Thursday 14 February 2008

Superman!

Welcome to the 31st Disability Blog Carnival. In which Dave saves the day, Yanub causes me to embrace my inner geek, Lisa blows me away and The Goldfish makes me wish I was much more intelligent.

Our theme for today is Superman. And I must admit here that I knew I was giving a theme that was a little out there. But I wanted to do something a little different and see what happened. I had my own ideas about how this carnival and it's submissions would turn out. I was completely wrong. It's much better.

I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
I'm just out to find
The better part of me


I'm more than a bird:I'm more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train
It's not easy to be me


Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I'll never see


It may sound absurd:but don't be naive
Even Heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed:but won't you conceed
Even Heroes have the right to dream
It's not easy to be me


Up, up and away:away from me
It's all right:You can all sleep sound tonight
I'm not crazy:or anything:


I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
Men weren't meant to ride
With clouds between their knees


I'm only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me


It's not easy to be me.

To me, that song is a song that sums up disability. Or at least the way in which we can appear to the people who don't take the time to get to know us properly, to get beyond our exterior and see who we really are inside.

It's something that I wrote about earlier this week in this entry. And it's something that Lisa wrote about in Can I Just Have This Made Into a T Shirt and Call It a Day? In saying the following, she totally blows me away and says something I've wished to say, something I've tried to say before.
If you are going to call me remarkable, amazing, inspiring, or whatever other adjectives you want to use to put me on a pedestal...it better not be because I am disabled, or because I partner with someone who is disabled. It better be because I have won an Olympic Gold Medal or a Nobel Peace Prize or a Pulitzer or because I have brokered a treaty between waring nations or because I can tie a cherry stem with my tongue or because I have actually DONE something remarkable. And "coping" with disability DOES NOT COUNT. I didn't do anything to be disabled, I was given this gift.

Shiloh or Sunny Dreamer is someone else who agrees with me about the above song. She wrote about it in Superman (it's not easy). Shi also seriously agrees with me on the whole Superman rocks thing. Her blog is worth a visit simply to look at her current layout which is Superman all the way. Description - it has a black layout which looks kinda like it's a starscape. On the left there is a picture of Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane. She's wrapped in the Cape and underneath it says I (heart) Superman! The text and links are blue red and yellow - Superman colours.

She also offers us some Quotes from Christopher Reeve in which she shares some of his wisdom.
"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life. I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery."

It seems that we have a lot of contributions from people called Dave or David this go round. Here's the first, Healthcare Heroes posted at DAWG Oregon.

David has written about what it feels like to have CP. It's a topic I've wanted to tackle for a while but haven't managed. I know that this is something a lot of parents want to know about so it's included here: For Parents: My Cerebral Palsy. As David writes, CP is different for each of us. But, reading that, not only was I struck with the vast differences in our experiences but also in the similarities. Similarities I hadn't expected their to be. One of the best things about disability blogging in my opinion.

Not everyone needs to wear their underwear on the outside to save the day - Or at least not if there name is Dave Hingsburger, who stands up for disability rights, plenty of other stuff and... toast.

Ruth gives us more proof that Not all heroes wear tights over at WHEELIE CATHOLIC.

Yanub shares the story of a blind acupunturist. And she is very right when she says:
I don't consider Juliana Cumbo to be a superman, but
I do consider the rejection she has twice received for her
application to be a stark reminder that, in reality, there are people
who would tell Daredevil that his help was unwanted even while they
were being robbed at gun point, so strong is their equation of
disability to danger. In Cumbo's case, the facts show that being a
blind acupuncturist does not require superhuman ability, but is
really something that an average person can achieve with training,
exactly like being a sighted acupuncturist.

That's a post I found very exciting because it uses Star Trek to discuss disability and that's just... wow!

Next we come to philosophy, disability and an earnest need for me to visit wikipedia and read up on some of the points raised. Yes, once again The Goldfish shows how intelligent she is and leaves me in her dust.

Reports from a Resident Alien :: Reply to "Aspie Superpowers and Teenagers" posted at Report from a Resident Alien is an on topic cross blog conversation about superpowers!

No Singing Allowed: Assumptions and Other Nonsense is a long but thought-provoking riff on a local school scandal. I've quoted from it below and it's posted at the wonderfully named Existence is Wonderful.
"Fundamentally, what I want people to understand is that their very definitions of what ranges of cognition, perception, and action exist are probably far more limited than they should be, and that there are more valid ways to be and grow in the world than they can easily imagine."

Making a Difference an entry from Amber at Frida Writes talks about disability culture and the supermen and women of it's recent history.

Gordon C. Cardona shares a secret in Gordon's D-ZONE: Confessions of a Shape Shifter posted at Gordon's D-ZONE.

If there's one thing you need in life, You gotta have Faith Daisy tells us about it, and about a disabled dog.

Did you know that various political figures have "secret identities" just like the man of steel himself? Vikki Washington reports.

Amputee Yoga and the Superhero Lifestyle is posted at Moving Right Along and once again shows just how much is possible.

Jessica Galli was selected as 2007 U.S. Olympic Committee Paralympian of the Year so shares Rolling Pix.

~ podcasts ~ which posted at ~ Urbania to Stoneheads ~ is Kethry's chance to explain what it takes to make a podcast "super".

The next carnival will be hosted by Shiloh over at Sunny Dreamer. It's theme is "Standing Outside The Fire". It's on the 28th and submissions are due by the 25th. If you prefer not to use the blog carnival form, submissions can be e-mailed to celtic_me2000@yahoo.com

I hope you have enjoyed reading this edition of the carnival as much as I have putting it together. They say you should always end it with a song so... here goes



 



Tarzan wasn't a ladies' man
He'd just come along and scoop 'em up under his arm like that
Quick as a cat in the jungle


Clark Kent, now there was a real gent
He would not be caught sitting around in no junglescape
Dumb as an ape doin' nothing


Refrain:
Superman never made any money
Saving the world from Solomon Grundy
And sometimes I despair the world will never see another man
Like him


Hey Bob, Supe had a straight job
Even though he could have smashed through any bank in the United States
He had the strength, but he would not


Folks said his family were all dead
Planet crumbled but Superman, he forced himself to carry on
Forget Krypton and keep going


(Refrain)

Tarzan was king of the jungle and lord over all the apes
But he could hardly string together four words:
"I Tarzan, you Jane"
Sometimes when Supe was stopping crimes
I'll bet that he was tempted to just quit
And turn his back on man
Join Tarzan in the forest


But he stayed in the city
Kept on changin' clothes in dirty old phonebooths
'Till his work was through
Had nothing to do but go on home


(Refrain)
And sometimes I despair the world will never see another man
Like him

10 comments:

David McDonald said...

Thanx for putting this carnival up and allowing me to contribute! I'm looking forward to checking out people's ideas around the Man of Steel.

Ruth said...

Thanks for all your work on this one - came out great and can't wait to read everyone's posts.

Penny said...

Very cool, Emma! I was wondering how this theme would play out, but it obviously spurred some creative interpretation and impassioned posts--just the way I like the carnival!

David said...

Wow! Looking forward to reading this. Thanks so much, Emma.

Kathryn said...

GREAT carnival with a unique theme. Nice Job Emma! I posted it about it over at my blog - quoting you and Lisa!

yanub said...

You put a lot of work into this carnival--fantastic!

Thanks for including me. I find that there are very few circumstances in life that don't call for a reference to TOS, though I usually suppress the urge to geek.

yanub said...

I just clicked the link for Sunny Dreamer, and found that the link is broken.

Emma said...

I fixed the link; let me know if you find any other broken ones.

cripchick said...

great carnival!!

Disability Blog Carnival--Superman is the Theme - DeafMom said...

[...] at Writings of a Wheelchair Princess, the 31st Disability Blog Carnival is featuring "Superman" as the theme.   I always enjoy reading the Disability [...]

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