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Letter Meme: W
Feb. 15th, 2015 11:28 amCourtesy of <user name=nanila>, in honor of my new wheels. I'll admit my first reaction was 'Argh, W? What starts with W?'
Something I hate: Westminster. and politics which has become all about who can be seen to be harshest, not who can help the most people.
Something I love: Wheels! Seriously, even though the delivered wheelchair is massively inappropriate (a heavy chair for someone who specifically needs it because their shoulders are giving out? a chair that flexes massively if it hits anything thicker than a sheet of paper for someone with pelvic issues?), this promises to be potentially life-changing. I've gradually drawn back from doing anything that requires me to be on my feet (which is pretty much everything outside the house), because there's too much discomfort involved for it to be compatible with enjoying myself, and having wheels promises to change that. There's a meme dominant in the non-disabled population that opting to use a wheelchair when you can walk is 'giving up', whereas in fact the truth is it's massively liberating and I wish I'd done this 10 years ago (if not 20!).
Also: Writing! Not doing enough of this at the moment because I've got so much going on family and healthwise, but I was so happy during the summer when I was writing regularly - I hit something like 300,000 words over last year, pretty much all of it before September. I need to get back to this.
Somewhere I’ve been: Weardale. Cheating slightly as this is where I come from, my home town, Bishop Auckland, is the market town at the bottom of the dale. But I adore the ride up the dale from there, heading up through places like Witton Park (where I went to junior School), Witton Le Wear, Wolsingham, Frosterley, Stanhope, Ireshopeburn, Wearhead and Cowshill. There's a gradual transition from glorious farmland at the base of the dale, to steep-sided hill farms, and then to gorgeously bleak moorland on the high tops.
Somewhere I’d like to go: Washington DC. Not specifically for Washington itself, there are other US cities I'm much more eager to see, Seattle especially, but I'm a massive aviation nerd and Washington has the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, together with its annex, the Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Center, out at Washington Dulles.
A film I like: Where Eagles Dare, where things never stop happening, and there's always another layer of plotting enmeshed inside the truth you think you know. Richard Harris, A very young Clint Eastwood, the fight on the cable-car, the car chase between be-snow-ploughed bus and half the German army. Possibly the quintessential WWII spy/commando movie.
Someone I know: Wobblin' Wilma, which is the screen name a friend used on the BBC's old Ouch message board. Gloriously snarky at times, but also massively, sensibly helpful and a major voice in my maturing as a disabled person.
A book I adore: The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett. The Queen of the Fairies has stolen Tiffany Aching's brother, but Tiffany's her grandmother's granddaughter, which means she's a witch, and she's got an iron frying pan and isn't afraid to use it, and, oh yes, she has the Mac Nac Feegle. (Crivens!)
If anyone wants a letter....
Something I hate: Westminster. and politics which has become all about who can be seen to be harshest, not who can help the most people.
Something I love: Wheels! Seriously, even though the delivered wheelchair is massively inappropriate (a heavy chair for someone who specifically needs it because their shoulders are giving out? a chair that flexes massively if it hits anything thicker than a sheet of paper for someone with pelvic issues?), this promises to be potentially life-changing. I've gradually drawn back from doing anything that requires me to be on my feet (which is pretty much everything outside the house), because there's too much discomfort involved for it to be compatible with enjoying myself, and having wheels promises to change that. There's a meme dominant in the non-disabled population that opting to use a wheelchair when you can walk is 'giving up', whereas in fact the truth is it's massively liberating and I wish I'd done this 10 years ago (if not 20!).
Also: Writing! Not doing enough of this at the moment because I've got so much going on family and healthwise, but I was so happy during the summer when I was writing regularly - I hit something like 300,000 words over last year, pretty much all of it before September. I need to get back to this.
Somewhere I’ve been: Weardale. Cheating slightly as this is where I come from, my home town, Bishop Auckland, is the market town at the bottom of the dale. But I adore the ride up the dale from there, heading up through places like Witton Park (where I went to junior School), Witton Le Wear, Wolsingham, Frosterley, Stanhope, Ireshopeburn, Wearhead and Cowshill. There's a gradual transition from glorious farmland at the base of the dale, to steep-sided hill farms, and then to gorgeously bleak moorland on the high tops.
Somewhere I’d like to go: Washington DC. Not specifically for Washington itself, there are other US cities I'm much more eager to see, Seattle especially, but I'm a massive aviation nerd and Washington has the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, together with its annex, the Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Center, out at Washington Dulles.
A film I like: Where Eagles Dare, where things never stop happening, and there's always another layer of plotting enmeshed inside the truth you think you know. Richard Harris, A very young Clint Eastwood, the fight on the cable-car, the car chase between be-snow-ploughed bus and half the German army. Possibly the quintessential WWII spy/commando movie.
Someone I know: Wobblin' Wilma, which is the screen name a friend used on the BBC's old Ouch message board. Gloriously snarky at times, but also massively, sensibly helpful and a major voice in my maturing as a disabled person.
A book I adore: The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett. The Queen of the Fairies has stolen Tiffany Aching's brother, but Tiffany's her grandmother's granddaughter, which means she's a witch, and she's got an iron frying pan and isn't afraid to use it, and, oh yes, she has the Mac Nac Feegle. (Crivens!)
If anyone wants a letter....
