Winter Break at Home 2013

On my first day of the winter break I got favorable e-mails from the heads of the psychology, social work, and communications department who said they could put the message about peer mentors on Blackboard and their department’s organization websites. I called Hen House and found out they couldn’t put me on the schedule but call me each day that they had a shift available. I told my mom and she said I ought to go down to the Prairie Village Hen House and tell Phil what was going on and see if I could get some hours at that store, also suggesting it might prompt Phil to call Rick and help him put me down. I realized though that I also probably wouldn’t get many more hours at the Prairie Village Hen House than I would at my own store. I learned the fingering for the Lord of the Rings book CDFGAB by developing a pneumonic that goes Cute Darling Female Gives a Bounty of Hope-which doesn’t exactly follow the pneumonic rules but was catchy to me and just felt right for some reason-and I improved my playing. After that I worked on scrapbooks with covers made from snack wrappers and my bag woven from Hen House produce bags. Then I worked on my bowl made from teabag wrappers and made some rosettes made from teabag wrappers. I tested out my coaster made from receipts on my beer, and it worked perfectly and took a picture to post on Facebook. I also talked to Tyler and agreed we might see the next Hobbit movie tomorrow night.

I talked to Tyler, and we agreed to go see the Hobbit movie that night. Then I finished two tambourines made from bottle caps and helped Mom pack for Colorado. After that I went to see the Hobbit movie with Tyler. I found it to be very action packed compared to the first one, noticing Gandalf getting taken prisoner, and I loved the dragon but was also surprised by the ending, which had a very cliffhanger feeling. Later I realized that I could repaint the letters on that stone with some lacquer paint from the hardware store, realizing I do need to take a risk in loving someone who will love me the way I deserve to be loved. As I was getting into Tyler’s dad’s car, I found a dollar on the ground and took it as a good sign.

The next day I found several more Snapple caps for Tyler. Then I worked on some more bottle cap tambourines, which my mom loved. I also remembered how I promised Teresa I would take a risk loving someone who loves me the way I deserve to be loved and do it even if I get hurt. The next day I grinded up and put leaves in the flower bed for fifteen dollars an hour for three hours. I did some laundry after that. Then I worked on my bottle cap tambourines, flower photo frames for my grandmom and Aunt Laura, which I also decided to make for my mom. Later I also drove to and back from Taco Republic, getting fifteen more minutes of driving and night driving. While we were there, I had some delicious roast chicken tacos, while Dave, an avid Tolkien fan, and I talked about Jackson’s movies, both of us thinking Jackson did a fairly good job of sticking to the story, myself saying that some of the changes simply helped make the movie more cinematic.

“I mean Lurtz wasn’t in the book, but he helps give the Uruk-hai a face.”

My mom shook her head in disbelief.

“Ben, you are just…brilliant!”

We talked about The Hobbit and Bard the Bowman, who Dave said was from the Lake-town of Esgaroth.

“Actually,” I said, “Bard was from Dale.”

“But the Lake-town was part of Dale, wasn’t it?”

“Well, no they were both their own little separate city-states, but the Lake-town becomes part of Dale.”

“Dave, I think Ben’s out-knowledged you on Lord of the Rings,” said my mom nudging Dave in the arm. 

I drove back getting another fifteen minutes of driving. When I got back my granddad called and asked if I would like to help him move things at his church to make some money and I told him I would do that. 

The next day I went to St. Anne’s and did some work for Granddad during which time I realized I could use the broken strap from my old Drawing I notebook to make bottle cap finger cymbals. My granddad paid me twenty-five dollars and then we ate lunch together. When I got back to the house my mom paid me for the work I did the day before. Then I went down into the basement to get some wire from my old journals in one of my boxes and recycle all the paper I didn’t use, and I found in that box my Scythian gold griffin and my Japanese gilded panel. After that I looked at my grades for the semester on my MyCentral account and found out I had gotten all Bs. While I did that, I tore out all the unused paper in my old notebooks from junior college and recycled it. Then I worked on my presents for my mom, grandmom, and Aunt Laura. After that I made my present for my granddad, a pair of finger cymbals made from flattened bottle caps to help him with meditation. I also saw on my Facebook page that Caitlin Samuels had invited me to see Frozen with her. 

