I’m absolutely surprised that the new head guy over at National Public Broadcasting has wasted money to find out that,..... Shock! Horror! NPR is liberal! He did this by hiring an independent company that rated each show on NPR as being either Pro or Anti Bush. As I recall The Diane Rehm Show was rated as being the most Anti-Bush show on NPR.

I heard all of this, this very morning on NPR’s Morning Edition. I was surprised that they allowed it to be reported on their station. It was almost as if they were being openly defiant against there new Republican dictator.

It appears that the new head of NPR is a rabid neocon hellbent on turning NPR into yet another outlet for the Republican Party. Also I heard on Morning Edition that he wants to hire this woman who was a chair in the Republican Party as his second in command. Yikes!!! Right now it seems as though Republicans are trying to take away our only true liberal media outlet.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a short sleeve olive green shirt that has various thin stripes running across. The stripes are coloured black, blue, and deep green. I also have on a black skirt and black slides. The skirt’s pocket isn’t sewn right. I’ve been lazy for several years to correct that flaw. So I always wear long blouses over it. Or nervously smooth it down throughout the day.

Last night I had either new neighbors moving in or the same ones moving in new furniture.

I had to open the door of my apartment so that they could move in a bed. The neighbor said it was possible that they may need the door so that they could move in a dresser. After he left I of course had a panic attack as I waited and waited for another knock on the door that never came. I went to bed assuming that they were finished.

I was horrified when I stepped out the door this morning. I was horrified at the sight of a moving van still parked out in front. I thought they were finished!

The sight of the moving van caused me to come back in the house and have yet another panic attack. I was paralayzed with fear. Should I stay at home until they are finished or go to work? Maybe they were already finished?

In the end I decided to go to work and let the chips fall where they may. I hope that they will be nice enough to wait until I get home if they need my door to move additional furniture. I hate the thought of strangers going through my apartment without me there.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a brown short sleeve Henley and a blue plaid skirt.

This morning at the 7-eleven, I accidently bumped into the deaf man from work that looks like Andy Rooney. I was reaching for a bag of chips and as I was reaching he passed by and I ended up accidently touching his arm. It was one of those split second things.

I didn’t think anything of it until I crossed the street to wait for the light rail train. While waiting I couldn’t help but notice that he kept giving me angry threatening looks. Like he would cross the street to throw something away in the trash can. As he crossed the street all the while he would be looking at me with a scowl on his face. Also I noticed that he kept rapidly opening and closing his right hand. I’m not deaf so I don’t know if that means anything in sign language or if he just felt like opening and closing his hand a lot to let off tension.

It was all just an accident! I’m 5’3 and he towers over me at 6’ something. Did he really think I was trying to attack him? Maybe he’s a racist or something and a black woman accidently bumping into him is tantamount to I don’t know what...

Come to think of it.... recently he’s been giving me a lot of angry threatening looks lately. Did I do something that I’m not aware of that’s viewed as a slight in the deaf world? Surely, he knows by now that I’m not deaf. Maybe I should find a way to sign, “I’m not deaf. I’m autistic.”

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a beige skirt and a sky blue short sleeve top.

Today was the start of my work week sans a bus pass. I tried to pay for a day pass on the bus but the machine wasn’t working. I had to buy a pass at the light rail station. I hope that I have enough cash to buy a pass for the remainder of the week.

WHAT I’M WEARING:

Today, I have on a blue skirt and a blue flower print button down blouse.

Big event of the day was walking down to Shane’s restaurant on Fayette Street. I went there because I wanted to stretch my legs. I also I feared I was getting cabin fever. I was getting this sickly feeling that I couldn’t trace to anything other than the fact that I hadn’t gone out anywhere this weekend.

I spent my entire weekend off laying under the fan trying to stay cool. I originally wanted to see the new Batman movie but was worried about whether or not I had enough money for the rest of next week.

As you can recall my bus pass was lifted last Thursday. I ordinarily like to keep my MTA pass around my neck so that I know where it’s at at all times. The leather strap for it broke about a month or so ago. So I’ve been carrying it around in my pocket. It was stolen while it was in my pocket. I suppose the person who stole it thought they were taking a wallet filled with cash not an MTA bus pass.

As far as Shane’s goes, I’m surprised that they are still in business now that the Trailways/Greyhound bus companies have moved away from the block.

While in Shane’s I noticed that they have different counter people working there on weekends. The Sunday counter girl seemed to be on something. She kept insisting that this man who came in had ordered a milk shake. To the best of my memory Shane’s doesn’t sell milkshakes so why would he order one? My order was finished before the ending of the milkshake drama was solved.

