Nerdlyweded!

Yes, the title of this post is another portmanteau (nerd + newlywed = nerdlywed)...I'm a scholar and those of us in sociology and cultural studies tend to me full of them.  So I'll apologize for my blogging absence of late because my December went from finals week to my nerdy wedding.

Post-wedding selfie in the hotel room

One week ago, I married my partner and best friend in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, December 13th.  I know that the date may seem odd, but I am the person who has had some incredibly neat things happen to me on various Friday the Thirteenths (heck, I even have a tattoo with a shamrock and the number 13 on one of my legs).  It was also hearkened to the struggles he and I have been through, and that our relationship has been forged through fire (mostly grad school and spine surgery).

Photo description: A self-photo taken in a hotel bathroom showing a fair-skinned, red-headed woman with plastic framed glasses. Her hair is shoulder length with some of the hair pulled back, dangling earrings, and makeup. She has an olive green drape covering her shoulders and torso, & is holding an iPhone with a Starfleet logo and a Royal Manticoran Navy sticker

The Las Vegas part of the wedding was my partner's idea.  After I proposed, I asked him if he had anything he'd always wanted for his wedding.  He told me that he wanted to get married in Las Vegas by Elvis.  With a little research and discussion, we found a chapel that had a variety of theme weddings....including an intergalactic wedding (the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel).  Since we're both geeks, we decided we may as well make this as fun and campy as possible (especially combined with my constantly uncertain.  I had no interest in wearing a wedding dress, so we wore outfits from our original intergalactic fandoms.  I wore a Starfleet uniform from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine with the officer's pips for Lieutenant Commander (my rank in the Royal Manticoran Navy fan organization) and he wore Mandalorian bounty hunter armor that he created from Star Wars.

We had both of our immediate families meet us in Las Vegas and it was absolutely fantastic.  Because the chapel broadcasts all of their weddings on their webpage, we were able to share the link to the ceremony with friends and family that couldn't attend for various reasons.  Even better, my parents agreed to pay to have the wedding stay on the chapel's webpage so even more people could virtually attend & celebrate with us when they were able!

Our view from the Excalibur hotel room

Photo description: A snapshot from our room on the 22nd floor of the Excalibur Hotel & Casino. Several brightly lit buildings of the Las Vegas Strip are shown as well as the red sign of the Excalibur.

As I recover from the trip, I'll write more about the trip....but we still have a local reception to plan for (details will be on our wedding site for local folks to attend).  I will also have a "Flying While Gimpy" post (I didn't fly with my wheels, just with forearm crutches).  I'll also post some about access issues I had in Vegas as a part of the User Friendly Vegas project from Pattie (my first guest blogger).  I'm trying to break up the trip by topic instead of giving you all a play-by-play of our five days of travel!

If anyone wants me to write about anything in particular, let me know!

Back from Gen Con into the Fall semester fryer

On Sunday, we found a giant gnome!  (He's from Gnome Games)

Photo description: this is the exhibition hall at Gen Con with booths & lots of people in the background. I'm seated in my chair next to a very tall gnome (mascot-type costume).
Yesterday I got back from Gen Con (a huge gaming convention).  My fiance, my good friend, and I  got off a plane, got our luggage, got the car, then had my fiance drop me off at my first class of the semester (Physical Activity and Health)!  I'll put together a post about the trip in the next few days, but I have to say that US Airways is officially my favorite airline.  I'm always treated with respect and kindness, they never mangle my wheels or my luggage, and they try to reseat me closer to the front of the plane whenever possible (along with my companions!).

Gimpy geek traveling problems

At the Carolina Renaissance Festival, 2012

Photo on the left was taken outdoors at the Carolina Renaissance Festival in 2012.  My partner and I are standing in front of a flower bush on a dirt path.  He is a light skinned with some visible stubble, wire glasses, with a green floppy hat.  He is wearing a turquoise pirate shirt with a plain collar, khaki pants, and brown shoes and is standing behind me with his hand on my shoulder.  I am seated in a green, black, and silver folding wheelchair without footplates, wearing a large brimmed leather hat with purple and green feathers.  I am wearing a similar shirt in black, black fitted leggings, and knee-high black and green boots that lace up the sides.

