PSA-The Dark Knight

I'm rather a superhero genre fan, and I saw The Dark Knight this morning. The plot is intricate and can be hard to follow, but it has some teeth to it and is worth seeing.

The best reason to see it? Heath Ledger.

What a performance.

Archive Queen

I had a great idea; sort through the family's photographs in preparation for moving to my new apartment in Lakewood. Trim down my "collection" and divide the extra kids' photos and memorabilia into a series of albums and scrapbooks and then give these books to my kids, Kate, Jill and Paul to keep. Sounds simple, doesn't it?

There are hundreds. HUNDREDS of photos of my family, friends, homes, vacations, sporting events, pets, school photos, school functions, violin recitals, french horn recitals, award ceremonies, Hoop Shoot contests, soapbox derby races, fishing trips, hunting trips, motorcycles rides, bikes, golfing, cars, proms, weddings, home improvement and anything that stood still long enough to be photographed. It all adds up to a huge amount of paper.

The oldest photo I have is of my grandmother, Mary, from around 1905. It's the earliest photo there is of her since she left Hungary in April 1912 and photos weren't something her poor family took advantage of. On a footnote, I found her immigration record from Ellis Island that documented the day she arrived from Bremen, Germany. On her record she is just a number, with a notation that she had $75 in her pocket and a relative in New Jersey. No record of the relative was ever found. Notice the date? She arrived a few days after the Titanic sank. She was in the North Atlantic the same time that tragedy happened. Did she know?

So, I'm the keeper of the archives.

That's a loose term. It means I have dozens of boxes and albums in assorted boxes and plastic containers and sorting through it is overwhelming.

Apparently it's safe to leave your memories with me.

Movin' On

Well, my house finally sold. It was no muss, no fuss, no problem. I met the prospective buyers and they are so nice and had the decency not to go through my cabinets and drawers while I was standing right there. What a relief.

If you need a real estate agent, of course I recommend my friend, Mike Johnson. Mike and I met when we both worked at Public Service (Xcel Energy) as gas and electric meter readers in 1989 ( Wow, are there some interesting stories from the world of meter readers, but I digress). It takes two agents to make a transaction go perfectly smooth and the other player in this game is Les Pfenning. Either way, you can't lose with these two agents.

Funny, I might have listened to some of the other offers on my house if people would have been respectful and remembered that even though this house was on the market, IT'S STILL MY HOUSE. This applies to both buyers and their agents. It ended up being a good lesson for me regarding one of the Four Agreements: Don't take anything personally.

This will sound silly, but I'm glad this house will see bright eyed children on Christmas morning later this year when they come down the stairs to see what Santa left. It will also wish kids good luck on "first days of school" and pictures carefully made in class will hang on the big black side by side fridge in the kitchen. One of the 22 kids in the cult-de-sac will come by and ring the doorbell and ask if so-and-so is home and can they play.

They new buyers already have plans for the carpeting in the front room and stairs. I know how they feel; I couldn't wait to tear out the white carpet in the dining room (!!!) and the awful Pergo floor that was installed badly and looked like a picture of wood grain pasted to cardboard.

So now, I have to get my apartment lined up, and I know where I'm going and it's gorgeous. I have some navigating to do since Summer classes will be ending at the beginning of August, I have a Social Doc class going to Sante Fe that week, the Fall semester starts on August 11, and I close on the 15th and have 2 days to move. Did I mention I'm one of the students assisting at the DNC under the auspices of the Associated Press? It's a glorified gopher position, but I don't care. It looks good on a resume and it should a great place to learn. I hope they don't make me wear pantyhose.

So, the adventure begins.

Seeing the Blind

I had the chance to do some images for a slideshow presentation being put together for a group of blind people at Abundant Life church in Westminster. The organization assists people with an assortment of visual impairments with services but the most important resource is a chance to socialize and worship. Danny Harmon collected some interesting audio to go along with the images. We'll see how it turns out. Making pictures was tough; it was some of the ugliest light I've ever seen, and my flash batteries went kaput. Ah well.

Years ago I worked for a master acupuncturist as his assistant and apprentice. That's right, I know how to use really sharp needles to make you do things. Emmett was legally blind and used a guide dog, her name was Bacall. At times he would ask that if I ran an errand or needed to get out of the office, would I take Bacall. He told me that at times he just needed to be alone and not be "guided." It's interesting trying to wind your way through a store that she knows and she would work hard to "guide" me. Dogs.

I was introduced to the world of the blind while working with Emmett, and learned how a world without sight functions. I became a whiz at tongue diagnosis (an important aspect of oriental medicine) only because you have to be able to see to use this particular empirical to accurately diagnosis Qi problems. He had several "apprenti," and we all took turns assisting in the management of his life and practice, and at times, we did resent it. In all fairness, he made a huge effort to make sure we were compensated for our time and effort, but it was hard nonetheless.

I have had a lot of people in my life who have a disability of some kind. My ex-sister-in-law Cathy is deaf, and the rest of that family hard of hearing. This usually meant the TV was up loud all the time and there was a lot of yelling anytime you went over to their house. I learned American Sign Language (ASL) out of self-defense, because they would talk about you right in front of you, and you couldn't understand a word they were saying. I understand now. I became so proficient in ASL that I would translate for Cathy when she would get a ticket and have to go to court. Interpreting in a legal setting is high pressure to be sure. You can make big bucks doing it, but it wasn't for me.

So anyway, it was interesting to see this little slice of life at Abundant Life church. They are a pretty tight knit group and provide support for each other. They welcomed me openly and I had a good time. I just wish that the sighted people who were around would have stopped saying to my prospective subjects, "Smile! She's taking your picture!"

Some of the participants said they could "feel" my flash; others said they had no hint of bright light. It's interesting to think about, especially in light of the fact I couldn't do what I love without my eyes.

Weird-city

Do you know how weird it is to be standing in your kitchen and have TOTAL strangers looking through your kitchen cabinets? I hate the whole selling-the-house-lookey-loo-I-don't-like-your-color-carpet-can-you-give-me-$10,000-in-seller-assistance-because-I-don't-have-money-to-buy-your-house-but-I'm-entitled.....

Lordy.