Motley Moose – Archive

Today is International Asperger’s Day. It is celebrated today because the man who first recognized this was Hans Asperger who was born on this day in 1906. Although Asperger’s Syndrome is now classified as Autism Spectrum Disorder those of us whose lives have been touched by this still refer to our loved ones as Aspies and indeed they refer to themselves as Aspies.

My grandson Tristen has Asperger’s Syndrome. It has been a long hard struggle for him but he is doing fantastic now. He has well above average intelligence. He is a junior in High School and already colleges are trying to convince him to become a student at their institution. He is in National Honors Society. He has overcome bullying because he is different. He has learned how to make friends.

What is an Aspie like? An Aspie will walk a mile in heavy traffic to make tea for me when I am sick. An Aspie will come over and clean out and tune up my computers. Did I mention we refer to him as Tech Support? An Aspie is a person who towers over me and will wrap his arms around me and say, “I love you Aunt Michele.”

How does an Aspie think? These are some thoughts Tristen had posted on Facebook.

Vision: How can the future be so hard to predict when all of my worst fears keep coming true?

Wishes: When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams can come true. Unless it’s really a meteorite hurtling to the Earth which will destroy all life. Then you’re pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for. Unless it’s death by meteor.

Tradition: Just because you’ve always done it that way doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly stupid.

The Secret of Success: What is The Secret? Pretend you’ve already achieved it- Then offer to sell The Secret to others.

Pressure: It can turn a lump of coal into a flawless diamond, or an average person into a perfect basket case.

Problems: No matter how great and destructive your problems may seem now, remember, you’ve probably only seen the tip of them.

Pessimism: Every dark cloud has a silver lining, but lightning kills hundreds of people each year who are trying to find it.

Overconfidence: Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you could survive the odds beating you.

Madness: Madness does not always howl. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “Hey, is there room in your head for one more?”

Indifference: It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile, but it doesn’t take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face.

Government: If you think the problems we create are bad, just wait until you see our solutions.

My Aspie is smart, funny, generous, and loving. Today is International Asperger’s Day. It is a day to let the world know you love an Aspie. I love you Tristen.

Welcome to Sunday All Day Brunch. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is new in your life. One of the things I inherited from my Mom was her love of refrigerator magnets. My fridge is loaded with them. Sometimes I even use them to hold up notes but for the most part they are decorations. I got some from my Mom and one from my Dad. I gravitate towards unicorns and cats but I have some other types too.

(Cross posted from Street Prophets)

Welcome to Thursday Coffee Hour. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is going on in your life. Today I am really happy about some art that I’ve done.

On July 31, 2003 I did a picture I called Morning Has Broken. It turned out to be my favorite picture. As the models and textures improved over the years I wanted to go back and revisit the picture and fix the ring around the planet and the tree. The tree models available in 2003 were pretty primitive. They have greatly improved over the years. The problem was that my computer would crash every time I tried to bring the picture up. I figured I would just have to leave it the way it was. I was looking for a different picture on the computer and realized it had never been transferred over from my old workhorse computer. While transferring it onto a CD I decided on the off chance that it might work if I transferred the Bryce file for Morning Has Broken. Much to my delight I was able to pull the file up on the new machine and fix my planet and tree.

I can’t say for sure what makes this picture so special to me. It does have some of my favorite things in it though. I love mountains and water and pine trees and ringed planets. I think that the sense of peace that this picture conveys may be what I love the most about it. It is a place where I would definitely love to live.

The owner of the catcher’s mitt was born on October 16, 1882 and was named James Francis Wilson. He was called Frank. I never knew him personally because he died before I was born. What I know of him I know from my Dad. Frank was his father and Daddy loved him dearly.

Dad had this to say about his father and baseball.

Until the depression started in 1929, Dad played semi-pro ball for the company he worked for. He was an excellent catcher, and had played with many of the future major league stars. He had progressed up to Triple A Ball with both Beaumont of the Texas League and Milwaukee of the American Association, but was prevented from going on to the majors because of his size; he was only 5’8″ and 152 pounds. He was a better defensive catcher than Mickey Owens, and a better hitter then Wade Killefer, but he was just too small. The then New York Giants did have his contract in perpetuity though.

When cleaning up the house to sell I found a metal box. I had to break the lock to get it open to see what was inside. It contained My Dad’s baseball gloves from the time he was a child until he retired and no longer played. I distributed the other gloves to my brothers and niece but I kept the catcher’s mitt. Dad had very little from his Dad but that mitt traveled around the country with him.

I would have loved to have known my paternal grandfather. In knowing my Dad though I got to know this grandfather. Dad’s sisters said that Dad and his father were very much alike. They had to double check when one walked into the room to see which one it was. They looked and sounded so much alike that it was difficult to tell them apart at first glance.

