Book publisher Tor is giving away free electronic editions of various science fiction and fantasy novels as part of a promotion for its revamped website. The selection includes Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin, one of my favorite books from the last few years. I’ve downloaded several titles to keep on hand for rainy days. The promotion ends July 27th (tomorrow), so if you’re going to grab them, you’d better act now.
If I wanted to make a bit of extra money, I could probably rent out my condo to some journalist or delegate looking for a place to crash during the Republican convention. If the anecdotes I’ve heard are to be believed, some people are renting out their places for a couple grand during convention week. I could camp out at my parents’ home in Wisconsin and avoid the craziness that’s going to accompany the convention. My convenient location, great views, and free wi-fi would probably fetch a premium. My only rules would be:
I was in a meeting today talking about issues related to personal care attendants and the subject of training came up. In Minnesota, there’s a fair amount of interest in giving PCAs more opportunities for education and training as a means to enhance skills and possibly prepare them for other health care professions. I’m in favor of anything that gives PCAs the professional regard they deserve. But it occurred to me that we don’t give much thought to training the people who actually receive PCA services. We don’t advise people on the best methods for training their attendants. We don’t give them suggestions on how to make hiring or firing decisions. In other words, we treat them as passive recipients of a service rather than active participants in their own care.
Wouldn’t it make sense to focus training efforts on both sides of the equation: the PCA and the person with a disability (or their family)? Doing so would probably create better outcomes for everyone involved. Plenty of states, including Minnesota, are moving towards a more person-centered support system for people with disabilities. But doing so is going to require a wholesale change in our traditional (which is to say, patronizing) views of disability.
I promise: no more policy wonk posts for the rest of the week.
I turn 35 today and I can see my younger, handsomer self in the rearview mirror, waving at me as he recedes into the distance. I’m gonna miss that guy, but not too much. I feel like I’m just starting to figure out this whole life thing and I’m curious to see what happens next. Today, at least, it feels pretty good to be a year older.
Thanks to all of you who have sent me birthday wishes.
Wired magazine describes a new technology that enables an individual to drive a wheelchair with tongue movements. A small sensor is placed on the tongue and a headset measures the tongue’s position inside the mouth. The system could also be used to control a computer.
My tongue isn’t the most limber muscle in my body (although my friends might say it gets plenty of exercise), but I’d be willing to give this system a try. I’m assuming that talking and driving is out of the question, which might be inconvenient. I’m imagining a future where I can control my entire environment with tongue thrusts, blink, and slight head movements. I’ll look like I’m tweaked out on amphetamines, but that may be the price of greater independence.
Before I go any further, let me get one thing straight. I like my life just fine. In fact, things have turned out a lot better than I ever thought they could. Having said that, I’m also someone with an imagination. If I woke up tomorrow morning and discovered that my DNA had somehow patched itself and I was just another able-bodied dude, these are the five things I would want to do first:
The video for Radiohead’s “House of Cards” is all the rage on the youtubes. Instead of using cameras to capture images, the director used various laser-based scanning technologies. The resulting images have a ghostly quality that suits the mood of the song. It’s like watching a broadcast from some distant planet. I particularly like how the images dissolve in sprays of pixels.
Jack Nicholson gave a fine performance as the Joker in the 1989 Batman film, but it’s a performance accompanied by a wink and a smile. Nicholson’s Joker has a cartoonish quality that detracts from his menace. In The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger’s Joker is one of the most nihilistic villains I’ve seen on screen. Ledger imbues the character with a twitchy, sharp-edged psychosis that is both terrifying and enthralling. It’s truly a shame that such a gifted actor is no longer with us.
This movie could easily have become a one-man show, but the rest of the cast is strong enough to hold their own. The complex story elevates the movie above traditional comic book fare and the action scenes are operatic in staging and execution. Director Christopher Nolan brings the same dark, brooding sensibility that he first exhibited in Memento (which you should really should check out if you haven’t seen it). He gives us a brave vision of a hero’s place in amoral, vicious world.
My building has a pool located on the common deck. However, the building’s designers decided it would be a good idea to install a flight of stairs leading up to it. So after six years of living here, I’d never actually seen said pool. But I finally made my way up there a few days ago with some choreographed assistance. And the rumors are true: there’s actually a pool up there with a great view of the city. If I venture there again, I might even be so bold as to dip my foot in the water.
A new version of the Barbie doll is arriving on storeshelves in September. The doll is clad in leather and…fishnet stockings.
I want to go on record as saying I had nothing to do with this idea. As far as I’m concerned, fishnets should only be worn by living, breathing adult women. I don’t appreciate some toy company appropriating my fetish and marketing it to grade-schoolers.