ableminded blog

There is a God...

2007-11-10T15:06:00.000-05:00

...and She is smiling on me right now. ...Each weekday I ride my wheelchair home from work; it's about 4 miles, or 45 minutes. Despite many offers from others to drive me home, I prefer to drive myself and tend to do my best thinking/writing on these long rides. However, there is one fairly busy road on my trip that has no sidewalks and it makes me nervous. But just recently the city painted in these convenient biking/walking lanes on Willowby Blvd. which makes my ride much safer. Yep, God is good.

Al Gore's Desk

2007-11-09T21:18:00.000-05:00

I'd have guessed that Al Gore's desk would be quite organized & tidy... and with minimal paper given his passion for saving trees/nature. ...Clearly I'd be wrong. btw, Santa, if you are reading this, I want one of those three screen monitors.

Thou shall not block...

2007-06-19T15:45:00.000-05:00

When coming home from downtown I am constantly blocked by a neighbor's trash can that remains in the middle of the sidewalk 24/7. In the past I’ve accepted this blockage and would cross the street to bypass it and then cross back.

Sunday I changed my mind; it was no longer acceptable. I used my wheelchair to nudge the empty can out of the way so I could pass by. I also moved it into a more educational position. I think they’ll learn the problem this heavy cylinder can pose to four wheeled vehicles.

Peek at the future, today

2007-06-14T13:05:00.000-05:00

Soon we’ll be viewing and inter-relating our photos in an whole new spatial dimension. As presented at the TED conference, this technology visually “maps” our pictures together in a way that will simply amaze you. (it makes my brain sore when I try to comprehend how they do it.) Btw, Microsoft has since bought this technology.

If you are half geek, like me, you should check out the TED talks when you get bored. It's a forum where some of the world's most fascinating minds share their ideas... on video!

Leaving a mark... at Lowe's.

2007-06-12T18:08:00.000-05:00

Last night my good friend Allison and I went to Lowe's on a mission find a paint color for my place (one that simply wasn’t ugly.) All went well until I decided to try and help by carrying the paint cans on the back of my chair. It resulted in this:

Two guys generously helped clean up. (Shopping with a pretty woman has many privileges.) They dumped a large bag of a mysterious white powder that eventually absorbed the pill.

Allison has a great sense of humor, ...and oddly as of late she's also sporting some... uhh, nevermind.

We're gonna experiment and see just how combining green and orange looks... it could have been a genuine Reese's cup moment. ...If you go to Lowe's on Battleground you’ll still see how I uniquely decorated the best parking space in the house:

Random thoughts...

2007-06-12T17:35:00.000-05:00

-This weekend I watched the last half of the Biggest Loser season 4 , including the finale. It’s weird how this show makes my allergies act up or something… b/c my eyes seem to get uncommonly misty. …The same thing oddly happens whenever I watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

-Similar to Demitri Martin, I like refracted light and rainbows… but I’m not gay… so on all my rainbow gear I had to add “Not Gay.” at the bottom.. But then again I'm not against gay people… so underneath I added, “But Supportive.”

-On average other stars/galaxies are 200+ light years away from Earth. That means that the stars we see at night are actually what they looked like two centuries ago. Or rather, if there are extraterrestrial planets checking us out through an insanely strong telescope, they are now watching the French or American revolutions. ….The North Star, the brighest star in the sky, is over 540 light years way, so we’re currently seeing it as it looked in 1467.

-Twice last week I heard women say, “I don’t cook, but I love to bake.” This really puzzles me. I mean, if you prepare ingredients, put them in the oven for a set amount time and then serve the results on a plate to be eaten… i'm sorry, but you’re cooking… the baking is just a detail. Baking without cooking is smoking pot or something you do in a tanning bed.

Nice ride, man.

2007-06-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

How does one go 4 miles at 50mhp in a 7mph wheelchair? Ask this guy... Note to Self: If my wheelchair ever gets stuck to an 18 wheeler at a gas station, remember to tell someone/scream.

Complete story here.

This guy should be more famous.

2007-06-06T20:20:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how I've never heard of this fella, Demetri Martin. This is the funniest act I've seen since Seinfeld. I literally, or rather figuratively, stumbled upon it on www.stumbleupon.com. I love the bit on Hummer Owners.

