September 30, 2009

Travelogue

San Francisco isn't a particularly big city in terms of land mass, but it is quite dense. This density can result in some startling changes of scenery in short order. One minute, I was in the trendy and gentrified SoMa neighborhood and a block later I was in the hardscrabble Tenderloin. This density, combined with one of the more comprehensive public transportation systems in the U.S., allowed me to see a good deal of the city and surrounding area without ever stepping foot in a car.

We're all familiar with some of the more iconic sights such as cable cars and the Transamerica Pyramid.






The Ferry Building hosts a bustling farmer's market on Saturdays that is sure to give any foodie heart palpitations. The Bay Bridge provides a lovely backdrop to the scene.




I also made some new friends at the Folsom Street Fair (link very NSFW).



My brother first described it as a gay pride event, but it's more accurate to describe it as one of the largest leather and fetish festivals in the world. To use a Minnesota analogy, it's like Grand Old Days, but with a lot more people wearing chaps, dog collars, and nipple rings. It is decadent, outrageous, and the embodiment of every conservative's paranoid vision of life on the Left Coast. I thought it was a blast, although I could probably have won the award for Most Boring Attire (Heterosexual Male).

Not shown in these photos are my wanderings through the ridiculously crowded streets of Chinatown, my visit to the famous but cramped City Lights bookstore, my afternoon in Golden Gate Park, my exploration of the wonderful Richard Avedon exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, and my day trip to the Berkeley campus (where everyone is both smarter and better-looking than me).

Of course, I didn't manage to see everything. But that's what return trips are for.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:13 PM | Comments (1)

September 29, 2009

Journey's End

Many thanks to my brother Scott for showing me around S.F. over the last few days. I'll write about my experiences in more detail tomorrow, but I think you'll find it worth the wait. I'm always slightly amazed when I make it back from a long-distance trip without losing or breaking anything, yet everything seems to be intact and accounted for. I didn't even have to wait long for my wheelchair after landing at both airports, which makes me wonder if Delta has established some new gimp-friendly efficiency policy for its baggage handlers.

Did I miss anything while I was gone? I looked through my mail and didn't see any summons to appear before a government death panel, so that's a relief.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2009

Go West

Blogging will be on hiatus again until Tuesday. I'm leaving tomorrow to visit my brother in San Francisco for a few days. I don't have a specific itinerary other than to wander the city, buy my brother a birthday dinner, and measure myself up against the Bay Area hipsters. I was last in San Francisco way back in 1997, but my only memories are of the runaways congregating in Haight-Ashbury and making the ill-advised purchase of a tie-dyed T-shirt.

Pictures will be posted upon return. And if you have recommendations of places to go or things to see and do, feel free to e-mail me. I expect that my iPhone will need a vacation after I put it through its paces on this trip.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:32 PM | Comments (1)

September 23, 2009

Selling Point

Most campaigns to persuade companies to hire people with disabilities come across as a bit forced. The underlying message in these campaigns can usually be boiled down to "Hire someone with a disability because...it will make your company look good. Oh, and you might qualify for a minor tax credit!" It's a weak message that most employers don't find persuasive. But a Danish IT firm called Specialisterne actually markets itself on the strengths of its employees with disabilities. The company hires people with various forms of autism to check software code, perform data entry, and other detail-intensive tasks.

People with autism shouldn't be pigeonholed as savants or human computers, but it's encouraging to see a company highlight the talents of individuals who might quickly be dismissed as unemployable. Eventually, this recession will end, boomers will begin thinking about retirement, and good workers will become a scarce commodity again. There are plenty of well-educated, talented people with disabilities who are ready to pick up the slack.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2009

Old-Skool Infrastructure

My daily visit to BoingBoing caused me to do a double-take today when I saw a post entitled "American health care UI: snapshot" showing a screenshot from a computer system used at my workplace.