The next day I got a new bottle cap from my drink at Better Cheddar and some wood for my tambourines at the hardware store. I got back and finished another tambourine and nearly finished another one. Then I cuddled with Peter thinking of how I would feel warmth doing the same thing with a girl who I loved and loved me the way Teresa talked about. After that I got a call from Hen House saying I’m working from 12-8 on Sunday, 8-4:30 on Monday, and 12-8 on Tuesday. I also went to Winstead’s with Granddad, then Barnes and Noble where I got the January 2014 issue of Shambhala Sun, the January/February 2014 issue of Afar, and a Moleskin Hobbit journal for my travels to India realizing that they may sort of be like Bilbo expanding his own horizons. Then we went to the Pathless Land where I meditated and did the closing. Afterwards I realized Granddad seemed to be telling me all along to keep my mind open to all the possible girlfriends who would come into my life.

               

The next morning Ian called, and we arranged a ride home from the reunion. Then I heard Caitlin say she could see the movie on the 26th. Later I grinded up some more leaves and spread them over the flower beds in the back yard. I drove to the Horizon Academy reunion getting ten more minutes of driving and night driving, while my mom talked to Dave on her cell-phone, making me incredibly nervous, but I drove well all the same. She got there and said, “See I wasn’t there to give you instructions and you did fine.”

As I stepped out of the car, a strange feeling was upon me like I had just entered another world. At the reunion I saw several old friends of mine from school: Ian for one, then Matt Gauer. I saw my former high school teacher, Vicki Asher, looking exactly the same as when I saw her years ago. She hugged me and told me that they took the Horizon students to visit UCM.

“And we were all like ‘Where’s Ben? Where’s Ben?’”

I laughed.

After some pizza Mrs. Kennedy our former school principal took us on a tour of the school. During that time, I heard Matt say that Ian was pursuing a career in some kind of international social work. I saw another familiar face next to me, a girl by the name of Adriana Godsey, with a tall dark young man standing next to her. I learned she was working at KU Medical Center and that the man, her fiancé, had finished school at Pittsburgh University with a degree in broadcasting. I, of course, gave Adriana my sincerest congratulations on her engagement.

We went to the downstairs floor, which had many renovations done to it even since I saw it last year. On the right side of the hall through a door, I saw a room with a dark carpet and a short shiny black stage.

“What is that room?” I asked Mrs. Altman, a teacher who was standing next to me.

“That is our new Blackbox Theater where we have some new drama classes.”

“Really?” I said. “Well, it sounds like it would be a great job, being a drama teacher.”

             “You should come back here and do that some time,” said Mrs. Altman.

“Why I would love tha,” I said.

“Well, we have these cards in our reception room and you could take one and write on the back that you love to come back and do that.”

“Definitely.”

We went back to the reception room, and I did indeed get one of those cards. Then I went with the others into the multipurpose room where there would be a performance of the nutcracker. I saw Sean Swindler there, whose son goes to Horizon. We said hello and I told him about how soon we would need the right paper work for the peer mentors. He said he would get that to me sometime and would be sure to come down to Warrensburg sometime and help the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group get more members. During the performance I put down on the card what was going on in my life which there was a section for, and indeed mentioned my desire to come back and be a drama teacher. 

After the performance we went back into the reception room.  I saw my old middle school teacher Bob Fritch. He said to me, “You were always the professorly one I remember.” 

He asked me what I was studying, and I told him my major was in Cultural Studies.

 “Do you think you’ll teach that some day?” I explained to him that I was planning on starting a film making career but sometime after school, in order to support myself, help in archaeological digs and hands-on cultural projects for kids with Down syndrome.

            “Well, you ought to come and teach here,” said Mr. Fritch.