Dad got his love of sports from his Dad. I got my love of sports from him. Being an only girl I loved to play catch with my Dad. He taught me to throw a baseball and softball as well as a football. When you are an only daughter with a sport’s nut Dad it helps to be a tomboy. To this day I love to watch sports.

Dad took us to many baseball games when we lived in the Bay Area. We cheered on both the Giants and the A’s. We watched football every Sunday. Dad was a huge Raiders fan but he also watched the 49ers.

When I look at that old catcher’s mitt it brings back memories of my Dad. It also connects me to a man I never knew but still love. My Dad loved him dearly and that is good enough for me.

James Francis Wilson

Dad and I

The Catcher’s Mitt

I did this diary for “What Are You Working On?” over at GOS. Come on you know you are dying to find out what a L’arpie is.

This year I decided to go all crafty for the family for Christmas. I had already purchased custom made L’arpies for them. I decided to do sock monkeys and yarn octopi as well.

L’arpies are custom made over in the UK and the name stands for “Little ‘appy Rock People.” They are the mascots for RACPA UK (Rock Against Child Pornography and Abuse UK). All money goes to this worthwhile charity. My L’arpie Michele Cook/Baker was the first L’arpie to reach the United States. There is a growing community of L’arpie owners Stateside now.

The L’arpies are made to order and each is unique. When I decided that I had to have one I asked about the possibility of one being made and sent overseas. We talked about color and style etc. and decided that what I really needed was the Baker/Cook L’arpie. So I wired the money over to England at sat down and waited. I was excited when they told me it had been shipped. Unfortunately L’arpie Michele decided to take the long way around as it took six weeks to get here. She was worth the wait.

Each L’arpie is unique. Those of us who are L’arpie owners all seem to have a wacko sense of humor and we will pose and take pictures of our L’arpie and put them up on the Club L’arpie page on Facebook or the main L’arpie page on Facebook. I have discovered that L’arpie makers, L’arpie owners and the L’arpies themselves all need our coffee in the morning.

These are the North Carolina L’arpies including mine L’arpie Michele Baker/Cook, the Knights of Columbus L’arpie that I got for my late brother, the Tenth Doctor L’arpie, and in front Captain Jack Fl’obble.

These are the North Carolina octopi including mine the yellow one called Octavia Octopus.

These are the North Carolina sock monkeys including mine the blue and black striped one called Sue Sockey Monkey.

Kevin is a Superman, sock monkey and Doctor Who fan. His favorite color is blue.

Berni recently got her Master’s degree and her favorite color is red.

Kayla is our math person, loves cows, and the color purple.

Tristen is our tech support and computer guru and loves anything Celtic and the color orange.

Zack loves dogs, computer games, and the color green.

(Cross Posted from Street Prophets)

Welcome to Sunday All Day Brunch. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is new in you life. Today I thought I’d show how music sometimes influences my art. Often there will be lyrics in a song that causes a picture to pop into my mind. Here are three songs that came about because of music.

I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables

There was a time when men were kind

When their voices were soft

And their words inviting

There was a time when love was blind

And the world was a song

And the song was exciting

There was a time

Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by

When hope was high

And life worth living

I dreamed that love would never die

I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid

And dreams were made and used and wasted

There was no ransom to be paid

No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night

With their voices soft as thunder

As they tear your hope apart

As they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side

He filled my days with endless wonder

He took my childhood in his stride

But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he’ll come to me

That we will live the years together

But there are dreams that cannot be

And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be

So different from this hell I’m living

So different now from what it seemed

Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

The Moons A Harsh Mistress

By Jimmy Webb

See her how she flies

Golden sails across the sky

Close enough to touch

But careful if you try

Though she looks as warm as gold

The moon’s a harsh mistress

The moon can be so cold

Once the sun did shine

Lord, it felt so fine

The moon a phantom rose

Through the mountains and the pines

And then the darkness fell

And the moon’s a harsh mistress

It’s so hard to love her well

I fell out of her eyes

I fell out of her heart

I fell down on my face

Yes, I did, and I — I tripped and I missed my star

God, I fell and I fell alone, I fell alone

And the moon’s a harsh mistress

And the sky is made of stone

The moon’s a harsh mistress

She’s hard to call your own.

Brave

Josh Groban

Wake up, wake up, the sun cannot wait for long.

Reach out, reach out before it fades away.

You will find the warmth when you surrender.

Smile into the fear and let it play.

You wanna run away, run away and you say that it can’t be so.

You wanna look away, look away but you stay cause’ it’s all so close.

