Wonder if anyone saw the opening ceremony for the Paralympics? 92,000 people in the Bird's Nest in Bejing, China audience to welcome 4,400 paralympic atheletes. The fireworks were gorgeous. The stadium show was weird! Very "scaled down" as noted by the announcer, a former paralympic athelete. He noted that in games past, there was not a separate opening ceremony for the paralympics. The characters that filled the field looked like fat, oriental teletubbies with numbers on their chests, I suppose to represent the athelete's numbers. They were multicolored like the rainbow and were in precision lines with a mix of goofy, clumsy moves and a simulated marathon runner in a neon green suit with long ET arms. Was there a message there about how the Chinese view disabilities? Interesting. The procession of the atheletes was impressive and demonstrative of the role of the differently abled in their society and the availability of assistive equipment.
I am looking forward to following the games over the next two weeks. I am especially looking forward to the wheelchair rugby ("murderball" developed by the Canadians) games. The US has a shot at the gold that they lost to the Canadians in 2004. Our team trains in Birmingham @ Lakeshore Rehab. The Paralympics are covered live on the following site as a webcast - no network or ESPN coverage that I have discovered yet. Isn't it interesting how, even in this day and age, that the disabled are so invisible?
The United States won four gold medals in swimming on the opening day, the most of any country. The winners were: Erin Popovich, Rudy Garcia-Tolson, Miranda Uhl and Jessica Long. Want to see the games?
SELECT "PARALYMPICS" AND LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!
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Received an e-mail from the mayor Friday asking for support for the MARS van here in Madison. Apparently it is being targeted for budget cuts even though a second van has been requested because of the overwhelming requests for service. The chair of the committee commented that he did not see the reason for transporting people to grocery stores and businesses in Madison and jobs. I've been asked to write to the city council again and plan to write to the chair of the finance committee also. Make the invisible visable...
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Why the death quotes? Was awakened from a horrible nightmare today in which I witnessed a murder in a room full of people that no one else saw. As a result, I became a target for murder because I reported the crime and the murderer escaped. Very creepy and scary. Took awhile to reorient to reality!!! Such a real feeling dream! I wonder if this happened because I took my medications so much later than usual yesterday? I stayed awake yesterday until I completed the last of my continuing education requirements for relicensure. Trying to straighten out my medication schedule today. Prefer to skip the nightmares!!!
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"Time is not what you think. Dying? Not the end of everything. We think it is. But what happens on earth is only the beginning." -Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome. -Isaac Asimov
The timing of death, like the ending of a story, gives a changed meaning to what preceded it.
-Mary Catherine Bateson, With a Daughter's Eye, 1984
-Mary Catherine Bateson, With a Daughter's Eye, 1984
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." -Albert Pike
I live now on borrowed time, waiting in the anteroom for the summons that will inevitably come. And then - I go on to the next thing, whatever it is. One doesn't luckily have to bother about that. -Agatha Christie, An Autobiography, 1977
Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death they would be asked two questions and their answers would determine whether they could continue their journey in the afterlife. The first question was, "Did you bring joy?"The second was, "Did you find joy?" -Leo Buscaglia
Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also." John 14:1-3
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