As I write this, I'm packing for my annual trip to Minnesota to see family and friends.  Part of my trip is to go to CONvergence, a sci-fi and fantasy convention (here's my post from last year about the con itself). As I pack, I'm realizing how much of my mental energy is devoted to adaptive equipment that I need to bring, and how much body awareness I need to try to make these decisions.

Since the surgery, I've used a variety of adaptive aids to get me through daily life.  Cane, walking stick, or forearm crutch for usual getting around (I'm starting to realize that the forearm crutch is what I really ought to be using on a regular basis as my wrist tendonitis is finally subsiding because of using it, plus it's more stable when I lose my balance).  Leaning on carts in stores or using my partner for balance for longer trips.  My poor sporty wheelchair has been sitting in my car gathering dust though.  I've been trying so hard to be able to tolerate walking with aids (one of my physical therapy goals) that I've been avoiding the wheels (the chair is also about 20 pounds total, which is 15 pounds above what I've been supposed to lift).

Anyhow, as a part of packing for the trip, I feel like I need to somehow have psychic powers in order to know how my spine is going to behave for the trip.  Do I hope for the best, keep the wheels at home, and stick with the crutches?  Do I prepare for the worst and just take the wheelchair?  Should I bring both the wheelchair and the folding cane so I have more choice (even though the cane is less stable and means less walking, plus the potential of it being kicked out from under me accidentally because I'm so short)?  Do I ask my partner and my friend to help be my pack mules at the airport so I can have a crutch and the wheelchair?

On top of just the adaptive equipment, I want to cosplay.  Cosplay can be a lot of fun, but trying to pack costumes and accessories for a flight can be a major hassle.  I'm slowly working on easily packed costumes (like the orange jumpsuit for a Misfits costume), but sometimes a person wants to bring something less easily packed.  For this trip, I really want to bring the jaunty hat that I'm wearing in the above photo.  It's big, especially with the feathers.  Under "normal" circumstances, I could just plop it on my head through the airport and tuck it in an overhead bin on the airplane.  However, this becomes another part of my flying-while-gimp dilemma.  It's another thing that needs to be handled through TSA, along with digging out my quart-sized baggie of toiletries, pulling out my laptop, fussing with my shoes, getting fondled by a TSA agent, having the entire surface of my wheelchair getting swabbed and tested, and then trying to get everything where I need it to be to continue on my journey (chair cushion & seat back put back in proper order, bag reorganized, shoes on, and traveling companions gathered).

It's a hassle, and I just don't know which battles I want to fight.  Maybe if I wasn't a part-time wheeler and part-time stick user.  Maybe if I wasn't an introvert.  Maybe if I didn't want to wear outrageous hats and costumes.  Maybe if my body were more predictable (hell, I'm not even asking for more mobile!).

I've decided to bring the wheels, but I'm undecided on both the cane versus crutch debate.  I'm still waffling on the hat as well.  It is a marvelous hat that I spent too much on at the Carolina Renaissance Festival, and I have so few opportunities to wear something that fantastic.  Should I bring it despite the hassles?

Creative home modifications!

My most recent blog posts have been a bit sour (and there will be several upcoming ones that aren't particularly happy and uplifting), so here's a post that is more fun, more practical, and will show some creative ways that I've reworked my living space.


Zebra printed satin sheets, oh yeah!

I live in a duplex in a historic neighborhood, where my apartment is the upstairs unit.  There are some things that have just made life easier recovering from surgery (like the satin sheets post-surgery to make repositioning and getting in and out of bed smoother), but my house is not particularly accessible. Getting up and down my stairs is still a big hurdle for me (from a pain standpoint, as well as balance, numbness, proprioception standpoint).  Because of this, I've tried to make the inside of my home as accessible as possible.  Some of my modifications are things that are just nice when I have to spend so much of my time lying down (I'm still having issues sitting for lengths of time...working is one part ice pack, two parts pain medication, one part heating pad, one part moving around, and eight parts pure stubbornness).

So, for your viewing pleasure, I start you folks off with the first picture, which I posted in my two week post-surgery update.  Satin sheets to make moving easier (seriously, satin sheets made a huge difference in my post-surgical mobility), comfy fluffy bathrobe (because trying to dry oneself off without bending, lifting, or twisting is hard), fluffy blanket because grownups need snuggles too, and my iPad for games, email, internet, Netflix, and whatever else catches my attention.  For the record, yes, I like animal prints and I'm particularly drawn to leopard print!

