GJ Willis' Art Notes

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

Today Kirk and Mark of 98 Rock’s morning show played more music than usual. It’s their first official day back after Lopez’s death. Peronally, I don’t like that they are playing more music. It makes me feel like they are doing this because they are out of material.

A nice little touch that they have is that they are playing a recording of Lopez saying, “This is the 98 Rock Morning Show.” I think it’s very fitting. It’s almost like he’s still a part of the show, albeit beyond the grave. Also I wonder if they will ever settle in on a permanent on air newsman?

WHAT I’M WEARING:This morning I have on a purple short sleeve cotton t-shirt along with light blue slacks and black canvas tennis shoes.

I gave up trying to download the new Doctor Who episodes. I have a dial up connection and it was taking forever. So instead I bought Volume 1 of the series which contains, episodes 1-3. I bought it today at Sendit.com which was formerly called Blackstar.com The price for the three episodes was just 9.99 uk price! 9.99 in US dollars is equivalent to about $16.00. So I bought Volume I and pre-ordered Volume II which comes out on June 13th.

I know that they will be coming out with a box set of the first new season of Doctor Who in November, but I can’t wait that long without knowing whether or not the show will ever be picked up by a US broadcaster.

I can watch a UK DVD because as I’ve written before I have a regionless DVD player. It was rendered regionless because I had to hack into it. I did it by buying a cheap DVD player. I had to get a cheap one because it’s very difficult to hack into more expensive DVD player’s. Anyway, I got this particular DVD player a couple of years ago because I wanted to see the 1996 Fox TV movie of Doctor Who which was only available for region 2 DVD players, eg UK and Japan.