When I first read the plot summary of Cell, I was skeptical.  The story of a malicious Pulse broadcast to the world’s cell phones that turns their users into murderous drones sounded like a weak, even derivative, plot for a novel.  But while King is obviously paying homage to Romero and Matheson, his skill as a writer makes this iteration of the familiar zombies-take-over-the-world tale engaging and disquieting.  King is by no means the most nuanced of writers, but I like reading him because he knows how to balance character and plot.  I cared about the characters and what happened to them as they made the trek out of a devastated Boston and into the New England countryside.  Not everything in the book works.  King’s efforts to work in plot elements regarding computer viruses and worms felt a little clumsy.  But these quibbles are small; Cell is a satisfying piece of escapist fiction that is by no means phoned in.

A colleague sent me a link to a NYT article discussing an emerging trend: social service agencies teaching adults with cognitive disabilities about sexuality and romance.  I believe I posted a similar article a couple months ago, but it’s good to see this meme taking hold in the media.  The fact that people with disabilities experience sexual desire isn’t newsworthy in itself, but the fact that American society is (slowly) beginning to normalize its views on disability and sexuality certainly merits attention.  I was somewhat surprised to read that between 50 and 85 percent of women are sexually assaulted before age 18 (the assault rates for men are relatively lower, but still astonishing).  These numbers reveal a disturbing disconnect.  On the one hand, the myth of the asexual or the eternally sexually innocent person with a disability still prevails in our culture.  On the other hand, these figures suggest that people with disabilities–especially women–are statistically likely targets for sexual violence. 

 

I strongly believe that society’s stubborn refusal to completely abandon that myth directly contributes to the ongoing abuse of people with disabilities.  When we deny these adults the right to seek out relationships and express their sexuality in a safe and emotionally rewarding context, we isolate and marginalize them, leaving them at greater risk for stumbling into a predatory relationship.  Hopefully, programs like the one discussed in the article will spread across the nation and give people with disabilities a more healthy regard for themselves and their potential as romantic partners. 

 

Hell, even I could use that once in a while. 

I had the opportunity to be part of a live audience for yesterday’s Midday radio broadcast.  The guests were Newt Gingrich and Vin Weber.  I can’t be one-hundred percent sure, but Newt seems to be positioning himself for a run at the presidency in 2008.  He sure sounded like a candidate.  A few of his pearls of wisdom: Iranian-sponsored terrorists are going to nuke an American city at some point in the future, so we’d better start teaching duck-and-cover in the schools again.  And Europe is a collection of broken socialist states with stagnant economies (never mind that countries like Spain, Ireland, and the UK are experiencing vigorous growth).

 

I had a picture of me and Newt smiling like we’re best friends, but it somehow got deleted from my nurse’s phone.  It’s probably just as well.  Something like that could cause all kinds of headaches if it leaked out during my future campaign. 

Another late night, but not because I was stuck at the office.  Well, I was there until six, but I got to have some fun afterwards.  More details tomorrow.  The screen is getting all blurry.