Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in adp667's LiveJournal:

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Friday, May 12th, 2006
6:25 am	It's Friday! ASIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS DAY Friday 10 to 3:30. Demonstrations of stone and metal sculpture, Chinese paper folding, Korean calligraphy, Mongolian mask making and other skills. National Museum of Natural History, 10th and Constitution NW. 202-633-1000 (TDD: 202-357-1729). "THE HEART TRUTH" Friday 3 to 9, Saturday and Sunday noon to 6. Exhibits about women's heart health, risk factor screenings. Sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at Union Station, 50 Massachusetts Ave. NE. 202-729-4185. CELTIC FESTIVAL Saturday 10 to 6; concert at 7. Entertainment, storytelling, Highland games, clan tents, vendors. Sponsored by the St. Andrews Society of Mid-Maryland Inc. at Urbana Volunteer Fire Department, 3602 Urbana Pike, Frederick. 301-846-0406 or 301-695-3391. LITHUANIAN FESTIVAL Saturday and Sunday 11 to 6. Traditional music, foods, crafts. $3, ages 10 and younger free. Catonsville Armory, 130 Mellor Ave., Catonsville. 410-646-0261. WINE-TASTING GALA Saturday at 7. $100, to benefit Tourette Syndrome of Greater Washington. Embassy of France, 4101 Reservoir Rd. NW. 866-630-5173 or 877-295-2148. This looks cool...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/11/AR2006051100572.html (Comment on this)
Friday, May 5th, 2006
6:34 am	Sheep and stuff http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/04/AR2006050400565.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/04/AR2006050400655.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/04/AR2006050400555.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/04/AR2006050400608.html SUGARLOAF CRAFTS FESTIVAL Friday 10 to 6, Saturday 10 to 6, Sunday 10 to 5. More than 300 artisans display their creations. $7, ages 11 and younger free. Dulles Expo Center, Willard Road off Route 28, Chantilly. 800-210-9900. LANDON SCHOOL AZALEA FESTIVAL Friday through Sunday 10 to 5. Displays and sale of azaleas and other plants, flea market, children's activities. Admission free. Antiques show by about 70 dealers; admission $10. Landon School, 6101 Wilson Lane, Bethesda. 301-320-1006 ART FAIR Friday 10 to 9, Saturday and Sunday 10 to 6, by the Vale Arts Group. Displays of 125 new works by nine artists. Vale and Fox Mill roads, Oakton. 703-860-1888. GREEK FESTIVAL Friday 11:30 to 10, Saturday noon to 10, Sunday noon to 8. Traditional foods, music, jewelry, crafts. St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 7701 Bradley Blvd., Bethesda. 301-469-7990. OATLANDS GARDEN FAIR Saturday 10 to 4. Plant displays and sales, gardening tips, petting zoo. $5. Oatlands Mansion, on U.S. 15 six miles south of Leesburg. 703-777-3174 ART FAIR Saturday 10 to 4, by Del Ray Artisans. Colasanto Park, Mount Vernon and Commonwealth avenues, Alexandria. 703-838-4827. HOUSEHOLD PET CAT SHOW Saturday 10 to 4, by the Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County. Competitions, exhibits, vendors. Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Route 355 and Perry Pkwy., Gaithersburg. 301-740-2511. HARLEM RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL Saturday 10 to 5. Entertainment, food vendors. Columbia Park/Kentland Community Center, 2411 Pinebrook Ave., Landover. 301-386-2278. CIVIL WAR WEEKEND Saturday 10 to 9, Sunday 10 to 4. Drills, demonstrations, living history portrayals, entertainment, wagon rides, children's book camp. $3, younger than 12 $1. Blenheim Estate, 3610 Old Lee Hwy., Fairfax. 800-545-7950. USED BOOK SALE Saturday 10:30 to 2:30. Long Branch Library, 8800 Garland Ave., Silver Spring. 240-777-0910. BEAD BAZAAR Saturday 10 to 5, Sunday 11 to 5, by the Bead Society of Greater Washington. Beads of all kinds, demonstrations of bead-making techniques, jewelry. Bolger Center 9600 Newbridge Dr., Potomac. 301-588-1071. SCOTTISH FESTIVAL Saturday 5 to 9. Entertainment by the City of Washington Pipe Band, the MacMillan Pipe Band and others, country dancing, folk singing, Celtic crafts, traditional foods. $8, students and seniors $3, ages 8 and younger free. 202-580-6376. ASTRONOMY DAY Saturday 3 to 11 p.m., by the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club. Star-gazing with telescopes, talks, sky tours. Parking $6 per vehicle. C. M. Crockett State Park, 10066 Rogues Rd., Midland, Va. 703-924-5883 or 540-788-4867 ARTISTS OPEN STUDIOS Sunday noon to 5, 48 painters, printmakers and other artists show their works. Jackson Art Center, 3048 1/2 R St. NW. 202-342-9778. ROCKVILLE SCIENCE DAY Sunday noon to 5. Displays of solar, electric and hybrid cars; exotic birds and reptiles; chemistry and biology exhibits; hands-on activities. Rocket launches at 4. Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville 301-251-8744. GERMAN-AMERICAN FESTIVAL Sunday 2 to 7, by the Association of German-American Societies. Traditional foods, music, dancing. $8, students $5, younger than 12 free. Blob's Park, 8025 Blob's Park Rd., Jessup. 301-681-3464. Former astronauts and U.S. senators John Glenn and Harrison Schmitt will speak at the annual Space Day celebration Friday at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly. The theme of this year's event is "Living and Working on the Moon." The day includes shows by the Smithsonian's Discovery Theater, guided tours for children, hands-on learning stations and discounted Imax films. The museum will be open from 10 to 8, and parking, usually $12, will be free. Call 202-633-1000 or visit http://www.nasm.si.edu . And if you love yard sales, UUCF is having one, 7-1 on Saturday. www.uucf.org (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 23rd, 2006
6:01 am	Don't sit at home and be bored!! :) NEW ORLEANS BLACK MARDI GRAS INDIANS: EXPLORING A COMMUNITY TRADITION FROM AN INSIDER'S VIEW -- Opens today. Through Aug. 27. Selected portraits by New Orleans photographer J. Nash Porter capture the blend of secret society and neighborhood social club that is the flamboyantly dressed Big Chiefs and their tribes. Also on view from the museum's collection are costumes worn by Mardi Gras Indians. Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, 1901 Fort Pl. SE. Free. 202-633-4820. BEYOND BRUSHWORK: SYMBOLISM IN CHINESE PAINTING -- Opens Saturday. Through Nov. 26. Works by masters and anonymous painters alike demonstrate the symbolism in familiar yet unappreciated motifs in classical Chinese works. Freer Gallery of Art, Jefferson Drive and 12th Street SW. Free. 202-633-4880. THROUGH THEIR EYES: BIRNEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS PHOTOGRAPH ANACOSTIA -- Opens today. Through Aug. 27. Both everyday scenes and special events are captured in the photographs of the people and places of Anacostia, as taken by 13 students of James Gillespie Birney Elementary School in Southeast Washington. Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, 1901 Fort Pl. SE. Free. 202-633-4820. THIS IS OUR LAND: DISCOVERING AMERICA AND THE WORLD THROUGH ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS FROM CHILDREN'S BOOKS -- Through April 30. Eighty artists depict the diversity of people, pastimes and natural wonders in the United States and 20 other countries. Accompanied by the children's books that feature the art. Meridian International Center, Cafritz Galleries, 1624 Crescent Pl. NW. Free. 202-939-5568. THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE BOOK FESTIVAL -- Today, noon-5 p.m. More than 100 local authors, illustrators, musicians and literary professionals discuss their work. Includes children's activities and more. Howard Avenue between Armory Avenue and Fawcett Street, Kensington. Free. 301-949-9416 or 301-530-7399. BETHESDA LITERARY FESTIVAL -- Friday, noon-8:30 p.m., Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m., April 30, noon-7:30 p.m. The seventh-annual festival features David Frum, who discusses his two bestsellers ("The Right Man: An Inside Account of the Bush White House" and "An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror") plus other novelists, journalists and poets. With poetry slams, writing contests and more. Check http://www.bethesda.org/specialevents/litfest/litfest2006/schedule.htm for more information and venues. Free. 301-215-6660. CORNEL WEST -- Today at 11 a.m. The noted black scholar and professor of religion at Princeton University speaks. Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, Howard University, Sixth Street and Howard Place NW. Free. 202-806-7280 ABOUT HER: TENTANG DIA -- Today at 2 p.m. Rudi Soedjarwo's film focuses on a brokenhearted college student who develops a close friendship with a waitress that raises the eyebrows of a potential suitor. Includes a discussion with Novi Christina, producer of the film. Freer Gallery of Art, Meyer Auditorium, Jefferson Drive and 12th Street SW. Free. 202-633-4880. THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON -- Director Jeff Feuerzeig won best director at the Sundance Film Festival for this documentary about Johnston, a manic-depressive musician and artist who has a cult following in the indie-rock community. The retrospective presents conversations with his loved ones, and gives a glimpse into the career upswing that the artist, now in his mid-40s, is enjoying. At Landmark E Street Cinema. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/22/AR2006042201116.html And, as always, if you know of something that I'm missing, please, feel free to comment and let me know about it. I can't know of everything that is happening everywhere. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 20th, 2005
5:52 pm	San Francisco I had a great time in SF! Getting there, I left home at about 5:00 to be at the airport at six. They make everyone take off thier shoes now, and that's always really tricky for me because my braces on my feet are plastic and on linoleum it makes the likelyhood of falling that much greater. So that sucked, but I got to the plane on time and everything. I didn't check any luggage, all I had with me was my bookbag, since I was only going for a couple of days. The plane I rode in was an A80, two seats across in one aisle, and then on the other side, three seats. I was lucky and got aisle seats all the way around. I definetly had a moment of "this small a plane is going to get me 1/2 way around the country? But it did. So yay. No food on the plane. Rode American Airlines. Also no movie, which meant I slept. Got to St. Louis, my connection, and got food. Expensive! $11 for sandwhich and drink. Then I got to San Francisco. The airport is nifty in that it is in a semi circle. I didn't realize that I had to reserve my ride to the hotel in advance, but it was no problem, because I just called them and said "I'm here, can you pick me up," and they said "20 minutes." They took me to the fairmont, which is where I would be staying the second night, and the other hotel was only three blocks away. Except that they are the steepest three blocks in SF. Luckily, I was walking down them. I found the hotel where I was supposed to be staying "The Sheehan." It was ok for the price I paid. $80 split between the two of us, mom and myself. Mom had gotten to SF on another flight, a direct one, and she had gotten there an hour earlier than expected so she had three hours to wander around the neighborhood and see what there was to see. The hotel didn't have our rooms ready by the time I got there, which was like 1:00 p.m. SF time, so mom and I left our luggage at the front desk and went out wandering. We hit up Fisherman's Wharf. I thought it was very neat. There were street performers that reminded me of Barcelona. We took a boat tour of the bay and got to see the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the sea lions and other landmarks in SF. We didn't actually stop in Alcatraz though. The tour was neat, very windy, and a little cold, but very neat. The temperature in SF was about 50-60 degrees. My ideal weather. Then we got off and had dinner on Fisherman's Wharf. The place where we ate was good, and there was a drill team doing a demonstration in front of the restaurant, and they were interesting to say the least. One minute, they'd be talking about Jesus and God and the next they'd be pandering for money for a trip they were taking. After dinner, mom and I walked to Ghiardelli Square. There was this guy there who would try and guess what country you were from based on the language you were speaking. I so wanted to go up to him and in English say "where do you think I'm from?" But I didn't. We went to the Ghiardelli Store that used to be a factory, but it closed down, so I was a little disappointed, but I still got to see how chocolate is made because they had a small display in the back of the store. Then mom and I wandered around a bit more and heard this wonderful jazz being played. I never knew that my mom liked jazz! So we sat and listened and enjoyed ourselves. Buy this time it was getting to be like 8:00 and we had been up for about 20 hours, so we were getting very tired. So we started to head home. San Francisco at first glance does not seem to be very accessible to people with disabilities. But I think I saw more people with disabilities in SF than I've ever seen in DC. The bus we took to get to the hotel had a little lift that went out over the steps and that was very neat. The bus driver was nice to us, but not so nice to this other handicapped customer he had. The handicapped customer had CP as far as I could tell but he was mentally all there. And the bus driver is litterally shouting at him "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" I'm sure that the guy did understand. I understand that the bus driver has to make sure that his customers are safe and understand the safety rules, but you don't have to shout at your customers. So the bus dropped us off about 12 blocks up from the hotel, one street paraellel to our hotel. This was a sketchy area of town. We were right next to a place called "Divas" and all we saw go into that place and out of that place were men. Hmm...Divas...hm...only men exiting the place, oh, and a streetwalker in a wheelchair on the corner...hmmm...wonder what kinda place it was?...you get my point? So I was all like, mom, it's 12 blocks, downhill, let's walk it. And she was like "no." So I'm like, "okay." We get back to the hotel and check-in. The rooms are small, like the one in France, and the bathroom is only a little bigger. The bathroom is decorated with leaves and little lines that are drawn as curly little lines that suddenly stop...ok, so we've just been in the red light district, and then all of the sudden, curly, thin, little lines in the bathroom...need I say more? The next day we went to the Fairmont. We walked up the three steepest blocks in all of SF. Mom's legs were killing her by the time we made it. I'm suprised but my aren't. After checking into the hotel mom and I went to Castro District. Honestly? I was a little disappointed. It's very much like Dupont here in DC down to having it's own famous little book store "does your mother know?" But what I liked about Castro district is that it has all kinds of safe sex ads and ads promoting the use of condoms that I have yet to see in Dupont. I also liked that I learned about GLBT culture while there. I mean, I get the reference to the song "somewhere over the rainbow," but I had no idea that Stonewall was on the day of Judy Garland's death and that's the connection to Judy Garland. So my mom asked the clerk at one of the stores, and he explained it and was very nice. He also talked about how AIDS has changed the culture of Castro District. I had imagined it a place of 1960s free love, anything goes, and it's not. And it's because of AIDS. That made me sad for a moment. After Castro