Thursday, October 11, 2007

Disability Blog Carnival #24: The 1st Anniversary Edition

Welcome to the first anniversary edition of the Disability Blog Carnival!
Got your sparkly frock ready for the gala? No? That's fine. Blogging, and this blog carnival in particular, are all about "come as you are." And "as you are" is spectacular. Don't doubt that for a minute: the diverse disability blogging community is strong, thoughtful, funny, eloquent, creative, committed and punctual. Punctual? Well, yeah. We've had 23 previous editions of the carnival--exactly as scheduled, nobody flaked, nobody even posted late without warning. Many, many blog carnivals fade away after a few editions, or publish irregularly, unable to gin up the enthusiasm or volunteers to sustain a regular frequency. Enthusiasm and volunteers we have never lacked.

Here are the links to the previous 23 editions of the carnival:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23

It's become a Thursday morning treat (for me, and I know for others) to see what the latest host has concocted from the most recent submissions. Thanks the hosts Kay Olson, David Gayes, The Goldfish, Emma Crees, Stephen and Connie Kuusisto, Daniel Goldberg, Mark Siegel, Leila Monaghan, Amanda Baggs, Leonard Alexander, Tokah, Kathryn, Jana Remy, Andrea Chandler, Jennifer Justice, Hala, Zephyr, and Jodi Reimer for taking your turns at the helm. Each of you brought something wonderful and unique to the job. And additional thanks to the many, many others who wrote entries, submitted links, left comments, mentioned the carnival to others, or just read and enjoyed. Here's to continuing and building this community event into year two and beyond!

Why is the Disability Blog Carnival worthwhile? As Able Writer Says, it's sometimes hard to get disability culture and news from other online sources without a lot of misinformation and disablism. (The media situation is improving, says Connie Kuusisto, but there's much more work to be done.) Because, as Angry for a Reason explains, TV writers are still labeling an improbable proportion of the "bad guys" with words like "borderline," and somebody has to notice. Because it's not just a corrective, but a celebration, an unbounded, joyous, riotous, loud, disturbing, defiant space, like a carnival should be, Wheelchair Dancer reminds us.

The theme set for this edition was, perhaps appropriately, "Milestones." I knew I was choosing a fraught word when I went with that particular metaphor. Ettina begins an excellent post for this edition with an important Public Service Announcement:
Person 1: What's got him so upset?
Person 2: He's got a bad case of mile stones.
Person 1: Oh, yeah, I know how that hurts. You just feel so useless when your mile stones are acting up.
Voice Over: Mile stones can be good for you, but excess mile stones are harmful. They sap away the pride in your achievements and interfere with caring for yourself. A related condition is Shoulda Syndrome. Shoulda Syndrome is characterized by thinking 'shoulda done this' 'shoulda done that'. If you have Shoulda Syndrome, mile stones might be the underlying cause.
Wait till the pharmaceutical companies figure out the market on treating "excess mile stones," eh? Shiloh suggests one group that may be prone to mistreating their milestones. Andrea's experiencing the midlife milestones with a new round of medical complications. Greg at Pitt Rehab is also passing a midlife milestone: "At 40 I am much more capable of handling changes. I am much more thankful for the people in my life. I am better educated about the world around me. I would like to think more patient and empathetic with people in general." Bruce also takes the opportunity of the theme to look at where he's been, and where he's going: "In the 2000's you can just call us Nanny and PaPa, like our grandaughter."

Developmental milestone charts like the one at left are the bane of many parents--"what to expect," ha!--ask Emily Elizabeth, who calls them her Arch Nemesis. David describes the milestones game from the kid's perspective: "...when you are a child growing up with a disability, many people...focus solely on your milemarkers, as though the milemarkers and the journey are one and the same." David has some insightful reminders about the folly of watching the milemarkers instead of the road itself, and the beauty along the way. And Dream Mom has a wise, personal post about her son's prospects, concluding "I need to just love him for who he is, not what he didn't become. I guess in the end, none of that matters, or maybe it never did."

