The conversation needs to start some place, although it may uncomfortable for some people. In my case, I never talk about details of me being able to have sex with friends. Most of you know, I mostly hangout with more women than men and jokingly the topic would come up. It never went further then well I guess she could be on top. I never worried about me achieving S.A.G., I was more concern about making to woman happy. Amazing enough that was never a problem. Hell yes it was frustrating until I started intimacy, but sex is fun, amazing and beautiful. If one thing is not working, you just try something else. Is there really a right and wrong way to have sex? The only thing to keep in mind both people need to be full filled.
My "dumb" phone died last week, even when we plugged it in and it would not come on. I call it a "dumb" phone because, it could only call and text. I like have the QWERTY keyboard since I could use my finger to use it. So the big #CPDilemma was to get another "dumb" phone with get and keyboard, or just break down to get a smartphone a use the head stick? I like being able to get away from sitting around with my head stick on to use technology, plus I do not like to travel with my head stick. It could break, or worse and the whole cycle would need to start of getting a new one. So I get a Droid 4, that still had the keyboard. To me it is more important that I can text with my finger then having all of the good stuff. #gimplife
Just watching @AroundTheHorn on ESPN, they were talk about the problem with the name of the DC football team. So a couple people called it the #Rword. I hope people do not start relating the #Rword with the #NFL and really realize how derogatory it really is to the disabled!
I am not saying the disability movement has exclusive rights to the R-word. Even if someone has the copy right for a word does not mean they own every meaning of that word. Words are the only weapon that truly has an unlimited amount of ammunition. I am saying if the R-word is used for multiple meaning it will become trivialized and is not that why there is a R-word in the first place?
When I was a SR. in high school DORS got me a laptop to double as a communicator and mounted it onto my chair. I really hate using communicators, they always break down, and when they are on my chair I feel trapped. Plus I can't use them without my head stick, so either I have to get the person to put my head stick on to talk with them, or ride around with the head stick on. The computer survived my last year of high school, but not freshman year of college. In fact I went through three computers that year. They kept falling off my chair, while I fought with DORS to get it fix I had no way to do my work this sucked so hard. This is what I got from being a good gimp and trying to conform to society.
So how the hell do I communicate with society as a whole, l do not!!! When people are around me enough they get used to the way I talk. My friends and family end up being interpreters a lot of times. Even they have trouble understanding me sometimes, when this happen I just spell out the word or think of another way to say it.
What happen in school? The people that dealt with on a regular bases also got used to the way I spoke. I always tried to get the some note takers, because they would also act as my interpreter. In the worse case, when I knew we had to talk in class and no one was used to me, so I did used my computer, but it sat on a safe desk other wise.
What about every day task like banking, shopping. You should know I do not expect everyone to take the time to understand me. When I do my banking I type out what I want and take that paper with me. If I am shopping for a certain item, I type that out to show to the people that works that store. If I am really getting no ware with talking, I do carry around a sheet of paper with some phrase, numbers and the alphabet on it. I use a straw in my month to point, or to spell out the words. I also use communicating by talk as a way to feel people out. Over the years found if people are really interested in getting to know me, they pick up my speech quick. The people that are not cool will not get to understand me.
My Wifey asked me to do the list of 8 things people do not know about so here it goes.
1. My life is an open book, not!!! I do keep some stuff to myself.
2. Although I have had tons of female friends, I only had five lovers and only one was a friend before hand and she became my soulmate.
3. My Wifey has the keys to pandora's box and it is up to me to keep replacing that lock, so she has to make new keys.
4. I get more French kisses from Zarrah then I do from Wifey.
5. I really hated reading!
6. If people could really read my mind, they would either slap me or kick my ass and go insane.
7. Even though I spent from the age of 18 month to age 32 years old in school. I do not miss being in school and have no want to going back as a student.
8. I love being married, but I still appreciate a good porn.
Once again I went to thank Mike B. and Service Coordination for putting on a great event for NDEAM and the Weinberg Center for the Arts for an amazing venue to display my art and spend a day creating art. They asked what kind of music I wanted them to play, right away I said Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I just wanted to thank everyone that made the journey out to Fredrick for this event. It was great reconnecting with people that I have not seen for years. If you have every seen King Gimp, you might of notice a scene with my little sister when I was talking to Laura. She popped up again in this video too. My little sister is the hand that was giving me the bite of cheese.
The night ended in the perfect way, we were raffling off one of paintings. The winner was Susan from KKI, I wonder if she took the day off. If it was night for people just as Susan, I would not be who I am today.
On Friday at 6:00pm I get a Text from Josh, saying where the hell are you guys? We were still in MD getting things together to make our way to see Josh. Since he text we hurried thing along and made it there by 8:30, so we had time to hang before the show. Each time we go see him, his routine just keeps improving! we also had a few drink after the show and had fun.
We got home around 3:30 and sadly this is what happened, in the words of Wifey:
5:00 a.m. this morning....I was looking at a chest x ray of our dog, Zarrah. Her heart was in mint condition and everything looked to be just fine for any trauma, I can't say the same about her leg and hurt soul. It was a very feisty little fox that caught her eye and she ran like a dickens and was hit by a car. It was so kind that stopped and gave a phone number...humanity always hits my soft side. Our Zarrah, runs like the wind all over the place without a leash-Danny's wheelchair would catch the line and it never ever was safe. She is a devoted dog and never went out of her home environment without us. As I was sitting there in the Pet ER, I couldn't help but be thankful that she survived. That x ray....gave me a glimpse of that heart that I'm so in love with. I have had my hand on it for many hours today feeling it beat and I can't help but goo. Our little champ...is recovering and in no time she will be running like the wind again.