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My iPad suspended on the wall along with a pouch for my phone

Related to this is my bedroom wall setup.  I vehemently didn't want a TV or computer in the bedroom, but surgery recovery meant most of my time was spent in bed laying down.  I ended up buying an iPad cover on Groupon that was meant to rig an iPad to the back of a car seat so people (kids I'm assuming) can watch videos on car trips.  Well, this case plus a Command adhesive wall hook means instant TV/movie watching device (and audiobook listening apparatus).  I have two hooks on the wall for it, one for when I'm watching stuff with my partner, and the other when I want it closer or out of view (pain-related insomnia means that I sometimes turn it on in the middle of the night to get an audiobook rolling again or to put the white noise app back on). 

The other hook that is on the wall holds what is supposed to be a water bottle pouch that I earned volunteering at CONvergence, a sci-fi and fantasy convention in my home state of Minnesota.  I use it for an all-purpose thingie holder so I can keep my cell phone or other small items handy.  The strap usually hangs lower for general use, but I wanted to get a better photo so I hiked up the strap.

Seriously folks, I love these hooks...I use them for everything from a keyhook to jewelry holders to hanging the wall clock or lightweight picture frames.  I feel like a walking advertisement for them!

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Shower chair on aerobics step

The next photo shows how I managed to get my shower chair to work with the lovely claw foot tub that's in my bathroom.  This was a piece of equipment I didn't think I would need until I came home from surgery and realized how much effort it would even take to ponder bathing.  There was no way I would be able to stand long enough to even get my body wet much less clean.  Well, my home has a clawfoot tub, which is not what the average shower chair manufacturer must have in mind when they design these buggers.  The tub is too tall, or the legs on the chair are too short.

Thankfully, my fitness nerdness came in handy.  I own an aerobic step, which allowed me to get the chair up high enough to fit properly in the tub, plus it allowed my short legs to safely get on the chair to scoot into the shower.  I still do use the shower chair for getting in and out of the tub as the nerve damage that makes me wobbly is probably permanent, so it's either use the chair or install a permanent grab bar in the tub area.

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The rolling laptop desk (plus medical bills)

The last photo is something relatively recent.  I've realized that I'm having trouble doing any sort of work or computer-related leisure while sitting in any one position (or sometimes sitting at all), so I got a rolling laptop desk that will fit under a bed or a recliner.  Part of it tilts so I can use it while laying down, and the other part stays parallel to the floor to be able to place books, papers, or a cat (the cat isn't my choosing, and he's too heavy and wiggly to be on it, but he tries).  The height is adjustable as well, so I'm able to get it to the right height for most of my needs, and I think I could probably use it as a standing desk if I could stand long enough to use it like that.  This was one of my more expensive modifications, but part of that was because I already owned many of the items that I've jury-rigged for other purposes (or, like the shower chair, my insurance helped pay for).

The extra nice thing about this over something that sits on a surface (like this kind of tilting laptop tray that I found on Amazon) is that I still have a 5 pound lifting restriction.  My laptop is a little over five pounds, so I would have to expend more energy (more spoons) to get my work done.  The rolling desk allows me to push what I need to the room that I need it in, plus it keeps my lovely Bela cat from trying to trip me in the process (he's afraid of many things on wheels, including my walker and this desk).  My computer stays safe, my cat doesn't cause me to fall, plus I'm able to bring more stuff with me in less trips.  Muy bien!

That, my friends, wraps up a post that I've been pecking at for several weeks.  Next post will be some thoughts about "graduating" from physical therapy....

Back from Gen Con!

Me cosplaying as Oracle posing with Jennie Breeden of the Devil's Panties

I just got back from Gen Con (aka the "best four days of gaming") and I'm exhausted.  I thankfully had some pretty uneventful flights with Delta Airlines (so I probably won't be posting a "Flying with Wheels" post about them like I did for US Airways & United...and I'm pretty happy about it).