If I'm not mistaken, that's a screenshot from MMIS, a system that the Minnesota Department of Human Services uses to process claims from thousands of Medicaid providers (doctors, hospitals, etc.). The post refers to it as a "'throwback' system that hasn't really been overhauled for a few years." Actually, MMIS has been around for almost 20 years and it certainly won't win any awards for prettiest user interface. That said, this system enables Minnesota to process Medicaid claims much more quickly than a lot of other states. I'd be surprised if the claims processing systems for private insurers like Medica or Ucare look much different.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2009

Cover Song

A New York City grade school--PS22, to be exact--is receiving plenty of well-deserved attention for its student chorus. The internets are full of video clips from various performances, but I'm especially fond of their version of The Cure's "Pictures of You". The kids' teacher deserves piles of kudos for harnessing their raw talent and eliciting such gorgeous art.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:17 PM | Comments (1)

September 20, 2009

The Best Of All Possible Worlds

If you don't do anything else today, read Tim Kreider's funny and dazzling blog post in the Times about how we view the lives of friends and families through the prism of our own past choices. Since it's impossible for us to go back in time and follow a different set of forks in the road, we quietly assess our peers' stations and life and congratulate or berate ourselves for making similar or wildly different choices. Kreider refers to this sociological phenomenon as the Referendum and suggests that it can sometimes result in people gazing at each with incomprehension, jealousy, or smugness from across a yawning chasm of experience and circumstance. He writes:

I may be exceptionally conscious of the Referendum because my life is so different from most of my cohort’s; at 42 I’ve never been married and don’t want kids. I recently had dinner with some old friends, a couple with two small children, and when I told them about my typical Saturday in New York City — doing the Times crossword, stopping off at a local flea market, maybe biking across the Brooklyn Bridge — they looked at me like I was describing my battles with the fierce and elusive Squid-Men among the moons of Neptune. The obscene wealth of free time at my command must’ve seemed unimaginably exotic to them, since their next thousand Saturdays are already booked.

What they also can’t imagine is having too much time on your hands, being unable to fill the hours, having to just sit and stare at the emptiness at the center of your life. But I’m sure that to them this problem seems as pitiable as morbid obesity would to the victims of famine.

Kreider's observations are similar to my own. Beginning in my early thirties, friends began making remarks to me like "You're so lucky to live alone." or "It must be fun to be a bachelor living in the city." And I would listen to their stories about spouses and partners and imagine how nice it would be to come home and have someone to talk to. Our capacity for imagination is one of our greatest assets, but it can also be a huge pain in the ass. You don't see dogs coming home from an afternoon in the dog park and yearning for a bigger yard or feeling thankful that their master isn't a jerk.

We use each other as the inspiration for the stories we tell ourselves, inserting our own dreams and fears into the narratives of lives that followed a different path than our own. It might not seem like a noble impulse at first because--let's be honest--there isn't much that's ennobling about envying someone's fortune or pitying their burdens. But most great works of fiction are only a couple steps removed from this kind of late-night musing.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:49 PM | Comments (2)

September 19, 2009

Scalleywags & Buccaroos

Look alive, landlubbers, for today we mark International Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day. Aye, the grog is 'specially potent this year. Me head already feels like a cannonball shot from clear t'other side of Smuggler's Bay. Lusty wenches, take note, for I come bearing pricey baubles acquired o'er many a raid on the lily-livered fleet of the East India Trading Company. And a word of warnin', guv'nah: I'll wager a hefty sum that ye have not encountered a scoundrel the likes of me before now, so best keep a watchful eye on your purse and your lass's honor.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:45 PM | Comments (1)

September 18, 2009

I Like To Have Fun

Okay, this is just too awesome not to post. Back in the 80s, before the Internet came along, there was this thing called video dating. Video dating was aimed primarily at middle-aged people who--how to say this politely--had trouble finding dates in more traditional venues. Video dating encouraged people to be themselves in a low-pressure environment where the camera was the only audience. The idea was to say a little about yourself and about what you're looking for in a partner. But the fee didn't always include much in the way of preparation or coaching. To see what I mean, you have to watch this montage of actual video dating clients. Go ahead, I'll wait...

A few things struck me as I was watching this. First, did men really dress this badly in the 80s? The guy in the reindeer sweater makes me want to weep. Second, the guy holding the rose and waxing poetic about his ideal goddess almost had me singing the chorus of "Livin' on a Prayer". Third, "damsel-in-distress hotline"? Really? I mean, really? Finally, if there's any justice at all in this world, Fred the Viking warrior found someone with whom to share his love of cosplay and custom-made weaponry.

