Weblog

Tuesday, 23 June 2009

Saturday, 06 June 2009

  • FREEDOM!!!

    Last week, officially, we girls were told we do not need to wear chest guards in karate anymore!!! :D

    So now we're all sparring without them, and it's SO MUCH BETTER. I don't feel like a snowman or an eskimo, my reach is better, I'll probably be faster, IT'S ALL GOOD.

    :D :D :D :D :D

Friday, 29 May 2009

  • Asperger's: Feeling Unwanted

    I just read a post called "Church Rejection" and remembered something that happened a few years ago to my brother, Chris, who has Asperger's.

    We were at VBS (Vacation Bible School, a little week-long summer church activity session for kids, where they play games and learn about God and Jesus) for the week, and I believe I was helping lead the younger kids' groups. It was Chris's last year at VBS before he'd be too old to stick around with his age group and after that would have to either stay home or volunteer.

    My mother got a call from one of the youth leaders, let's say Ms. M, on the last day of VBS. Ms. M asked if Mom would take over a month of sunday school teaching, since the lady who normally did it was going on vacation.... she agreed; she went on to ask for another thing or two (I did not hear the actual conversation) and then, almost as an afterthought, said, "Oh, and Chris will have to stay home tonight."

    My mom was shocked, and somewhat trapped, as Chris, then eleven or so, was sitting on her lap at the time. Trying to be as vague as possible, she said, "well what do you mean? He can't stay home; my husband isn't home tonight and I'm going to be teaching one of the groups."

    Ms. M explained that the group leader for Chris's age was in a wheelchair, and found Chris too difficult to handle. The leader was supposed to have someone else helping lead too, but they apparently didn't show up. So Chris was just going to have to stay home, she said.

    Well my mom was very very pissed off, to say the least. She said she'd talk later and hung up. Chris looked up to ask who it was, and mom waved off the subject, saying "I need your help with my group tonight." He saw through that, though, and said "You were talking about me, weren't you? They don't want me, do they?" She told him that wasn't the case and that she needed his help. "No, I don't want to go with you! I want to go with my group. I saved up all my quarters!"

    To clarify, there is a money race during VBS, boys vs. girls, where everyone dumps money in bins (colored by gender) and the group with the most money raised wins the competition. Chris had spent an hour searching out every quarter he had for Quarter Day. And that, I think, is the most heartbreaking thing about the story.

    So he went to help my mom with her VBS group. He didn't go to sunday school after that; I think it made him feel unwanted. He goes to mass with us now.

    Chris is very loud, he's hyperactive, he likes sharing information that is clearly irrelevant to the conversation with everyone, and people think he's a little obnoxious. But that is who he is, and though somewhat distracting at times, I can hardly believe he would be enough of a hindrance that a teacher couldn't keep him in line; I've seen some pretty hyper kids in VBS groups. He is a good kid, and doesn't cause any harm to anyone. Churches are supposed to be a place of welcome and love. And most of our church is; they were shocked at what Ms. M had said and apologized profusely for her behavior, but it's not like they could do anything after that.

    Chris still doesn't know what happened. (And if you know him/me, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't mention it to him, please.)

    How fair do you think Ms. M's decision was? Has anyone you know with Autism ever been singled out by someone you thought for sure would be open to their differences? What did you do, and was everyone involved aware at that time of the reason for their assumed "bad" behavior?

Sunday, 17 May 2009

  • I Am Now, Officially, Rejecting Society

    I feel lately as though I'm going through a long, drawn-out epiphany. Nothing I think is usual or what others would align themselves with. As I grow up and learn more about society and the world, the less I like the idea of it and the more I want to become different and reject what has become known as "proper" or "normal." For such a fanciful and childish person, my thoughts and opinions are arranging themselves to be more practical and less superfluous.

