We made it home safely! Whew. I like to think I'm pretty good at handling change, travel, and unexpected difficulties, but being gone for 2-3 weeks around October has just entirely messed me up. Both trips were well worth their time: the first to go help my parents move, and the second to attend a wedding and see family. Both trips went pretty well. I guess I just feel very discombobulated and out of whack. If I'm lucky, that will wear off before Christmas travel occurs...
Yesterday was my birthday. Friday's entry will cover birthday events, but it basically went pretty well. My immediate family remembered, as did some of my friends. I kind of dropped the ball on updating my wish list this year, to the point of adding a couple things to the list the day before my birthday, also known as "way too late for people to actually see." I blame all the travel and running about like a crazy person.
Our trip, in brief, went: drive partway, attend wedding, visit with Chris' older brother and his wife, visit with Chris' parents (which included a trip the Mystic Aquarium), visit the Boston Museum of Science, visit with friends, visit with one of my uncles and aunts, drive partway home, visit with one more set of friends, and finally go home.
We took both traveling parts in two steps, with plenty of time to stretch our legs. It's a bit more sane that way, but annoyingly also more expensive by a large margin that way. Less expensive on the sanity, more on the bank account. A frustrating tradeoff. Still, it was nice to not have to drive 14 hours in a day, and have some quiet time before and after the trip.
Chris' brother and sister-in-law were gracious hosts and drove us around parts of the state, one stop of which was a small dairy farm/chocolate shop. They produce single cow origin chocolates, and apparently try to pair the particular cow's milk with flavors that suit it. I'm not sure how much I buy that there are such distinct differences between the milks of different cows, but the chocolate itself was definitely good quality.
After that, we visited with Chris' parents, and went to an aquarium in Mystic, CT, which plays host to a pair of beluga whales along with sea lions, jellyfish, sharks, etc. It was an interesting experience. The whales seemed to get a kick out of messing with their visitors, just a bit. They'd zoom by, right next to the glass of the tank, prompting astonishment and attention from their admirers. I found the sea lion show a little overdone and gimmicky, but I assume they were more gearing it towards children than slightly grumpy, TV-avoiding 20-somethings. And of course they had a ray petting tank and various other aquatic critters. So that was fun.
The next day Chris and I visited the Boston Science Museum alone. I don't think I've ever seen such an extensive science museum in my life. Highlights included the Planetarium, where we caught a show about exoplanets (planets not in our solar system), the Lightning Show (very loud but very cool), and the temporary exhibit/art installment about mental illness. I had a bit of a soft spot regarding the last one, considering. (Autism is not classified as mental illness, but depression and anxiety are.) The most interesting piece to me was the set of 99 pictures of people, 33 of which have bipolar disorder, 33 of which have schizophrenia, and 33 of which care about someone with mental illness. The pictures were not labeled, so it was just an entire wallful of faces, many skin tones, many walks of life, many expressions. All people.
After that we visited with two of our friends we rarely see these days, which was pretty much just an evening of chatting, watching movies and Youtube videos, and eating pizza. It was a nice break from all the driving, because they were right in the area. But the next day was more driving, because we went up to Boston again to see my uncle and aunt. It was actually my uncle's birthday, so we brought him a present which he seemed to like. He showed us his glassworking shop, which had a lot of really pretty colors of glass. I was feeling a bit out of sorts, so Chris got a better explanation of the place than I did. But we all ended up fiddling with an auto-knitting machine my aunt has. And they took us out for dinner at a nice little Italian place. I managed to forget my leftovers at their house, though, which I regret. The food was very good.
Then it was back to CT, and time to head home. Before we left, I picked up a new preoccupation/toy. We hit the toy section of a store, to buy a last minute present for a friend, and while we were there, I grabbed a Rubik's Cube.
Like blowing bubbles in gum and being able to whistle loudly through my fingers, doing the Rubik's Cube was one of those tricks I always kind of wanted to learn. I learned how to blow bubbles in gum at age 16, while bored out of my mind at a baseball game. Whistling loudly through my fingers had to wait until I was 20 or so, and bored out of my mind at a summer job. But I'd never quite gotten a Rubik's cube in my hands, or found anyone who really liked the subject.
