Righteous indignation can be exhausting.

I just watched this movie called Music Within. I got it because the preview made me laugh, and I was interested in the story. It's based on the life of Richard Pimentel and describes the evolution of the ADA, or American Disabilities Act. As a film, it wasn't great, which makes me sad. I really, really wanted to love it. I hated the girl, I loved the character Art (he had all the best lines), and I was nonplussed with the lead.

But I love a good fight against injustice, especially in real life. Richard Pimentel lost his hearing serving in Vietnam and came home, a decorated veteran, to discover he was living in a "disability apartheid". His best friend had cerebral palsy. When they went to a pancake house together, they were denied service, apparently because they were so revolting to the other customers. They refused to leave and were arrested for violating the so-called Ugly Law, a law prohibiting the disabled from being in public, essentially. I think they said something about it being instituted to prevent participants of traveling 'freak shows' from coming into the city. Just to be clear, people would pay to see the 'freaks' at a carnival, and then pay again (via their taxes to local law enforcement agents) to keep the 'freaks' out of sight.

Wow, right?

When I learn something new, the fact that I didn't know it is often more surprising than the fact itself. I know the world isn't fair now, and that it was less fair in the past. But I didn't know about this Ugly Law. And I sure didn't know that the ADA wasn't law until 1990. Sure, that's practically 20 years ago now, but I remember where I was in 1990. It makes me a little sick to think about how I was living my life in relative ease (a little passive-aggression is good for a growing child, right?) while people in wheel chairs only had access to a smattering of buildings. Yuck. That's just gross.

Of course, in the past year, disabilities issues have come to the forefront of my attention. Here's a couple of things I've learned:

The Boy's PT visited the orphanages in Russia. There are kids there that are left in a crib by themselves practically their whole lives. If they are lucky, an older child at the orphanage will kind of adopt them and look after them. Even a child with typical development would wither in that environment. For a child with developmental disabilities... I'm shaking now just writing about it.

And what really made my blood run cold was when I learned how people with Down syndrome have been used as suicide bombers. I won't expound on that here. Search on 'down syndrome suicide bomber' if you haven't heard about this. It's unthinkable.

Almost as revolting is the rate at which children with Down syndrome are aborted. I've probably mentioned it before, but 95% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome prenatally are aborted in the US. It's higher other places. Why is it socially acceptable in our country, even encouraged by doctors in many cases, to kill a baby with an extra chromosome 21 while at the same time, we find it so offensive that babies in China are aborted for having two X chromosomes? I think they are both offensive. It is not okay to have an abortion because the baby is a girl. It is not okay to have an abortion because the baby has Trisomy 21. What it is is morally reprehensible.

I learned from Turtar that children with Down syndrome in Ireland were once thought to be fairy changelings. That may sound like a silly, superstition, but they killed their own children because of it.

And now perhaps you understand the title of this post. I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted.

This is just me, now,

but I was blown away by the new Star Trek movie.

Turtar was not so thrilled, but I think it is the best action movie I've ever seen. I was figuratively biting my nails the whole time. I couldn't believe it when Spock ejected Kirk from the Enterprise. I was enthralled and entertained. I wish I had a reason to see it in the theater again.

I'll admit, I used to watch Star Trek with my dad when I was younger. It wasn't exactly interactive, but it was something we shared, I suppose. I got to stay up past bedtime to watch it, I guess because my mom didn't want to cut short my 'shared time with Daddy'. (I might have watched anything to stay up an extra hour for 'shared time'.) But that was Next Generation... Anyway, Turtar thinks this means I'm predisposed to like this movie, what with the Trekky jargon and sci-fi-ness. He may be right. Though, I didn't even see Nemesis and the only Star Trek movie I remember liking before this was First Contact. I'm also predisposed to like Chris Pine... Did you see him in Blind Dating? aDOORable. And eating three reese's cups during the previews probably didn't hurt my mood either.

Whatever my predisposition, I loved this movie. I loved it from the first moment. I loved it all the way through. I even loved it after Turtar confessed that he was bored by the end and started pointing out holes in the script. I didn't disagree with him, but I can't remember ever enjoying seeing a movie so much. I wished we'd seen it in a full theater of fans. *sigh*

We saw Hot Fuzz in a full theater with a very responsive audience and that was awesome (so was that movie... tightest script and editing of a film I've ever seen, at least for a non-art film). We saw X-Men 3 (which was dreadful) with his grad school pals and compared mutant ranking system in the movie to the class struggle in French Revolution afterwards, which was hilarious and awesome--definitely a singular experience. We saw The Dark Knight in I-Max and the flipping of the semi (the rest of that experience was more impressive to Turtar than me) was awesome. My point is, I've had lots of fun at the movies before, but this was something new, something out of the ordinary, for me at least. As Rhino (you know... from "Bolt"?!) would say, it was beyond awesome. It was BeAwesome!

I love this

Really?!

This week, The Boy and Her Nibs both had ear infections, and The Boy has a nasty cough, which led to some new accessories: a humidifier, and a nebulizer. Also, I've got bad allergies which seem to be transforming into an annoying cold. I'm gaining stress-weight at an alarming rate and can't get my house all clean at one time. 

But for some reason, my number one priority is redecorating. I know. Really?! I am taking care of the kids, I do care that my upstairs bathroom's trash can is completely overwhelmed, and I know that Her Nibs needs help with her reading (she's having trouble with reading comprehension... can't remember a whole sentence immediately after reading it...), but I am completely caught up in beautifying my home, making it look 'put together', deliberate, coordinated and lovely. I think it's a good goal; it just surprises me that it doesn't feel like a back-burner undertaking. I've tried to be very anti-clutter, but I'm afraid the result has made for a rather sparse home environment...

*sigh*

Well, at least I'm making progress on it. With my new living room color scheme, I'm really kicking myself for getting the lame teal-green exercise ball instead of holding out for a chic silver one. But, the family silhouettes are done and framed. When Turtar gets back from his conference, they'll be hung and I'll post pictures of the fruits of my labor.