    And so, some of those thoughts:

    On Marriage: I don't want to have a big traditional wedding. It's impractical. I'm pretty sure the bride and groom at most weddings don't even know a great amount of their guests. Why would I want people I don't know to come to my wedding? And why are flowers and ushers and dinner and favors all such a big deal? Will people really be all that upset if the flowers aren't all the same color? Do the forks really have to be on THAT side of the plate as opposed to the other? (I say "THAT" because really, I don't know which side they should be on.) What is the real function of bridesmaids and groomsmen? Are they all that necessary? Just because two people are marrying? I don't think so. A marriage is something to celebrate, yes, but all the expense just so other people will enjoy something which I think is rather private is ridiculous. I want a small wedding or maybe I'll just elope. (Don't laugh at me now when I get married and my fiance rejects it all, haha.)

    I do like the little traditional things, as I'm kind of superstitious: the "carrying over the threshold" and the colors assigned specifically to the bride and groom, and simple things like that. And rice. Throwing rice just sounds fun, and it couldn't be all that expensive. XD

    On Children: I don't know if having a kid in a hospital room is really what I want to do. For one thing, I REALLY don't want a bunch of family over watching me immodestly push a baby out of my body. That's gross. I don't want people to see me in pain, and I just don't like being fussed over in general. I also don't want doctors telling me what to do. You know, you have to have a needle in your arm when you're in labor, and that just sounds unappealing to me. I guess it could help, but.... how long does it take to stick a needle in, really, if it's needed? They could keep it close by, but if I don't NEED to be stuck I'd really rather not. (I may change my mind about this. I don't want anything to go wrong when I have children, after all.)

    On Clothing: I have recently decided that nakedness is not a bad thing. It does not really bother me. Now, if someone flashes me out of nowhere I'm going to be rather shocked but only because I don't expect it, as society is generally clothed. Besides which, if they do that they probably have bad intentions, because most people frown upon nakedness and would not be casual about it. We are all born naked. We would not BE born naked if nakedness were a bad thing. God made Adam and Eve naked, and they screwed it up by eating bad food and deciding to wear clothes. Shouldn't Christians try to live as much like God as possible? And as the closest thing to God, as they had not sinned yet and were naked, I would think that we wouldn't be so horrified by the bare human body. (THIS IS NOT AN INVITATION TO SEND ME PICTURES OF YOURSELF NOR OF OTHERS. I am simply trying to make a point here, just because being naked is natural doesn't mean I actually want to see you.)

    I find a lot of opinions on clothing fairly ridiculous too. If someone wants to wear something unflattering, it doesn't really matter, does it? I don't particularly understand why some people love fashion so much. It's rather unappealing to me, personally.

    On Gifts: I like them but people can't really expect me to know what I want. I don't want much of anything, really. I want good food, paper + writing/drawing instruments, and sleep. If I'm warm and fed I'm pretty much happy. Gifts are nice but I don't desire much of anything and feel pretty bad that I've caused someone to spend money on me. Even though that probably means they actually care, which is good. For all my attempts to be practical, I sure don't express that well, huh....? Too many guilt trips over stupid little things.

    On Angst: For some reason all teenagers think the world is out to get them and the sky is falling down upon them, and perhaps raining forks in the meantime. But if we think about it, we are really just a tiny, tiny, tiny piece of a great big whole. Aren't there 7.6 billion people on earth, and growing? We are only 1/7.6 billionth of the world. Not a great big deal. Life will always go on, no matter what happens (unless we die, but then the world won't stop, either. Not that death is good.). Breakups, bad grades, bullying, and anything else under the sun that starts with the letter "B," we can get past it all. We just have to pick ourselves up and move on! Being upset about things is fine, but we teenagers are very hormonal and let it take us to another level of angstiness, which most of the time is fairly worse than it should be. We strive for independence, but we can't even handle our own feelings yet. As much as we think we can handle things, maybe we can't. So we need to learn to stop whining and be responsible and realize that life really isn't all that bad.

    For now that's really about all I've got. I've decided to renounce my title as a "teenager," just as Bindy Mackenzie did, and just be a person. Teenagers have too many stereotypes attatched to them. And, while stereotypes don't particularly bother me, I don't think I fit it well enough for the word to apply anymore. I am now simply a person who is the age of a typical teenager.