This was my first Gen Con, and it was pretty exciting.  Because of my experience with using my cane at CONvergence, I decided to just bring my wheelchair.  I'm really glad I did, even though the carpet in both the hotel & the convention center were hell on my shoulders.  This was the biggest con I've ever attended (at least 5 times bigger than CONvergence) and was spread out over the entire Indiana Convention Center plus all of the neighboring hotels. 

I made this scalemail dice bag!

Trying to alternate between wheels & a cane just wasn't going to happen because of distance.  I also wouldn't be able to guarantee when I was going to suddenly run out of spoons, something that could have kept me from attending events that I had prepaid for (like a Shadowrun Missions game, a Pathfinder Society game, a NASCRAG charity game, and a scalemail dice bag crafting workshop).  I also didn't want to be doped up on pain medication because it impacts my cognition & creativity...traits that I need to have fun while gaming.

Bringing the wheelchair also gave me a quick and dirty way to do a little cosplay, something I've wanted to do for a while but hadn't managed to put together a costume that is flying-friendly.  Armed with my wheels, a Batman logo shirt, a headset, and my iPad with Batman logo on the back, I cosplayed Oracle, aka Barbara Gordon.  She's one of the few comic book characters that uses a wheelchair (the only other one that comes to mind is Professor X from the X-Men comics).  Since she's not generally "in the field" much like other heroes, she doesn't have a specific costume, which makes cosplaying her both easy (minimal props/outfit) and a challenge (trying to be recognizable as her instead of just a nerdy wheeler). 

Crosswalk in downdown Indy with accessible lane

Despite the carpet, the difficulty I had finding elevators in the skyways, and the problems trying to navigate crowded halls full of distracted people, it was a pleasant trip.  There were times where I would find other wheeling folks (particularly other manual wheelchair using folks) and we would just smile at each other in between hard pushes to get down the plush carpeted hallways.  A friend that joined me for the con says that the carpet didn't feel padded from a walking standpoint, but I had to ask her to push me a few times so I wouldn't give myself a rotator cuff injury...and it led to an interesting discussion about universal design.

I also had a chance to meet a few folks that I've only met online through our shared geekery of City of Heroes (an MMORPG).  Meeting up with them was a little difficult just because of the barely accessible skyway, slow-as-molasses elevators, and the normal difficulty of navigating restaurants that have tables and chairs too close to each other for easy wheeling (I've had to learn to speak up and be more assertive to get through these situations...it's still hard for this introvert though!).

I'm planning to go back next year, finances and work willing.  I have plans for making some of the stressful things more manageable, better plans for hitting up the exhibition hall in a more relaxed way, and ideas to make the most of my time & energy without feeling trapped in a strict schedule (especially since it's the weekend before the semester starts).

Wheee!

Being geeky & disabled

My fist-sized d20

One benefit of being more visibly disabled is meeting other folks with disabilities.  This felt especially true when I volunteered for a significant chunk of time at a convention.  So CONvergence, a general science fiction and fantasy convention that is held in early July in Minnesota, ended up being this really neat place for me to interact with other geeky crips and the nerds that love us.

While I wasn't so easily pegged as disabled when I worked at the Registration table (my cane was tucked away since I didn't have to get around), I was very visible when I was on badging duty.  For those of you who might not be familiar with the term, all it means is I sat at a designated area and made sure that the people going past my station had visible and authentic con badges.  This is one of my favorite places to volunteer at a con because it means that I get to talk to a bunch of people, see tons of costumes, and contribute to the fantastic organization that runs the con.

Depending on how I was doing with pain, wobbling, and feeling my legs or feet, I was either using my flame cane or my wheelchair.  If I was hobbling it, my cane was usually in my lap (which got some great compliments or amusing comments, like "do the flames help you walk faster?").  The day that I spent most of the time on wheels, I either stayed in my chair (because I wasn't going to transfer to a less comfy chair) or transferred to a big comfy chair with my wheelchair next to me.

It was fun to talk to the other geeky gimpy people that were around.  Some folks had awesome adaptive aids, like red forearm crutches and other folks with flame canes.  One woman had her rollator dressed up as K9 from Doctor Who.  I chatted about all sorts of disability related stuff, from life as a part-time wheeler to Push Girls to WisCon (a feminist sci fi con that uses universal design) to "the best crutch tips ever" with a writer Haddyr Copley-Woods.  We both admired a compact motorized scooter that another patron was using called a Travel Scoot (it weighs less than my manual chair!).