So maybe sometimes we mark the passage of time, events and achievements in our own ways--disability culture, anyone? Wheelyfast agrees: "Most people probably don’t get why this is such a big deal, but it is a big deal to me." Hannah has found a fun way to mark the outgrowing of one's AFOs--and I bet all the standard-issue Elmos are jealous. Kristina Chew offers a few pointers about transitions in 3, 5, 8, What Awaits. Jodi at Reimer Reason is thrilled by teen behavior (how often can a parent say that?): "He rolled his eyes at me. It was age appropriate. It was great. I'm celebrating." Catherine at Charming BB has composed a Seuss-inspired post about the many appointments with specialists she's attended with her son in the past year. Here's the last stanza:

We've made it a year, it went pretty fast,
I'm hoping our medlationships last last last last,

and that we always avoid the smelly spica cast.


Stephen Kuusisto took note of the anniversary of receiving his first guitar, which brought him to ponder how "music and poetry are daily milestones." (Speaking of poetry, Pedestrian Hostile has been musing on rocks and building and creativity too.) And the Resident Alien confessed to her first (and maybe last) time "cussing someone out."

Several disability-related blogs have marked milestones lately: the excellent Special Education Law Blog maintained by Charles P. Fox passed its second anniversary last month, by observing Lessons Learned. Dave Hingsburger celebrated one year of Chewing the Fat this week, and decided not to hit the 'erase blog' button (whew!). McNair marked his 300th post at Disabled Christianity, saying "I have grown to believe that people with disabilities are designed to be as they are because they are critical, they are an essential part of the body of Christ." On the downside, the literary journal Mindprints has recently ceased publication, prompting an elegy from DisPoet.

Some of the Down syndrome blogging community is observing Down Syndrome Awareness Month with "Get it Down: 31 for 21" in October, with members pledging to post every single day of the month to tell more stories and be more visible. Among them, Bits of Betsy explains how "you start to realize that it will be o.k. Its o.k. to take it a bit slower and to meander through the milestones instead of racing through them." From a very different context, a similar sentiment on action and achievement: "Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love at which we do them," wrote St. Therese of Lisieux, whose October 1 feast day was marked by Daisy. Need a vision of beauty, of youth, of promise? Check out "Our First Framed Portraits," photographs of and by the Teen Possibles of Nova Scotia.

And finally, literal milestones--like, the ones that actual mark off the miles (or kilometers)--we see those too. Elizabeth McClung and her partner recently rolled/ran in a 5K for breast cancer research in Victoria. And my own family will be walking/rolling/scootering in a 5K for accessible playgrounds this weekend. Fingers crossed for good weather, please! (Photo at right is my family with some USC student helpers in last year's 5K--I took it, so I'm not in the shot.)

Ruth at Wheelie Catholic says that the Carnival is a chance to leave markers and find each other's markers along the road--I've enjoyed finding your markers, and I hope you've found a few worth noting too. So keep posting, and we'll keep gathering twice a month to bring it all to the Carnival.

Next time, the Carnival goes to Kara Sheridan's blog, If the World Had Wheels, on October 25. (Kara recently organized the the first annual Anti-Telethon Blogswarm, so she's proven more than ready to organize a mass of links and viewpoints!) When I find out the theme, I'll edit this to include that too. But the drill hasn't changed: you can submit links at the blogcarnival.com form, or by leaving a comment here, or by emailing me or Kara, it'll get to us somehow for consideration.

14 comments:

Daisy Deadhead said...

Thanks so much for including me.
I know this is St. Thérèse way of blessing me for my veneration on her feast day--so thank you very much for participating in that as well.

David said...

Thanks for this, Penny! And thanks for all you do!

Ruth said...

Love the logo - can't shut us up now LOL

Once again, thanks Penny for all of your work on the carnivals. I've found so many markers over the past year because of the carnivals and look forward to many more.

Jodi said...

Thanks for all your hard work Penny. This carnival should keep me busy for a few days!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations and thank you for the year. It's been most instructive! You should be very proud of what you started, and have kept going.

Rob at Kintropy said...

I've been thrilled to read the carnival each issue. Congrats on your own milestone. Now off to read ;-)

Anonymous said...

love it! love it! love it! 'n you too for keeping it going
Cilla

Anonymous said...