So about a year ago, I met a teenager who really liked them, and was really really good at them. I was going to Bible study with his mother at the time, and she "lent" him to me to help fold origami for my wedding. So while I was there, he showed me some of his collection and how good he was with them. I was summarily impressed, and somewhat envious. He had a couple different ones like the picture above, but he also had larger ones and oddly-shaped ones, which was pretty cool. Anyway, he wasn't able to teach me how to do the cube, but chatting with him did remind me that I'd wanted to learn. So finally I picked one up while Chris and I were out in CT and in the toy section of a store anyway.
There are roughly six steps to the beginner's method of solving the Rubik's Cube. I have, that this point, fully mastered and memorized four of those steps and am working on step 5. I tend to do these things one step at a time, over and over until I'm sure I've memorized it. At this point I've had the cube for less than a week, though, so I'm sure I'll get there sooner or later. The traveling and birthday-ing and getting back into normal schedule-ing has slowed me down, I guess.
In other news, last year I signed up to be a research reviewer for the Autism Research Program (ARP) of the US government. Apparently this year they're actually going to assign me to some research to review, so my December is going to be a bit more busy than it would be normally. I'll be spending about 40 hours across the month reading, commenting on, and scoring applications for grants. This will culminate in a trip to nearish Washington DC, where I'll meet the other reviewers and discuss the applications and their effects. It's the US government, so it's going to be a 3 day thing, no time for tourism or sightseeing. But that's probably just as well, because I have no patriotic impulses left, nor any goodwill for pretty much any politician in DC.
Also related to autism research, today I get to participate in a study regarding autistic adults and exercise/sports/physical activities. I got the FYI about it from my spouse, who read it on John Elder Robison's Facebook page. They want to study how autistic adults have experienced physical activity, health, and exercise across our lives, and want to interview interested adults by phone, Facetime, or Skype. Compensation for your time is a $10 gift card, their appreciation, and the possibility of improving the lives of autistic people everywhere. If you are an autistic adult, or know an autistic adult who could give feedback regarding this subject, please contact Dr. Andrew Colombo-Dougovito at andrew.colombo-dougovito@unt.edu, or Dr. Josephine Blagrave at ablagrave@csuchico.edu. You can also call or text them at 530-518-2495 (Josephine) or 940-656-2069 (Andrew).
Yesterday was my birthday. Friday's entry will cover birthday events, but it basically went pretty well. My immediate family remembered, as did some of my friends. I kind of dropped the ball on updating my wish list this year, to the point of adding a couple things to the list the day before my birthday, also known as "way too late for people to actually see." I blame all the travel and running about like a crazy person.
Our trip, in brief, went: drive partway, attend wedding, visit with Chris' older brother and his wife, visit with Chris' parents (which included a trip the Mystic Aquarium), visit the Boston Museum of Science, visit with friends, visit with one of my uncles and aunts, drive partway home, visit with one more set of friends, and finally go home.
We took both traveling parts in two steps, with plenty of time to stretch our legs. It's a bit more sane that way, but annoyingly also more expensive by a large margin that way. Less expensive on the sanity, more on the bank account. A frustrating tradeoff. Still, it was nice to not have to drive 14 hours in a day, and have some quiet time before and after the trip.
Chris' brother and sister-in-law were gracious hosts and drove us around parts of the state, one stop of which was a small dairy farm/chocolate shop. They produce single cow origin chocolates, and apparently try to pair the particular cow's milk with flavors that suit it. I'm not sure how much I buy that there are such distinct differences between the milks of different cows, but the chocolate itself was definitely good quality.
After that, we visited with Chris' parents, and went to an aquarium in Mystic, CT, which plays host to a pair of beluga whales along with sea lions, jellyfish, sharks, etc. It was an interesting experience. The whales seemed to get a kick out of messing with their visitors, just a bit. They'd zoom by, right next to the glass of the tank, prompting astonishment and attention from their admirers. I found the sea lion show a little overdone and gimmicky, but I assume they were more gearing it towards children than slightly grumpy, TV-avoiding 20-somethings. And of course they had a ray petting tank and various other aquatic critters. So that was fun.