And yes, I recognize the irony of me snarking on these poor dudes while I'm sitting here in front of my computer on a Friday night. Embrace the irony: that's my motto.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:22 PM | Comments (2)

September 17, 2009

A Brief Remembrance

I received some sad news today. Bethany Broadwell, a writer who did a lot of freelance writing on disability issues, passed away suddenly this week. Over the years, Bethany was kind enough to mention my blog in a few of her articles. I never had the pleasure of meeting Bethany in person, but I admired her skills as both a writer and advocate. She will be missed.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2009

Critic At Large: Then We Came To The End

Plenty of TV sitcoms are set largely or entirely in the workplace. The best workplace sitcoms (like The Office or M*A*S*H) can both distill and exaggerate the absurdities of modern existence while still telling entertaining stories about fully realized characters. But novels centered on the workplace--especially comedic novels--are much less common. Joshua Ferris' Then We Came To The End is such a novel and it succeeds brilliantly as both satire and a studied observation of human relationships.

The book is set in a Chicago ad agency at the end of the dot-com boom at the outset of the new millennium; massive layoffs are imminent and everyone is gripped by a crippling fear that they will be the next unlucky soul forced to "walk Spanish"--handed a pink slip and instructed to pack their things. As work dries up and morale plummets, the employees are seized by all kinds of work-induced neuroses. They worry about whether the office manager will discover that they stole a chair from a previously terminated colleague. They overanalyze the random comments of a superior. They gossip and go to great lengths to look busy.

Ferris uses the collective "we" throughout most of the book and, rather than being gimmicky, it's a surprisingly effective narrative method. It's a play on the sense of anonymity that pervades most corporate workplaces, but it also gives us a peek into the collective mentality of a group of people struggling to cope not only with potential job loss, but depression, anger, and loneliness. Ferris depicts the workplace as an echo chamber of snap judgments, persistent rumors, and the endless search for distraction. But that's not to say these characters are uniformly unlikeable. They do manage to perform acts of kindness both large and small for one another, even for colleagues they don't necessarily like.

It seems fitting to read this book in the midst of another recession that makes the previous one look like an innocuous hiccup. One of the guys in my book club mentioned that just reading this book made him anxious about his own job. Ferris has tapped into the essential insecurities that plague us in this new age. Lack of stability. Materialism. Isolation. For him, work is a deeply ambivalent force in our lives. It offers some measure of predictability in a chaotic world, but it can also drive us crazy.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2009

Off The Shelf

Big bureaucracies are notoriously bad at adopting new technology and realizing its real potential. Those of us who have worked in CubicleLand could probably swap stories about how we were forced to use outdated computers and software long after newer, better options became available on store shelves. Insurance companies and government agencies are plagued with similar inertia when when approving assistive technology purchases for individuals with communication disabilities. The rapid spread of fast, cheap, and ridiculously portable computers has created a technological environment where functions like speech synthesis can be easily included as an application. But as the Times reports, insurers are refusing to cover low-cost devices like netbooks and smartphones in favor of proprietary computer systems that cost thousands of dollars. Insurers explain that they can only pay for devices that address a specific medical need. But this requirement leads to some pretty absurd outcomes. Manufacturers of these expensive computers actually disable the general-purpose functions of their systems so they can't be used to browse the Web or send an e-mail.

These specialty manufacturers also benefit from the huge price markups they place on items that should be relatively inexpensive. Prentke Romich, the company behind the HeadMaster I use to access my computer, charges $250 for a Bluetooth adapter. Companies can get away with this kind of price gouging because most of the cost is picked up by insurers and, until recently, these companies didn't have much competition from the general marketplace.

There will always be some need for highly specialized assistive technology, but insurers would be committing gross acts of negligence if they didn't explore the merits of cheaper, smaller devices that can allow a person to communicate with ease and efficiency, even if they can also be used to as Internet or casual gaming devices. And manufacturers of specialized equipment would do well to remember that it's now relatively to look up the street prices of computer components. Finally, mainstream device manufacturers might want to study how people with disabilities use their technology and make the necessary tweaks or add-ons that significantly expand their customer base.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:31 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2009

Pep Talk

So what did I do during my time without a computer? For one thing, my unread magazine pile is noticeably thinner. I finished my book club selection a week ahead of schedule, debated yet again whether to purchase an iMac, and dragged myself out of bed early on a Saturday morning to attend a presidential health care rally.