So... where have you been?

2007-06-05T17:26:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's been a year and a half since my last post, or rather my first and only post. Maybe one day soon i'll explain my reasoning for this lapse; but until then, on with the show! What have I been doing all this time? Once again I'm glad you asked...

Stay tuned and i'll tell you soon...

From 12/2005: Confessions of an Immobilized Creature of Habit

2007-06-04T13:02:00.000-05:00

Hmmm.. where to begin… Well, looking at the clock, I’ve now been paralyzed from the chest down for 937 days and 18+ hours. So I’m closing in on 1,000 days that I’ve been either sitting in a chair, lying in a bed or for a total combined 8+ hrs., unintentionally lying on a hardwood floor, two separate residential lawns and once briefly on the cool cement floor of my parents garage (thanks for being there Gina). What have I been doing during this time?

I’m glad you asked…

Over a 2 week period I intravenously received 18 pints of a someone else's blood (a Shepherd Center record of which I take great pride). In 3 months of rehab I’ve listened to Christopher Reeve’s Nothing is Impossible 14 times and Nora Jones’ debut album over 500 times (yeah, that’s right ...over 500 times). I’ve received over 200 get well cards, many of which from people I’d never thought I’d hear from again and some from people I’ve never met. Since returning home I’ve played exactly 3,074 games of online Scrabble, surfed approx. 6,768 hours on the internet, seen 17 movies at the theaters and rented/bought 353 DVDs, including every episode of Band of Brothers, David Attenborough’s The Life of Mammals, the first 4 seasons of Six Feet Under, complete seasons 2, 3 & 4 of Newhart (in Vermont), at least 837 episodes of Seinfeld, and 475 episodes of King of the Hill. I’ve read every book I could find that involves, remotely mentions or even briefly alludes to a broken neck, about 23 total. On several occasions I've stayed in my room, without ever going outside, or even wanting to go outside for over 80 hours straight. I’ve been recruited by the Christians, the Jews and a Buddist (and I'm holding out for a longer contract). I’ve digested 1,430 tablets of Oxycodone, 240 of Hydrocodone, and 3,200+ pills of Ultram. I’ve washed them down with over 1,024 bottles of Fruit2o and 240 bottles of Propel. I’ve started, then restarted 4 different film screenplays. I’ve created 3 websites, 2 of which now exist only in memory due to a misguided bottle of Fruit2o that instantly turned my laptop it to a $1,500 doorstop, including 2 re-restarted 25% finished screenplays. I’ve scaled up and down a double flight of outdoor steps over 315 times to get to work, thanks both to 4 men’s simultaneous manpower and a battery-controlled wheelchair dolly. I’ve bought 14 different abdominal binders and have yet to find one that functions appropriately. I’ve eaten at the Green Valley Grill over 115 times and consumed over 160 pints of Wendy’s chili. I’ve fallen out of my wheelchair 6 times, once while out on an initial appointment for work in the client’s backyard. Luckily she came outside to help my sister put me back in my chair. That was the first time we had met, with me lying in the rain soaked grass and saying, “Hi, I’m Lindsay… do you mind grabbing my knees while Evan grabs my shoulders?” And then I fell once again when I arrived at the beach while with my Mom and her friend Jean. They struggled to carry my limp body up four steps at 11 o’clock at night while the three of us about peed our pants from laughter, …the neighbor initially thought they were carrying a dead body in the house. Over this time I’ve primarily worn only 5 different T-shirts. I’ve bought 12 used sweaters off of Ebay (too bad I couldn’t find any good T-shirts), 187 DVDs (mostly animal life documentaries), 7 sheepskin pelts, 116 CD’s (including complete collections of the Jayhawks, Johnny Cash, and Fiona Apple) and two standing wheelchairs that currently decorate the back of my parents’ garage. I’ve met with 5 different wheelchair vendors and have yet to find one that is both competent and reliable. I’ve told my parents that I love them more than 997 times, and they’ve collectively told me over 2,000 times (I would probably be in the lead if I were able to talk during the first month after my paralysis.) Over the past two and a half years I’ve received more love and support than I could have ever imagined, and I’ve been stabbed in the back in ways I would have never thought possible. It’s been a long, difficult road and, at times, life has been quite a bitch. But hey, …I still love her.