Today, I did nothing but peruse autism message boards that I found on the web. Of all the ones I found my favourite one is the Wrong Planet forum. I like it because it is big and seems to have a lot of frequent posters. I should say right now that the autism message boards that I visit are geared more towards people eg. teens/adults with autism NOT parents with autistic kids.

I also found a semi-militant group of autistics over at the Aspies For Freedom message board. Despite the folks over at Aspies For Freedom having a reputation for being a little militant in there world view. I agree with the majority of there points. So I’m not sure if that would make me a militant autistic person or not.....

Then there is the very small in comparison to the Wrong Planet forum, Aspergers Community Board. This by the way was the very first message board that I ran across on the web last year that had a forum for adults/teens with autism. When I found this message board I found it very refreshing. I found it refreshing because you rarely get to have the opportunity to compare the life experiences of other adults on the autism spectrum. So when I came across this site I felt normal. Well normal, for a woman with Aspergers Syndrome.....

Yesterday, I’m sad to report that I lost my bus pass for the month of June. I think that someone must have lifted it out of my pocket while I was in Rite Aide yesterday shopping for mouth wash. I thought it was odd that this woman brushed by in the not so crowded dental aisle and excused herself. I thought, hey that’s very polite she said excuse and there's really no reason for it. I didn’t think anything of it until I checked my jumper pockets after I left the store. I searched in horror to find that the pockets that used to contain my bus pass were empty.

So today for the first time in years I had to pay actual bus fare on the bus. I don’t know how I’ll make it through the rest of next week. Thank God/Goddess I will be receiving a new bus pass next Friday!

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I’m wearing an outfit that looks as though it was cobbled together by drunken severely disabled elves.

I’m wearing a turquoise A-line skirt that is literally being held up by safety pins. It’s a skirt I made years ago. It appears that the elastic waistband became unexpectantly disengaged this morning. I had to find a way to quickly realign it, hence, the safety pin solution! Also this morning I have on a short sleeve floral blouse that has a string tie front.

This morning I caught the #2 bus the #20 bus was fast on it’s heels. The driver to the #2 bus reminded me of black female version of Divine. She had the hairline and the outrageous penciled in eyebrows and very long finger nails. However, I can’t recall if Divine had long fake fingernails or not.....

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a yellow ochre top under a dark blue jumper that has a yellow ochre X design all over it. In the US a jumper is a dress that has these broad straps on it. In the UK a jumper is a sweater. Since it’s summer I’m sure you can guess which of the two I have on.

Yesterday, to be 100% safe I called work to remind my supervisor that I have two days off this week. I did this because I was afraid that he forgot that he gave me clearance to take Monday and Tuesday off. I didn’t want him thinking on Tuesday that I had up and quit. I always feel a bit unnerved when I have two days off as opposed to one.

The reason why I decided to take two days off is that I noticed that some calendars have June 20th and others June 21st as being the first day of Spring. As I’ve written before I like to take the First Day of Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring off.

On my first day back from vacation my ID badge did not work. I immediately became stricken with unbelievable gut wrenching panic and fear. The lack of entry into my workplace made me wonder if I had been unceremoniously given the boot. Who knows maybe my Supervisor wasn’t in on the day I left the phone message? Did I leave messages in vain to a machine that no one would ever listen to?

To my relief it turns out that we were all issued new ID badges. There was some type of a security issue going on. As I understand it our old badges were somehow encoded with our social security numbers.

Right now I feel very relieved and happy that I am still employed and have a working ID badge.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
I’m still continuing on with my skirt theme. Today, I have on a dark paisley skirt with a royal blue short sleeve top.

I wonder if people at work think that I went out and bought a lot of skirts as opposed to the truth that I own a lot of skirts.

The big event of the day was that today, I went grocery shopping. I can practically see all the shocked and amazed faces out there over the internet...

As I wrote yesterday after I left my father’s house on Sunday I watched back to back Volume I and II of Doctor Who. I obtained these disks legally by buying them from the UK on sendit.com

Overall, the show kicked ass. It was phenomenal! I hope that it makes it to the US very soon. Volume I and II which consisted of episodes 1-6 have been dubbed the vanilla disks. I don’t know why but that’s what they call them over on Outpost Gallifrey. The next slate of episodes to be released on DVD come out in August. I’m not sure if I’ll get them or wait until November for the box set to come out.

