Divers

• I've taken to doing Morning Pages again, as a way to jumpstart non-critical writing flow (by which I mean "flow of writing about which I don't second guess every other word"). So far, so good. I'm not doing them exactly first thing in the morning--have to feed Avocado and get her lunch made, but then I retreat to my room and write three pages, long-hand. Couldn't have done this before the cyst was removed from my wrist.

• I think this is cool. There's an app for iPhones and and the iPod Touch which vocalizes pre-programmed sentences or ideas at the touch of an icon. So (in the case mentioned by the article) an autistic kid who cannot speak has been able to communicate using his Touch. It's also helpful for aphasic stroke victims and other people who have physical or cognitive handicaps that keep them from speaking. Now this is what the future is supposed to be, dammit.

As for the director of Autism Partnership, who is quoted as preferring that autistic children not use gadgets to negotiate the world, well...sure. Why not? And maybe this will be a gateway for some people to learn/relearn to speak themselves. In the meantime, the kid's mother now knows that his favorite restaurant is the Chinese buffet.

• I'm playing guitar again. My fingertips hate me with a Big Hate, but I can still manage the pick on "Rolling in my Sweet Baby's Arms," so there's hope.

• This afternoon I'm going to meet Sarcasm Girl and her sweetie to look at an apartment they've found. Imagine all the emotive punctuation you like.

Oh, I Forgot to Say

Spouse and I went to see Up yesterday. It's gorgeous, and fun, and thoughtful.

And no one, anywhere that I can see, has mentioned that the "Wilderness Explorer" who tags along with the old guy is Asian. Other than his looks (and his mother's) it's not mentioned in the film itself, and perhaps people just missed it...it's so matter-of-fact. The kid who voices him, Jordan Nagai, is also Asian. I'm just curious, given the huge flap that seems to be developing over Disney's new film, The Princess and the Frog, in which the princess is African American. Interesting.

That's One Giant Step for a Girl

Saw the tiny, cute apartment today. SG and the Guy decided they want it, and I saw nothing particularly to argue against. It is about the same size as my first solo apartment in NYC (which was a studio with teensy kitchen and bath--this at least has a separate full kitchen). So I co-signed the lease; the Boy put down the deposit. I just sent in the first month's payment. And we will give the girl a monthly stipend (roughly what we'd be spending on room and board at a residential college). And she's got a job interview in the next day or two. Diablo Valley Community College, which gets raves around here, is at the other end of a bus that runs right past the house. There's internet included in the cottage.

And she's going to move her stuff out over the next couple of days. Wow. We'll have to make appointments to see her! I am very proud.