Saturday, April 23, 2011

Happy Easter

Hello everyone. It's yet another Easter weekend. This year, it has been excellent thus far. I went out with Mark and Wendy for lunch at a place called The Fire Pit. The burger and fries were excellent. Have to go back and try their souvlaki at some point. Things seemed pretty dead there. Guess most people were doing other stuff. My computer has behaved itself very nicely this week. I have now acquired a time capsule and magic trackpad thanks to a generous financial gift from my grandmother. The Time capsule is a combination backup drive and router. Setting it up was very easy. Thankfully, I was familiar enough with the Mac way of doing things to get things going. I also have now produced an image of my current Windows state and copied it over onto the time capsule should the problem I encountered last week resurfice. I very much hope that it won't but can't know for certain. Still, it's nice to know that restoring to that point in time is far less of a headache to rebuild from. I also am able to transfer files between my netbook and the pc wirelessly using the time capsule as an intermediary drive. This will be very nice indeed when I'm out on the balcony this Summer.

This morning, I managed to walk to the mall and back by myself for the first time this year. That felt wonderful. It didn't go perfectly. I ended up at the wrong mall entrance going there and took one long wrong turn going back. However, the Trekker Breeze did its job and got me back on course with minimal fuss. Rose joined me for a coffee while I had brunch there. It always feels so much better to have someone across the table to chat with even when there's absolutely no chance for romantic attachment. We're too different in too many ways. She's an interesting lady whose mind is always ticking away. If there's anybody who I feel is likely to say something which gives me an inspirational idea for my writing, it's her. Also, when I need to know about animals, especially horses, she'll have the first-hand knowledge I'm after. She's also studied mythology among other things which can be very fertile ground for story strands and such.

Today and tomorrow, I'll be hearing as much of the Mushroom FM birthday bash as I can. Hard to believe they've been around for that long. It has certainly become something for which I'm very grateful. It's interesting how the Easter long weekend has revealed both the blind community at its worst in earlier years, and what is unarguably an example of us at our best this year. I can think back to at least two aweful examples where a lack of patience and short tempers have provoked disasterous damaging arguments within the online community. In both cases, I felt that the stakes were too high for me to stay out of them letting things spiral out of hand. It would seem so very odd to celebrate with family while feeling forced to engage in these out of control messes during the same long weekend. This year, in a wonderful act of redemptive contrast, I can sit here and join in the Mushroom FM birthday bash. This is an absolute triumph of the blind community. The presenters have drawn in a very large friendly audience who have proved to be a very stable restorative bunch to hang around with online. They really appreciate their listenners and are willing to engage in ongoing conversation with their audience members via email and twitter. I've gained many followers who are fellow listenners. A year ago, I was really hoping and striving for more offline "real world" friends and largely trying to turn away from the digital world. It seemed like such a hollow and meaningless place that I felt utterly trapped in. That's all changed now. I still hope for more engagement with people around me and less time in front of the computer. I'm gradually getting my wish there. Slowly, people are getting to know me more. This Summer should result in more of this as I encounter people on outdoor walks and possibly at the Dam. That stays open during the Summer also. Over the past while, the value of what I've acomplished and what I participate in online has been restored to me. There's a greater sense of being connected in a meaningful if somewhat different way. Twitter has certainly grown on me over the past while and I largely have Mushroom FM to thank for that.

Tomorrow, there's a church breakfast before the Easter service. It ought to make for a very cheerful morning with a community who, sunday by sunday, I've slowly become a part of. After that, I'll be joining my family for Easter dinner. It'll be great to catch up with everyone. My parents have enjoyed a trip along with their neighbours. My brother Dan has had laser sergery and begun the process of trying to switch from a career in restaurant management to being a firefighter. Who'd have ever thunk? Doubtless, I'll also hear lots about what my cute little nieces have been up to while they snarf down Easter treets and race around under sugar power. There's nothing planned for monday. However, there's a slight possibility I'll be woken up by a phone call telling me I've won $500 from Mushroom FM. Can't say I'd mind that at all. I've stumbled across a couple more free books about game development so I'll be looking through those over the next while to see if they have any lessons or ideas I might find useful. It would feel so good to get Enchantment's Twilight really moving again. When I finally finish the design document, I know I'll feel like a million bucks. That's quite a ways off though. It's good to feel a sense of the possibility of life; that new conversations and adventures might be waiting around the next corner or in the next hour. It's good to be at peace with myself and life in general. It's been a long time coming. I hope that all my readers enjoy a happy Easter long weekend weather or not they believe.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi, Michael,

Thank you so very much for your wonderful and heart-felt comments about MushroomFM. One of our presenters was reading this blog and told us about this entry. I personally am very grateful for your support, and I am sure that my fellow presenters who read this will agree. We are very blessed and grateful to have such loyal listeners as yourself.
Erin, presenter of the Melting Pot on MushroomFM

Unknown said...

Hiya Michael, one of the presenters brought this to our attention and, thank you for your kind words! I'm now a presenter on mushroom fm, and the station has brought so much meaning to my life too! I have a twitter i d too, username cuddle_kitten84 if you'd like to follow me! happy happy easter.

Unknown said...

Hello Michael. As a presenter on MushroomFM I was so happy to read your comments re: the friendliness of our station and the positive atmosphere of the blind community who participate. I, too, have gotten discouraged with the negativity that has happened among the various internet groups which involve blind individuals and have thought of retreating as well. But MushroomFM has restored my faith that we can work together to produce something truly marvelous!
Nancy, presenter of The Kitchen Table

Michael Feir said...

Hello to my Mushroom FM readers. Thanks for commenting. You folks have chosen to be a part of something larger than yourselves much as the contributers to an idea of mine called Audyssey Magazine once did. The power to reach out from wherever we may be and have a positive impact on others is a power well worth using and you folks do this in the finest style. Keep up the excellent work. I'll be listenning and contributing when I can.

Heather said...

A belated happy Easter to you, Michael!

blindman said...

Hello Michael. it is a slow day at work and I am glad I have had some time to read your blog. It is a pleasure to see such a positive outlook on life in spite of things not going the way you planned. I recently started going to church as well to find some speritual grounding in my life. I have been singing in a community gospel choir for three years now and Thought it was time to seak out the meaning in the music I love to sing. My christian journey is in it's early stages and I still have alot to learn. but it has been really good to become a part of the church family so I can better tolerate my own biological family as well.