I think she had a little angel nearby. This photo was taken about 2 years ago, it was 5:00 in the morning. Zarrah was fast asleep and my Best Friend Ms. Julia-age 98. Boy, oh boy did they love to snuggle each other.
Zarrah is doing good, she is even walking up and down stairs, but looks for all of the TLC she can get showing off her booboo.
Since I got the new brush holder for my head stick, it seemed top heavy and I knew I had to get it fix before the 30th. Thanks to Susan at KKI, She was able to slip me in for a late Friday afternoon appointment. The idea of my head stick being top heavy was only the tip of the problem, because every time I would lean forward the whole thing would slide off my head. Even after Susan moved the top piece backward to balance the weight it would still slide around on my head.
The next idea that Susan had was to change the foam padding inside and that fixed the problem. She gave me thicker foam that took the shape of my head that created just enough friction to hold my head stick in place. I wonder when I go bald headed, we might have line the inside with dycem.
Dycem- Used by many occupational therapists, physical therapists and healthcare professionals as an effective anti-slip.
I was just typing up some answers for a newspaper article and had the question about the artist I look at. So I looked up Chuck Close, because he has always been one of my staples even before I learn that he was disabled. The reason why I always related my work with my is because of the style he works in, a lot of his work is huge and made up of smaller shapes. So up close you cannot see the whole picture until you are half way across the room. Just as my pieces, you do not get the impact of my work until you see them from a far. But up close you can see each mark I make.
Chuck Close in August 2012 with Obama I and Obama II, two Jacquard tapestries published by Magnolia Editions. Photo by Donald Farnsworth.
This week I heard that the Baltimore Ravens fans are the most superstitious fans in the NFL. Well I would not call what I do a superstition, but surely a ritual. When know we are going tailgating, I try to get in the hot shower a couple minutes extra in order to let the warm water relax my bladder. Even though I just went to the bathroom, I still like to make sure all of the Urine is out. Especially when we go out to tailgate, because I never know how long it will be before I see an accessible bathroom. In addition, sometimes I drink more then others. At all cost I do try to stay away from the beer, Natty Boh and Bud are favorites down there and those suckers go right through you.
First of all I would Like to thank Professor Lisa Kay for invite me to Tyler School of Art and all the work she did to make this event possible. She had a full schedule for me and Wifey, we arrived on Wednesday and went to her art Ed. class for a drawing demonstration, it went better then I expected. I am one of those artist that likes to work it private, but at the same time was a way to everyone relax and start the conversation. I was taking questions and talking plus most students were sitting on the floor while was working. I am sure that this was the first time they have seen this way of creating art.
During my visit to the class room, I was talking about some of the projects that I have in the works. For example, how I trying to set up an internship at Towson U. for a painting student to help me in my studio. Before I left the Temple campus, I had one studio ask me for the details of the internship. Too bad I am from Maryland, or I would have already filled the position. I also had a guess with me, just over a year ago I received an email Amy Soppet Taklif. She has been working on a book about disabilities relationships and sexuality, Amy has been trying to interview Wifey and I for a year. It just happened that Temple U. was not far from her house so she met us that night to do the interview. After the visit to the class we returned to the hotel with along with a few cocktails to talk about our relationship. I think, it turned into a three hour interview, but it was fun talking about the stuff that most people are too afraid to mention.
The next morning we got up to go hang my work in the contemporary art gallery, I am very impression by what the gallery Director is doing with his space. Rob is making the gallery into just a white cube to view art. For half of the week artist are working in the gallery to prepare the show and the other half of the week he is in the gallery having people interact with the work. Wifey and I returned to the gallery at 5 p.m. for engagement, is was very well publicized, all around the building were signs saying the King is come. In addition, my face was on the big screen as everyone walk into the building. Every seat was taken and some people were even standing. I even heard that a couple of Temple's football players came into the gallery, first they were standing in the back and by the end they were sitting in the front row.
The next morning before our departure, there was a breakfast with members from some of the other departments on campus. The idea was that we had this great event to grab people's attention, now how do they capitalize on the momentum to raise disability awareness thought their whole campus? I often say my art work is not meant for decoration, but to start conversations. Maybe that is the meaning of my existence, not to be guy to change rules, but to creator a new way of thinking that leads to better things.
It is amazing how a event like this can recharge our batteries, both as a couple and as a public figure. I did not come away from this gig thinking it was my best ever, but I did get the most full filled from. Maybe because, it was well rounded. I got to share some of art, some of my life as a disabled person and some of our life as a couple. It is not enough for me to just share our story, but to know that people walk away with a new perspective on life!
If you think this seem to be a awesome event, you should want I have instore with Service Coordination to end this month!
I am trying to write up a description for an internship that I want to offer to painting student at TU. This is in anticipation of the new studio I will have at the Brit Artscenter with TAC. It was easy when I was taking about with Mike Smoot, this will let me have a studio assistant and hopefully the student will benefit too. To bad I can't just say, come create good art shit with the king and become ninja, jedi artist! The same amount of people have said I should teach, have also said I should go into politics. Maybe this is my way of doing that. I am Just waiting for the call to do my master class with Mrs. O.
Although, I have been joking around about the new rules that Disney put into effect due to that some people were abusing the system. Being a trail blazer myself, I realized my action work both for the positive and negative. I would like to think most of my actions leave a positive vibe for PWD.
this summer Wifey and I took my nephew Timmy to the go-karts. The track was crowded, they both wanted me to go and I was not getting a good vibe from the staff. So I just sat on the side and watched Timmy, even though I wanted to do it. later in the day we went to another track that they had at the park and there were less people.
It was our last two tickets, so I went for it. The staff guy did let me go, I did not hit anything or anyone but I did not keep the pedal floored the whole time.
On our way home Timmy said I should have played bumper cars with him. My reply was: if I crash the car the whole time, they might not let the next disabled person on the ride due to my actions.
Check out AAPD's new PSA to be aired on Comcast networks nationwide! #RedefineDisability If I compared this to the two commercial I recently shared it seems too safe. Maybe that is that different between commercials and PSAs, I always thought PSA were to provoke thoughts emotions not just awareness? One can also see the differences between European and USA attitudes towards PWD.
Here are two commercials that popped up in the last couple of weeks. Even though they are for different products, they both have the theme of able body people adapting to the PWD world. You should know the two commercials are European, I wonder if they finally realizing that PWD are tired of living in a world that is not accessible and are trying to turn the tables to create more awareness?
As I was watching that football game last Thursday night, NBC ran some promo for the new TV season. There was a clip from the new Michael Fox show.
the set up:
family is having breakfast at the table.
Fox is spooning out eggs to put on dish.
Eggs are falling off the spoon.
Wife grabs Fox's hand and says, we are in a hurry.
To me that is funny shit, because I can relate to that. As an example, Wifey and I will be headed out the door and I start to switch the laundry to the drier. Wifey says, "I got that, just go jump into your chair, we have to go." If other people are not used to the disability life style will the see the humor in the situation?
My question about the show Ironside will every crime scene be accessible? It would be cool if they could work that into the show. I bet not many people have seen a chair user balance on two wheel and pull their selves up stairs. Nor, someone butt climb stairs and their friend carries the chair up the stairs. I SAY RELEASE THE GIMPS!!!!!!!!!
So Brooke come down the other night to spend some time with us and Zarrah. We both we playing Candy Crush, crush, crush baby but any way Wifey and Brooke started to talk about their texting techniques. If one or two fingers were faster, so as everything does in a family this became a competition.
the contest was, who could text what I said the fastest, but still be accurate. Talk about interest!
I have started a new section of my pinterest page for ideas of groups and organizations that give out money for projects. A lot of times this money goes un-use because people are not aware of them. Please if you know of a foundation that I can add to my collection, I would love to hear about them! http://pinterest.com/kinggimp/funding-ideas/
I would like to take this time to thank V-LINC, especial John for helping me getting back on track with the painting attachment. It really saves me a lot of time, frustration, tape and give me my independence. Without this piece each time I want a different brush, I would have to wait for someone to tape it to the stick. This piece is a very priceless part of my creative process. Some of my professors and producers would it looks to clean to be mine, come on get to work!
So sad! If people are brave enough to be this hateful they should also be as brave to show their face! This is the same as being a bully, when they are really stood to most bullies are big babies their selves.
An anonymous letter complaining about a next door neighbor's child with autism - saying the child is noisy, and should be euthanized - has pained the family, outraged the community of Newcastle, an hour from Toronto, and stirred viral outrage, as it circulated online yesterday. "It's awful words, You don't know why somebody would ever do such a thing," says Brenda Millson, the grandmother of the boy, Max, 13, who stays with her every summer, and who found the typed note in her mailbox.
Understandly, Max's parents have been devastated. "I have secondary progressive MS, so I can't run or walk with him anymore," cried Karla Begley, Max's mother, responding to the note's accusation that the boy should be taken to a park or nature trail rather than make noise right outside the house.
Jim Begley, Max's father, was concerned about the tone of the note. "A person that's that crazy or demented that would fabricate something like that leads you to believe that they're very dangerous. Right now I'm very scared for my son's safety."
The local Durham police are planning to file charges if the note's author is identified. Fortunately, the community has rallied behind the family. "Max is welcome here anytime," says a neighbor.
The more we all understand each other's differences, the less judgment there will be - and the accusation of "otherness." Everyone Matters Here's the video:
Thanks to Velvet Rose Wile, Kerry Smedley-Elliott, Tom LaSusa and others who asked us to give support to the Begleys and speak out against such discrimination.
The other day Wifey gave me some peanuts and they fall through my tooth hole. Wifey thought I was having trouble chewing them because I could not get then in my jaw, but they were stuck under my tongue. It took me about five minutes just to work the peanuts from their escape root, but I finally did.
the straw thing did not go my way either, when I use a regular plastic straw. My lip still pushes it up against my top teeth, so I still mash the the straw. On the other hand the tooth hole works good with my fish tubing straws, that is good for soups and frozen drinks.
If I was really into body modification, I would put a spacer in my lip into front of missing tooth. That way the straws would go through the spacer, but then the ring would need a rubber gasket to get an air tight seal. Have I thought this out, or what?
When they said bring out the gimp in pulp fiction, I wonder if there were referring to the bondage suit or the person. There is a hint that the gimp is also a Person with Disability. If you saw the HBO version of #kinggimp, the suit might have been the next step for me if I did not find my beautiful wife. I know, I did not make this up. When I did look up Gimp-A fighting spirit, I was using a Franklin dictionary and no other dictionary has it.
Also in #WTF category, this is like when I have to have a yearly physical to document that I still a disability in order to keep my care providers. Like I what to fake my disability so my lazy ass can sit in a chair while people take care of me. Or how insurance makes one decide between a manual, or electric chair. Both chairs are equally important, the electric chair lets me have independence and a manual chair lets me travel in family and friend car’s so I can have a social life. http://www.sportsabilities.com/#!article-81313/c14rc
It is crazy how people still think making property accessible devalues there property even when its for another one’s home! once we lived at an appartment complex and wanted to take out the the and do a roll in shower. They said we could do it, but when we moved we had to put the shower back. idiots!!!
via CerebralPalsy.org- Vincent and Heidi Giesegh, the parents of a 16-year-old daughter that has spastic #CerebralPalsy built an accessible ramp to their front door and widened their driveway to accommodate their child’s needs. However, their efforts have placed them in the middle of a neighborhood spat. The family and the community builder are receiving complaints from Giesegh’s neighbors stating that the Giesegh’s ramp hurts the value of the homes in the neighborhood, even though the construction was approved by the City of Fountain, Colorado. “I mean we’re trying to do our best to assist our daughter with her daily needs to get in and out of the house,” said Vincent. “As she goes into her spastic modes, we could just tumble down the stairs and both of us could get massively hurt,” said Heidi, about the ability to access the home without a ramp. What do you think should be done to calm this situation?
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If you cannot join us live on Wed. @WeinbergCenter, please get update on @ServiceCoord and their FB page
I think it comes down to the quality of life. Some parents might want their children to have the same changes in life as they did and this can not be achieved while their child is disabled. I have been asked many time about the "Magic Pill" of I have always said hell no! I have three degree, live life as an Artist, have lovely wife and daughter. Not to say I been to the Oscar's and get to travel all over sharing my story. How many other able body people get to do that?
I do get nervous and sad when I about parents putting their kids through a experimental surgery, or treatment when it causes them pain and time from living life. For example, when I at Ridge school there were kids that missed school months at a time due to surgery to have there hamstrings cut. In order to have their legs be able to stand flat footed and most of the time it did not work. So was it worth them missing out on school and the social aspect for this surgery.
in recent years people have been doing experimental treatment with Botox. Lets think about this, they putting poison into one's body to relax/tighten muscles. None of this is permanent, so every few months you need another shot.
Why not use the same time, energy and funds to make their environment more accessible for their lives? To me that would seem more beneficial and for all. I just all of the money being spent on "Medicine" When it could use for long lasting accessibility!
This was a multi leg road trip that was a mix of pleasure a business. In 11 days Wifey and I traveled 5000 miles and 13 states and it was worth it.
This was at the end of the first leg of our travel. I was invited to Galveston TX, to talk was a class of O.T. student at UTMB. It only took us two days to get there, so sadly we did not get to stop in @PigeonForge. We love the flea market there, after a 2 day drive finally got to our hotel in TX. It was so worth it and had the whole next days to relax and spend time with each other. At the gig I found out that it was the last of class for the 2013 class of students. Maybe this why it was hard to get the Q&A started. This time I had an easy ice breaker. I asked, if you go to college at the beach, where do you go for Spring Break? That just set tone for the rest of the conversation.
After the engagement we went with few of the professors and students to the "The Original". I was told this was the birth place of the Margarita. A movie star asked the bar tender for a drink that is sweet and salty.
Of course during our drive we observed many of these, it seems like we do most of our traveling later in the day. The only draw back to that is that we had to keep the hotel to let them know we will be having a late check. One time I book a room with those value hotels, I only did that once. when we did get the place, no one was there to check us into our room.
But the best sunset had to be this one:
One night as we were driving, it was like someone put together a playlist for us. Every song that come on the radio fit us the T, here are the songs in order.
People In Sky Once In A Lifetime - Talking Heads
Some song about sunset
The only song missing was David Bowie - Heroes
#heyjack as soon as you hit Alabama these duck fellows have merchandise all over the place. #heyjack the only thing I want is this cup for my real jack. You got that jack?
While we were ending our stay in TX. Wifey and I decided to go onto New Orleans since it was only a six hour drive. Who know when the next time we would be this close will be? Before we even left TX, we got our Bourbon to drink on Bourbon street. Driving into the city we drive right pass the Super Dome still lit up in purple. We finally made it, only 6 months later thou! Our hotel was right on Canal Street, it turned out to be a great location to explore from. We got settle, started to do laundry and had a few drinks so the exploring had to wait until the next day.
I was really amazed at how accessible Canal Street was, all side walks had ramps. Even more impressive was that, I did not have to bump up any store steps and if the store did have a step there was always a ramp. I really did not aspect to find this in such an old city. I wonder if this was part or the rebuilding effort after hurricane Katrina?
The next day Wifey and I had a whole day to explore New Orleans. This happened after we made our way down Canal Street, of course we took full advantage of the open battle rule. After we got our Maker's Mark it started to rain, so we went to the casino and broke even while we had a few cocktails. Then went to take fairy ride, but had a half hour to wait so we ended up finding this for me to ride. It was so FRICK'N AWESOME!!!!
I am a bit surprise the operator do not give us much trouble about me being able to do this. Maybe they if Drunk people can do this, why can't a disable person be able to Try? After I was done my ride, we heard a band playing down by the River side. We met up with another cool couple that was from out of town. The four of us spent the afternoon and night listening, dancing, and drinking to the band watching the huge ships go by while we were enjoying life. I hate to report that we did not even see Bourbon Street, but that just gives us another reason to return to New Orleans!
There is last adventure to talk about from our road trip, on our way out of Louisiana some how Wifey and I got the idea to take an air boat ride. This totally out of the blue and come as a give from a stranger. While we were in New Orleans listening to the band, a gentleman sent over a hundred dollars to our table and picked up our tab. I think he would happy to know we used the money for an adventure then food, or drink.
So we pulled of the highway and follow the signs to a gator park, where they also do rides. We had a half hour before the next ride and started to look at the gator. Wifey was excited and scared at the time especially when we had to walk down the bridge that was fenced in on both sides and gator could swim under. I said this is like Indiana Jones, but nobody is going to cut the rope bridge. It a cool ride, the boat guide kept trying to go fast, but the water was too high. The boat guide also kept stopping to call gators over to the boat and feed them marshmallows. He also said, the last season of Gator Boys was shot at this park. It was a great way to end our trip and a better way to spend the gentleman's gift.
I really liked this service, because one could use it through an IM app. That way I could type the basic information I knew that I need to say, then I could cut and paste as needed. To me this speed up the process for all.
SIPRelay® service will permanently cease on July 31, 2013 at 4 p.m. MDT.
We were grateful to provide the service for over 8 years and appreciate everyone who used SIPRelay. The new FCC compensation rates for IP Relay are too low to provide the quality IP Relay service our customers deserve. This is an unfortunate example of an FCC decision that was not based on the realities of the market and the needs of our SIPRelay users.
To continue using your SIPRelay number, you must port it to a different IP Relay provider. To find a list of alternate IP Relay providers, see http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/trs-providers.
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I know there are tons of groups to #advocate for PWD as individual, but who advocates when one, or both of a #disability and wants to be married and live as a couple. I just received an email asking if I knew where a couple could find #accessible #housing? I think if there is anything out, it will be very limiting, or exspensive since most of it is geared toward individuals.
If there is separation of church and state, why are religious people so against #marriageequality? To me #marriageequality is about legal rights and benefits, so far nobody is asking God to re-write the Bible.
via Marriage Equality for People with Disabilities Some people who don't get the issue have complained about us calling this a fight for marriage equality! Equality is about equal access and any institution that discourages any legal, consensual couple from marrying for any reason is not an institution of equality. Until people with disabilities are not penalized for marrying we will continue our fight for equal access to marriage!
"My mother battled Multiple Sclerosis from the time I was 3 years old to her death 17 years later. Near the end of her struggle, I saw the drastic steps my family had to go through, even with my father's excellent healthcare plan, to get her the medical assistance she needed. A family should not be forced to destitute themselves, sell assets, even contemplate divorce, just to get the care they need. I am proud to sign this petition. I know the solution will not be easy, but policies that tear families apart in their desperate attempt to stay together can not be allowed to continue." - Chris W. Gooley
I woke up yesterday ready for a full day of creativity on my video project. Wifey even made me a nice cup of coffee made with love.
To see how my project was coming along, I exported it as a quick time movie. I did notice it was a huge file compare to the previous exports, but this one had more layer and was longer. So I opened they file and it was dragging and skipping so bad. I try to export it many more times and it was not any better. I even looked up what are the green and blue bars in After Effects, they have to do with RAM to preview/render your video. I started to flip out and getting frustrated that I do not have enough RAM, BUT I HAVE 9 GIGS!!!!
For fours hours, I was changing the RAM settings and it was not helping. So after dinner and snuggling Wifey for a while. I decided to give it another attempt to find the real problem with a free solution. In my search I typed export After Effects drags and whala I found what I was looking for at 11:06pm. The issue was my output settings were set wrong. After watching a clip, it ONLY took 2 clicks to fix the problem!
Do not even get me started about how many papers I lost during my first two years at TU. That was when my laptop double as a communication device “attached” to a try on my chair. I will be rolling across campus and it will fall off crashing to the ground.
For years everyone in my network have been trying to find a dentist that would be willing to work me. I am taking about people from family, producers, my Dr., to my Service Coordinators and UC2.
Everything we tried always fall through. I remember the last time I tried to see the Dentist was at the UMAB Dental School. The producers of King Gimp set this up, because they are connected to UMAB.
So I got back in the exam room, in the chair. They looked at me and said it was to risky to even put a tool in my mouth since I move so much.
About two months ago my front teeth started to come very loose, so the dentist hunt was back on. Then my Mom discovered that there is a new dental school special patient clinic at UMAB. I hated the thought of trying another clinic; because they ripped my mouth up worse doing the work then the pain would be from the actual dental work.
I went anyway yesterday, although I felt that nothing would really get done. I got in the chair and to my surprise they did an exam and they were willing work with me. Let take breaks when I got tired of keeping my mouth open. My Mom did let them know about the film of course, also that I not only have two B.S. Degrees and a M.F.A., but also that I ski black diamonds in order to let them know the person inside on this tornado of a body.
My Wifey said it best; my body is as when you put a racehorse in the gate. The longer the pin it up, the more is just wants to run wild. Even though the dentist was in his fifth year, he kept consulting with his instructor. So the big question was to go ahead and pull the tooth while I was awake. Their biggest worry was that I could inhale the tooth and it would go into my lungs.
They think the reason why my tooth came so loose is that the bone deteriorated. When the bone goes then the gum pulls away from the teeth. Then stuff gets in there so the gum cannot grow back. I ask if this would happen to the rest of me teeth. They could not really say since it was not cause by decay. Being that the gum could heal, it only took a second to decide to pull it. I said at least I would have a new hole for me straws.
The moment I said do it, they changed out the dental assistant. Until now it was a female helping us, they knew my body would become a beast. So they started to give me the gas. I also said, it might help to cover my eyes so I could not see them working and they did. Before the instructor came back in to do the deed, I told the guys they should pocket my tooth and put that shit on EBay.
So I had three people there to help hold me. Before the Dr. started, she even said ok we are going jungle style. As to say once she started pulling, there was no stopping. She did give me a double shot to novocaine. The whole process felt like it took seconds.
Even though, I just had a tooth pulled both my Mom and I said that was the most delightful dental visit we ever had! I do not know if, I want to mess around getting a fake tooth. If Van Gogh can be an artist with missing a freak’n ear, why cannot I be an artist with missing a tooth?
I am finally getting around to tell about Brooks and me getting the stair lift installed. To remind you this is the stair lift from our other place. Most people act like they would not think about transplanting a stair lift unless the fit is right. Tom was willing to rebuild our current stairs so it could fit as a straight shot, but he was nervous about cutting the rail.
We asked a lot of people if they would help us install the stair left and cut the rail since our new steps are shorter. Most people said that it was not a good idea to cut the rail. If you cut it in the middle, you mess up the connection of the two pieces. Then if you cut off end, you loose the chargers at the top.
So the stair lift sat unplugged for about a year and that is not good for medical equipment. Until these two hippies said we can do this. Brook got it all installed and plugged in. Nothing happen plus it would not charge!
We kept adding to things that we had to trouble shoot. The first step was to cut the rail off to size and put the cap back on the end. While Brooks was during that, Wifey and I were able to find the remotes. The remotes worked, brooks finished up on the end and even re-drill the wholes for the charges so the next step was to fix the controller on the seat. I was like take it apart, I bet a wire is loose and sure enough it was.
Now we got two problems solves and the biggest one was still to come, getting this thing to charge. There were 4 contacts for the charger, but only two wires. No matter how we connected wires it would not charge. I am sure we spent two hours on the web looking for manuals and videos to show us how to connect the chargers and we never found anything.
I asked Brooks, if he could see how the contacts line up under the chair? To do this, Brooks had to take off the end cap and ran the chair half way out of the rail. By George, it work then it was a snap to the chargers working.
Today I had my quarterly meeting with my nurse from Medical Assistance Personal Care Services program from Baltimore County Department of Health, Bureau of Community Health Services. She informed me that there are big changes coming to this program in the next year. To me how she explained it, the program sounds more of a waiver deal and there will be a few ways to manage the funds. I could keep it as now and manage the funds myself, or go with an agency to help mange the funds. The big change will be that my PCA will be pay hourly, instead of a flat rate per day. If there are funds left in the budget they could be used to make accommodations around your house, or buy adoptive equipment.
Has anyone else heard about this? As with anything it sounds good in idea, but there are always bugs to work out. Just as when everyone got excited about the New direction waiver, as a way to give the recipients more control of their lives'. it was a good idea until you saw the break down of the funds and percentage really went to one's care. When I looked into it, I had more questions then answers.
Dan’s friends tape charcoal or paint brush to his head stick device to enable him to create art.
Free Past
Painting by Dan Keplinger
My Nights
Painting by Dan Keplinger
Some Bum
Painting by Dan Keplinger
Dan Keplinger is featured in the award-winning, short documentary
King Gimp “It does feel good to be respected and appreciated for who I am.”- Dan Keplinger
“In my work I hope to show everybody that they have the ability to persevere.”- Dan Keplinger
Painter’s canvas becomes his voice
Dan Keplinger, artist, motivational speaker and the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary King Gimp, isn’t sure if he discovered his voice through art, or if art gave him a voice. For Dan his passion for art began when his high school teacher encouraged him to express himself through art.
“I just look for powerful feelings and emotions that give me a certain connection,” said Dan. “My art speaks what I would be saying with words.”
At around 9-years-old a documentary film crew began documenting area children of differing economic backgrounds and began following Dan’s journey. The documentary, King Gimp, received an Academy Award and his artwork sales soared and his calendar filled with speaking engagements.
“People are more willing to take time to understand me,” said Dan. “I do not know if they now realize that I do have something to say, or if what I do say just blows them away.”
An artist was born
When Dan Keplinger was born January 19, 1973 in Baltimore, Maryland, the doctor thought he was stillborn and placed him aside. Momentarily deprived of oxygen, he revived with a brain injury and mixed spastic and athetoid cerebral palsy.
At 18 months, Dan was enrolled in a special education school run by United Cerebral Palsy of Central Maryland and then enrolled into a level five special education school at the age of 6. At 16-years-old and a high school sophomore, he was mainstreamed into the public school system.
He graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Mass Communication in 1998 and a Bachelors of Science in Art in 2000 at Towson University.
The artist
Dan creates charcoal drawings and canvas paints. He attributes his interest in art to a high school teacher that gave him “the tools to have art say what I wanted it to.” He paints from an extensive collection of photographs that inspire an internal connection, “I look for the abnormal in normal life.”
Not always happy in nature, his abstracts often depict feelings he admits “would make people close to me scared and worried about me.”
“Maybe I want people to see these feelings, so they know everything is not happy in my world,” he said. “Translating myself onto canvas became my language, something I needed to exist.”
He paints with a head stick, a brush connected to a dowel and headband, onto canvas spanning at least 4 by 5 feet. His friends cut and position the canvas and mix and place his paints. To paint he sits in a “W” position on the floor of his apartment which is covered with six-inch thick foam to protect his knees.
He uses 15 brushes that can be easily interchanged by his friends and utilizes four jars of paint thinner in each corner of his canvas. His paintings often contain a wheelchair because “it is my main mode of conveyance and a major part of my daily life,” he said. “In my work I hope to show everybody that they have the ability to persevere.”
Dan’s art, which includes self-portraits, abstracts and landscapes, was first professionally shown in May of 2000. His art has also been featured at prestigious shows across the nation, including the Herbst International Exhibition Hall at the Presidio of San Francisco, CA; the Millennium Arts Center in Washington, D.C.; the Chicago Cultural Center in Chicago, IL; and the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, NY.
The documentaries
His life story, to date, is shared through film and distributed to schools and professional training programs. At age 9 he was included in Beginning with Bong a documentary produced by Susan Hannah Hadary and William A. Whiteford at the University of Maryland Video Press and Tapestry International Productions. The documentary was about children with disability from different economic backgrounds that were mainstreamed in various education systems.
Hadary and Whiteford continued filming Dan throughout his life. They filmed him moving from his special education school into a mainstreamed public school system. They filmed his prom, high school graduation and his first art show. They even recorded him transitioning from his mother’s house and into independent apartment living.
Eighty hours of raw footage and the assistance of an 80-page memoir written by Dan was then edited into a 39 minute documentary titled King Gimp.
“The film King Gimp documents Dan’s joys and frustrations including the freedom granted by his first power wheelchair, his rebellion against using a computer-generated voice, his everyday strides for independence, and his most life altering discovery–art,” reports the MedSchool Maryland Productions and Video Press website.
King Gimp reveals how Dan discovered his voice through art and suggests that intelligent individuals with speech impediments and physical impairment are often perceived incorrectly. The film premiered June 5, 2000 on HBO and is available through mainstream distribution. It was nominated for a national Emmy, received an Oscar, and the Peabody Award.
“It does feel good to be respected and appreciated for who I am,” Dan said. “I hope that people who have seen “King Gimp” have gained this new awareness not only for me but for others who have physical disabilities.”
The motivational speaker
Currently, Dan travels the
country, booking motivational speaking engagements on topics that
include “Accessible Arts” and “Overcoming Physical Challenges to Create
Success.” He is often sought by federal and state agencies, along with
corporations and disability organizations to promote inclusion in all
aspects of society.
In 2001, he was featured in a Cingular
Wireless Super Bowl commercial promoting self-expression. The commercial
received many honors including being ranked in USA Today as the number
one super bowl commercial; receiving the Goodwill Industries’ Walter
Knott Service Award for displaying outstanding humanitarian spirit; and
the TASH Image Award for exemplary achievement in media.
KING GIMP: The Story of Daniel Keplinger
‘King Gimp’ chronicles man’s teen and adult challenges, triumphs
Academy Award-winning documentary follows the daily life of Dan Keplinger from the ages of 12 to 25 years old, with a special nod to his search for acceptance and success as a sought-after artist. Keplinger, at the beginning of “King Gimp” is a self-conscious teen with severe cerebral palsy living with his single mother, Linda Ritter, in suburban Baltimore, Md. But at the end of the film, he’s a college-educated artist; working his magic on the canvas, and pondering the meaning of love.
To purchase King Gimp contact the National Films for Humanities and Sciences at 1-800-257-5126 or visit MedSchool Maryland Productions and Video Press, University of Maryland School of Medicine.
A tale of love and devotion Artist Dan Keplinger said in the Academy Award-winning film about his life that he expected to have a life of loneliness because he believed his cerebral palsy would prohibit someone from loving him. But Dan would ultimately find that life is full of surprises after meeting his soul mate and wife, Dena.
Back to the old grind of emailing schools, colleges, and disability organizations trying to get speaking engagements. It was nice that Service Coordination had given me the opportunity to be their keynote at this year’s Self Direction Conferences. I do hope they are satisfied with the advice I could offer during my presentation.
I also hope that Wifey and I did not give Mike too many heart attacks with out last minut5es decisions, or our 10 minutes ETA calls. This is on top of planning his wedding that is in 5 days. I know his wedding and marriage will go as smoothly as our presentations!
One could that this type of opportunity like Service Coordination Inc. gave me, could fall in one’s lap once, or twice in a lifetime.
PWD are going to hell no matter what! There are still people out there who still think PWD are just possess by demons. Yes I do have story to back that up, it is some where on my blog. I even had to go to court for it. To make the story short, I was rolling home from TU and this person chase me for 3 blocks. Hitting me on the head to cast out the demons in me. Although she was the one foaming out the mouth. Then when we do fall in love, it will be more difficult since benefits will be cut. When this happens one person becomes the soul provider and puts more strain on the relationship. So to some people it might seem that we end up living in sin. I respect what people believe, I just think this respect goes both ways. I say fuck it, I will live me life to the fullest and if I get judge at the end, bring it on. So far I only have one regret in life!
I did this at the end the my MFA work. I was thinking what choices we make and the obstacles comes with each choice. As I use pieces of imagery from my art work to create my videos, I will be posting the whole art piece for you to enjoy. I did show Prof. Stein from King Gimp the video/animation that I have been creating that is still a work in progress and he was very interested. In fact, he might have me go to TU next Fall to play in their new computer lab to see what direction I could take with film. Although, the computer stuff is interesting and easier on my body, it can never replace working on the surface of the canvas. The idea of me working in film, is to still have the marks that I make. When I do start using a new medium, I think of as a new accent for my art vocabulary and how it relates to my body of work
I feel as if disabled people need to develop a sixth sense, because we need to trust people so much. There has been cases where PCA have stole disabled people income, but it would be so simple for a “friend”, or “PCA” to take one’s identity.