2005 DOCTOR WHO QUICK REVIEW

Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor
Billie Piper as Rose Tyler

VOLUME I

ROSE
When Rose Tyler meets a mysterious stranger called the Doctor, her life will never be the same again. Soon, she realises that her mum, her boyfriend, and the whole of Planet Earth are in danger. The only hope for salvation lies inside a strange blue box....

Watching this episode makes me wonder if the reason the series was rejected by US networks is because Rose’s boyfriend, Mickey, is Black. I’m trying hard to think of any other major American TV show that has the white female lead in a relationship with a black man. I can’t think of any... If they do an interracial relationship it’s usually a secondary character. So perhaps this little twist scared the hell out of US TV execs..... I’m only mentioning this because this is the only reason I can think of as to why the show might have been rejected. Overall, it was a pretty good romp. I really loved Rose’s chubby sexpot mum. She was simply hilarious. Overall, the episode was ok.

THE END OF THE WORLD
The Doctor takes Rose on her first voyage through time, to the year 5 Billion. The Sun is about to expand, and swallow the Earth. But amongst the alien races gathering to watch on Platform One, a murderer is at work. Who is controlling the mysterious and deadly Spiders?

This was an extremely excellent episode! It was rollicking good fun. I laughed out loud several times. I wonder if had this been the episode they showed first to US networks the show might have been picked up sooner. Watching the very flat last Earth woman who kept saying to her flunkies, ”Moisturize me! Moisturize me! “, reminded me of a certain co-worker who constantly applies lotion to herself several times a day. Favourite line in the episode is when Rose refers to the very flat woman as a bitchy trampoline. I also loved it when greeting the others aboard the ship Doctor Who realized that he forgot to bring along a gift. He improvised by simply breathing on them saying, ”I give you the gift of breathe!“ I also loved how the Doctor arranges for Rose to talk to her mother on her cell phone while Rose in the future and her mother is in the past. Then he jokes that she should see what the phone bill for that is going to be!

THE UNQUIET DEAD
The Doctor takes Rose back through time to 1869. But in Victorian Cardiff, the dead are walking, and creatures made of gas are on the loose. The time travellers team upo with Charles Dickens to investigate Mr. Sneed, the local Undertaker. Can they halt the plans of the ethereal Gelth?

This was the most scariest episode I saw. I was actually hiding behind a pillow while watching this episode. I also really loved the very familiar looking man playing Charles Dickens. Right now I can't think of his name but he's been in a lot of good movies.

VOLUME II

ALIENS OF LONDON
The Doctor takes Rose home. But when a spaceship crash lands in the Thames, London is closed off and the whole world is on Red Alert. While the Doctor investigates the alien survivor, Rose discovers that her home is no longer a safe haven. Who are the Slitheen?

I loved this episode because in a way it felt realistic as to the effect of going away without notice would have on loved ones. I also kind of felt sorry for the faux alien pig.

WORLD WAR THREE
Downing Street announces mankind’s first interplanetary War. But the real danger is more closer to home. The Doctor, Rose and Harriet Jones race against time to unmask the villainous Slitheen, but only Rose’s boyfriend and mum hold the key to salvation. Can the missiles be stopped?

I really liked the way that Mickey and Rose’s mother played off of each other in this episode. It made me feel that they would make a really great couple. I also found it funny that the Slitheen had a flatulence problem.

DALEK
Beneath the Salt Plains of Utah, the billionaire collector Henry Van Stratten holds the last relic of an alien race. When the Doctor and Rose investigate they discover that the Doctor’s oldest and most deadly enemy is about to break free It’s a fight to the death with Rose caught in the middle.

The return of the Daleks! er Dalek! With this episode you learn that there was something called a Time War and that Gallifrey was wiped out thus leaving the Doctor the sole Gallifreyan left alive. You also learn that the Dalek in Dalek is the sole Dalek left in the entire universe.

I can’t believe I was watching this episode feeling sorry for the Dalek. Scariest part of the episode is seeing a thin scrawny Christopher Eccleston shirtless. He could have at least worked out a little....

This Father’s Day I went over my old man’s house. I went over to wish him a Happy Father’s Day, drop off my nephew’s birthday money, and pick up my Doctor Who DVD’s from sendit.com My visit didn’t last very long because it wasn’t even five minutes before my sister came into the room my father stays in to relentlessly beg him for money.

My sister is pushing 50 and has a serious drug dependency problem. In fact she’s had this problem for quiet some time. She was half afraid that one of children would be taken away from her when it was born because her drug problem was that bad. One of her children was this close to being a crack baby.

