Purple Chicken Presente Crying but not because of the music Paquito D'Rivera - Two Pieces for Bassoon and Piano

Left over from RantWoman's Zoom Summer

The short version: RantWoman is VERY grateful to have fallen in with two rather different writing groups. This post is dedicated to continuation from the one referenced here. The other meets more often and is so far not obsessed with craft, more about a worshipful space for what comes up from the exercises. Again, RantWoman is VERY grateful for both though tonight she fusses with this one in order not to explode about ABLEISM AGAIN. Who knows: RantWoman may time this to post after she herds the right words together about Ableism.

RantWoman's first point: the visual is not architecture. It's germane to the music; it's not architecture.

It took RantWoman who knows such things a few minutes of staring obliquely to realize...

Read on to see whether RantWoman is kind enough to offer further pointers and not just drag people off to Planet RantWoman and strand them there.

Point #2 RantWoman signed up for Cai Quirk's Restoryation writing workshop at the FGC Gathering. RantWoman came home very well-nourished spiritually and still not reliably capable of getting eir pronouns correct in conversation. Maybe the other blessing: the workshop wound up being many people from different places RantWoman has worshipped with in different Zoom spaces and in other ways including connections in common to important Quaker activity. 

It also mattered that the whole room was not full of, please excuse RantWoman's malfunction in the excessively plain English to Quakerese filter, fragile elders RantWoman would be afraid of knocking over in a puff of wind. There were younger faces. There were access needs stated in advance and the first day of the workshop.

The workshop had a short reading each day and time in breakouts and then in the larger group. One day the group read a story called Twilight from a forthcoming book. RantWoman has not worked very hard at following up on a request just to use the whole story so readers get to figure out how to read the book when it comes out and then cope with RantWoman's meditations unencumbered by details that would only get in the way of what RantWoman is struggling to say.

The story is about Twilight and a world suddenly split into light and dark. Then there are comets and a star child with energy so bright it blinds everyone else. Then there is a healer who is willing to shut their own eyes while trying to help the star child fly.

Rereading the story now, RantWoman has no idea what in the story made her need to cry so badly that she couldn't eve n interact with the story. Or maybe more accurately RantWoman got stuck at the twilight and split into light and dark and could not get to the star child. Now RantWoman finds it curious to have gotten stuck at the twilight: RantWoman's visual experiences are a lot messier than just twilight. RantWoman is glad now to reread the story and to be able to work more with the rest of the story about the star child. 

Like the star child, RantWoman knows of many ouches around her. RantWoman is STILL trying to get a handle on her own inner blowtorch. RantWoman also thinks she has been TRYING to tell people, 'put on your dang sunglasses." Or try something analogous to any of the methods of safely looking at an eclipse. RantWoman thinks this message has not necessarily come through and RantWoman is disappointed and embarrassed on others' behalf. RantWoman has also alas figured out that Planet RantWoman includes many strands of language and experience foreign to many around her. No wonder the sight dependent are frustrated when RantWoman cannot do things everyone else is hard-wired to expect. 

RantWoman has also been thinking disability pride and disability justice.

One version of disability pride around RantWoman is that RantWoman (STILL) refuses to stop asking for what she needs in the realm of continuing to talk about disability.

Another is knowing some good times for "Thank you."

A child once, when RantWoman needed to ask him to move for safety reasons said "you should get your eyes fixed." Thank you. RantWoman had not noticed. Thank you for the best acknowledgement all week.

But the, during RantWoman's foray last summer into the world of Those Other Blind People, RantWoman heard one of the outspoken survivors from their #MeToo imbroglio say "I want to hear thank you from the NFB." RantWoman also would not pass up a Thank You and will happily provide a list of things she hopes to be thanked for.

And here again faithfully:

Chicken,
Mocha mug