August 31, 2005

Exodus

I take back what I said about how the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina could have been much worse. Things look pretty freaking bad. Tens of thousands of refugees are beginning to pour into neighboring cities and states, putting what is sure to be a heavy strain on their social service networks. I was talking with some friends earlier and we were wondering why Louisiana government leaders didn't do more to structurally reinforce those levees in the event of a major hurricane. The possibility that Lake Pontchartrain could spill over into the city has certainly occurred to them before (registration req'd).

On the way home today, I saw that one of the local gas stations was selling gas for $2.99. If we're going to start paying European fuel prices, maybe we can also get European-style mass transit systems in our cities.

Haven't gotten many questions in response to yesterday's solicitation. Remember, I'm only on loan for a few more days before I get transferred to the Paris branch library.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:23 PM | Comments (2)

August 30, 2005

Off The Shelf

A Dutch library is "lending out" individuals representing marginalized groups, including gays, Gypsies, and people with physical disabilities. Library patrons can take these individuals to a nearby cafeteria and ask them questions for an hour. I get what the library is trying to do, but I'm not sure I agree with the methodology. It seems to reinforce the notion that there is something exotic or decidedly Other about these individuals and that they can be safely approached in a controlled environment. At the same time, I understand that the average person's social circle may never include people from these groups. But shouldn't we be more concerned about why these people are marginalized, instead of making them into cultural exhibits?

But in the spirit of experimentation, I'm going to lend myself out to all of you. I'll answer the first five questions that are e-mailed to my Gmail account, regardless of content. If you've had burning questions you've wanted to ask about my disability or anything else, now's your chance. The identities of all questioners will be kept anonymous, of course. Let the interrogation begin.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:25 PM | Comments (1)

August 29, 2005

Katrina & The Waves

I just read on BoingBoing that my friend Susannah Breslin, a resident of New Orleans, is safe and unharmed in the wake of the havoc Katrina wreaked along the Gulf Coast. I hope that all of my Gulf Coast readers (if there are any of you to begin with) are weathering the storm without too much difficulty. It seems that, while things are definitely bad down there, it could have been much worse.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2005

Outgoing Communique

I downloaded Skype several months ago, but never really used it much because I didn't know many people who used it. But then I signed up for SkypeOut last night. It's way cool. I can call land lines and cell phones from my computer independently. And people on the other end seem to hear me much better than on a regular phone. All I need now is a USB headset so that the person on the other end can't be overheard on my computer speakers. And it'd be nice if people could call me from a regular phone and the call would go directly to Skype, but I think that feature is probably another twelve months away, at least. What's really cool is that I'll be able to load up Skype onto my nurse's laptop and taunt people back home when it's still, like, four in the morning their time.

The new blinds that were installed on one of my living room windows just a few weeks ago unceremoniously fell out of the ceiling last night. And now the sun is shining directly through that window and onto me and my desk. I feel like one side of my body is being grilled like a cheese sandwich. But am i going to move? Hell, no. At least not until I start seeing spots.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:48 PM | Comments (2)

August 27, 2005

Can You Hear Me Now?

After I wrote last night's entry, I gave some more thought to doing a Sweeps Week here on the blog. If TV networks can devote a whole month to credibility-straining plots with heavy doses of sex and violence, I see no reason why I can't do the same thing in my little media corner. Some ideas are knocking about in my head and I think it could be a fun experiment. But I think it will have to wait until I get back from Europe so that I can give the concept proper attention it deserves.