The speech itself was mostly a retread of the one Obama delivered to the joint session of Congress last week, but the speech itself wasn't the main attraction for me. This is probably the most significant domestic policy debate we've had in a couple decades and, as I'm sure regular readers have figured out, it's one that's deeply significant to me. It didn't feel right to stay home when the president would be just a few blocks from my house discussing the same topic that has captured most of my attention through the spring and summer. I wanted to do my small part to demonstrate my support for reform efforts. I can go on about public options and cost containment and financing mechanisms, but there's something to be said for showing up with 15,000 other like-minded individuals to declare in one voice "Enough!"

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:09 PM | Comments (1)

September 13, 2009

All Is Well

It seems that the Internet managed to get along just fine in my absence. I took a sunlamp to the gremlins plaguing my computer (I'm dating myself with that reference) and I'm once again bathing in the screen's comforting blue glow. A big thanks to my friend Derek for helping me swap motherboards and get everything back in working order, all for the very reasonable price of a six-pack of Newcastle. You won't find that kind of deal from Geek Squad. Best of all, I didn't even have to reinstall Windows. I was dreading spending all of this evening staring at progress bars and downloading patches. But I think I'm going to do a data backup just on general principles.

Anyway, it's good to be blogging again. I've felt a bit cut off over the last few days. Somehow, talking to myself isn't as satisfying as putting words to screen.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 04:05 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2009

Ugh

I hope to resume blogging Sunday, once I can replace a faulty motherboard. In the meantime, explore the archives whilst I return to premodern times for the next couple days.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 03:55 PM | Comments (1)

September 08, 2009

Quick To Judge

The song had it right; it really is a small world. I was just reading Matt Yglesias' blog post about Liz Fowler, Senator Max Baucus' chief health care counsel who likely played a major role in drafting the latest proposal to other members of the Senate Finance Committee. Politico named her as one of the five faces to watch in the health care debate. Liz is getting some flak on other liberal blogs because, before returning for a second stint as a Baucus staffer, she was a vice president for mega-insurer Wellpoint.

For what it's worth, Liz and I were classmates in law school. We didn't know each other well, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that she was one of the smartest people in our class. I'm not surprised in the least that she's become an influential voice at the national level. And while I can't speak to Liz's politics, it strikes me as unfair to criticize her for holding a previous job for an insurance company. Plenty of talented attorneys enter the private sector before returning to the public sector. We shouldn't begrudge anyone for making a living or make baseless accusations of guilt by association.

Like a lot of progressives, I'm disappointed that Baucus' proposal doesn't include a public option. But let's remember that the other House and Senate bills also provide substantial premium subsidies that would be paid to private insurers. What's more, the President himself has negotiated with insurers to hold down costs. It's perfectly legitimate to be wary of the insurers' role in the process, but I don't think Liz is whispering their bidding into her boss's ear.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2009

The Continental Perspective

Happy Labor Day to all my American readers. We're enjoying a streak of uncommonly good weather here in the Upper Midwest and I'm going to do my best to not let it go to waste. But if you're looking for something to read in between picnics and parades, check out the write-up in German magazine Spiegel on brain-computer interfaces. Somebody really should start a blog that catalogs all the media references to this emerging technology. Hey, wait a minute...

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2009

We Need A Secret Handshake Or Something

I was circling around Lake Calhoun yesterday when an older guy in a wheelchair passed me going the opposite direction. He raised his hand in greeting and I gave him a friendly flutter of the eyebrows. Afterwards, I glanced sideways at my nurse and said, "We all know each other, you know." She laughed. As if she thought I was kidding.