district, mom gets it into her head that she wants to go to the Victorian Houses. Except that she has no idea how to get there or where they are. So the bus drivers were very nice, but they had no idea how to tell us where to go to get the bus we wanted. After a few hours we gave up and went to Chinatown. Chinatown was very neat. I ate some really good Dim Sum. I didn't get off at Alcatraz though. I remember you saying that Montmatre was similar to San Francisco in terms of how steep it was. I beg to differ. San Francisco was MUCH steeper. After Chinatown we came back, changed, and had dinner at the hotel, as it is supposed to be one of the best places to eat in all of SF. We went to the Tonga Room Restaurant and it was terrible! First off, they had a lounge singer singing Burt Bacharac songs. Second, plastic candles with the little orange flickering light. The decorations were kinda in the same motif as the plastic pink flamingos of southern Florida. Tacky. My alcoholic drink was good, but the seafood was terrible. It was rubbery, as if they had frozen it and then defrosted it when I ordered it. My veggies were good, but with the dim light, I could barely see what I was eating. Dessert wasn't so good either. I had creme brulee, which is supposed to be slightly warm in the middle, but this one was cool and I would say almost cold. My last day in San Francisco, I got up at 3:00 a.m. Pacific time, and got ready to go. The airport shuttle picked me up on time, but there was this couple after me that was 15 minutes late. That driver should not have waited for them. Everyone else in the van was freaking out that we would miss our planes. It was 4:45 and we were still not on our way to the airport and I had the earliest flight at 6:20. Luckily, when I got to the airport, no luggage to check, so I just checked in and even more luckily, no line at the security checkpoint. And this time they had carpet at the checkpoint so it wasn't a big deal to take off my shoes and run through with my braces. So I made it on time to the plane. I landed in Dallas and they had a wheelchair waiting for me as Dallas is one of the biggest airports in all of the U.S. and I had figured that there was no way I was going to even attempt to walk that to try and make my connection. The person pushing the chair was a very nice woman. She asked me first thing if I was hungry or needed to go to the bathroom and when I said both, she said, "we'll stop on the way to your gate, don't worry, you have plenty of time." So we stopped and got food, and she helped me carry it all and I thought that was very nice of her. So I tipped her a dollar. Got on the plane, and got into DC at 5:00 was home by 6:00 and then yesterday I went to work and today I went to work. There was a message that somone wanted to set up and interview with me so I have an interview with 4mentor tomorrow at 4:00. Wish me luck! That's all the news from me for now except to say that I'm not happy with the choice of the new pope. I think that the Catholic church needs to catch up with the times or there are going to be mass defections in both Europe and the US. So yeah, that's all from me for now for real this time. (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 7th, 2005
4:15 pm	Book Recommendation and Follow up to job interview I am reading an awesome book by John Hockenberry entitled Moving Violations. It is awesome. He has been a correspondant for NPR and he is paralyzed from the waist down due to a car accident. I'm enjoying being able to identify with some of the things that he has had to go through, like, we've both burned ourselves really badly when we put hot things to our lower extremeties. He has to think about things that are natural for everyone else except for those of us who have paralysis from the waist down. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one dealing with those issues. He's very brave to talk about those issues because I still can't because of being teased so badly in elementary school. I loved the part where he talks about the woman who comes up to him on the metro and talks to him as if she were an expert on the subject of disability and that he should take the advice she was doling out because she was an "expert." I've had that. The semester Amena died, Claire and this girl from my bio class and I went out to Manassas, to Cracker Barrel or something like that. It was a restaurant. And the hostess thought that she could follow me into the bathroom and talk about her friend who had had a surgery to stretch her out and make her normal height. Yes, I've heard of that surgery, and honestly, sometimes I've considered it, and then I think "it's another surgery, no way!" Besides that, this surgery carries with it the risk of osteoporosis when you get older and I already have that risk because I was in and out of a wheelchair for six years when I was younger due to feet problems. I love that he talks about sex. And what sex does and does not feel like for a disabled person who has a spinal cord injury.. And he's honest about it. I can identify with the times that he was married to an non-disabled person and she was seen as the martyr who had given up her youth to be with him and take care of him. I hate it when people see me out with a disabled guy and A)automatically assume we are dating, and B)say something along the lines of "oh, isn't that cute, they have each other to take care of the other." Or when people see me out with a non disabled person and think that "oh, isn't this person who is not disabled great because they are sacrificing to take care of the disabled person." The only thing that I ABSOLUTELY hate about the book is that he calls himself a "crip." I mean, yes, it is his world, his choice to use that word, but ouch. And I love that he is complex and funny. Although I don't agree with him on a couple of things he has said. For example, he says that there is value to a person who is brain dead but technically alive. I don't know about that. For me, the brain gives meaning to the life the body is living. Another thing that gets me is that he hasn't been disabled from birth. He knows what it was like to feel his feet. I don't. He also doesn't have the scars I do from having grown up disabled. So it feels like, yes, he's disabled, but at the same time, not as much as I am or like he hasn't experienced the emotional pain I have with having grown up disabled. I haven't finished the book, so expect more updates on it. Next subject...Alexandria city called on Monday to ask me if I was still interested and could they check my references because they were fowarding my resume onto the HR department. I said yes, and then they called again today to ask the same questions. I wonder about that. I have two interviews next week, one on Monday with PRS, which is a place for people with disabilities to get services they need, and the other is with Community Services Board as a secretary. I'm not so enthused about that one, but it at least gives me a chance to interview and to network with people. Let's see, oh, I went to the doctor the other day, and don't worry it's nothing bad, I just needed a referral to the SB clinic that I have coming up on Tuesday. I LOVE THIS DOCTOR. I was a little worried because I didn't think that she would speak or understand English too well (because this has been my experience with doctors who accept Medicaid.) I was very happy that she did understand English and she spoke it well enough that when I told her I had SB, she said that she had never had a patient with it, but that at least she had heard of it, which is a great comfort after having the previous doctor look at me with big eyes and go, "what's spina bifida?" She said that she would have to do some reading on SB. That I'm ok with because my generation is the first generation that is surviving well into adulthood. In the past, we would die fairly young due to UTIs and kidney infections. I felt so comfy that I had her refer me to a GYN. I know, I know, I should have been going for the last four years, but I didn't feel comfy enough to do that with the previous doctor I had because I didn't feel that he would refer me to someone who would speak English well enough for me to tell the GYN everything I need to tell a GYN and be comfy and understood. (My apologies to the boys, as this was probably TMI.) Waverly won an award on Saturday and that was neat. I'm a little sore because we ran from lot A to the Johnson Center in 7 minutes, when on the way back, walking at a normal pace, it took 15 minutes. And remember, it's all uphill. So yeah, but she was happy and looked great and it was fun. So, that's been the last few days. I'll update more later when I have news. Current Mood: flirty (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 2nd, 2005
