A Wheelchair View

When I first saw the Nikon D5000 it was love at first sight! As it happens I have been shopping for a new digital camera to replace my Nikon D50 and at first glance it appeared to have everything I am looking for and then some! However, writing for a technology rental firm has taught me to study reviews and talk to other users before buying the next big thing. So I set out to find out what the Nikon D5000 had to offer and I found myself with quite the dilemma. The Nikon D5000 has a swivel display with LCD cover built on it and I found this feature reason alone to want to go and buy it. As a wheelchair photographer there has been many times that I have been in a crowd and needed to get my camera up over my head to get my shot; usually missing that “moment” due to shooting blind. I have wished for something like this for some time. After all, this feature was available on camcorders, why not a still shot? The D5000 is a 12.3MP and has the same type sensor as the Nikon D90 and the upper l...

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Foundation (NORML Foundation) a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, established in 1997, has launched it's first pro-marijuana ad campaign to air on select cable outlets like CNN, CNBC, Fox News Channel, Fuse, FX Networks, G4, MSNBC, CNN’s Headline News and Spike TV. This brings a lot of hope for chronic pain sufferers. NORMAL reports that: Since 1965, over 20 million Americans have been arrested on cannabis-related charges—90% for possession-only; over 900,000 cannabis arrests are expected again this year. Millions could be saved in tax dollars if these people were never arrested to begin with and most have chronic pain and no criminal background other than possession. On a personal note, my husband who has suffered with chronic pain for 12 years, could benefit greatly from its use. After seven back surgeries he lives on a drug regimen of 35 pills a day, including two different kinds of morphine. Despite the arra...

I tried to avoid writing about it but after tons of email in my box about the subject I decided it was time to inject a different perspective here. Obama flying without a script and the eloquence that we are all used to in his speeches, made a reference to the Special Olympics and his low bowling score. After the show he immediately called the Special Olympics and made an apology. Since then I have seen demands for public apology. I must confess, the first thing I thought of when I heard of Obama’s joke on Leno, was Brittany Spears. How many jokes and crude references have been made at her expense? Jessica Simpson has also been the target of many jokes. These are the “poster girls” (please pardon the expression) for “dumb blondes.” This shows that women are still under the scrutiny of ethnocentric thinking. I bring up this comparison to say that people are always going to make stupid jokes at the expense of someone else. I’m not saying it is right, in fact I think Brittany and Jessica ...

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, regression and retaliation the foundation of such a method is love – Martin Luther King Jr. One of the hardest things to say, is I forgive you. When someone important to us wrongs us and hurts us deeply it is much easier to hold on to anger. Anger gives us strength, it gives us the illusion that we are in control of ourselves and nothing can touch us again, hurt us again and we begin to feel that we will never hurt again. In most religions, at least, the constructive ones, we learn that anger is like your first experience with cocaine. It gives a feeling of invincibleness and strength and it empowers; but as we continue to "use" it and breathe it in, it becoms an addiction and to embed itself within our being. It begins breaking down what is good in us and begins destroying our relationships with other people and within ourselves. This is something I learned from my experience years ago when someone I love...

I was recently asked by one of my “Twitter Mates,” if I would write a little something on what it is like to be a wheelchair photographer. I of course am very happy to oblige. I want to talk a little bit about the equipment that I have and why I chose it. I own a Nikon D50 digital SLR, and two lenses. One lens is the standard 28-80mm lens for close range shooting, like headshots, or focusing on a specific object. The other lens is a 55-200mm VR. VR stands for vibration reduction and vibration reduction is a disabled person’s friend! I don’t have cerebral palsy but I do have many of the same characteristics such as spasticity in the muscles that can cause a little bit of a tremor. I really didn’t realize how much I did it until I started taking pictures. Holding a steady shooting position can be a challenge for any photographer sometimes and the VR feature helps reduce movement. It also helps the lens shoot sharper pictures under lower light. Optical zoom is also a friend to the wheelc...

If it’s pity we’ll get some money. I’m just giving you the facts. Pity … if you don’t want to be pitied for being a cripple in a wheelchair, don’t come out of the house. - Jerry Lewis May 20, 2001 Interview on CBS News Sunday Morning I want to make it clear that I am not an angry advocate who is pissed off at the world and nit picks at every little thing an "abled bodied" person says or does; but I picture the humanitarian award given to someone like Mother Teresa or Bono. Jerry Lewis has brought his integrity into question by making some pretty discusting remarks about not only the disabled community but blacks and the gay community as well. To me a true humanitarian would not hold public contempt for certain groups of people but intead encourage the embracement of diversity and promote harmony. Jerry Lewis, the longtime spokesman and fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award on Sunday evening for his tireless effort...

I can't help it. I get up in the morning and the first thing I do is flip on the computer. As Ralph (my husband’s evil emachine) boots up I go in the kitchen and make me a cup of caffeine, sometimes coffee but most of the time it is tea (I like to pretend it is better for me) Then I race back to check my email and see what exciting things I have missed since I shut Ralph down the night before. I’ll admit it I have joined the culture of computerized socialization, diving into newsgroups and social networking sites and email and Googling every subject that ever crossed my curiosity. Lately, my ritual has been disturbed by a worm that reeked havoc on my WinBook (Tabitha) from my daughter cruising myspace graphic sites while she is supposed to be working in her virtual classroom as she is home schooled. As Tabitha was crashing I hurriedly worked to retrieve as many documents and pictures as I could and transferred them to Ralph. I of course also transferred the virus. So Ralph crashed...