“Well, yeah that would be great. Mrs. Altman said I ought to come back here and be a drama teacher and I thought that would be great.”

“Definitely.”

I later saw another familiar face, a dark-haired girl Jordan. I learned she was at Johnson County Community College and planned to get a degree in Occupational Therapy.

 “That’s cool,” I said.

 “Yeah,” she smiled brightly at me, and I smiled back. Then I met the new intern for my old school counselor, a woman with short blonde hair and a very kind face who said she knew both my dad and my grandmom, the former Dean of Education at the University of Kansas City, Missouri. I saw another old friend Riccardo Rossi, who earlier told me he had planned on being a counselor. I asked him if he still wanted to do that.

“I don’t know, just because it can be kind of stressful.”

“Well, any job can be stressful.”

“That’s true. What do you do about stress?”

“Well, I exercise regularly, have some hobbies, make time for friends,…"

“I mean at work?”

“Well, I just take a deep breath and remind myself that there’s no moment to be in other than this one.”

“Yeah,” he said nodding slowly. 

After that I saw Mr. Epstein and got a chance to tell him about school and my blog Ben’s Blog, which he asked if any of the students might find interesting. I told him they might as they or someone they know might be on the spectrum and it deals with college, relationships, and independent living. I then went home with Ian Sneid and another one of my fellow students, Jacob Rasmussen, who told me that another one of my fellow students, Austin Oerkhe, was going to UCM. I got home and told my mom, dad, and granddad about tonight and about how they said I ought to be a drama teacher there and they were all really excited for me. My granddad told me that he also believed I would do a lot for the autism community. Then I worked on my bag woven from Walmart bags and organized my stash of plastic bags to repurpose up in my room. 

I drove to my psychiatrist appointment the next morning getting ten more minute of driving, to the post office, getting another ten minutes, to Bruce Smith getting another five minutes, then home, getting another five minutes, and got much better at turning hand-over-hand. I got a call from work asking me if I could come in on an emergency shift and I took it. I drove to work getting another ten minutes of driving. I also got a new Snapple cap on my break. I drove back home getting ten more minutes of driving and night driving. Then I watched the extended version of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with Mom, Dave, and Brenda while I thought about how Tyler is able to contribute to society even while on disability benefits and remembered a quote Dr. Mayfield told me from Einstein about how everyone is brilliant, and you can’t judge a fish by the standards of animals that climb trees. 

The next day I worked on a basket made from some of my plastic bags. Later I practiced my flute for half an hour, getting the fingering used in my Lord of the Rings flute solo book, getting better at it. Then I worked on making a foil statue of a panda bear. The next day at work I sang every now and then to pass time an old song I heard on King of the Hill:

Blue moon on Kentucky, keep on shining. Shine on the one that’s gone and left me blue.

Blue moon on Kentucky, keep on shining. Shine on the one that’s gone and left me blue.

It turned out my voice was much better than I thought. During lunch I got a new Snapple cap for my collection. While I sang, Angela, one of the cashiers said, “Ben, I’ve never seen you like this before. You’re normally so quiet. I love it!” After I got home, I realized that it was perfectly possible for the right services to be universally provided to autistic people as thirty-three states had already mandated that autism be covered by insurance. 

The next day I went to work, during which time I realized that the orcs pursuing the dwarves in the Hobbit movies is very true to the book as the orcs killed and tortured Thrain in Dol Guldur. I also got three new Nantucket caps for my collection on my breaks and lunch. I went to Abby’s birthday celebration after that. I also read that the orcs did march towards Erebor in the second Hobbit movie like I thought. I realized that the Kili and Tauriel romance really did help show the tension between the elves and dwarves in Middle Earth. I also read on lotr.wikia.com (Lord of the Rings Wikia) that during the War of Dwarves and Orcs, Azog tried to claim all the mansions of Durin as his own and many of the orcs fled to the High Pass near Rivendell so the orc chase in the first Hobbit movie kind of made sense. I told Dave this and he said, “Yeah…” sounding somewhat impressed.       

