Disability Blog Carnival #7: A Carnival in Three Acts

Welcome to the seventh edition of the Disability Blog Carnival! As the invited themes for this edition were "Disability History" and "Disability in the Arts," I present a three-act carnival, complete with historical costumes, dancing, multimedia, and, as always, plenty of comedy and drama. The overture is beginning, so please take your seats.

ACT I. Historical Dimensions

Tokah at From Where I'm Sitting is thinking about music, hearing, and Beethoven; the Goldfish observes the disparate treatments of "mad" Mary Lamb and James Hadfield; Thirza is considering Charlotte Perkins Gilman's classic, "The Yellow Wallpaper," and Blue is reading about Helen Keller through Georgina Kleege's new book, Blind Rage; and CaptaiN DandY has Martin Luther King Jr. Day observations. In much more recent history, Steven Kuusisto appreciates in memory the brilliant oral interpretations of Scott given by Lance Mannion when Kuusisto was a graduate student; and Imfunnytoo recalls her turn as an actor, in college.

ACT II. Artistic Endeavors

Places, please, dancers! Zephyr reports about a friend's bad experience in ballroom dance lessons; Wheelchair Dancer participated in a school assembly program with West Coast Dance; when art reveals life: Dave Hingsburger describes how a roleplaying exercise in an abuse-prevention workshop turned frightening--it's a post every parent, teacher, and advocate should read.

Intermission:

Calling home on an iPhone? Blind bloggers have been disturbed by Apple's continuing reluctance to make the iPhone accessible to blind users; but Dave Wallace at lifekludger notes that it's also inaccessible to folks who use a stylus or wear gloves--it only responds reliably to the touch of bare fingers. Thinking of a cruise? Candy Harrington says "visitability at sea" is something to think about. Hungry? I suggest one of Sara's kabocha muffins. And get me one too, this carnival is running long. Or maybe just some apples and celery.

ACT III. Multimedia Explorations

Tikvahgirl hails a TV comedy that gets postpartum depression right; Andrea has to explain the mockery of the short in Shrek--to her daughter of short stature; Disgruntled Ladye found inspiration for a new stairs strategy by watching an animated TV show; Estee Klar-Wolfond recommends (and links to) "In My Language," a truly beautiful video by Amanda Baggs; Hershon suggests checking out the French film comedy Paris Comme sur les Roulettes; Ruth reviews the new Netflix service, "Watch It Now," as an attractive alternative for film fans that find DVDs unwieldy; Paul Crichton assesses accessibility of music download services; Noelle Perese is concerned about the lack of captions on a lot of online video content; and Troy finds that, even when he wants to buy all the cool new media gadgets, he's still invisible to customer service reps at the shops. One place you might not want high-tech: in the hospital, where video relays are replacing in-person ASL interpreters. Hmmm.

Author, Author!

Wheelchair Dancer attended a reading in a bookshop: "ain't nuttin' like a crip event to see the power lines of the disabled world," she relates; Faith at Dragon in my Soul describes the joys and frustrations of storywriting in Life without a Plot; Andrea's got a poetical response to the wrong kinds of "congratulations":

There's no need to congratulate me
for having 'bravely overcome'
The insults and artificial obstacles
That people put in my way.

--go read the rest; Amanda at ballastexistenz is also posting her poetry, with some unexpected imagery for depression and joy; meanwhile, Karen likes Mark Droslbaugh's new book, On the Fence: The Hidden World of the Hard of Hearing; Kristina's looking at Stephen Hinshaw's The Mark of Shame: Stigma of Mental Illness and an Agenda for Change; Kathleen Seidel is commenting about Roy Grinker's Unstrange Minds; Dave Hingsburger was reading a Jo Nesbo novel, The Redbreast, and watching the film Notes on a Scandal--they have something in common, he notes; and Liz Spikol passes along the call for the Brain Storm Poetry Contest.

Farewells:
Gimpy Mumpy has recently ended her fine blog--a pity to see it go! Lily at Recovering Nicely is also getting out of the blogging business--just when I added her feed to my growing collection. Farewell.

Notice of our next production:

The eighth Disability Blog Carnival will be hosted by Daniel Goldberg at the Medical Humanities blog, posting on February 8. UPDATE: His special theme is CONTACT. Hmmm! Please send your submissions by February 5 through blogcarnival.com, or directly to Daniel. (Are you interested in hosting an edition of the Disability Blog Carnival? We have openings beginning in late March--let me know in this comments thread, and we'll set you up with a date. It's fun, and it's a great way to see what's out there.)

[Images, from the top: Blind bluesman "Sleepy" John Estes, born on this date, 25 January, in 1904; Virginia Woolf, born on this date, 25 January, in 1882]