The next day Chris and I visited the Boston Science Museum alone. I don't think I've ever seen such an extensive science museum in my life. Highlights included the Planetarium, where we caught a show about exoplanets (planets not in our solar system), the Lightning Show (very loud but very cool), and the temporary exhibit/art installment about mental illness. I had a bit of a soft spot regarding the last one, considering. (Autism is not classified as mental illness, but depression and anxiety are.) The most interesting piece to me was the set of 99 pictures of people, 33 of which have bipolar disorder, 33 of which have schizophrenia, and 33 of which care about someone with mental illness. The pictures were not labeled, so it was just an entire wallful of faces, many skin tones, many walks of life, many expressions. All people.
After that we visited with two of our friends we rarely see these days, which was pretty much just an evening of chatting, watching movies and Youtube videos, and eating pizza. It was a nice break from all the driving, because they were right in the area. But the next day was more driving, because we went up to Boston again to see my uncle and aunt. It was actually my uncle's birthday, so we brought him a present which he seemed to like. He showed us his glassworking shop, which had a lot of really pretty colors of glass. I was feeling a bit out of sorts, so Chris got a better explanation of the place than I did. But we all ended up fiddling with an auto-knitting machine my aunt has. And they took us out for dinner at a nice little Italian place. I managed to forget my leftovers at their house, though, which I regret. The food was very good.
Then it was back to CT, and time to head home. Before we left, I picked up a new preoccupation/toy. We hit the toy section of a store, to buy a last minute present for a friend, and while we were there, I grabbed a Rubik's Cube.
 |
| One of these suckers, for the unfamiliar. |
So about a year ago, I met a teenager who really liked them, and was really really good at them. I was going to Bible study with his mother at the time, and she "lent" him to me to help fold origami for my wedding. So while I was there, he showed me some of his collection and how good he was with them. I was summarily impressed, and somewhat envious. He had a couple different ones like the picture above, but he also had larger ones and oddly-shaped ones, which was pretty cool. Anyway, he wasn't able to teach me how to do the cube, but chatting with him did remind me that I'd wanted to learn. So finally I picked one up while Chris and I were out in CT and in the toy section of a store anyway.
There are roughly six steps to the beginner's method of solving the Rubik's Cube. I have, that this point, fully mastered and memorized four of those steps and am working on step 5. I tend to do these things one step at a time, over and over until I'm sure I've memorized it. At this point I've had the cube for less than a week, though, so I'm sure I'll get there sooner or later. The traveling and birthday-ing and getting back into normal schedule-ing has slowed me down, I guess.
In other news, last year I signed up to be a research reviewer for the Autism Research Program (ARP) of the US government. Apparently this year they're actually going to assign me to some research to review, so my December is going to be a bit more busy than it would be normally. I'll be spending about 40 hours across the month reading, commenting on, and scoring applications for grants. This will culminate in a trip to nearish Washington DC, where I'll meet the other reviewers and discuss the applications and their effects. It's the US government, so it's going to be a 3 day thing, no time for tourism or sightseeing. But that's probably just as well, because I have no patriotic impulses left, nor any goodwill for pretty much any politician in DC.
Also related to autism research, today I get to participate in a study regarding autistic adults and exercise/sports/physical activities. I got the FYI about it from my spouse, who read it on John Elder Robison's Facebook page. They want to study how autistic adults have experienced physical activity, health, and exercise across our lives, and want to interview interested adults by phone, Facetime, or Skype. Compensation for your time is a $10 gift card, their appreciation, and the possibility of improving the lives of autistic people everywhere. If you are an autistic adult, or know an autistic adult who could give feedback regarding this subject, please contact Dr. Andrew Colombo-Dougovito at andrew.colombo-dougovito@unt.edu, or Dr. Josephine Blagrave at ablagrave@csuchico.edu. You can also call or text them at 530-518-2495 (Josephine) or 940-656-2069 (Andrew).
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