years ago because of a nagging problem with my seat cushion that was causing me some pain. The therapist I worked with at Tamarack immediately diagnosed the problem and now I can sit for hours without any pain. This also means I need to get an appointment ASAP so that we can finish up the work on my chair before they close. Tamarack is part of Fairview Hospitals and I wonder which assistant vice president I should complain to about this boneheaded move.
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July 07, 2004
Entropy
Yikes, I have another birthday coming up in a couple weeks. This past year has gone by in a flash. I have noticed a subjective acceleration of time in the last couple years. Remember when you were a kid, and next week might as well have meant the heat death of the universe? Now, the weeks seem to melt away in between breaths. Don't think I'll do much to celebrate this time around. Not that you can't still get me something, if you're so inclined. But 31 doesn't have the base-10 elegance of 30, so I don't see much point in making a big fuss about it. Just so I'm not considered middle-aged. Anything but that. Please let me be hip and cool for at least a couple more years. Please let girls in their mid-twenties look at me without thinking I'm too old for them. Please let me continue to use words like "awesome" and "dude" without sounding lame or completely phony. Please let me be an advertiser's target demographic for just a little while longer.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:02 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 06, 2004
The Two Johns
Wow. Kerry went for the crowd-pleaser and picked Edwards. I'm actually a bit shocked. I thought we might get Gephardt, and apparently so did the New York Post. Oops. I think this choice could really help spread the fight to states that might not otherwise be in play. I'm not expecting the Dems to pick up Virginia or South Carolina, but it might force the Bush campaign to expend resources in places that would typically be safely in the red column. I'm sure the GOP will attack his lack of experience and his work as a trial attorney, but I don't see either argument sticking. Bush had only a couple years of political experience when he assumed the presidency. And Edwards's trial work was mostly on behalf of injured plaintiffs, not representing big *cough* Haliburton *cough* industry. I'm looking forward to the VP debates.
Here's an article written by a recent college graduate describing her experiences as a student with a disability. Sounds like we both dealt with some clueless professors. I had an advisor tell me to consider not taking French because it was in an inaccessible building. I had a logic professor who didn't believe that students with disabilities should receive time extensions on exams. But I don't think I ever encountered the discrimination and cruelty mentioned in this article. Makes me second-guess my own characterizations of my alma mater as conservative and provincial.
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July 05, 2004
Be My Guest
Ugh. I'm going to keep this short because I've spent the last five hours chained to my computer, working on the grant I mentioned earlier.
My friend Charles, who guest-blogged while I was in Miami, will be coming to visit in a couple weeks. I'm looking forward to a week of pizza, late-night gaming, and just hanging out. And he's also bringing his collection of MST3K DVDs, which should provide some amusement. A few years ago, when I was in the hospital recovering from pneumonia, Charles brought a tape of one of the episodes (I think it was Space Children). We started watching it and during the absolutely hilarious Jackie Coogan skit, I began to laugh so hard that the attending nurse thought I was having a seizure.
Bummer, no Daleks in the new Dr. Who. So much for my Halloween costume idea of taping a plunger to my forehead, encasing my chair in an aluminum barrel, and wandering the floors of my building yelling "Exterminate! Exterminate!" I still might do it, even if only two people in the whole neighborhood get the reference.
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July 04, 2004
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
Somebody needs to invent an umbrella that can be easily attached to a wheelchair. I was walking home from meeting a friend for coffee last night and I got caught in a downpour. By the time I got home, I was one soggy cripple. The motors on my wheelchair also temporarily crapped out, but fortunately I was already home by then. Everything was back in working order once it had the chance to dry out. Could have been worse, I suppose. Could have been like that one time when I was walking around Lake Calhoun and got caught in a storm and my chair crapped out before I could get back to the car.
Leaving shortly to see Spiderman. After all the good things I've read about it, I hope I'm not disappointed.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 03, 2004
Let's Make A Deal
Bill Gates will be giving me a few bucks towards the purchase of my next hard drive, thanks to the recent settlement in the class-action suit brought by Minnesota against Microsoft. Yay for me, but the best aspects of the settlement are the millions of dollars that will go to public schools and the Minneapolis Legal Aid Society. I did some summer clerking for the Disability Law Center, part of the Legal Aid Society, and I can attest to the fact that they could definitely use some new computers. Microsoft seems to be determined to resolve all of the outstanding litigation against it, which is probably a smart strategy. The hundreds of millions in settlement dollars is probably preferable to the potential billions in compensatory and punitive damages. And when I read about the millions of dollars that are going to the firms that worked on the case, I momentarily regretted my decision not to go into private practice. But only for a moment.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 03:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 02, 2004
Devoted Employee
The Department of Homeland Security wants you to know that if you use Internet Explorer, you're letting the terrorists win. I made the switch yesterday and I have no real complaints so far. It seems that images take a bit longer to load, but the difference is minimal. This whole incident may be just what the open-source movement needs to seep into the consciousness of the general public. Browser technology may not be the sexist thing in the computer industry, but Microsoft deserves a wake-up call. How many other products allow five years to pass without any major upgrades?
Assuming I can find a good vantage point on Sunday night, I want to take some pictures of the fireworks with the digital camera. Can any photo geeks out there give me some pointers on the best settings on the camera for this purpose? I know squat about photography, so keep it simple. I have a Canon Powershot A70, if that matters.
Hope all of you are planning on enjoying yourselves over this long weekend. This will be a working holiday for me as I have a grant deadline coming at me like a freight train. Think of me as you're snarfing down your frankfurters and potato salad.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:11 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 01, 2004
Jumping Off The S.S. Microsoft
Sony is making a run on Apple's market share by introducing its own answer to the iPod. But here's what I don't get. It uses a proprietary file format that isn't compatible with any of the existing on-line music stores. It doesn't even play MP3s. Are the executives at Sony high? I can't imagine that many people would be willing to give up their MP3 collections for the sake of a new Walkman. I don't think Steve Jobs will lose any sleep over this.
Okay, okay, so I have no excuse to switch to Firefox, as some of you made clear in your comments. By the way, I do appreciate all the comments you guys are leaving. They're fun to read and it makes me a little less worried that I'm talking to myself.
Check out this PDA for people who are blind. It's got Bluetooth, WiFi, speech output, the works. Very cool. It's not as portable as a Palm Tungsten, but it's a step in the right direction.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack