Tag Archives: Project Gratitiude 2011

The Right Thing to Do 6

Asperger's Syndrome, Bystanders, Gratitude, Tolerence • Tags: , , ,

Today I am grateful for support and understanding. Thank you to all of you who have e-mailed Fox and blogged about the recent Glee episode. I sincerely hope they respond in some way and try to make things right.  

I want to make clear that the opinions I express on this blog are my opinions not my daughter’s. There are times we see eye to eye and there are times we do not. Therefore, I ask that you do not try to drag her into the campaign to e-mail Fox. She is choosing to stay out of this and I ask that you respect her wishes.

Now, I know there are those of you who will ask why I am doing this if she is not on board with this cause. My reason is simple. I cannot be a quiet bystander when I feel something is wrong and my views of the world as an adult are different from my views at age sixteen. This is not to say my daughter is wrong and I am right for that is not the way I see it. Rather what I see is that in our generation there were people who thought Archie Bunker on All in the Family was funny and there were people who found it offensive. Some who thought it was funny still find it humorous and others no longer do.

Everyone has a right to their opinions. However, laughing at a group that is vulnerable should never be okay in my book and Allen Frances’ very public opinion that many with an Asperger’s diagnosis do not really have it and those who make very public comments that people with Asperger’s use it as an excuse for bad behavior makes this group vulnerable. Therefore calling someone “self diagnosed” does not negate the harm done to those with a diagnosis of Asperger’s. The writers of Glee need to show tolerance for this vulnerable group.

Focusing on Gratitude 8

Gratitude • Tags: ,

Two thousand and one is a significant year for my family like it is for others. However, the significance for us is different and in hindsight it still is affecting us, so rather than dwell on a deep sadness that I am still unsuccessfully trying to heal, I choose to be grateful for nature and for my two September babies who were still so innocent on that fateful day.  One had just celebrated his third birthday and loved planes and the other one was anticipating her sixth birthday just days after that day.


Today I am grateful for the wonderful Kolea who I wrote about last February and who returned to my home three weeks ago.  These birds are one of God’s most amazing creatures as they fly from Alaska to the Hawaii every fall and fly back every spring a trip that I learned today takes them around fifty hours.  You can read more about this impressive bird at Hana Hou: The Magazine of Hawaiian Airlines – Current Issue.

Milestones and Celebrations 10

Celebrations, Gratitude • Tags: ,

Technically, my blogaversary is September fifth, but who wants to celebrate an anniversary on a Monday or to share it with Labor Day? Not me! So I took the time to play with a new program to bake a cake create a picture for my blogaversary. FYI My daughter did not get her artistic traits from me! Still I did have fun and that is the real point isn’t it?

Mahalo for celebrating my special day with me!  I hope all of you have a nice weekend, a long one for the USA and hopefully an uneventful one weather-wise.  Please visit again on Monday when I will be back to more serious topics like how some teachers contribute to bullying and how the good ones discourage it and help those who are victims.  

Nice Weather, Good Food, Old Friends and Kind Strangers 4

Gratitude • Tags: ,

I am grateful that all of my family and friends up and down the Eastern Coast survived Hurricane Irene and I am grateful for nice weather here.  I am posting less as things here have been a little crazy as I mentioned previously.  I wish I could tell you that things have improved.  I am still working on that.  However, two wonderful things happened three weeks ago today.  My old friend who happens to work in computer forensics for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation visited and agreed to be my go-to person for questions as I write my second novel about cyber-bullying.  It was wonderful to see her and to meet a new friend who was traveling with her too.

My favorite Korean Barbeque.
Everyone’s favorite Malasadas and I love the sign that I cut off about please don’t park at 909 Kapahulu since this was exactly where I was when I took the picture. Don’t worry, I did not leave my car and I wasn’t there long.

The back kept me from taking them out, but I picked up my favorite local food, Gina’s Korean Barbeque for them and stopped by everyone’s favorite place for Malasadas, Leonard’s Bakery for Malasada Puffs for dessert.  Not exactly a low cal meal, but definitely ono aka yummy.  I was so excited about seeing my friend that I did not notice that I also dropped my wallet at Leonard’s.  I realized it was missing the next morning.  Relief and gratitude filled my heart and mind when I learned Leonard’s had it.  Mahalo to the person who found it although I do not know your name.  Aloha is alive and well in Honolulu!