3:46 am	Hopefully this is true, and not an april fools. http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news.php?newsId=1072 (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 29th, 2005
6:04 pm	Cafe Parisien and Interview Went to Cafe Parisien. Food was okay, not great and conversation was ok but not great. I'm in a period of my life when I wanna be with people around my age and not like 10+ years older than me. Job interview today went ok, not great, but it's my ideal job. I'd be going to individual homes in Alexandria City to help parents with disabled and developmentally delayed children get the resources they need to deal with the developmental delay and disability. We shall see what happens. Current Mood: sad (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, March 26th, 2005
5:08 pm	Well, FFX County Election Board Doesn't want me Heard back from the Election board. They said that I was a pleasure to interview and they wished me good luck and said to keep in touch. I plan on applying for anything I can with them. But they do not want me for the position that I've interviewed for. Next, I have an interview with Alexandria City as an outreach prevention specialist. Whatever the heck that means. They're asking me for a driving record so I went to DMV and it cost $8! For a stupid piece of paper. So that interview is on Tuesday. Mom came back from Dallas and had a great time. She was mistakenly given the penthouse suite with a living room and two separate bedrooms both with two king sized beds. She was really nice to the cleaning staff there and so they were really nice to her back. They gave her extra towels and told her that she could take them home, gave her extra shampoos and conditioners, and every day made sure she had orchids in her bathroom. I'm really jealous about the orchids. People don't know this about me, so I'm gonna tell them, orchids are my favorite flower. The language we use to refer to my cousins are "los ninos" which means "the boys." Well, now they are 16 and 13 so they are no longer little boys. Mom was very impressed with them. It appears that their mother has done a good job raising them even though she did not get past the 1st grade in Colombia. However, the stories they tell break my heart and my mothers. I'm very worried about the little one because he told my mom that he doesn't have any hope for the future, he doesn't know what he is living for and that he wonders why he is alive. According to mom, and she knows a fair bit about this, it is more than just teenage angst. They are going through hell and back in Houston. They live in the nicest neighborhood in Houston, but in the worst building in that neighborhood, filled with graffti and they say that every week there are police, paramedics, or firemen and that once a month there is a person who is dead in the complex. They are teased by their classmates about where they live. They say that the worst car they have seen at thier school is a small BMW. Everyone else has a Ferrai or Jaguar or Rolls Royce. They are going on the school bus. They walk eight blocks to catch the bus because they don't want their classmates to see where they live. They are being called Spics and wetbacks. I know that teasing happens, but it's hell when it happens. As a survivor myself of really horrible teasing in elementary school, I don't believe there is a way we can stop it. I think all this sensitivity training is bs. What has me even more concerned is that they are boys. I remember vividly on the playground when guy friends of mine were teased. I remember them being called sissies whent they cried. Then I rememeber seeing the look of pain in their eyes when they were called names as they got older, but then they wouldn't do anything about it. I think we are not teaching our young boys how to effectively deal with their emotions and that has me very worried. I think that a way to put an end to the school shootings and violence at schools is to teach little boys that it is ok to cry and to teach them other effective, safe ways of dealing with their emotions. Sorry to my guy friends for raggin' on ya, but school shooters are predominently male. I've also seen lately as I've grown up where guys just shut down if they have been trough an emotional trauma. I don't think that's healthy. But here's the thing, how can I help my cousins? I'm here in VA and they are in TX and we have never really had the type of conversation where things get really deep. When they talk to me on the phone, their mother or my uncle is always around so they censor themselves. And I always ask the same three questions, "how are you, what's new, and how's school?" I don't know how to ask them questions to tell me what is really going on in their lives. And the school counselor already knows that my youngest cousin is depressed but the school counselor is so overwhelmed that he/she cannot do much to help my cousin. And they can't afford therapy. I've told mom to tell my uncle that if their social services is worth anything at all, they should have a referral system to social workers. But my uncle is telling my cousins that they have to learn to be men, and that means being tough. This message KILLS ME! Personally, I don't want a guy who is too tough, but I don't want waterworks all the time either. And besides, I don't measure how much of a guy you are by how tough you are. A guy who is too tough scares me. It kinda reminds me of Jim. But that leads me to an interesting question: What is a guy? I mean besides the obvious biological stuff. How does one go about defining a guy? I don't have an answer to that yet. I'd love to hear what everyone else has to say. I know that I do not want to define guys by what they do professionally. There are studies, and don't ask me specifics, that show that guys have a really tough time with retirement because a major part of their identity is what they do for a living. I also know that I don't want to define a guy by like the roles of husband/father because what if a guy isn't a husband or father...does that make him any less of a guy? I don't think so. And I know that I don't want to be considered any less a woman because I don't have kids nor do I want kids and I'm not a wife yet nor am I a girlfriend. Back to my cousins...their parents obviously haven't told them about the circumstances surrounding their birth. My cousins' mother is my grandmother's old maid from the 80s. She was 18 and uncle was 46 when they had the first one. My grandfather was still alive when the first one was born, but never knew about him. The second one was born about two weeks before my grandmother died. Apparently no one has ever told them that my grandfather didn't know about them. So mom was telling them about how much her father loved me and the oldest one said "what about me?" Mom told him the truth and apparently this has caused friction at their home. Personally, I'm one to leave the past in the past. They don't need to know about the circumstances surrounding their birth. But this whole incident made their mother really mad at my mother and it seems that she wants to cut off all ties to us. So, considering the following: I don't know these cousins too well, I've only met them once 7 years ago, but we talk for holidays and birthdays, considering that they are boys, considering that their parents are always around when they talk to me, considering that their parents read their e-mail and snail mail, and considering that I'm in VA, how can I help these kids? Oh, btw, I'm not willing to send them money b/c my uncle takes it from them and uses it for his own personal needs and I'm not going to subsidize my uncle. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Current Mood: worried (Comment on this)
Sunday, March 20th, 2005
7:12 pm	Third Update of the day! hehe, I've updated three times! Fair warning, I'm about to get slightly explicit, so if you are embarrased by such things, turn away. So, I heard from Center for Missing and Exploited Children and they said "thanks but no thanks." Oh well. Something will come along. I went to a bra fitting today. Found out several interesting things...I'm wearing the wrong size. Second, bras only last a year. Third, you're supposed to be able to wear them on the middle hook and they are supposed to be comfy. Hey! I even found a bra that had an underwire that was comfy! But not for sitting for long periods of time. So that was neat. Next I went to the zoo. The cubs are adorable! Hint to all my single guy friends looking for a cool date: unless she's PETA, a trip to the zoo is an awesome date. The only thing that gets to me is all the stupid sounds people make to attact the cheetahs to them. Then it started to rain, which is why my mood is sexy right now. I've been told that I'm sexy with wet hair. The metro ride home was interesting I struck up a conversation with a woman who is from C-ville who is a social worker. That was fun. I didn't get to the Toulouse Lautrec exhibit, but oh well, I'll do it next weekend. Mom comes home tonight at midnight so I'll be excited to see what she has to say about my cousins and Dallas. Current Mood: Sexy! (Comment on this)
7:02 am	quick question Anybody have any suggestions for the best cell phone and plan? I'm looking to get a cell phone because my landline phone keeps going out at home. I'd also use it for emergencies in the car. So not a ton of minutes, but I'd need to be able to use them whenever. Thanks. (Comment on this)
6:16 am	random rants Went to see Amores Perros on Friday. It was terrible! Lots of dog fights and lots of dogs dying and bleeding and very very sad. First rant, I think that what they are doing to Terri Shaivo is evil. People, she is dead without the life support! You are playing God by keeping her on the life support. Let a woman die in peace. Although, on the other hand, my neighbor Carol was in a terrible car accident and she survived when no one thought she would except me. But she was in a coma for weeks, not years! If that ever happens to me, everyone should know that I don't want any heroic efforts. Death with diginity. Second, what is up with the paper mentioning Condi Rice's attire?!! I've seen easily three articles in the last few weeks mentioning her attire! So, it's more important what she wears than what she is actually doing? The fact that even though I think she is the devil incarnate, that she is really smart? Grr...Although I did notice one article on what Cheney was wearing when he went to the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the death camps in Poland. But seriously people! How many times do you see an article staing "he looked very powerful in that blah blah blah shirt and suit combination"? Seriously pissed that a woman's worth is measured by what she wears. Current Mood: sleepy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, March 18th, 2005
4:12 pm	Gosh, I haven't updated in a while I've had two job interviews recently, one at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and ther other with Fairfax County. Let's evaluate: Center for Missing and Exploited Children: Night work, 11:30-7:30 a.m. (bad) Possibility for advancement and education benefits (good) 401k (good) health benefits (good) they pay for my parking (good) they pay for metro if I take metro (good) Alexandria is hard to get to because of traffic (bad) paid overtime (good) permanent job (good) maybe weekend work (good and bad) FFX County Election Board I LOVE POLITICS! (Good) I would be helping to make sure the political process runs smoothly. (good) I would have to be completely apolitical in the office as well as outside of work...means giving up marches, and giving up rallies as well as FFX YD. (bad) Permanent job benefits as above 8-4:30 with paid overtime. (good and bad) Saturday work sometimes. (good and bad) Any opinions? I'd love to hear them. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 16th, 2005
7:03 am	This is why I liked C-ville so much http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38606-2005Mar15.html (Comment on this)
Monday, March 14th, 2005
6:00 pm	Calif. Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional YAY! FINALLY! OH HAPPY DAY! Ah, but it's being challenged. Oh well, WE WILL WIN! http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (Comment on this)
Saturday, March 5th, 2005
8:58 pm	Safe Zone at UUCF Today's Safe Zone training went really well. We had people from GLSEN, and from all around the area. 11 people total. And I got to see a lot of my old trainer friends. So yay for that. I learned a lot too. Kinda stressful this morning when I thought that the office had forgotten to make the Transgender packet, but then I found them. So I'm really happy. However, I'm seriously considering taking a break from being so active as an ally in the GLBT community. It feels like I'm being put in a box at my congregation and it's the box labeled "GLBT Go to person." Any matter relating to GLBT, I'm expected to head it, to know about it, to be advocating for it if it's good or against it if it's bad. I'm kinda feeling like GLBT is taking over my identity. No one else at UUCF seems to realize that I'm very interested in a ton of other issues, such as women's issues, reproductive health, domestic abuse, etc. I'm also interested in poverty. The environment. But the only way people think about me at UUCF is as the GLBT go-to person. Even my mom thinks about me like that. We are going to San Francisco in April and her first reaction was "Oh, you can go to the Castro District." Honestly, that's one of the least important things for me. I wanna see the Golden Gate Bridge, go to Ghiardelli's, stuff like that. Maybe if I have time I'll go to Castro. So I'm thinking of taking some time off from being so vocal about GLBT issues. There are millions of other allies, and I can always be there when my GLBT friends need me, but I don't have to be there right now, advocating. I might come back, but I think it will be a while. I haven't lost my passion, but I don't wanna lose my identity. I learned two things today: first, there is at least one Baptist church in the DC metro area that leaves politics at the door and where people can be GLBT and still be accepted. Second, LLEGO no longer exists. This is very sad. Something I am left thinking about is this: I built up a lot of momentum today and what am I going to do with it? Do I even have to do anything with it at all? Also, I was talking to a participant today and telling her that I was thinking of being a little less involved with the GLBT community. My minister wants me to head the Welcoming Congregation Committee. I told the participant that I wasn't interested in that b/c I'm not lesbian or bi or trans. She said that sometimes some people in the community feel like "Why do we have to do everything for ourselves? We could use allies to help us get things started." That surprised me a bit b/c I always thought that it would be bad if a GLBT person came to this