Trust and being able to read people needs to developed at an early age. I know what I am saying goes against parents’ and families’ instinct to protect their disabled child, at the same time they need to be prepared for the real world. When I was in high school Mrs. G., my assistant, said I do not have much privacy since I always asked her to go into my wallet.
There might be a connection between being able to capture people’s emotions in paintings and knowing how to trust people. Over the years, I have given myself credit that I could count my best friends’ one my hands. Those friends are also my networks of support, I can look towards these people to help me with any problem but in return they know things about my life that most people only share with their partner’s.
What I am saying this sixth sense to read people is really a gift. Not only from a money viewpoint, but more importantly for one’s emotional being and this talent of trusting needs to start early in life.
Some how in our last move, I lost my painting head-stick. This was a double lost, because not only the head-stick was custom made, but also the brush holder on the goes on top too. They each were design by difference places. My head-sticks have been made by an OT at Kennedy Krieger since forever. Up until 2004, when I wanted to use a different brush I had to wait for someone to change it for me. They had to un-tape one brush and re-tape another brush to the stick.
Then I was introduced to the wonderful people at VME, now V-LINC who volunteer their time to design equipment to make life a bit easier for the disabled. I knew it would be sample to get a new head-stick base from KKI. In fact, they can use the measurements for my lost visit and mail a new base to me.
When I contact V-LINK to get a new brush holder, this would be more challenging. It has been 9 years since the piece was designed and the person that I worked with move out of town. They could not find my file; it was looking like the design process was going to start from scratch.
Some times it does pay to save years and years of emails, because I was able to find the designers email but it did not work. Being that we live in this wonderful world of social networks, I found him on Facebook. He offered to call V-LINC and fill them in on the design on the holder. The ball is rolling down for a strike and is not going into the gutter.
Here is gimp history for you. Check out "The Power of 504 (open caption, english)" by @DREDF
I don't think I'm much of a protester myself, although I might get caught up in that mentality at that time. Over the years I have been lucky enough to have a voice that people have been willing to listen to. Even before the whole "king gimp" thing, I had a way to write letters that really got people's attention even if the reaction was not to benefit. At least I was able to get people to start thinking and that is the first step to changing what people value.
RT@Edgar_Allan_Poe Without art there is no humanity. How fitting that this quote would appear in my twitter feed today after last night. I had the pleasure to be part of a panel discussion about about the accessibility and inclusion of art in schools and museums. This panel was Moderated by Marcus Civin from MICA, I really enjoyed how he guided the event into more of a conversation and let the audience be involve through the event. To me this type of format is only beneficial for all.
Although it has been years since Wifey and I have been to a BARS event, I still think it is a great organization. Just being able to experience a sport that other people take for granted opens a whole new world to the disabled community, and recharge their spirit.
Baltimore Adapted Recreation and Sports (BARS) Call for Action! We would like your help to separate Complex Rehab Equipment from the competitive bidding process being implemented by Medicare. Competitive bidding would restrict the equipment you can receive to the cheapest option, not always what you need. STEP 1 Sign the Petition supporting the separate benefit category. http://nrrts.org/petition Step 2 http://nrrts.org/email_congress Learn more at www.access2crt.org
Do you remember as kid when you would blow bubbles in your drinks? People would just say that is not good manners, or just rude. It seems like you were more temped to blow bubbles in milk, because that worked the best and could even over flow the glass. In today’s world of ice coffee what is a gimp suppose to do?
As the ice melts, three different layers start to develop. You have the cream layer, the coffee layer and the water layer of course these layers are not good to drink separately. Some people may shake, or swirl their cups to keep everything mix. Then other people may use their straw to swirl the drink. Even gimps like Josh Blue have a built in blender? I only can blow bubbles, I try to do it discreetly, but other time I just need my coffee man!
I forget the last time I so much promotion. If public speaking was NASCAR I wonder what company would advertise on me, Josh Blue,John W. Quinn, and Handicap This. Maybe I could get an art company and I think we could figure what Josh Blue would Advertise.
Free Conference Registration: Service Coordination's 2013 Self Direction Conferences, featuring a presentation by Dan Keplinger.
Register today: www.servicecoordinationinc.org/selfdirection
"Above the Skyline" by Daniel Keplinger. Dan is our keynote speaker for Service Coordination's 2013 Self Direction Conferences. Register for one of our conferences here at our blog: http://servicecoordination.wordpress.com/
OUR COMMUNITY: Together We Are Stronger!
Service Coordination will host our 5th Annual Self Direction Conferences this April and May. These conferences feature presentations by and for self advocates, interactive workshops, time to meet other self advocates, lunch and a very special presentation by our keynote speaker, Dan Keplinger, Jr.
CONFERENCE INFORMATION:
North Baltimore/Towson, Saturday, April 27, 2013, 8:30am—2pm, Oak Crest Village, 8820 Walther Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21234
Contact: Lisa Smith, 410-256-8441, lsmith@servicecoordinationinc.org
Allegany/Garrett County, Tuesday, April 30, 2013, 10am—2pm, Allegany College of MD, 12401 Willowbrook Road, SE, Cumberland, MD 21502