Hearing her relentlessly beg my father for money reminded me of why I had to leave and get a place of my own.

I only wish I could have visited longer because I love my father but hate my sister’s drug dependency problem. If she wasn’t there I would have stayed longer.

Another thing that was going on was that my father was constantly worrying me about how much money I was going to leave my nephew for his birthday. He kept asking me, “How much are you going to leave the boy?” “Don’t give him too much money!” “You know you got bills to pay!” I know that he was deeply concerned that I was giving away my entire life savings as a present to my nephew. But this was far from the case.. I had only saved up $115 to give to my nephew for his 15th birthday. All my bills were paid up and I was not in danger of going to debtors prison.

In the end I was afraid to give my nephew the $115 I saved up for him. The reason was the ferocity of his mother’s begging. I do not know how strong his resolve is against her. I ended up I giving him $40 as I ran out of the house. Yes, my sister’s begging troubled so much that I actually ran out of the house. I felt that in order to have stayed longer I would have had to have held up a chair and a whip to her and say, “Back I say! Back!”

When I got home I calmed down by watching Volume I and II on DVD of the new Doctor Who series back to back. I’ll give a review of what I saw later in the week.

Today was a day brimming with Pride. Today is both Baltimore Gay Pride Day as well as the first ever Autism Pride Day.

One thing I am surprised about Baltimore Gay Pride Day is that they will be doing something in of all places, Druid Hill Park. Druid Hill Park is right in the middle of the hood. Somehow I have never associated Druid Hill Park as being the epicenter of Gay Pride.

I only recently found out about Autism Pride Day. Obviously, by it’s name it was started by adults with autism who like me are not ashamed of their disorder or feel that we have to be “fixed”. I have no idea what I will do today to celebrate the new found Autism Pride Day.

p>Yesterday, I downloaded music from iTunes. I have Beck’s new kick ass song, E-Pro.

So far the only place I’ve heard it played on is on WTMD. This is really odd because they mostly play cutting edge folksy soccer mom music not something as guitar laden as Beck’s latest. I don’t know if WHFS has put the song into rotation or not. The one thing I have noticed is that WTMD has put The Killers into rotation. The Killers as I wrote sometime in December/January were first heard on WHFS. I wonder if HFS will ever play music first heard on WTMD>

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Father's Day

I think I’ll just buy the old guy a card this year. My old man is in his 70’s, an age where every second counts.

My father constantly likes to say things such as, “I’m not sure how long I’ll last.” He’s been saying this ever since he was in his 50’s. He says these things as if he were like an old tire ready to give at any minute.

Presents for him are difficult to pick out. In the past we would all chip in and buy him a case a beer. A card I think would be more appropriate.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a plaid denim skirt along with a light blue blouse.

Yesterday, was horrible. I forgot to put on deodorant. I guess I was feeling a little too subconscious wearing the skirt my father hated. I was focusing more on the skirt than the rest of me. By late afternoon I was reaking. I felt horrible there was nothing I could do about it.

Earlier, in the morning I thought I’d go to the store that’s down the street from my job. I was saddened to find that they didn’t sell any deodorant just convenience foods. Well, you can’t be perfect all the time. Everyone has an off day and yesterday was mine...

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a cream coloured short sleeve shirt and a print broomstick skirt. The skirt contains colours like cream, dark blue, brown, ruby red, and beige.

Since, I wasn’t too focused on what would my father think, I remembered to put on deodorant. Also I even decided to carry a spare in my bag just in case something goes wrong. So far everything’s OK. Will carrying around extra deodorant be akin to my extra umbrella fancy? I suppose only time will tell....

I know the odds are widely against it but I’m still working on the sundress. All I have to do now is figure out what are darts and why do they have to be pressed down? The dress pattern itself does not give the slightest hint as to how to assemble a dart. Oh well, I suppose I could Google the answer somewhere....

The only type of clothing I’ve previously made were skirts. Hence, the amazing surplus of unworn skirts I have. My main goal right now is to have it finished before the end of summer.

MALE PINK SHIRT REPORT:
Today, I saw a man standing on the bus stop wearing a pink polo. I know, I know! It was just one man. But, hey, you see one man in pink then before you know it they’ll be a whole mob of them standing around.... :)

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I’m wearing the only article of clothing that my father has ever gone on record in my entire life as saying he did not like. That article of clothing is a blue print mini skirt. I’m wearing it along with a white short sleeved blouse. So far I have not been struck down by lightening for wearing the dreaded blue print mini skirt. The only odd thing that’s happened is that a couple of men I don’t know have said, good morning to me.