Welcoming Congregation Committee and found out that the chair is straight b/c I haven't had the same experiences GLBT people have had. Through lots of therapy I finally know why I can connect with them, and it has to do with hiding. There are parts of my disability that I hide and that if people were to find out without me telling them, I would feel very threatened in my self-identity b/c people make fun of some of the problems I have without knowing that I have them. So I hide some of the problems I have. But then I have told some people about some of the problems I have and so I know what a relief it is to have someone you can tell secrets to like that but then you worry that they might tell your secret to someone else so you look very closely at who you are telling your secret to. But anyway, back to my original thought, she said that it doesn't matter that I'm straight, that GLBT people need allies whenever they can find them and that if an ally were to start up this group it would be awesome because then GLBT people would have one less thing that they would have to spend time advocating for and feeling like "Why does everything related to GLBT have to get started by someone who is GLBT?" But then again, I don't know if I wanna head this Welcoming Congregation b/c we are getting a new minister and as mom said, I would be the point person for her to go to with GLBT concerns. And as I've said before, I'm getting a little sick of being the point person. So that's something to think over. In any case, it has been a long day and I'm tired so I'm headed to bed. Current Mood: grateful (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 24th, 2005
6:48 pm	Interviews Two interviews, one on Wednesday one on Tuesday. Both are interesting. One is working with mentally disabled and mental health consumers in a group home. It would be part-time, no benefits. Weekend work. 16 hours a weekend. They even have overnight asleep positions that would pay 5.15 an hour! Regular pay is 10 per hour. They want me to be trained starting Monday. The one with Fairfax County looks very interesting. I think I did really well with the interview. A couple of questions I had to think about but I think I gave good answers. It's lower pay than what I'm getting right now, but I'm also thinking that maybe because I have some experience I could negotiate a higher salary. It's basically eligibility work, but only for one program, SACC. I would also do referals to child care assistance if SACC cannot help them. It's a permanent job! I'm so hopeful! It would mean benefits like education and health and paid holidays and sick leave and 401k and pension and a financial advisor that would come to my house for free. I'm getting some money back from taxes, which I'm really happy about. Somehow, I haven't managed to save the 200 a month that I was planning on saving for each month this year. I stopped by to see Margaret at work and she looks well and people were surprised to see me. I didn't, however, stop to say hi to my boss. I just wanted to make a quick entrance and exit. So, as someone said to me a year ago, "Alex, I'll pray for you that you get the job that is right for you." So, if you believe in prayer, please pray for me to get the job with Fairfax County. If you don't believe in prayer, send happy thoughts to the universe, do a happy dance, do all your good luck charms...etc, etc. Anyway, I'm out. Current Mood: hopeful (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2005
7:05 am	C-ville Going to C-ville was great. I went by myself and really enjoyed the ride down because I got to stop at many historical markers and get out and read them. I stopped by Montpelier as well. I won't go back until 2007 because it's being renovated and it's not much to look at right now. But the grounds are very pretty. At Montpelier I asked if they had a wheelchair and they gave me an electric scooter which I thought was neat. I'd never driven one before. I had forgotten to bring my book on the Mayan Code with me so I was a little like "argh" but it turned out to be ok. Steve Ryan was happy to see me although we were both concerned about the possibility of snow. Luckily, it didn't snow. Steve and I went shopping for dinner for that night and we made cheesburgers and had salad. After dinner we listened to Garrison Kelior. I haven't listened to him in a while. That was fun. The next day I went to visit Ben. I'm glad I did. He is doing really well for himself and I'm very happy to see that. He's making it on his Psypets project and on the salary from Barnes and Noble. He's got all these really nifty science magazines that I really enjoyed reading. There's this guy who has invented food paper, where you lick the paper and you find out what the food is going to taste like. We also played his worms game on the computer, and we talked about Philosophy. Then we went to lunch and he generously offered to pay. On the way back I noticed a bookstore and wanted to pop in. Bookstores are a dangerous place for me to be. For Xmas, I spent $150 just on books. Cooler heads prevailed and I didn't buy anthing. We get to Ben's apartment and he says "you wanted X book," and he types the title, and gets it online. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I wanna be able to hold my book in my hands and curl up in bed or in a chair by the fireplace. But I don't wanna do that with the newspaper. The newspaper really doesn't make sense to me. I like my reading to be page after page instead of having to skip around. Although, I did like the choose your own adventure books. So then we watched a movie, I can't remember the title, but it's the one about the mice that have to move and the one mouse is sick with pneumonia. Anyway, it was cute. Then it was like 5:00 and Steve Dewhurst came back from the Anime convention and Ben went out to greet him and comes back and says, "Alex, it's sleeting out there." So I figured that it was time for me to get back to steve's before it got too bad. So then I went home. I made dinner from some of the things we had bought the night before, pork chops and butternut squash and rice. Steve had never had butternut squash. It turned out really well. 450 degrees for about 30 minutes with a little butter. I was a happy camper. Then we listend to the radio, because Steve doesn't have a TV. Fell asleep on his couch again and then went to bed. Monday I had told Amy that I was going to spend it with her. We decide to meet for breakfast. I leave at 8:00 from Steve's place to give myself plenty of time. I'm glad I did because my brain was not functioning well at all that morning and I got myself so lost that I ended up outside of C-ville and had to find my way back, but once I did, finding Amy's apartment was easy. Amy has a really nice apartment in a beautiful neighborhood. I met her bf, Tim, and he's nice. He was very quiet because he's not a morning person as he said. He was very sweet and paid for our breakfasts. I get a good feeling from seeing them together. Sometimes I get a bad feeling when people are together, and I'm like "oh, this is not a good combination." I didn't get that with Amy and Tim, but I didn't spend that much time with them either. But usually I can tell pretty quickly. He's very sweet to her, I could tell by how he would hold her and stuff like that. Amy and I took him to work and then we walked around the downtown mall. I think that I am seeing a pattern in terms of the difference between a big city and a small one. When people ask me what is there to do in DC, I automatically go to the museums, the art exhibits, the stuff outside the house...it never occurs to me that like going to see friends is an event. But in small towns, it seems like that is "what there is to do." Although in C-ville there's a lot of stuff to do outside the house because it's a college town. But oh, the bookstores...Amy bought me a Terri Prachett book. I'm excited to start