I've been meaning to get a new cell phone for a while, so today I called up T-Mobile and ordered a Motorola V188. It's a quad-band phone, which means I'll be able to use it overseas. But with roaming charges of $.99 per minute in France and Germany, I won't be having an extended conversation with anyone back in the States. But maybe I can text message some of my friends from the Eiffel Tower and make them all jealous. And it will be nice to have a phone handy in case I need to call the American Embassy from a Parisian jail. Not that I'm planning on getting arrested or anything, but sometimes misunderstandings occur.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2005

Extracurricular Activities

I have a friend who works as a dean in one of the law schools in the area. Recently, she was telling me that a lot of law students were blogging about school and, more specifically, their uncensored feelings about various professors. Professors sometimes find these blogs and the recriminations start flying faster than you can say "civil action for libel." Boys and girls, discretion is the better part of blogging. It's okay to mock your professors when you and your buddies are goofing off in the library. But you never know when you might need that letter of recommendation or reference from that same professor you described as a "pompous, self-important fuck with a bad comb-over" on your blog. It can be tempting to take potshots from behind the safe, warm glow of your Powerbook, but such things have a tendency to come back and bite you in the ass. And remember, most people visit your blog simply because they want to read about your twisted, so-dirty-it's-almost-illegal sex life.

Which makes me wonder why people still read my blog. I better start making shit up or I'm gonna start losing readers. Might be time for Sweeps Week at the 19th Floor.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2005

Man About Town

Wow, I think I'm going to need to hire a secretary to manage my social calendar. I've had something going on nearly every night for the last week or so. It's like I traded places with someone who's a lot more popular than me. Sooner or later, someone will realize the error and I'll be back to spending my evenings trading instant messages with middle-aged men pretending to be thirty-something women with centerfold bodies and Ph.Ds in political economics.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 11:49 PM | Comments (3)

August 24, 2005

Hey Batter

I'm leaving shortly to attend a Twins game with a friend. The Twins are on a winning streak and they're playing a division rival, the White Sox. Let's hope the streak continues.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:17 PM | Comments (2)

August 23, 2005

Article Of Faith

I'm back from Duluth and, damn, it's cold up there! Don't you guys ever get above 75 degrees? Maybe I'm spoiled because we've had such a tropical summer in the Twin Cities, but I nearly became a Crip-Sicle last night because the window in my hotel room was left open. It was like I had suddenly time traveled into mid-October.

Friend, I'd like to discuss something very important with you. Do you wonder what it's all about? Do you ask yourself, "Why am I here?" I used to ask myself the same questions, until one solitary evening, while I was watching a rerun of Good Times, I was suddenly touched by His Noodliness, the Flying Spaghetti Monster (or FSM). I now understand that we are all beloved of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and that we are put here on this world to please His Noodliness. He especially digs it when people dress up like pirates. All the around the world, fellow Pastafarians are working to ensure that children are taught about FSM and how He created the Universe in what is known as the Great Meatball Shedding.

Would you like to know more about FSM? You could accompany me to one of our regular Tuesday afternoon services. You get a free eyepatch just for showing up.

Oh, you need more time to think about it. I understand. Let me leave you with these Pastafarian words of wisdom:

Arrrgh, matey!

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:28 PM | Comments (1)

August 22, 2005

Business Trip

I'm off to Duluth to give a presentation at a conference. I'm staying overnight, so I'll be back tomorrow afternoon. I leave you with some uber-cool pictures of the 2005 Harbin Snow and Ice World festival in China. Enjoy. Remember, only four months until winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:18 AM | Comments (1)

August 21, 2005

Interior Design

Yesterday, I had a contractor here to discuss flooring options for my condo. He was really pushing me to go with laminate because he said it would best resist scuffling from my wheelchair. I'm sure laminate looks fine, but I'm more inclined to go with a more eco-friendly material like bamboo. When I mentioned bamboo, he kind of poo-poohed it and said that it wouldn't hold up. But everything I've read indicates that bamboo is quite durable. If you have bamboo floors in your own home, I'd be interested in hearing your views on the matter.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:08 PM | Comments (6)

August 20, 2005

New Arrival

City Pages, the local weekly paper, has a profile of Johana Schwartz. Johana is a Stanford graduate with cerebral palsy who recently moved to Minnesota from California. She has a degree in Irish literature, which means she probably read Ulysses; a task that requires more endurance than I have. Johana has lots of nice things to say about Minnesota summers. I wonder if she'll be as enthusiastic about our winters. I have to say the tone of the article did bother me a bit. The writer seems to spend a lot of time dwelling on Johana's physical state and how dependent she is on others. But maybe that's just me. Johana herself sounds like a fascinating person.

Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions on a notebook computer. I'll pass them on to my brother.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:24 PM | Comments (1)

August 19, 2005

Picket Line

The looming mechanics strike at Northwest Airlines, which is looking like a virtual certainty tonight, is dominating the news around here. Northwest is a major economic player in the Twin Cities and the vast majority of flights from here are on Northwest planes. I'm not sure how my own flight plans will be affected if there is a strike. Northwest is vowing to continue regular operations through a strike. But if lots of flights get canceled or delayed, that might force the federal government to intervene. I'm reluctant to make arrangements with another airline simply because Northwest has always been accommodating to my needs. Perhaps Northwest has always planned on using a strike to bust the union, which is unfortunate. The airline unions have spent decades ensuring good pay and benefits for their members, but 9/11 revealed the shaky underpinnings of the airline economies. And now the unions are forced to accept deep wage cuts, job losses, or both. No matter what the unions do, they lose. Organized labor is in such a fractured state already; an unsuccessful mechanics strike will only make matters worse.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2005

Need For Speed

I thought this report on the FCC's failure to promote the spread of broadband Internet access in the U.S. illustrates the current Administration's lack of vision in terms of domestic policy. According to the report, the U.S. ranks 16th worldwide in the number of broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants. It also points out that the FCC can exaggerate the number of broadband connections by defining "broadband" as anything 200kbps or faster. That's barely four times faster than a dial-up connection. But yet many telephone companies are able to sell DSL connections at this speed and convince people that they're buying "broadband" service. Meanwhile, the French can buy 15 Mps service for $38 a month. I'm paying almost $50 for a 4 Mbps connection.

We badly need a national broadband policy. But instead what we get are state laws banning municipal wifi networks and FCC rulings that weaken consumer choice. Yes, we're a big country with lots of rural areas. But we don't seem to have a problem giving everyone access to a bazillion TV channels. If Joe Sixpack in Nowhere, Kansas can get seven HBO channels, why the hell can't he get a decent Internet connection?

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 11:33 PM | Comments (1)

August 17, 2005

Rendezvous

While I'm in Paris, I'd like to fall in love with a geeky French girl who thinks my American accent is kinda cute and who will take me into a solitary corner of Shakespeare & Company and kiss me with one warm hand behind the nape of my neck. See that it happens, will you?

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2005

Launch

I've previously mentioned my involvement in efforts to launch a media corporation focusing on disability issues and featuring pieces produced by and starring people with disabilities. I'd like to direct you to the official website for PWdBC, the People With disabilities Broadcast Corporation. It launched a few weeks ago and you'll find my name listed under the Board of Advisors. It's a concept that is still in its formative stages, but you'll find our business plan on the website as well as an open solicitation for resumes and programming ideas. Keep in mind that PWdBC doesn't have any funding yet, but I think it's safe to say that we've had a few nibbles of interest from assorted parties. Howard Renesland, the Visionary-In-Chief for PWdBC, has put in hundreds of hours into making this idea a reality and he deserves a lot of credit for keeping his eyes on the prize in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. We continue to believe that there's a market for such a channel, not to mention a lot of untapped and underutilized talent. The Screen Actors Guild recently released a report stating that performers with disabilities are vastly underrepresented in mainstream media. While we certainly don't want our channel to become the disability ghetto of the media spectrum, we do think it could be a showcase for all kinds of talent that isn't getting any exposure in the current media conglomerates. And if we're successful, it might give show the other networks how negligent they've been in ignoring this segment of the population.