When you stand up and hold out your hand.

In the face of what I don’t understand.

My reason to be brave.

Hold on, hold on, so strong, time just carries on.

And all that you thought was wrong is pure again.

You can’t hide forever from the thunder.

Look into the storm and feel the rain.

You wanna run away, run away and you say that it can’t be so.

You wanna look away, look away but you stay cause’ it’s all so close.

When you stand up and hold out your hand.

In the face of what I don’t understand.

My reason to be brave.

Whoa (x 4)

Go on, go on…

You wanna run away, run away and you say that it can’t be so.

You wanna look away, look away but you stay cause’ it’s all so close.

When you stand up and hold out your hand.

In the face of what I don’t understand.

My reason to be brave.

(This is a cross-post from GOS.)

I first encounter the Tao Te Ching when I was in college. After I graduated I looked for a good version of the book and it took a few years and the help of some Chinese friends but I finally found the perfect book. It is translated by Gia-Fu Feng and illustrated by Jane English. What made this book so unique is that it has the translations but it also has the original in calligraphy on black and white photographs. It is quite simply one of the most beautiful books I own.

The Tao Te Ching was written by Lao Tsu in the 6th Century B.C. There are 81 chapters and approximately 5,000 words. Tao means “the way.” According to Rowena Partee Kryde who founded the Creative Harmonics Institute in Mount Shasta, California there are four basic tenets of traditional Taoism.

1. The way of Tao underlies all things.

2. That human interaction that is harmonious with Tao is spontaneous, effortless, and inexhaustible.

3. That the perfected individual is a sage, free from desire and strife.

4. That the sage conducts government by guiding his people back to a state of harmony with Tao.

The chapters are short but very profound.

Chapter 8

The highest good is like water.

Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.

It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.

In dwelling, be close to the land.

In meditation, go deep in the heart.

In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.

In speech, be true.

In ruling, be just.

In business, be competent.

In action, watch the timing.

No fight: No blame.

Chapter 11

Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub;

It is the center hole that makes it useful.

Shape clay into a vessel;

It is the space within that makes it useful.

Cut doors and windows for a room;

It is the holes which make it useful.

Therefore profit comes from what is there;

Usefulness from what is not there.

Much of the Tao Te Ching is very mystical. It speaks of simplicity in life. It speaks of the unknowable and trying to live with the unknown. It is the opposite of our Western driven world where power and greed are rampant.

When I first read the Tao Te Ching in college one of my art teachers told me that I had the greatest sense of “space” in any artist he had ever taught. He remarked that I knew that what wasn’t there was just as important as what was there. He loved the fact that I didn’t always try and fill my canvas to the brim. I knew how to let the blank spaces be part of my art. The Tao of Art.

I learned that from the Tao Te Ching. I learned that possessions aren’t the important things. I learned that what is inside and how I treat others are infinitely more important then personal power and acquisitions. I can’t say that I even now fully understand the Tao Te Ching but I find in times of great stress that sitting down and reading it soothes me. I learned to love and value nature. I learned balance and harmony. For something of only 5,000 words I found that the Tao Te Ching taught me some of the most important lessons I learned about life.

Welcome to Thursday Coffee Hour. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is going on in your life. I was muttering to myself the other morning as I scraped ice off of my windshield that if I wanted to scrap ice off I would have stayed in Chicago. I moved to North Carolina thinking it would be warm. In spite of its name it is still in the South. So for everyone still dealing with ice and snow I thought I’d give you something to look forward too. Spring flowers.

(This is my Kosability Diary from the DK this evening)

The problem with C.O.P.D. in the form of severe asthma and chronic bronchitis is that it is well chronic. Chronic refers to something that continues or persists over an extended period of time. I have had a respiratory infection that started in August when I was up in Indiana cleaning my parent’s house. I am still running a fever off and on and am constantly congested. Not having any health care until the beginning on March has prevented me from seeing a doctor.

KosAbility is a community diary series posted at 5 PM ET every Sunday and Wednesday by volunteer diarists. This is a gathering place for people who are living with disabilities, who love someone with a disability, or who want to know more about the issues surrounding this topic. There are two parts to each diary. First, a volunteer diarist will offer their specific knowledge and insight about a topic they know intimately. Then, readers are invited to comment on what they’ve read and/or ask general questions about disabilities, share something they’ve learned, tell bad jokes, post photos, or rage about the unfairness of their situation. Our only rule is to be kind; trolls will be spayed or neutered.

One of the biggest problems with a chronic illness such as C.O.P.D. is the fact that it is always present. You never feel completely well. Some days will be better then others but even on good days your energy is at a lower level then when you were well. I have battled C.O.P.D. and the constant respiratory infections since 1997. That is a long time not to feel good.