reading it. We also went to this one bookstore that had Simone De Beauvoir in the original French. I wanted to buy it for my mom, but I figured she'd already have it or have read it. I was actually wrong on both accounts. Amy and I talked and she seems really happy. I told her that she seems settled, but not boring, like in a calm, happy holding pattern. We went to this Celtic store that was nifty and when I came back and told my mom she told me that she loved Celtic stuff, which I never knew. I was reminded that my family motto is "Fortune favors the brave." Yeah, I guess that's true in my life. So then we went for a snack to Tim's work. It was good; I always get weirded out by being served by someone I know. It's like going to my ex's pharmacy and asking for him to ring me up anything...not just something really private like birth control pills or condoms. Anyway, then I headed home. I will never again take route 29 in Northern VA. It cost me a ton of time. I left C-ville at 1:30, got home at 4:00 because of that traffic in Faquier County. Terrible traffic. So anyway, I got home safe and sound. Current Mood: nervous (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 17th, 2005
12:08 pm	2nd try posting this.... Went to the new Wegmans. IT ROCKS! They had black currants and they had juniper berries and come next Dec./Jan. they will have pomegranates! SO happy!!! They also have a sommelier!! (Person to help you pick a wine for cooking versus a wine for drinking). It's huge! And it's about the same price as Giant and Safeway, except it's too far away for me to go everyday. Amy, if you read this, I will be in your neck of the woods this weekend. Let me know if you wanna get together. E-mail me @ alexandr_dixon@hotmail.com (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 10th, 2005
10:54 am	news A friend recently asked why I don't update as much anymore...several reasons... 1. Work...I come home tired everday and eat and sleep and that's about all I have time for. My days have become very routine. 2. The nature of my work is very confidential so there are a lot of interesting stories to tell, but I cannot tell them b/c it would breach confidentiality. 3. I try and keep my ljs happy. Lately not so happy stuff has been happening. I finished my contract w/FFX county and so I have a month off. They are bringing me back, but only for six months, so basically I'm unemployed. Mom was in the ER on Superbowl Sunday for 8 hours. She's fine, but still, it's the second time in four months we've been in the ER. This is the time when I wish I had a SO that I could call up and be like, "Help!" Onto happy stuff...well maybe happy stuff depending on how you look at it...my uncle is going to have another baby. Uncle is 63. So yay about another baby, but yeah...hmm... Well, that's all from me for now. Current Mood: depressed (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 30th, 2005
10:19 am	New Year's Eve Day and the Day after and coming home. I've already written about new year's eve night, but not the day, so this is where the story picks up. New Year's Eve day my roommates and I went to the Musee D'Orsay. A guy there asked us if we minded waiting in line b/c he saw my disability and I said "yeah, it's no problem." Amanda, my roommate said "Alex,quit being silly, you're disabled and so use it to your advantage when you can. As it turns out this was great advice for later on in the day. But as we already had tickets, once I figured out where we needed to go, I had wait in line less than 15 minutes. The museum was nifty. I got to see everything I wanted to see, but couldn't find "Starry Night," so I'll def. have to be going back to see that. I was reminded how lucky I am to live in DC b/c we have a lot of really famous French impressionist paintings here too. At the Musee D'Orsay my roommates and I split up b/c they had things they wanted to see that I didn't. For lunch I went to Trocadero and ate at L'Ancienne Trocadero. I had a wonderful salmon and creme brulee and veggies. I think I've already mentioned though that people on a limited time schedule shouldn't waste their time at restaurants. Before I had gone on the trip, mom had advised me to go to Le Musee Del Homme. Honestly, not all that impressive. I didn't learn much except about greetings and gestures from around the world. So, Amanda's advice stuck with me and at the Musee Del Homme I asked if they had a discounted rate for anyone who was disabled. They let me in free. Oh, FYI, be careful which door you choose at Musee Del Homme b/c that museum and the navy museum are right next to each other so if you choose the wrong door, you'll be seeing the navy museum instead of the museum of man. BTW, trocadero is the best place to get a picture of the Eiffel tower. It's very beautiful there and I spent about 20 minutes just taking it all in. In the museum I had asked if Napoleon's tomb was open as it was New Year's Eve and not a ton of things were open and I was told that it would be closed until March. This turned out to be bad information, so Napoleon's tomb is someting else I wanna go back and see. I had forgotten my map of the metro so I was staring at the map of the metro that is in the station, trying to figure out my way home and girl comes up to me and asks me if I'm lost. I said yes, and she shows me how to get home. Oh, I forgot to mention that after New Year's we get to Rue Saint Maur, our stop and there are a billion stairs. I look at them despairingly and a police comes up and tells me there is an escalator. Sweet! I thank him and he asks me where I'm from and I say I'm American and he's all happy and stuff and saying how he loves Americans and America is the best country. So we've had all sorts of reactions to us being Americans. All the people with me were like "Alex, what did you say and what did he say, what just happened?" So I explained and they were all like "ok." January 1st, 2005 I get up earlish and decide that today I'm going to visit Pere Lachaise. I had forgotten to ask Adoram for a Map so I kinda stared at the map that they have at the entrance trying to figure out where the tombs of the people I wanted to see were. I didn't end up getting to see any of the tombs that I wanted to see, but I did see some really nifty tombs. I like that some of the tombs had really nice architecture and I saw some of the really famous statues and stuff. It was drizzling so I decide to go back to the hotel because of that and because my legs hadn't exactly recovered from last night. Unfortunately because I'm a dork and don't know how to load a camera, I don't have any picutres of Pere Lachaise. I liked Pere Lachaise, but it was hard walking because cementaries are always uneven terrain and there were cobblestones and that was really hard to manage. Adoram had said meet at 12:00 so that we could do our walking tour. We went on a walking tour of Montmatre. That's one thing mom had said, "DO NOT WALK UP TO THE SACRE COEUR IN MONTMATRE, TAKE THE TRAIN!" But I wanted to go on this walking tour b/c Adoram knows a lot about medieval France. The walking tour was litterally straight up. Like San Francisco, I'm told by my CA friends on the tour. But yeah, really, really strenuous walking. Adoram kept asking me "Are you ok Alex?" I kept responding "If I made it last night, I can do anything." Jeremy backed me up by saying "you should have seen her last night, we're all very impressed." Hehe. But yeah, hard walking. So, we found out why Montmatre is named as it is. Let's take the name apart: Mont means mountain. Matre means martyr. So there was this Saint, Saint Dennis, who got his head chopped off up here and I can't remember why anymore but then he walked with his head in his hands and didn't die until he got to another very sacred place in Montmatre. So that's why it's called Martyr's Moutain. The sidewalks there are made of cobblestone so that slowed me down a bit too, but it was all