    I reject society. I talk to my mom about how I don't like how something is done, and she says "we can't do anything to change it." Well, why the heck not?! Why have a democracy if it's not going to let the people control anything? Why are we alive if nothing can vary or change? Can we really be so passive about the things that we know are wrong? Protests don't do much of anything, do they? I went to one of the Tea Parties, and it's not like there was much effect. There was one news camera there. One. Large gatherings normally get more than that.

    I suppose my point is that.... we all try to blend in with society. "This is how society acts, so we can't really do anything else. It's just natural." That's how we've been conditioned to think. But I don't want to do what society wants me to do. I want to do what's right, regardless. People think it's futile, often, and leave things as they are, ignoring them and complaining and doing NOTHING ABOUT IT. Nothing will ever change if you never do anything to make it happen. We blend in with society because we think we should, because we want to be accepted, but why want to be accepted if accepted means you're not acting the way you think you should?

    My mom says if I think things like this, I'm the only one who will be hurt in the end. She's fairly supportive of me generally, but she says I can't renounce being a teenager, and I can't just reject society. But I don't care about the acceptance. I have people I love and care about, and they seem to accept me well enough, but even if they didn't, I would still be me, no? I'm not going to follow something that would only mean I was lying to myself and others. If I get hurt, I'm bringing it on myself, and so I won't be allowed to complain. That wouldn't be fair. I'm not going to be normal just because I "should be," and I'm not going to follow the status quo just to protect my feelings. I don't know most of the 7.6 billion people on earth, anyway. Their unacceptance will not affect me.

    I have begun to ramble, and I'm not quite sure what the topic is anymore. But I never really let this out except to my mom, and in little bursts to my friends at lunch, but they all think I'm crazy so here it is again, written down to use against me when I'm old and less opinionated.

  • At what point in your life did you finally find yourself accepting who you were?

    I think I've always accepted myself. I'm never going to be anyone else, so it would be pretty stupid of me not to.

    And I think I've always liked myself, too. Although for a bit in fifth grade I just felt like I was the worst person ever but overall I've never disliked myself; only some of the things I've done.

    Lately I've started having a bunch of realizations about myself and the world and everyone thinks I'm nuts. I'm not traditional at all, I want to reject society and live my life completely differently from how I'm "supposed" to live it. But that's all stuff for another post. :)

       

    I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

Blog Length

Do you talk too much in your blog?
Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating
You Are a Yellow Crayon
Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors.
You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius.
Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way.
While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme.

Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

Sirius_Fan_Girl

  • Visit Sirius_Fan_Girl's Xanga Site
    • Name: Kate
    • Gender: Female
    • Member Since: 8/7/2007

About Me

  • I like writing, drawing, reading, eating chocolate, and engaging in Death Combat with my friends. :)

Pulse

Chatboard (47)

  • Stevieluvinhim
    Hey x Luv Your Site x Are You American x
  • Sirius_Fan_Girl
    dood. Is princessbloomqt the only one ever on here? Jeez. U lamos. (kidding) (i luv you guys)
  • smiling_skulls
    so, whos that M. dude and the e...for life???
  • princessbloomqt
    WOW you havent on in a while kai are you ok jk. but you havent been on in a while
  • princessbloomqt
    I just saw the funniest thing it says. Somebody should poke you in the eye with a really hot french fry. The charachter that says it is funny
  • princessbloomqt
    hey you ok yu havent been on in a while
  • Sirius_Fan_Girl
    Alright. I wasn't sure if there was still going to be something since we've waited for a bit. Maybe we could do my house.... I wonder if my mom would mind? I don't mean the girls, she wouldn't care then, but if I ask to have Dwight, Raymond, etc. over how do you think..? She may let me. :)
  • YouDon_tUnderstandMe
    That sounds like a good idea, we should have a party again. But not at my house becuae we are doing Abi's thing at mine. And FYI we can do that in tow weeks or something, so just to tell you. If you want to start getting the money for it or something.
  • princessbloomqt
    You need to supscribe to me
  • princessbloomqt
    Hey i changed my site a little bit i got a danceing stick figure