Seriously, guys, you need to be more careful about acknowledging me in public. Planning for the revolution proceeds apace, but the authorities are beginning to suspect something is up. This blog is receiving a suspiciously high number of hits from government domains, which means I either suddenly have a lot of fans in the civil service or I'm being watched. Guess which theory I'm going with. So until Operation Poster Children is in full effect, the safest thing you can do is pretend you don't me. And if you need to get me a message, use the usual drop point. And under the trash can, not in it. My nurses get really annoyed when they have to rummage through garbage. I don't know how many times I have to say that.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 12:35 PM | Comments (1)

September 05, 2009

Minnesota Nice

One thing that has frustrated me about the tone of the health care debate over the past month is that so many congressional delegates don't know how to talk about health care policy. They have a tendency to oversimplify the complexities of the debate because they think their constituents want things presented in simple terms. But simplification, when it's done clumsily, tends to come across as condescension. And nobody likes having someone else talk down to them.

Minnesota Senator Al Franken demonstrates that it is possible to discuss health care policy in grown-up terms, even when the audience consists mostly of right-wing. The video is interesting for a few reason. First, it shows that people are less likely to shout at you if you engage them in a respectful debate free of false sincerity and oneupmanship. Second, it seems that Franken closely read the great New Yorker article on health care costs by Atul Gawande. Third, a lot of these teaparty activists cannot let go of their obsession with illegal immigration.

Franken probably didn't change many minds, but he did display a sense of civic decency that is all too absent from much of our public discourse.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:39 PM | Comments (0)

September 04, 2009

Friday Night Playlist

It's been a while since we've paid a visit to my Library of Tunes. Let's say hello to the new arrivals.

"Nashville" by Gospel Gossip. This local band deserves all the airplay they've been getting on college radio over the summer months. They excel at infusing their with the experimentalism of punk and the tunefulness of pop. This song is awash in guitars and feedback, but it has a power pop sensibility that reminds me The New Pornographers. If there's any justice in the musical world, Gospel Gossip will be playing on David Letterman within a year.

"Black Magic" by Magic Wands. This male-female duo somehow manages to sound bigger than the sum of their parts. That could be clever editing, but I have no problem using clever editing in the service of darkly atmospheric songs like this. I have no idea what they're going on about when they sing "White light, my time has come", but I don't care.

"Dreaming" by Blondie. I know, I know, this song is almost as old as me. But Debbie Harry has one of the sexist voices ever, even when she's singing about traffic and cups of tea. It's a song so brimming with hope, but touched with a bit of world-weariness. I can't help but smile whenever I hear it.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)

September 03, 2009

Maybe She Needs An Agent

The Deal with Disability is the newest disability-themed blog to arrive on the scene and it deserves a spot on your RSS subscription list. Its author, Eva, is 26 and has cerebral palsy. More importantly, Eva has a talent for writing insightful, funny posts about her encounters with everyday people. Some of her entries include video of these interactions courtesy of the discretely mounted camera on her wheelchair. Eva is nonverbal and her videos illustrate the discomfort and awkwardness that most people exhibit when they encounter someone with a significant disability. Eva seems to take it everything in stride and I look forward to reading more of her observations.

Eva's blog has already been featured on MetaFilter, so I expect that she'll be signing a book deal before long. As an aside, the comments thread on MeFi regarding her blog is one of the more enlightened on-line discussions of disability I've seen in a while.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:34 PM | Comments (1)

September 02, 2009

The Here And Now

I had a momentary brush with mortality last week. It was nothing serious and I'm fine, but it did cause me to become temporarily hyperaware of everything I was doing whether it watching television, brushing my teeth, or riding to work. And so this short film entitled "Moments" came to my attention just when I was thinking about life, the universe, and everything. It's a lovely montage of ordinary moments with some surprising visual juxtapositions. I'm a sucker for sweetly melancholy reminders of our fleeting existence and this video fits the bill nicely.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:03 PM | Comments (1)

September 01, 2009

Mergers And Acquisitions

Now that Disney owns Marvel Comics, I'm already eagerly anticipating next summer's big crossover event in which Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear team up with the X-Men to take on Magneto, Cruella Deville, and the evil queen from Sleeping Beauty. Cruella takes a shining to Magneto, but it's a love doomed to end in tears. And maybe we'll get a WALL-E/Iron Man movie because that's a story just dying to be told.

I'm sure the opportunities for corporate synergy are endless, but I'm trusting that Disney will exercise a little good taste and not make Hannah Montana the newest member of the Avengers.

Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)