The hardest part for me is adjusting to the fact that I don’t have the energy I once did. I ask my younger cat Pixie to lend me some of her energy but she won’t do it. I think back to the days when I could go all day. I use to ski and thought nothing of taking the chair lift over and over again all day long to the top of the mountain and skiing down. I use to run. Now I walk slowly.

I try and distract myself in order to forget the illness. I can lose myself in artwork for hours. I can sit down and write. I read voraciously. I watch movies since there is little on television that interests me or that I can get without expensive cable. I cook and develop new recipes. I’m on-line with friends.

I wish I could feel well again but am doing what I can to cope with the constant illness. I try to remind myself that a positive mental attitude is my best friend. In a month I’ll have Medicare and I can see a doctor and hopefully knock this current infection off. I know it will come back but a respite is okay. You learn to appreciate the days when you feel just okay.

Welcome to Sunday All Day Brunch. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and pull up a chair and sit a spell and let us know what is new in your life. I thought today we could take a quick tour around our solar system.

I am a huge space buff and one of the reason I got into art was so I could do space art. So sit back and relax and enjoy the tour of our little corner of the Milky Way.

We start with our sun a normal main-sequence G2 star that contains 99.8% of the mass of our solar system.

The closest planet to the sun is Mercury. Recently Messenger discovered that ice-water lies underneath dark, seemingly organic compounds on the surface of Mercury.

Venus is one of the most beautiful sights in our sky but you don’t want to live there. It is the hottest world in our solar system reaching temperatures of 847°F, which is hot enough to melt lead.

We are the third planet from the sun and have the first moon as we make our way out from the sun. The leading theory on the moon’s formation was that it was formed when a giant impact knocked off a chunk of the forming earth. Because it takes 27.3 days both to rotate on its axis and to orbit Earth, the Moon always shows us the same face.

Mars has always fascinated mankind. It is the home of Marvin the Martian. Its two moons, Phobos and Deimos, however don’t look like other moons in the solar system and may be captured asteroids. Mars is a desert planet and is half the diameter of Earth but it has the same amount of dry land as we do.

The asteroid belt orbits between Mars and Jupiter. It is believed that Jupiter’s strong gravitational force kept the asteroids from coming together to form a planet. Either that or there was a planet there that was obstructing Marvin’s view of Jupiter and he used his Illudium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator on it.

Jupiter is the most massive planet in the solar system. If it had been 80 times more massive it would have been a star rather than a planet.

Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active body in our solar system.

Jupiter’s moon Europa may actually contain life. Europa is covered with a thick layer of ice but has a liquid ocean underneath. The late science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke had that as his premise for his 2001 A Space Odyssey book series.

Saturn is the crown jewel of our solar system with her gorgeous rings. You could fit 760 Earths in the planet but it is so lightweight that if you had a big enough bathtub it would float.

Saturn’s moon Enceladus has water and geysers. The water vapor actually feeds Saturn’s E Ring. With its water and organic compounds Enceladus is another place in our solar system that might harbor life.

 

Saturn’s moon Titan is the only moon in the solar system with clouds and a dense atmosphere.

Sometime is its history Uranus got knocked over on its side. It is the only planet whose magnetic poles are East/West instead of North/South.

Neptune has a thick, slushy fluid mix of water, ammonia and methane ices under its atmosphere.

Neptune’s moon Triton has a very thin atmosphere and has been shown to actually have seasons although at -391°F you might not want to get those swimsuits out.

Pluto is officially a dwarf planet now however as any good Lord of the Rings fan knows dwarfs are very fierce. Charon is one of Pluto’s moons.

So that’s our solar system. I’ll leave you with a poem I wrote to celebrate our little corner of the Universe.

Celestial Dance

They danced with the moon.

They danced with the stars.

They danced the night away.

The dreams that they dreamed

Encircled the world

And greeted the new day.

They danced with Venus

The beautiful planet of love.

They danced as the clouds

Swirled in time up above.

Then they danced with Mercury

And played tag with the sun.

They danced with Mars

And underneath the red sky,

They greeted the Martians

As they floated by.

Then they danced in time

To the comet that went by.

They danced with Jupiter

The giant of the skies,

And its moons circled above

As they spun and danced by.

And their laughter and dancing

Brightened the dark spot’s eye.

They danced with Saturn

Skipping along its rings,

And with gay abandon

They made the rings sing.

And Saturn’s rings kept time

As the dancers waltzed by.

They danced and they danced

Under celestial skies,

And the stars and the planets

Saluted as they passed by;

And bright as the sun

Was the love they shared with the sky.