Tag Archive for 'community'

Famous African-Americans with a Disability

Published on February 15, 2010 in Abuse, Gratitude Journal and Mental Health. 2 Comments Tags: , .

It’s important for human beings to connect and feel as if they belong. We want to know we aren’t alone and that what we’re going through doesn’t separate us from the rest of our peers. I believe this is why lists of famous people with disabilities are compiled. Since its Black History Month I decided to gather a list of African-Americans who have reported a disability or were a victim of sexual assault. As I gathered names and diagnosis I came upon several male survivors who are not black but I felt compelled to list them.

My lists include people we see on the big screen, in the news room, on the football field and in music halls. They are famous faces that fit in the crowd with no mark on their forehead saying, “I’m Bipolar” or “I’m Schizophrenic”. There are no scarlet letters written on the chest of these men and women marking them as abuse or rape survivors. Instead we see there faces and connect them with accomplishment. If we can see accomplishment in them maybe we can see it in ourselves.

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Hack Hack, Cough, Cough

Published on December 2, 2009 in Humor. 3 Comments Tags: .

I just have to wonder what others would do in this situation. Today at the second hand store the cashier pulled my change from the register then coughed. She put her hand up to her mouth with my dollar bills and hacked away. Without missing a beat she attempted to hand me the money. I had a choice, I could either take it and say nothing OR ask her for different bills and coins. When I told her I’d like her to replace the bills and coins she said, “Oh I don’t have anything. It’s just allergies.” Uh, huh. With that kind of hack H1N1 was the least of my worries. Besides, she had tremendous plaque build up which could be seen from the other side of the counter. No way in hell was I taking a chance on bringing home her lunch particles from six years ago. Sorry lady, I want new bills. Fortunately she wasn’t too offended and exchanged them without incident.

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You Can’t Fake Ugly

Published on June 26, 2009 in For the Record. 1 Comment Tags: .

Ugly Sticks are sort of like the perfect sidekicks to have with you at all times in the Uglyverse. They are there for you. Feeling sad? Ugly Sticks will knock that right out of you.  POW! Happy now? No wait… Feeling really Ugly? GOOD! Ugly means UNIQUE! Anyone can retouch a photo to look beautiful but you can’t fake Ugly! Celebrate how truly UGLY you really are  with Ugly Stick and show us what you’ve got!

Absolutely true! This is the description for a doll I think is adorable. Her name is Fea Bea and she’s by Uglydolls.com. Ugly dolls remind me of what Sesame Street started out trying to accomplish. They wanted to show the beauty of being unique but then they got caught in the trap of political correctness mixed with some serious errors in judgment. I’m still a huge fan of Bert and Ernie, particularly Ernie and his little rubber ducky.

Austin

Looking For A Fight

Published on May 21, 2009 in Borderline Personality Disorder, PTSD, Soapbox and Stupid People. 0 Comments Tags: .

What the hell was I thinking this morning when I chased that guy off my property? What was he thinking when he looked dead at me then looked away with no concern at all. It was as if I had no right to wonder why he was in my yard. When he looked away from me as if he could sit there as long as he wanted and it didn’t’ matter how I felt about it the whole situation turned ugly. This is what happened:

This morning before therapy a guy pulled into the area of my yard that isn’t fenced. The dog barked at him for a good long time. Finally I went out to see what he wanted. He wasn’t on the street nor was he in the driveway. He was actually parked on the grass talking on the phone. I couldn’t get his attention from the porch so I walked up to the fence. He looked over at me then away again like he didn’t give a rat’s ass that he was on my damn grass or that I was standing in front of him. Enter major attitude!

My first response was to throw something at his car. That kind of scared me cause I came real close to throwing my cigarette lighter. I thought, Oh no you didn’t just dismiss me AND park in my grass. In a very stupid move I decided to leave the safety of my fence and approach his vehicle. Continue reading ‘Looking For A Fight’

It’s A Lesbian Thing, You Wouldn’t Understand

Published on April 27, 2009 in Relationships, Soapbox, Stupid People and Therapy. 10 Comments Tags: .

In therapy we discussed what it’s like to be lesbian in this state. I guess he figured some would be okay with it and others wouldn’t but he didn’t realize just how many times my friendships and other relationships have changed when my sexuality is discovered.

First off, I don’t advertise my sexuality or much of anything about myself for that matter. I do on the net but not in the 3D world.  Yeah I have a bumper sticker that says 2CUTE2BSTR8 (too cute to be straight) but other than that my car is not a moving billboard and I’m not a spokesperson for the gay/lesbian community. However, if you ask me I’ll say I’m gay. Sometimes I want to go and tell people just so we can either cut the friendship short or get on with things. Too many times a person has discovered my sexuality and decided they couldn’t continue friendship or continue our acquaintance. I’d like to skip over all that and know right away if they’re going to bail. Case in point, I have a new neighbor with a 12 year old daughter who wants art lessons from me. My concern is that when she finds out she won’t want her daughter to come here. It’s a real concern based on past negative experiences.

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A Knock At The Door

Published on April 17, 2009 in PTSD and Pets. 3 Comments Tags: .

Gus on WoodIndianapolis has had a rash of break-ins that include burglary/homicide as well as restrain and burglarize. These home invasions seem to show up on the news nightly anymore.  In one home invasion where the two teenagers were tied up and robbed the criminals knocked on the door and waited for them to answer. One lady with MS came to the door, was knocked over, restrained and then robbed. In the last month there have been 2 robbery homicides so when someone knocked on my door at 3am the other morning I did not answer.

Sometimes I’m so strong into a flashback that it’s hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t so I depend upon my dog to help figure out if certain noises or smells are actually there. Had I been alone that night I might have chalked up a knock at the door to the state of mind I was in but when Gus went the hell off and nearly went through my picture window I was quite certain flashbacks didn’t come into play.

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Star of the Show

Published on March 19, 2009 in For the Record, Relationships, Soapbox and Stupid People. 8 Comments Tags: .

I said in the previous entry I don’t want to be doted over or waited on when I’m sick and that people only bring food to the sick in the movies. I take all that back, it would have been nice to have Fife ask if I wanted orange juice or something. It would be nice for me to not have to tell him I can’t fill the dishwasher right now cause I’m dog sick so don’t wait for me to get well before you get yourself some clean dishes. I don’t need him to cook for me but an offer for an orange juice run would have been nice. Waiting for me to do his dishes seems … typical.

I think I’m a tad bit annoyed with Bird too for saying, “How’s the dog doing” instead of “How are you doing?” I’m annoyed that she yacked on and on about what the heck ever until finally my head pounded so hard I had to let her go. If I have to listen to another conversation about “baby killers” and “democrats” I’m going to lose my mind. I don’t know, it would be nice from time to time to hear something positive come out of her mouth. The last complaint about her is this, several days ago (before I got sick) we were to go together to the store so I could get some rice to make bears.  The woman showed up unannounced with a twenty pound bag of rice. TWENTY POUNDS of rice. Not bags of rice equally 20 pounds but one 20 pound bag of rice. First off I was like, WTF are you doing here? I woke up 5 min ago… and what am I supposed to do with twenty pounds of rice? This is not UNICEF. I can’t store that much rice nor can I make that many bears. My mousy bear has a dixie cup full of rice in him..one dixie cup!!! Do you know how many bears I’d have to make to use up twenty pounds of rice?

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