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning the B Shuttle bus broke down several times on the highway. This has got to be amongst the most harrowing experiences I’ve ever had on public transportation. You do not know how scary it is for a bus to suddenly stop in the middle of morning rush hour on a busy higway. I thought we were all going to die. Luckily, we made it safely off the highway and onto work. I hope this doesn’t happen again.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Can I still sew?

Yesterday, in the summer heat I worked on a dress pattern that I bought a couple of years ago. I worked on it because I thought it would be nice to have another sun dress other than the one I bought a couple a couple of years.

This will be my first attempt in years to make a piece of clothing. My last attempt many years ago was an A-line skirt. The skirt with my mother’s help turned out pretty good. I wonder if I’m capable of making something a little more complicated without her expert guiding hand?

I don’t know if I’ve said this before but my mother was a seamstress of sorts. When I was a kid she used to make all my clothes as well as her own. She even did Prom dresses from time to time.

So here’s hoping that I don’t ruin the fabric I bought for the sundress.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a brown short sleeved Henley and a black skirt.

TWO MEN IN PINK
I thought I’d write this real life report because this is a watershed moment for me. In one day I’ve seen the largest number of men dawning pink clothes ever in the history of this blog. Ladies and Gentlemen of the internet I saw two males in one day, in the state of Maryland, wearing pink!

The first one I saw was on the shuttle bus I take heading into work. Then when I got to work I saw another man wearing a pink polo, then again it might have been peach. Anyway, I ’m not too surprised seeing him wearing a pink looking shirt. He always looks very fashionably well dressed and coifed.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a short sleeve floral blouse along with a purple skirt.

Nothing much to report...... Today, I basically just laid around all day under the fan trying to escape the brutal heat.

Today, I went to laundromat. After I came back I went shoe shopping late in the day instead of earlier like I usually do. I wanted to get sandals to wear for my skirt-a-thon.

The reason why I went shopping late was to see what it was like. It had been a long time since I’ve left out to go shopping past 5pm. The last time I went shopping late was with my mother during the 90’s. I tried doing it on my own but had panic attacks because of the crowds. My brother suggested that I should do what he does, which is shop early in the day to avoid crowds. Ever since he told me this shopping hint I’ve made it a point to shop as early.

Today, more than ever solidifies the fact that it’s best that I shop early. I had panic attacks galore at the mall. It seemed as though all the aisles in the shoe stores were lined with a million women who had crying babies or children running spastically around the store.

The ride home seemed no better. It seemed as though a million rowdy teenagers were gathered on mass waiting for the bus. I felt lucky and privileged to be able to get a seat on the bus crowded with loud teenagers.

In the end I bough three pairs of sandals . One was a black slide, the other a black and tan slide, and a pair of beige flip flops. I mistakenly thought the flip flops were on sale. That’s OK. The only that matters is that I made it out of the mall alive!!

lT’S OFFICIAL: I Love My iPod!
I have no idea how my work productivity has been going since I bought it in to work. As I’ve written before I never go up to the production sheet to see how I’m doing because that usually makes me feel depressed. You know the whole thought of all that you do at work reduced to nothing but a number derived from a numerical formula.

The only thing I know is that I feel great. It plays all my favorite songs all the time! Yep, I’m in a really good mood because I’m hearing music I love. I’m one of those musicphiles, so hearing the right song at the right time is very important to me. One day I’ll list my essential iPod songs as soon as I perfect the list. For now my must hear daily songs are:

Lollipop - The Chordettes
I like this one because it makes me happy. :) I think the first time I ever heard it was while watching Stand by Me. This was an 80’s kid’s movie that was set in the 50’s. Oddly enough, it is the highest grossing movie ever based on a Stephen King story.

Rawhide - Frankie Laine
I always find myself smiling whenever I hear this one. In fact I think I might have frightened the woman who sites across from me. I think that was on account of the fact that I don’t smile much. Anyway, I like this one because it reminds me of a scene in the Blues Brothers movie. It’s the scene where they go to a Country & Western bar. While there the only country song they know is Rawhide which they play over and over again to avoid being attacked.

Everyday - Buddy Holly
This is a song that I really took to after buying the Stand By Me soundtrack. I like this song because it sounds so pretty and filled with hope. If it were possible I would want to live inside this song.