I'll keep you posted on the progress of PWdBC. And if there are certain types of programming you'd like to see on a disability-themed channel, send them to me and I'll pass them on to Howard.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2005

Walking Tour

My brother wants to buy a new notebook computer and he's asking me for advice. He wants something that is light but nothing in a subcompact model. I'm not going to recommend any Apple models because of their impending switch to Intel processors. Otherwise, I would wholeheartedly endorse a Powerbook, so I don't want any nasty comments from Apple partisans. I was thinking about the Dell D600 or the IBM Thinkpad, but this is only after a cursory glance at some hardware reviews. If you have a favorite model that you want to pitch, let me know.

I had originally reserved a van and driver for each day I'm in Paris, mostly because I wasn't certain how much I would need it. But as I look more closely at where I'll be staying, I realize I can walk to most of the big attractions. I'll only use a van for a couple days to see Versailles and Sacre Coeur/Montmartre, thereby saving myself a considerable amount of money. I'm not too worried about Berlin. My brother has told me that most of the S-Bahn and U-Bahn is accessible. When the Allies were bombing the piss out of the city sixty years ago, they probably didn't realize that all of the subsequent rebuilding would create a more accessible city.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:18 PM | Comments (1)

August 14, 2005

Nine Lives

Sister's Cats

These are my sister's kittens and my houseguests until tonight. Thunder is on the left and...wait for it...Lightning is on the right. This morning, I kind of freaked because one of the cats jumped up on the window sill and stuck his head out the partially open window. For a moment, I thought I might have to make up some story for my sister that the cat ran away to see the world or something like that. Fortunately, the cat's existential crisis passed and it decided to play with a paper bag instead.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:35 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2005

La Rive Gauche

There was a slight mix-up with my hotel in Paris. I thought I'd be staying on the Champs d'Elysees, but that turned out to be exorbitantly expensive. Instead, I'll probably be staying at this hotel in the St. Germain neighborhood, inside the Latin Quarter. I've made arrangements for a van and driver for each day I'm in Paris, but I'm wondering if I should scale that back a day or two because I'm within walking distance of the Louvre, Notre Dame, and Musee d'Orsay. I should also mention that if there are any Parisians who read my blog, I'd love to meet you and buy you a drink. The same goes for any readers in Berlin. Which reminds me, I should e-mail a couple of my cousins in Germany and let them know I'm coming.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 04:42 PM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2005

Thought Police

My sister's cats are creeping me out. Wherever I go in my condo, they follow me around like they're stalking prey. And sometimes they'll simply sit and stare at me until I start getting self-conscious. Oh, and one of them decided my carpet looked an awful lot like a litter box. Charming creatures.

The way some Republicans are behaving towards Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother of a soldier killed in Iraq and who is camped outside Bush's Crawford ranch, is so vitriolic it's almost bizarre. Whether or not you agree with the symbolism of her vigil, she certainly doesn't deserve to be called a "whore" or peppered with taunting chants of "We don't care." I'm not sure this is even about Iraq anymore. It's about quashing any display of speech that a small but potent group of ideologues deem threatening. And yes, there are rude, overzealous liberals who also behave badly. But if someone from the left made derogatory remarks about the mother of a dead soldier, that individual would quickly be vilified by the right. But because the right feels like they are the exclusive proprietors of star-spangled patriotism, it somehow excuses their conduct from the normal bounds of decency and compassion.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2005

The First Step Is Admitting You Have A Problem

My TiVo finally gave up the ghost the other day. After three years of near constant spinning, one or both of the hard drives must have failed. You wanna know how addicted I am to this technology? As soon as I was positive the device was kaput, I was scouring eBay for a replacement. Fortunately, I found a Series 2 model for a very reasonable price and I'm going to try to hook it up to my wireless network, which has my inner geek rubbing his hands in anticipation. Now, I'm perfectly willing to acknowledge that I didn't need to buy this toy. Then again, I probably didn't need to buy an iPod either. I have few vices in life and my gadget fetish doesn't carry the risk of communicable disease or incarceration, so there's my rationalization, lame as it is. And besides, I can stop whenever I want.

