Reading with my eyes closed

After receiving a free braille alphabet card in the mail I decided to venture into the world of learning braille. (Okay, I was partly inspired by The Blind Bandit). So anyway, I decided that I wanted to learn Braille and not just visually but actually know how to read braille by touch. I've even thought of some benefits to learning braille.

1. If I ever go blind I won't have to re-learn how to read.

2. If the power goes off I can just reach for a braille book and read!

3. If my child is blind I will be able to teach her how to read.

I'm sure I could think of other benefits as well but these are the ones I've thought of so far. So I spend about 10 minutes to half an hour each night studying my braille card in the dark. And after only a few nights I began to recognize a letter everytime I ran my finger across it. The letter L. I had officially learned my first braille letter! I was on my way.

I kept trying to think of more ways to learn braille. Most braille freebies are for blind people only and you even have to fill out an application. So I tried to find some inexpensive materials that I could maybe order. Well, a braille slate and stylus is like $24 so skip that 'til later. I looked at some braille books but most of them are in grade 2 braille which has contractions and since I don't have a teacher that might be a little hard for me to learn.

So I set out on the internet trying to find the cheapest ways possible to learn braille (by touch. It is much easier to find ways to learn it visually.) I found a few ways so far to practice braille. Some mind even work for blind people.

1. print out braille text and drop glue dots on top of the dots

2. Use a corkboard and pegs. (this isn't easy because of the deeper spots)

3. A lightbright. (So I have to go get my lightbright. Finally found a use for it!)

Now that I've been studying for a while I can recognize a quite a few letters by touch

ABC E G I K L M O Q U X

These are the letters that I can usually get when my finger is put on. One of the things I find that is most interesting about braille is that it is a language that is neither visual nor verbal. It is tactile. And that is part of what makes it so cool!

Finding My Religion

From the time I was little I have always been somewhat confused about religion. When I was little I walked to a little Christian church up the road from my house with my older brothers. The Sunday School teacher told me that if I came to church for three consecutive sunday's I could have my very own bible to keep forever. So I made my best effort to attend every Sunday.

Although, I would accidentally sleep in a lot I finally managed three consecutive sundays. I was very excited to have my own bible. But that is not the point of this story.

When I was nine I moved in with my grandparent's who were Mormons. With my step-grandmother I attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I was forbidden from seeing my mother because she was gay and gay was a sin.

After returning to live with my biological father I quit attending the little church up the road. At this point I no longer attended any church. And to be honest I didn't really want to. I attempted to read the bible. But it was confusing, depressing, and large. So I stopped. I did however keep a tiny marble statue of Mary that a catholic friend gave to me. She told me I needed it.



At twelve years old I moved in with my mother. By this time I didn't attend church, I only believed that parts of the bible true, and I wasn't very religious at all. But then I started praying with my mother every night. It's a tradition we continue to this day.

At age fourteen I attended a baptist church for what was the second time in my life. I didn't wear a dress. (This would have been next to sin in a Mormon church.) I wore pants. I told my mom what they preached about at church and she told me I wasn't going back.


So from fourteen to eighteen, I refused to have anything to do with religion except for praying with Mom. I refused to read the bible because it bothered me so much, and I didn't attend any churches because I realized that all the churches just wanted one thing. (the same thing) To prove that they were the only true denomination.

At eighteen (the age I am now) I realized that I couldn't really call my self a christian. I prayed in Jesus' name, sure. But I didn't believe in the bible any more. So I decided, Christianity obviously isn't right for me. So I'm going to find MY religion.

The first religion I investigated was Hinduism. It's a nice religion although, a little on the confusing side if you aren't/don't know any Hindu people. Some people even told me that I was not allowed to become a Hindu because "You must be born into the religion."

Although, I think this person may have been mistaken. You must be born into their race but I've heard of people converting to their religion. I think this concept is similar to Judaism. (You can't convert to Jewish race but you can convert to Jewish religion.)

Part of what got me interested in Hindu was one of those What Religion Should You Be? quizzes. I took the quiz and Hindu come up at the top with Paganism and Buddhism. So I began my research.

I researched other books as well. Life after death books. And after reading all of these books I had come to a belief system. One that isn't like most religions out there. I wasn't really sure until I was talking to my big brother the other day.

I said, " Look, here's the way I believe. I believe that there's no hell and there's only one ultimate god. Although, God can take other forms as well. I believe that when we die we go to Heaven. (Well, maybe not Heaven exactly but that place we go to when we die.) What part of 'heaven' we go to depend on our level of enlightenment that is attained while still on Earth. And that those on higher levels can come down and help those on lower levels."

Alex summed it up for me when he responded, " So basically you mashed all the religions together."

Well, it's like Mom says. There's a grain of truth in everything.

Play with clay

When I was fifteen my mom bought a pack of clay while she was out at the store. My friend Kayla and I spent a good deal of time making people, furniture, food, and pets out of clay. We spent maybe five minutes playing with it. But it was fun! Our sculpting skills weren't the best in the world but to me that wasn't the point. I love making things. So recently I've been thinking about sculpting again. Especially after seeing some OOAK things on eBay. So now I am going to go try again and when my work is done (for better or for worse) I will post it here.

Math sucks!

I have been having a hard time with math. Actually, I've always had a hard time with math. But until recently I've always been able to get by in math. Well, I've taken the math part of the GED test twice and failed both times.
I remind myself that I am not dumb. I passed all the other parts of the test with flying colors. My math is the only thing that sucks. I took the free classes offered by the nearby community college and my math skills improved. This was before I failed the second time and by only missing 2 questions. I think I could pass the test if they didn't time me because when I know that I'm being timed I feel really pressured and so I kind of rush. Oh well....*sigh*