good. We saw the place where Picasso painted some of his painitngs and where Toulouse painted and that was neat. I learned that Moulin means windmill. The Sacre Coeur is a beautiful church with lots of interesting architecture and a lot of very beautiful statues. Unfortunately, we did not get to go in. I shall have that on my list of things to go to when I go back to France. After Montmatre, the group split up and I ended up going to do some shopping with the girls from Boston. Well, more like, they did shopping and I had some lunch. My French is good enough to have an idea of what I'm ordering, but not know exactly everything, so I always got little surprises. I ended up ordering a small steak with potatoes and it was good. After the girls had finished their shopping, we met up again and decided that we wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower. So we went. The line at the Eiffel tower was very intimidating, and so we stood in it for about 20 minutes until the voice of my roommate popped in my head and said "use your disability." So then I told the girls to stay in line and I was going to see about being able to go straight up b/c of my disabilty. As it turned out, I was able to go straight up. I had a little trouble understanding where I was told to go get the tickets, and one of the girls who I was with tried to go get the tickets, but she didn't speak French and the guy at the ticket counter was giving her trouble, so I slid under the barrier and told him, "Hi, this is my friend, I am the person she is talking about I am disabled and I cannot stand in line for long periods of time." So then we got the tickets and were allowed in straightaway. We went all the way to the top of the tower. The view was incredible. I loved all of it. On one side you see Napoelon's tomb, on the other, the Seine, on the other the Champs Elysees and on the other you see the Louvre. What I found even niftier is that the is a gift shop inside the tower and there is an ice skating rink. From the outside, the tower doesn't look like it can hold these things, but it can and does. So the tower was nifty. I get back to the hotel and people hadn't gotten back yet and so I rest. Everyone came back and decided that they wanted to do their own thing for dinner so we all went our separate ways and then decided to meet up at a bar not so far away from the hotel and then go dancing at a club. I though, decided not to do either the bar or the club b/c my feet by that time were killing me. So Adoram says that he knows a little Italian place not to far from the hotel and would I like to join him? I said, "sure." It was nice. We got to talk and he's very interesting and yeah, it was nice. So then I go back to the hotel and pack and sleep. Get woken up by my roommates. It sounds like all inhibitions had been lowered and all kinds of interesting things had happened. One roommate got two indecent proposals in one night, one by some guy on our tour group, and the other by none other than our tour guide! The next day I am just exhausted so I sleep in and get ready to go to the airport. There is a bus that is supposed to take us to the airport and it is running late. But no matter, we have plenty of time. So we get to the airport and I tell Adoram to help me get a wheelchair for the transfer in Iceland and in Minneapolis. So he uses a word that I can't remember what it is, but it wasn't "chaise roulant." So we get to our terminal and we wait. The plane gets there like an hour late. But anyway, we are on our way. I get seated next to one of the guys from Tennessee, whom we have not seen all the trip except for the first day and today. He's nice enough. So I take mom's advice and sleep as much as I can on the plane. I don't like Icelandic Air b/c on its safety information it starts off by telling you "first class has already enjoyed its pre-flight drink and they will be served a meal while passangers in the main cabin will get a light snack." Gee, thanks for rubbing it in. So we get to iceland late and we have like 15 minutes to get to our next flight and we have to go through passport inspection. And my wheelchair that I had ordered in France wasn't there. So I was told that if I wanted to, this was a small airport and that I could possibly make it if I ran. So I get to passport control and they stamp my passport, which I'm actually not all that pleased with b/c I spent a grand total of like an hour in Iceland and I spent 4 days in France and didn't get my passport stamped there. Anyway, so I get through passport control and I'm actually the first person of my group to arrive at the gate for our flight back to the U.S. I ask the flight attendant if the plane has already left, and she says no, that it was waiting for us and that it had been running late. So thankfully we catch that plane. But at this point, we are 1 hour and 40 minutes late getting out of Iceland and my connection in Minneapolis is 2 hours. So flight over was good, slept a lot had a small snack and we were there. No wheelchair waiting for me in Minneapolis. When the wheelchair finally does get there, I have 15 minutes to go through customs and then get to my next flight. The bags take forever to get there and the person pushing me in my wheelchair says "either I can get your bag or push you, but not both." I cannot believe that Northwest would have such incompetent people! Anyway, by that time, I've missed my flight so I told her that I could get my bags and thank you. So then I do customs and at Northwest I see about maybe getting another flight out of Minneapolis, as it is only 8:00 p.m. their time. There are no more flights out of Minneapolis that day towards D.C. So they have to put me up in a hotel. Now, here's the thing I don't understand, there were a million hotels close to the airport, but they have to get me one that is a half hour away? What's up with that? Anyway, the people who were on the tour with me were awesome people who looked out for me and said stuff like "look, she's disabled and that's a big bag, is there a way you can check the bag tonight so she doesn't have to worry about it?" And they did. My roommate also wanted to see the vouchers that I got to make sure that I didn't have to pay for anything. I didn't. Free hotel, free dinner and free breakfast. I didn't have anything in my luggage bag that I really needed, except maybe a hairbrush and toothpaste and toothbrush, but really, I didn't care if I didn't have that with me. I had a change of clothes in my bookbag that I had brought with me so I was ok. After France, the hotel room was HUGE! I had a queen sized bed all to myself and I could strecth out in the bathtub and I was so happy. So called mom to let her know that I wasn't coming home that night but that I would be coming home the next day and that I would be arriving at National Airport at 10:00. So she told me that unfortunately she couldn't take off work so I'd have to get home all by myself. I get to the hotel, check in and order dinner. I hadn't had time to change my money so that when the pizza guy came I felt really bad that I couldn't give him a tip. Minneapolis was experiencing a "heat wave" it was 22 degrees! I was so happy! There was snow on the ground which kinda made me nervous, but whenever I asked for a hand I got it, so I was ok. So I slept and had my wake up call at 4:00 so that I could be ready by 5:00 so that I could be at the airport by 6:00 as the flight was at like 7:30 or so. Btw, $7 for breakfast buys too much. The ride over was ok and when I got to DC, my wheelchair was waiting for me and the guy helped me get my bags and everything. Luckily for me, I had a credit card and bought myself a metro ticket and then when I got to my metro stop, I got a taxi and he offered to take me to an ATM so that I could get him cash and then I was home. All in all, a good trip. Hope y'all enjoyed reading about it. Current Mood: peaceful (Comment on this)