Music Box Dancer - Frank Mills
I’ve loved this song ever since it came out during the 70’s. It’s so pretty!! It reminds me of all the music boxes my mother owned. All my mom’s music boxes had a ballerina in them that twirled around. This song reminds me of those simpler times.

Joy - Apollo 100 Featuring Tom Parker
I like this one because I feel that it’s a very inspired take on Bach’s Ode to Joy. I think this was featured in a movie called Boogie Nights. I was well aware of the song before the movie came out. So imagine my chagrin when I watched the movie and they’re playing a song I’ve always liked.

Let’s Start The Dance Again II - Hamilton Bohannon
I have fond memories of this song being played at a neighborhood Labor Day block party during the 80’s. Two gay guys got up and danced and really knew there stuff. I had never seen such inspired dancing. It was like Soul Train meets Broadway. People were jumping up and down and cheering them on as they danced.

Sukiyaki - A Taste of Honey
This is amongst one of the rare ballads that I like. I think I like it because it sounds very exotic and foreign.

Sukiyaki - Kyu Sakamoto
This is the original version of the above A Taste of Honey song. I like this one because it’s the direct opposite of the A Taste of Honey Song. The original song is very upbeat in a 50’s kind of way. The only thing is that all the words are in Japanese.

Georgie Girl-The Seekers
I like this song because I like Barbie! If you can recall I collect Barbie dolls and during the late 70’s to early 80’s Mattel used this song as it’s theme for the Barbie commercials.

Native New Yorker - Odyssey
I like this one because during my childhood this song evoked to me a very glamorous place, New York City. To this very day I feel glamorous whenever I hear it.

Tonya Gardner - Heartbeat
This one might be considered the riff that launched a thousand rap songs. I imagine that Tanya Gardiner or whoever wrote this song is probably a billionaire by now.

Sugar, Sugar - The Archies
I like this one because it sounds so bubble gum sweet! I always feel happy when I hear this song.

Chewy, Chewy - 1410 Fruitgum Company
This is another bubble gum song I love! Whenever I hear this song I think of Chewbacca from Star Wars.

WHAT I’M WEARING:

It’s supposed to be in the 90’s today. I have on a plaid purple mini skirt and a purple v-neck short sleeve shirt along with beige canvas tennis shoes.

All the buses that I take to and from work on time.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: New MTA Bus Initiative
Yesterday, a woman who got on the #20 bus that I take home from work was walking up and down the aisle of the bus. She was practically preaching to all the passengers about changes that would be coming up in the fall. The changes she was talking about were how the buses would be running. She said that come October no buses will be running downtown on Baltimore Street. She also said that the light rail shuttle buses would be discontinued. She also told us that we all should get involved in how the buses would. Then she told us of meetings that would be held this month to discuss the proposed changes.

When I first heard her say all these things I thought it was the mere rantings of a crazy lady. However, she did not look unbalanced. In fact she looked like the type of person who one day should run for public office. When I got home I was so swayed by the conviction in her voice that I decided at the very least to peruse the internet to see if there were any proposed changes in store for the MTA. It turns out that almost all of what she was saying was true! The MTA will in fact be discontinuing some bus lines and merging others together.

However, I couldn’t find anything that said that buses would no longer run on downtown Baltimore Street. I suppose she threw that one in for shock value. You know so that any reasonable passenger would be up in arms and make it a point to go to one of the meetings.

The thought of no buses running on downtown Baltimore Street is sheer lunacy and would definitely make me want to go an MTA meeting and tell them that.

Baltimore Street is a very busy street. It contains the University of Maryland Medical Center and it’s corresponding University, the downtown light rail station, and is a throughway to MLK BLVD leading to Ravens Stadium and Oriole Park, and Lexington Market. Shutting down public transportation on Baltimore Street would be a major, major, major, big time disaster.

Even though to the best of my knowledge buses will still run on Baltimore Street I will make it a point to go to one of the meetings and make my voice heard. Or at least listen to people make their voices heard....

WHAT I’M WEARING:
I’m continuing on with my skirt theme. Today, I have on a beige skirt along with a dark blue t-shirt that has a white flower design on it. The shoes I have on are beige canvas tennis shoes.

Last night for the first time ever I recharged my iPod. However, upon recharging it I had no idea that since I had deleted my iTunes library to free up space on my hard drive that it would blank out all the music stored on the iPod.

I had no idea that the iTunes library and the iPod are synched together eg if the library is blank so will be the iPod when recharging. It took me several hours to rebuild the library from my cd’s and downloaded music from the iTunes Store.

