Sweet Birthday
Well, I didn't think today was going to be all that great. I was away from my family, so that meant no real party or presents yet. And I had class. I was looking forward to Church, though, because I asked a lot of my Church friends if we could hang out afterwards. But today was actually very, very good. I got tons of birthday wishes on my Facebook wall; very appreciative for all those. It turned out the class was cancelled today; teacher emailed us and said she had pain in her legs. Glad it's not too serious. It just so happened while I was in the building, finding out that my class was cancelled (and I had another errand), I saw my favorite part of summer classes--a pile of free books! I got tons--anthologies, criticism, a couple of novels. I left some of them because they reminded me of some of the other students in my class, and I thought they'd benefit from them. I tried to send an email to them. Tonight was so nice! My friends passed around a birthday, and everybody signed and said some really sweet things. I got a couple more cards. Some folks even gave me some nice presents. I got a book about hymns and the stories behind those hymns, a journal, a bookmark, post-it notes, a pen, and a coffee mug with the likenesses of many classic authors. We went out to Subway, and probably about 30 people showed up. They paid for my meal! That was so nice. And we just hung around and talked. It was great. I felt loved.
Wasn't all rosie today, though. Yesterday, I lost my co-writer on my FFVII fic. I was just PM'ing them about what I'd been thinking lately, and they PM'ed me back saying that their life was really full right now and it was going to be weeks before they were able to write me a chapter. I was just worried I couldn't wait that long because either these thoughts would just keep driving me crazy, pushing everything else out, or it will fizzle and die (which I don't need to happen either). I asked if maybe they could just give me suggestions, but I don't think that's going to get me very far either because they haven't suggested anything, at all. So, I started searching for another. It doesn't look like anyone else in my favorites have as much knowledge on FFVII as this one did. I even posted on the fanfic forums and gotten no response. Maybe I need to be patient, but maybe fanfics forums aren't really all that popular. Well, if any of you like to write fiction and know a lot about FFVII, maybe you could help.
Alright, now for something else. Many of you might have heard about the Michael Savage controversy. I didn't hear the actual broadcast, but I have heard him before. I don't remember exactly when. I remember I mostly felt disgusted by what he had to say, but there were sometimes I kinda respected and agreed with him. (That's about how I feel every time I have to put up with talk radio.) I was very disappointed with him when I read what he said, something about 90% of autistic kids being undisciplined "brats" (putting it mildly). This last Monday evening, I was talking to Mom about Michael Savage. I was intending to warn her not to listen to him anymore, but then she told me she did listen to him that evening. She didn't hear the initial broadcast either, but she could tell that he said something really bad about autism. She told me that he explained himself on the air. He said that he personally knows a boy who is terminally ill. He didn't go into a details, but he explained that knowing such a child so personally is what got him emotionally invested in this. He acknowledge that people who really do have autism really do need help, but what he was trying to say was he gets so angry at people who fake mental diseases to get attention or get help that they don't need, because it denies help to people who really do need it. I had to admit, he had a point, though I find it strange that he fails to realize that autism is hard, if not impossble to fake or to "turn off." I knew from the forefront that what he's trying to say is that the prevalence rate of autism is just incredible, and it looks suspiciously likes it's being overdiagnosed. Kids with ADD or AD-HD have a similar controversy. But that's not the way he said it; instead, he made up this crazy statistic and claimed that autism isn't a real disorder. It made me harken back to another broadcast (which, unfortunately, I didn't hear either) where Rush Limbaugh was commenting on what he knew about Asperger's Syndrome. Basically, he was saying, "That's not a real disorder; that's just being unsuccessful at parties." But that same episode, a bunch of people called in who parented, knew, or perhaps were even diagnosed with AS and told him it was a real disorder with real problems, and Rush apologized and retracted the comment. Savage is not going to do that. Mom told me that Savage said he wants an apology first (from whom, I wonder). But she also said that's his style, which is true. It's not an excuse, and it doesn't make this right, but it's true.
Still, though I am not intending any partiality on this statement, I think we're being too hard on him. A lot of folks are name-calling Savage with extremely vulgar names and petitioning for Savage to be fired. Well, what did you expect? If Howard Stern did a show where he was talking about autism, it would be very vile, right? Would he be fired? No, because he's Howard Stern, and he's got first ammendment rights like everybody else. We just don't seem very consistent! A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to Rush, and he repeated referred to some guy connected with the whole Fannie May fiasco with a nickname that rhymed with a very vulgar phrase. I was appalled and furious. As much as I usually respect him, I wanted Rush fired at that moment. Even if this wasn't a great guy, nobody deserves something like that! Did anybody speak up for that guy? No! I think Savage was trying to communicate something the best way he knew how, and it didn't come out right. If he was really motivated to say this because he's close somebody who is deathly sick (and it might not be true), I just don't think it's right to kick him while he's down, calling him a "moron" who's "heartless." Maybe we should just realize what he was trying to say, forgive him, and move on, and hope he doesn't say something that stupid again.
