Accessible cornbread Sometimes I get struck. I compulsively want to create something I’ve imagined.It happened yesterday. A friend was having a party. The invitation said it was a potluck. Down the winding, curvy road of cooking mania lead me to...

Where the Hits Keep ComingInadvertently, an email of mine asking for disability researchers investigating how popular music sheds light on disability politics, identity, history, multiculturalism, or sociology was posted on a listserv. I got a few potential leads and interesting...

Occasionally, on my emails I’ve been using the footer, “Yeah that doctor told me, ‘Son you don’t need no pills, just a handful of nickels and a jukebox will cure your ills.’ Carl Perkins, disabled rockabilly pioneer” I thought people...

Wheelchair Morality According to the New York Times review this morning there is a new movie, “Sympathy for Delicious.” It’s the directorial debut for Mark Ruffalo. It tells the story of a wheelchair user who only wants to be a...

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Rouse Last October I gave a talk on how disability culture and identity impacted Henri Toulouse-Lautrec at the de Young Museum. It was for the Disability Open House. We chose Toulouse-Lautrec because the museum was exhibiting “Van Gogh,...

Penngrove California: In the latest news from the Penngrove Disabled Action Brigade, the advocacy group has once again published holiday greetings. It is a long-standing tradition, going back to when the organization was known as the Penngrove Handicapped Social Club....

Nicki Minaj's new album Pink Friday In today’s entries to the Disability in the Humanities listserv, DS-HUM, there was a discussion of a new album cover of Nikki Minaj. I couldn’t resist opining:It looks like the Pink Friday album cover...

Whew. I think I might have been in the presence of a decent vehicle that can transport a power wheelchair. Other than light rail (the best and easiest) the MV-1 is purpose built to meet and exceed ADA standards. I’ve...

Under the influence of our 14 year old, dance-crazed neighbor I’ve watched Glee from the beginning. (Under her influence I’ve also watched every episode of So You Think You Can Dance for the past three years.) On first watch of...

After reading the review of a cutting-edge San Francisco restaurant I was wondering about the meaning of “ramp.” I went to the dictionary on my computer. (I’m using the latest Macintosh operating system which has the pretty decent New Oxford...

Buff Bagwell was a US wrestler who used a wheelchair for prop. This was years ago. I found an action figure of him. Pushing a button on the back of the wheelchair caused the wrestler figure to leap out of...

February 20, 2010 Tribal Membership This week I received an email from someone I didn’t know, a wheelchair user. He’s a quad who became disabled after a diving accident over thirty-five years ago. How do I know all that from...

I managed to make the deadline for the VSA Arts Postcard Project. The theme was to create a postcard with the artist’s definition of disability. Since Christmas I’ve been playing around with my new disabled action figures. It seemed to...

Little by little, the good, gray Times has started to recognize disability. Sometimes, it’s even bold in recognizing our perception of the lived experience of disability, rather than the stereotypes. The boldest that I noticed was, of course, the articles...

Ah, I just found another interesting detritus uncovered by eBay. It’s the Crippled Black Phoenix. They’re a UK post-rock band. I’m not sure what post-rock is but their music on their MySpace page isn’t particularly offensive, although some of their...

Just got the latest Melody Gardot CD, “My One and Only Thrill.” She’s one of those smokey-sounding women songsters that seem to have a resurgence lately–Madeleine Peyroux, Amy Winehouse, etc. Not only do I like her music, but I’m also...

Antique metal peg leg bank

According to a news story, Ruby didn’t miss use of hind legs, in the San Francisco Chronicle, “As a UC Davis surgeon once said when asked about dogs and amputation, “People tend to humanize the loss of a limb and...

Every Sunday the San Francisco Chronicle has a feature, Wayback Machine, that runs stories from its past. In an article dated February 25, 1934 there is an announcement of a silent movie, “Eskimo,” showing in town. The Chronicle would be...

Discovered the sweetest picture of two braced and crutched kids have a good time on the playground. They’re at the FDR school in a Spanish-speaking country. There’s a few pictures from the Life Magazine archive that show disabled people. Two...