In the end I barely got any sleep last night. I think I just got an hour’s worth of sleep. Ordinarily I would have been zonked out and fighting to stay awake at work. However, having the iPod made it great. I was listening to my favourite music. I didn’t have to search around the radio dial to find upbeat music to keep me awake and energized. The upbeat stuff was already on my iPod.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a blue skirt and beige striped shirt. You know what? I think I’ll do something novel! Since it’s extra how outside I think I’ll wear all my skirts. Besides skirts are almost like wearing shorts. Also believe it or not I own more skirts and dresses than I do jeans.

I again got on the #20 bus. I wonder what became of the #1 and #2 buses?

CONCERN OF THE DAY: iPod Power
Yesterday, the Latino looking guy at Seven-11 actually spoke to me unprompted! He asked me what I was listening to. I suppose he noticed the white earbuds associated with the iPod. At the time I wasn’t listening to anything I had the radio plugged in. He explained that when he was in college he used to DJ parties and thus he was always interested in music. He told me that he liked rap.

I have to say that I’m really enjoying the iPod Shuffle! It’s playing all my favourite songs! I was extremely happy at work so happy that I did not feel compelled to write down the amount of times a co-worker applied lotion to herself.

Since the walls to our cubicules are almost non-existent I’ve noticed habits of co-workers that I wasn’t previously aware of. However, with the iPod on I was too cheery to notice the amount of times a particular co-worker nervously applied lotion to her hands and face. Previous record by the way is seven times in one day. If the cubicle walls were higher I wouldn’t have noticed and felt compelled to count. I wish we had taller cubicle walls. I hate noticing little things that are not related to my job description.

The only downside today was that at the end of the day I ran out of power so now for the first time ever I have to recharge my iPod.

This morning I got on the #20 bus. This is a very rare occurance. I wonder if the #2 and #1 buses are now on a different schedule? It’s spring so I suppose it’s possible that they have switched schedules.

Take Your iPod To Work Day
Today, for the very first time ever I took my iPod to work. As I looked around the floor I notice that I , Yes I!! Am the very first person in the entire company to to have an iPod. Well the very first person on the floor that I work on. I’m not to sure about the higher ups. All I know is that I feel special, hip , and cool with my iPod!!!

The only bit of trouble I had was that one of the songs I downloaded off of my White Stripes cd started to play louder than the rest of the various songs I downloaded. Mellissa, who had just come in came over and told me that my radio was playing too loud. None of the other people who sat by me said anything which made me wonder was I annoying them and they were too afraid to say something to me...... Ahhh, who cares! All I know is that for the first time ever, I’m actually first at getting something. I wonder if any other co-workers will be getting iPods in the future? Who knows maybe by owning one I have made it passe and unhip? I wonder if anyone has even noticed that I have an iPod? Not that by owning one I feel that I will instantly gain friends, a hot boyfriend, a higher pay check, and keys to the executive wash room....

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I had on blue slacks, a beige striped shirt, and black canvas tennis shoes.

This evening I began the Gilbert and Sullivan film festival sponsored by Netflix. A couple of weeks ago I finished up watching all the movies they had available about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The last King Arthur movie I viewed was Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which had Sean Connery in it. Connery was obviously in the movie to pay the bills. The special effects in the movie were bargain basement level.

The movie was one of those cheesy 80’s things produced by Yorum Globus and Menahem Golan. Globus and Golan were also responsible for those brilliantly violent Death Wish movies that starred Charles Bronson. I wonder what ever happened to those two schlock meisters Globus and Golan? They really knew how to do bargain basement action and adventure.

Yesterday despite the rain, after work I went out to Best Buy on York Road and bought an iPod Shuffle! Oh, Happy Day!!! The main selling point on it for me was that the battery is rechargeable. The Sandisk AAA battery is not rechargeable. The only sad part about the rechargeable battery is that when it wears out in about a years time I can only go to Best Buy to replace and install it. In total with warranty added it cost me just $114. I still can’t believe it. I’ve become trendy!!

Oh, Oh, before I forget..... Today, I went to the Creative Alliance to drop off my artwork for the annual members only show, eg The Big Show. Jed Dodds was there and he actually seemed pleasant and personable.

The picture I dropped off at the Creative Alliance is called This Must Be The Spot. I did it in the fall of last year. I think I posted somewhere on this site. At the time it didn’t have a name. There’s this woman sitting on a bench with a suitcase to the side of her and a big sign with a giant red X on it.