UPDATE: Here's an opinion that says about the same thing on the issue but more polished and with some sources. http://selwynduke.typepad.com/selwyndukecom/2008/07/judge-mentally.html
Wasn't all rosie today, though. Yesterday, I lost my co-writer on my FFVII fic. I was just PM'ing them about what I'd been thinking lately, and they PM'ed me back saying that their life was really full right now and it was going to be weeks before they were able to write me a chapter. I was just worried I couldn't wait that long because either these thoughts would just keep driving me crazy, pushing everything else out, or it will fizzle and die (which I don't need to happen either). I asked if maybe they could just give me suggestions, but I don't think that's going to get me very far either because they haven't suggested anything, at all. So, I started searching for another. It doesn't look like anyone else in my favorites have as much knowledge on FFVII as this one did. I even posted on the fanfic forums and gotten no response. Maybe I need to be patient, but maybe fanfics forums aren't really all that popular. Well, if any of you like to write fiction and know a lot about FFVII, maybe you could help.
Alright, now for something else. Many of you might have heard about the Michael Savage controversy. I didn't hear the actual broadcast, but I have heard him before. I don't remember exactly when. I remember I mostly felt disgusted by what he had to say, but there were sometimes I kinda respected and agreed with him. (That's about how I feel every time I have to put up with talk radio.) I was very disappointed with him when I read what he said, something about 90% of autistic kids being undisciplined "brats" (putting it mildly). This last Monday evening, I was talking to Mom about Michael Savage. I was intending to warn her not to listen to him anymore, but then she told me she did listen to him that evening. She didn't hear the initial broadcast either, but she could tell that he said something really bad about autism. She told me that he explained himself on the air. He said that he personally knows a boy who is terminally ill. He didn't go into a details, but he explained that knowing such a child so personally is what got him emotionally invested in this. He acknowledge that people who really do have autism really do need help, but what he was trying to say was he gets so angry at people who fake mental diseases to get attention or get help that they don't need, because it denies help to people who really do need it. I had to admit, he had a point, though I find it strange that he fails to realize that autism is hard, if not impossble to fake or to "turn off." I knew from the forefront that what he's trying to say is that the prevalence rate of autism is just incredible, and it looks suspiciously likes it's being overdiagnosed. Kids with ADD or AD-HD have a similar controversy. But that's not the way he said it; instead, he made up this crazy statistic and claimed that autism isn't a real disorder. It made me harken back to another broadcast (which, unfortunately, I didn't hear either) where Rush Limbaugh was commenting on what he knew about Asperger's Syndrome. Basically, he was saying, "That's not a real disorder; that's just being unsuccessful at parties." But that same episode, a bunch of people called in who parented, knew, or perhaps were even diagnosed with AS and told him it was a real disorder with real problems, and Rush apologized and retracted the comment. Savage is not going to do that. Mom told me that Savage said he wants an apology first (from whom, I wonder). But she also said that's his style, which is true. It's not an excuse, and it doesn't make this right, but it's true.
Still, though I am not intending any partiality on this statement, I think we're being too hard on him. A lot of folks are name-calling Savage with extremely vulgar names and petitioning for Savage to be fired. Well, what did you expect? If Howard Stern did a show where he was talking about autism, it would be very vile, right? Would he be fired? No, because he's Howard Stern, and he's got first ammendment rights like everybody else. We just don't seem very consistent! A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to Rush, and he repeated referred to some guy connected with the whole Fannie May fiasco with a nickname that rhymed with a very vulgar phrase. I was appalled and furious. As much as I usually respect him, I wanted Rush fired at that moment. Even if this wasn't a great guy, nobody deserves something like that! Did anybody speak up for that guy? No! I think Savage was trying to communicate something the best way he knew how, and it didn't come out right. If he was really motivated to say this because he's close somebody who is deathly sick (and it might not be true), I just don't think it's right to kick him while he's down, calling him a "moron" who's "heartless." Maybe we should just realize what he was trying to say, forgive him, and move on, and hope he doesn't say something that stupid again.
UPDATE: Here's an opinion that says about the same thing on the issue but more polished and with some sources. http://selwynduke.typepad.com/selwyndukecom/2008/07/judge-mentally.html