Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Paralysis in the News

Maybe I'm just more cognizant of these stories now, but it seems like more and more people are being featured in the news after becoming paralyzed. There's the Southern Mississippi football player recently shot and paralyzed from the waist down, returning to the field to watch a home game from the sidelines. There's former NBA star Rodney Rogers falling off his ATV and breaking his neck. It's hard enough to move around a 6'2'' body; I can't imagine the struggles he has with a 6'10'', 270 lb. frame.

There's usually a flipside to these stories that at first glance seem nothing but tragic. Sometimes from the crevasse of despair come the most inspiring, heartwarming instances of determination and redemption. The Rutgers player injured in a game last month graduated from his ventilator, and had his injury reclassified as incomplete, meaning he has at least some feeling beneath his level of injury. The Jacksonville Jaguar offensive lineman paralyzed in a shooting in 2008 just got married, and stood up for the entire 45 minute ceremony.
As Thanksgiving approaches, tales of immense courage like these remind us what to really be thankful for - family, friends, health, and a life you've still got and is still worth living.

And now, some funny videos to lead us into a delicious holiday...

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Do You Know This Person?

An unidentified University of Michigan junior, majoring in engineering, who
turns 21 tomorrow, and apparently is a BIG Harry Potter fan.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Spinal Rehab in the UK

I enjoyed this article. Very informative, and I could relate to nearly every quote in there. Some favorites:

- "When I looked for help on the internet I found out about a place called Project Walk in California," he says. "I gave it a go and went over thinking it would be happyclappy but it was the opposite. It was physically and mentally invigorating." Happyclappy? Must be a British thing.

- Andy begins the session by moving his legs around to wake up the muscles and then Vish starts to work out on the thigh strengthening machine, lifting his legs. He can't hide his smile. "I can feel it," he says. "It's a bit bizarre, but I can feel it."  It is a bit bizarre, but I know exactly what he's talking about.

- "Sometimes we have to clear partners and mothers out of the way so they don't affect concentration. There is a natural instinct of parents to smother." No comment.




A Chilean miner was on Letterman last week, the same guy who was running in the NYC marathon, and he killed. Wait for his Elvis impression.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Asst. Michigan Attorney General Finally Fired

A State of Michigan Assistant Attorney General was fired today, thanks to his homophobic and inflammatory blog he maintains, criticizing U of M's student body president. He was lampooned recently on 'The Daily Show' in a hilarious segment; thank God Mike Cox finally grew a pair and fired this clown...and also good thing Cox isn't Governor, because he let this guy, who works directly for Cox, make an ass of the whole state for the past 6 months.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-november-1-2010/look-who-s-stalking

Thursday, November 4, 2010

November, National Novel Writing Month

I am officially attempting this. November is National Novel Writing Month, so I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring and give it a shot (See that? 2 cliches in one sentence! Skillz baby!). It's highly likely this will end up being a short story. (Note the 'short' in italics. Don't be expecting War and Peace). It also could end up being more of a pamphlet.

Shaq, the King of Social Media

Shaq is the man. Genuine, hilarious, large...I will miss him when he retires. Although I'm sure he'll find a way to stay relevant.