Ah!

Remember my rant about that irritating "basketball hero" article? It was just yesterday? (And how is it, by the way, that the Shrubboy can manage to visit this kid so soon after the event, but couldn't make it to New Orleans for a few days after the hurricane? Didn't he watch TV in that time to know what was going on?)

Well, that link up there is a nifty post about How to Report on Disability, stolen cheerfully from The Ragged Edge because, um... I'm bored. Honestly, I ought to be buying fabric on my day off (I need to make a quilt), but... I'm still inside the house. Oh well, the store's open until seven.

Back on topic, this post mentions the basketball kid by name! (Jason, if you're curious.)

Such is a tale that editors love. It's happy news, it's inspiring, and it's sports, the great human equalizer.

Here's what the story didn't tell us: Did Jason's high school accommodate him and educate him properly? How was Jason treated by his teammates -- as an equal or more like a mascot? Is the guidance office at Jason's school helping him plan his post-high school education in the same way as the other students?

Of course, the story that moved on the wires wasn't meant to do anything other than cover that game. But it does illustrate how easy it is to go after the "inspirational" piece and how much more reporting is required to tell the fuller, more important story.

This is something, at least. I'm still irritated by the flooding of that article. Enough already! How many times can people read that?

Hm. (Last post, then I'm leaving, I promise!)

Over in ozarque's journal, there's a discussion on poetry and why it's important (or not). This discussion is spread out into two different posts, and the comments are well worth reading, I think.

This leads me to two thoughts. The first is that I should link to this article on anti-poetry month. Go read it.

The second is found in the comments. I had commented that not many people actually have the entire "30 days..." poem memorized. They trail off after "November". Which is fine. So long as you know your month isn't September, April, June, November, or February, you're good. griffen had commented with the poem as he learned it (causing me to rebut with the poem as I learned it, but this is all very boring), and I almost mentioned the way I *first* learned which days go to which months...

Put your two fists together. Count from the leftmost knuckle. Each knuckle or dip is a month. The knuckles are 31 days, the dips are either 30 days or February. July and August don't have a dip in between them because they're both 31 days.

Using my hands is also how I finally learned how to tell my left from my right - if it makes an L, it's the left! Ta-da!

And punching in a number is how I remember somebody's phone number, a far sight from my mother's method of making words (which doesn't always work, anyway).

Hm. Is there a special name for this sort of physical mnemonic? Are there any others I don't know about? Should I be outside enjoying the weather?

Observations on places for kids...

As you know, I've been trekking the niecelings around the city. Life is just better when we go outside. And I've developed a little list of things (mostly relating to bathrooms, which really sucks) I'd like to see improved.

Please note, this list only (mostly) applies to places that cater towards children.

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