As soon as I get that LCD display for my computer.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:37 PM | Comments (1)

August 10, 2005

Stopped At The Border

I had some medical supplies sent over to Europe so that I wouldn't have to pack as much for the trip. They're currently stuck in customs and it's uncertain whether they'll ever be released. I can imagine some French customs clerk looking at some spare ventilator tubing, scratching his head, and wondering Qu'est-ce que c'est? Hopefully, they'll realize that I'm not trying to smuggle contraband into the EU and they'll send the packages on their way.

My division is moving to a new building near the Capitol at the end of September. And the President signed a multi-billion dollar transportation bill. These two events are related. You see, for all the pork packed in the bill, it does contain some money to develop a transit depot in St. Paul. This might mean that we'll soon see progress on a light-rail line between Minneapolis and St. Paul, along what's known as the Central Corridor. I've commuted between Minneapolis and St. Paul before and I-94 can turn into a parking lot during rush hour. I'd gladly take the train to work if such a line existed, rather than stare at an angry red ribbon of taillights on the freeway. The Hiawatha Line has been a resounding success and it seems that the stars are aligned for this expansion to take place. C'mon, civic leaders of the Twin Cities, make my life a little easier.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 09, 2005

Feline Friends

Beginning tomorrow, I'm supposed to watch my sister's kittens while she's in Chicago for a few days. These are the instructions she e-mailed me:

On Friday, change the litter. All you have to do is pick out the hard pee and poop. I know it sounds gross, so make someone who has cats do it. Then all you have to do is put fresh crystals on top so it doesn't smell too bad.

Damn right it sounds gross. Sorry, but the idea of a pet that leaves its excrement lying around in a box for you isn't all that appealing to me. I know, I know, I need to stop the cat-bashing. I'm sure my next girlfriend will simply adore cats and I'll have a dramatic change of heart. Or I might just keep my mouth shut.

Okay, a technical question for the electrical engineers in the audience. I use a battery charger to recharge the external battery connected to my ventilator on a nightly basis. In Europe, can I plug the charger into a transformer and still use it to charge my battery? Or do I shell out an obscene amount of money for a dual-voltage charger from the vent manufacturer? My wheelchair manufacturer is loaning me a dual-voltage charger free of charge, but the vent manufacturer :cough Puritan Bennet :cough: isn't in as an accommodating spirit. Thoughts?

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:32 PM | Comments (3)

August 08, 2005

Decade

Yesterday, I realized that it's been ten years to the day since I moved to Minneapolis. I remember driving here from Wisconsin with my brother in our old Volkswagen van. It was an extremely hot day and the air conditioner didn't work, making the drive seem especially long. We got lost once we reached Minneapolis and it took us a while to find my new apartment building. That all seems like another lifetime now. Minneapolis has long felt like home and I don't foresee returning to Green Bay anytime soon. But August 7, 1995 remains a significant bright line in my own personal history because I remember a time when I wasn't sure I'd be going to law school and spending the next decade living at home with my parents seemed like a distinct possibility. And since I've been here, I really couldn't ask for a better life. I'm lucky to be where I am and have so many outstanding people in my private orbit, and now seemed like a good time to remind myself of that fact.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2005

Floorlights

This weekend is Fringe Festival in Minneapolis. Fringe Festival is a celebration of experimental theater, performance art, and multimedia projects at various venues around the city. Later this afternoon, I'm going to a performance called Fragile Lines that is written and directed by a friend of a friend. I have no idea what to expect, but I think it will be interesting. I know that this artist strongly believes in audience participation and I'm curious to see how that's incorporated into the performance.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but last week NPR did a story on accessible voting technology for people with disabilities. It doesn't offer much insight on the current debate between those who want a verifiable paper trail and those who want accessible voting booths, but it does provide a good over of how the technology needs to be accessible to people with a range of disabilities.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 12:47 PM | Comments (0)

August 06, 2005

The Horror!