Also today was the very first time that I wore my iPod in public. Throughout the time I had it on at the bustop and bus I was afraid that it might get stolen. Which I now know is ridiculous. Not many people see white earphones and go, “Hey, there’s one of them there iPod’s! Let’s snatch it!” Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I went and came from the Creative Alliance unharmed, iPod still intact.

It’s raining outside today. Recently, I’ve been enjoying playing an online game called the Kingdom of Loathing. I like playing it because it’s a kind of a literary game. Right now I’m having a hard time ridding the tavern of it’s rat problem. I better get back now....

Our regular morning shuttle bus driver is back. Hooray!! No missed stops!! No feelings of anxiety!!!

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Is Josh Speigel Real?
Recently, I’ve found myself wondering if Josh Speigel, the news guy on the afternoon, Out To Lunch Show, is for real or is it all just a work eg made up. I mean his personality of being extra high strung, never going out on the weekend, doesn’t appear to have many close friends, or know about pop culture. And the guy is just 29! I mean if ever there was a case of making an armchair diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome, he would be that case study.

Then again I find myself thinking no way can he be that sheltered and out of it. The guy went to college in New York City. He had a previous radio gig in Colorado. It’s got to be an act. Besides no one in the real world talks like Josh does. The guy sounds like a cartoon super hero.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Josh! I think he’s brilliant! Josh is the one person I feel that can adequately fill the shoes of Lopez on 98 Rock’s Morning Show. However, I feel that due to contractional obligations he will not be able to audition or even work for 98 Rock for months to come.

So I’m left at were I began is Josh’s on air personality real or fake?

WHAT I’M WEARING:

Today, I have on a white shirt that has a sailor motif on it. The motif consists of blue stripes at the top, a solid blue colour at the bottom and a gold anchor in the center. Along with this I have on blue slacks and black canvas tennis shoes.

Morning Commute:

This morning we didn’t have our usual chubby Grady from Sanford and Son looking shuttle bus driver. Instead we had a substitute driver. The fill in driver was horrible. He didn’t bother to stop at the Timonium Light Rail stop. He just sped on by it. He also missed several stops on McCormick Road. I was half afraid that he would miss my stop as well. Fortunately he did not miss my stop and I made it into work on time, albeit a bit shook up.

CONCERN OF THE DAY:That Well Meaning Nazi Like Group
Today, at work they were passing around a sign up sheet for my supervisor’s brother in law for an autism fund raiser at Towson. I didn’t sign up for a pledge because I felt that would be a bit ironic. You know an autistic person donating to help a controversial autism group, especially, Cure Autism Now. To me the name in itself, Cure Autism Now, has Nazi like overtones. What if the group were called Cure Blackness Now or Cure Jews Now, would you still feel it cool to donate and support the group.

The group in it’s name implies that it wants to wipe autistics like myself off the face of the planet. What do they think they will achieve with genetic testing if not the abortion/elimination of millions of autistics around the world.

Yes, I know that the group was founded by well meaning teary eyed parents. The type who I imagine look at their autistic child every day and say to any one who will listen, “I want my real child back!!”, as though the child they have in front of them is fake. I myself can not imagine the amount of psychological damage this type of parental mindset might have on an autistic child.

I’m not saying that I’m against helping autistic people like myself. It’s just the erroneous thought that the group has that a neurological disorder can be cured, especially one that is genetic in nature. The only way you can cure a genetic disorder is to eliminate it via genetic testing. How else do you think that the numbers for genetic disorders such as Down’s Syndrome have dramatically gone down through the years? Parents went in for genetic testing found out they were having a Down’s Syndrome baby and aborted it.

Also I object to their agenda that autism is something that needs to be cured, eg. eliminated. It’s Nazi like and does not consider the thoughts of adults on the autism spectrum. I’m sure that they feel that adult autistics do not exist are not viable citizens. After all to them and society at large autism is soley a childhood disorder.

The group seems to view all autistics as defective and in need of a cure. I suppose all those teary eyed parents over at Cure Autism Now have never once considered that there agenda if it were retro active, would lead to the elimination of such noted autistics as: Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, Andy Warhol, Bill Gates, Andy Kauffman, Temple Grandin, and Steven Spielberg, among others.

As an autistic adult I do not want to be cured, I want to be accepted as is. Neurological diversity should be celebrated not eliminated!!!

Below I found a couple of pertinent links, many of these were written by fellow adults on the autism spectrum:

Autism Myths

Autism Rights Movement

Controversies in Autism

Aspies For Freedom

Petition Against Cure Autism Now

Essay Against Cure Autism Now