A different person later that day who I'd badged several times commented on how people don't get that wheelchair users want to sit in something different sometimes (as I was sitting in the "badging" chair with my wheelchair next to me).  To have someone else around, even a stranger, that you can talk about how awful wheeling on carpet is, what equipment can make a smoother ride (Frog Legs suspension forks), or just kvetch about DC Comics' reboot of Oracle/Barbara Gordon and how having one less disabled superhero in the comic book world hurts...especially because there seems to be a lot of geeks with disabilities in the world.

I also learned how to navigate a dealer's room on wheels (very carefully yet assertively so I wouldn't get myself trapped...being waist-height to everyone can be rough) and discovered that the prevalence of canes-as-fashion (like in steampunk and neo-Victorian costumes) makes it so people don't realize that you're using an adaptive aid and leaning on that cane (thankfully I didn't fall the couple times this happened).  I was amazed at both the amount of disability awareness and simultaneous unawareness that seemed to be prevalent in geek-space.

In less than a month, I'll be at GenCon in Indianapolis, the biggest gaming con in the U.S. and I'll find out how my experience at a mid-size con of about 6k people translates into a 4 day event that hosts more people than my university has for a student population.  I'll also have another "flying on wheels" post about flying with Delta Airlines, and probably more griping about the TSA.  Maybe I'll have more awesome conversations with gimpy geeks while we roll dice and role play :-)

Back from vacation...and what's in store for this blog!

I just got back yesterday from a lovely vacation to Minnesota (partly to visit family and partly to go to a convention called CONvergence) and I'm slowly putting together a few posts for your viewing pleasure.  Since I was flying across the country (from North Carolina to Minnesota) using a wheelchair for the first time, I have some interesting observations for you all...some pretty awesome, some not-so-much.  Another post about intersections of geekdom and cripdom, and how there seems to be (to my experience) a higher-than-average number of visibly disabled folks in various areas of geek culture (gaming, comic books, anime, science fiction/fantasy, et al).  I might also talk a bit about cosplay and body difference (like size and disability) as either its own post or a part of the post on geeky cripdom/crippy geekdom.

One final exciting thing coming up.  Pattie Thomas of User Friendly Vegas is going to be guest blogging about her fantastic project.  She also has a GoFundMe page set up for folks who want to contribute to the project.

Expect some posts in the next couple days!

Adventures in shopping: Best Buy

I'm a geek at heart, so wandering around an electronics store is pretty fun for me.  I'll ogle the computers, ooh over the fancy cameras (I would love to get a fancy one like this so I can take fancy dance photos of people), wander the aisles of video games (I own an Xbox 350 and a Wii), and anything else that catches my eye.  Well, I was on a bit of a mission today.  First was to look at a new digital camera (sadly not one of the big fancy ones like I linked above, but one to replace my eight year old beastie).  Second was to take a look at a multimedia shelving unit as my DVDs and games have outgrown my little shelf.  I found this one in the Best Buy weekly ad, and thought that it deserved a looksee in person.

So I'm wandering around the store with a basket balanced on my footplate, getting a few odd looks because of the basket.  I silently whine at the cost of the computer with ten gigs of RAM, then head to the digital cameras (looking longingly at the big fancy ones).  I find a camera on clearance that I dig, then traipse through the video games.  I turn my nose up at the Xbox Kinect and its associated games (it's barely accessible to folks who are seated for whatever reason).  I then try to find the shelf, which was in this weird narrow aisle.  I find it, then found out that the box had wheels on the bottom!

Wheels!  On the bottom of the heavy box!!  It was amazing.  I was on wheels, moving furniture unaided because the box also had wheels!  Granted, it was awkward to move it, but I was so thrilled that I could move something that heavy by myself, unaided.  I don't know if I would count that box as an example of universal design, but it was amazing.  I was giggling as I was rolling myself and the shelf to the register.  Customers looked at me, asked if I wanted help, but I turned it down and continued to laugh.  I couldn't tell if the clerk was amused or horrified, but I think it was more amusement when I pointed out the wheels at the bottom of the box.

Fast forward to later this evening, and because of using my wheels for that shopping trip and a trip to WalMart afterwards, I was able to get some housework done.  A good day indeed.