I got my passport in the mail yesterday. And, as I might have expected, the photo of me is wince-inducing. I don't know what it is about me and government-issued identification photos, but I always have this slack facial expression that makes me look like I'm stoned out of my gourd on some high-quality narcotics. And no, I'm not scanning the photo for posting on this blog. Believe me, I'm doing you a favor.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 05, 2005

Circadian Rhythms

Ugh. For some reason, I've been feeling kind of sleep deprived all week. It probably didn't help that there were a couple nights when I didn't get to bed until 12:30 or so. If I had my way, I'd be up until 2 every night and in bed until 10. Why do you think I'm working so hard on this becoming-a-writer thing?

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:21 PM | Comments (1)

August 04, 2005

Fan Club

I came across this on Warren Ellis' blog today:

So when do I hit that elite level of blogdom when people start sending me pictures like this? Must I wait until I actually do something noteworthy? Or will I have to resort to shameless bribes?

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:24 PM | Comments (1)

August 03, 2005

Junk Science

President Bush thinks that intelligent design and evolution should be taught side-by-side in our nation's science classrooms. I'm surprised he didn't also advocate teaching that thunder is the result of God bowling. Because, hey, you can't prove that God isn't bowling. I love how ID advocates love to call their fantasy a theory, as if that makes their assertions any more credible.

Here's what I don't get about fundamentalist Christians. They claim to detest everything Darwin's theory implies about the origins of human life. But many of them seem to practice a vigorous form of social Darwinism, i.e. if you're poor, it's most likely your fault. Or you're poor because you're supposed to be poor. At least, that's what I hear from the mouths of many conservative Christian leaders. Granted, it's not exactly the same as saying we're descended from monkeys, but it is definitely a variation on the theory of natural selection.

But if we're gonna teach ID in biology classes, then I totally think we should give equal time to the-world-is-carried-on-the-back-of-a-giant-turtle theory.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:00 PM | Comments (4)

August 02, 2005

Comfort Zone

All the hype surrounding Murderball, unfortunately, hasn't resulted in great ticket sales (I haven't seen it yet myself; hopefully this weekend). Some believe that moviegoers aren't comfortable with an honest portrayal of people with disabilities. Frankly, I think that's bullshit. Maybe I expect too much of people, but I can't believe people continue to be turned off by the mere sight of people in wheelchairs. Are we still that foreign to most people's daily experiences? Maybe the title confuses people; perhaps they think it's sports-themed horror movie. Or maybe it hasn't been advertised enough on television or radio.

But then again, maybe the notion of disability still does bother people. I just came back from my building's National Night Out deck party. When I joined a group of people at one table, one person definitely did not seem thrilled with my presence at first. Her body language was kind of defensive unit I started talking to her. By the time I left that table, her attitude was much warmer, but perhaps it proves the point that it's going to take more than a movie to get people comfortable with disability. Perhaps I put too much faith in the better angels of human nature. I just don't know.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:00 PM | Comments (2)

August 01, 2005

Sicko

The other night, one of my nurses looked up from her charting and said, "I have no idea what to write about you. You're so healthy." Which would probably be news to most of the people I pass on the street. To most of them, I probably look quite ill indeed. Of course, it's all a matter of perception. Those who know me to some degree know that I'm one of the toughest gimps on the block. Those who don't may assume that I'm sick or dying or in a great deal of pain, but they probably wouldn't use the word "healthy" to describe me. The whole concept of health is one that seems to be grounded so deeply in appearance. It's illustrated in the cliched image of a parent checking a newborn baby for ten fingers and ten toes. But the human capacity to thrive is tremendously adaptable. Even with my tubes and a couple additional orifices in my body, I feel good almost all of the time. And I think that doesn't jibe with how others see me, at least at first.

I'm going to see a movie at Loring Park with a friend tonight. I don't think I've seen an outdoor movie since I was teenager. Tonight's forecast is for a warm and humid evening; in other words, perfect weather to be in the park.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:07 PM | Comments (1)