Great carnival. Thanks for organizing the Disability Blog Carnival

cripchick said...

great carnival penny!!

Connie said...

Penny,

You've pulled together a wonderful community of bloggers thanks to your dedication, your enthusiasm and your behind the scenes contributions.

Congratulations!

~ Steve and Connie

Dee Temple said...

Hi there,

I discovered you through "Chronic Babe".
I am wanting to get my blog in more directories.
I am dealing with an Auto Immune disease ( among other long term things).
Would you be able to advertise my blog here ?

it's:
http://amaptome.blogspot.com/

you can lv. me a message there if my email doesn't show up w/ this message.

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

睡眠障礙
憂鬱症
躁鬱症
減重
瘦身
中醫減肥
台北中醫減肥
台中中醫減肥
高雄中醫減肥
產後減肥
下半身減肥
下半身瘦身
高雄眼鏡
屏東眼鏡
名牌眼鏡
太陽眼鏡
隱形眼鏡
鐵氟龍
PTFE
中壢花店
林口花店
南崁花店
金莎花束
歌倫比亞 雞腳凍
飲料加盟

口袋秤
度量衡
吊秤
吊磅
電子秤
磅秤
口袋秤
度量衡
吊秤
吊磅
電子秤
磅秤
招牌製作
招牌設計
廣告招牌
大圖輸出
電腦割字
招牌看板
廢鐵
廢銅
廢不銹鋼
廢電線
廢鋁
廢棄物
廢電纜電線
廢塑膠
制服
成衣
戒指
耳環
項鍊
對戒
手鍊
銀飾
飾品
對鍊
護理之家
台中花店
考試
塑膠箱
塑膠容器
工具箱
物流箱
拖板車
自動倉儲
倉儲設備
自行車衣
自行車背包
自行車手套
車衣
債務更生
債務清理
法協
蜂蜜
蜂王乳花粉
農產品
草本膠囊
促進新陳代謝
排便順暢的方法
體內環保

Anonymous said...

汽車旅館
消費券優惠
motel
消費券
薇閣
住宿券
廣交會
廣州飯店
廣州
广州
广交会
广州酒店
Canton Fair
Guangzhou Hotel
Guangzhou
広州
広州の交易会
広州のホテル

Anonymous said...


JP成人影城 383成人影城 383成人影城 aa片免費a片下載 a片線上看aa片免費看 ※a片線上試看※sex520免費影片※ aa片免費看 BT成人論壇 金瓶影片交流區 自拍美女聊天室 aa片免費a片下載 SEX520免費影片 免費a片 日本美女寫真集 sex520aa免費影片 sex520aa免費影片 BT成人網 Hotsee免費視訊交友 百分百貼影片區 SEX520免費影片 免費視訊聊天室 情人視訊高雄網 星光情色討論版 正妹牆 383成人影城 線上85cc免費影城 85cc免費影城 85cc免費影城 85cc免費影城 ※免費視訊聊天室※ ※免費視訊聊天室※ 免費視訊聊天室 85cc免費影片 85cc免費影片 080苗栗人聊天室 080苗栗人聊天室 080中部人聊天室 080中部人聊天室 免費a片下載 免費a片 AA片免費看 aa片免費看 aa片免費看 aa片免費看 aa片免費看 日本av女優影片 av女優 av女優無碼影城 av女優 av女優 百分百成人圖片 百分百成人圖片 免費aa片線上看 aa片免費看 情色SXE聊天室 SEX情色遊戲 色情A片 免費下載 av女優 俱樂部 情色論壇 辣妹視訊 情色貼圖網 免費色情 聊天室 情人視訊聊天室 免費a片成人影城 免費a片-aa片免費看 0204貼圖區 SEX情色 交友聊天-線上免費 愛情聊天室 女優天堂 成人交友網 成人情色貼圖區 18禁 -女優王國 080視訊美女聊天室 微風成人區 080視訊聊天室 視訊交友90739 免費a片 aio 視訊交友網 成人影城-免費a片