On Christmas day, not having anything for Jamie, Cam, Abby, and Eric, realized I could just give them all five dollars, which would easily make in tips in that day’s work. I drove to work doing well with speed and hand-over-hand turning even though Mom was on the phone, getting ten more minutes of driving. I also got a new Nantucket cap on my break. After I got home, I finished my picture frames made from bottle caps. Then I had Christmas Eve dinner with Jamie, Cam, Graham, my mom, and Dave. I also completed some more of the challenges in my book The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Activity Book. 

I gave Jamie, Cam, Graham, my mom, and Dave, their presents and they all loved them. I got a December 2013 issue of Wired magazine with a cover article on Bill Gates and Bill Clinton and using technology to help the Third World, mouthwash, gum, chocolate, a paint tube shaped pin from the Indianapolis Museum of Art, a craft knife, Stamp Collecting for Dummies, Postal Service Guide to 2013 Stamps 40th Edition, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, and a monk dashboard figurine for when I get my driver’s license from my mom and Dave. I also told Dave how I thought the expansion of Arwen’s role in The Lord of the Rings movie and Tauriel in The Hobbit films would have been supported by Tolkien because he meant to give females a greater role in the story, which is why he added Eowyn, and Dave agreed. On the way to my grandparent’s house, I got more of a feeling for American culture from the Postal Service Guide. I gave my dad, my granddad, my grandmom, Uncle Todd, Aunt Laura, Abby, and Eric their presents and they all loved them. I got a Tibetan victory banner and a Lego Architecture Big Ben set from Uncle Todd, Aunt Laura, Abby, and Eric, a $100 debit card and a shirt with a Chinese peace sign from Grandmom and Granddad, and a bird whistle, wooden Indian block printing textile stamp, Beer Crafts: Making the Most of Your Cans, Bottle Caps, and Labels, and Lonely Planet books on Tibet, Bhutan, and Mongolia from my dad. I learned some more of what I wanted to do in Tibet, Bhutan, and Mongolia from my travel books. I also realized that I could draw attention away from autism organizations that spend more on their executives than services for people with autism when I tell people what I’ve done as a person with autism. I went on the annual Christmas walk with Jamie, Cam, Dad, Granddad, Uncle Todd, Aunt Laura Abby, and Eric where I took several great pictures and walked to the edge of the forest with Uncle Todd and Aunt Laura. I got back and built the Lego Big Ben set. I ate dinner with Jamie, Cam, Abby, and Eric afterwards. Then I learned more of how my travel plans to Tibet, Bhutan, and Mongolia will go. I later realized that Azog being resurrected by Sauron and Bolg working as an interrogator at Dol Guldur makes sense because Gandalf came to Erebor with the news that the orcs led by Bolg were coming to attack after being in Dol Guldur, that the orc pursuit made sense because of Thrain having one of the dwarf rings, so therefore the orcs being hunted down by Legolas and Tauriel and the romance between Tauriel and Kili made since, and that the third Hobbit movie might open up with Gandalf talking to Thrain in Dol Guldur. When I got back, I talked to Tyler and I told Dave how I thought the third Hobbit movie might open up with Gandalf meeting Thrain in Dol Guldur and he said he heard that would happen. I also saw that Caitlin had messaged me on Facebook asking if I could go see Frozen tomorrow. Since my brothers, dad, grandmom, aunt, uncle, and cousins were all planning on us going to see a movie that day I asked her if she was available the day after that.

The next day I told Caitlin through Facebook messaging that I could meet her anytime between 12-6 tomorrow and asked her to name a time and place. Then I got to my grandparent’s house before my dad, Jamie, Cam, grandmom, Uncle Todd, Aunt Laura, Abby, Eric, and I went to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. I realized that my popcorn bag had a poster of the movie and decided to frame it, and after the movie was over to make the other’s bags into beads. During the movie I watched the movie, during which time I realized the way Peter Jackson told the conflict of the Elves and the Dwarves as being over jewels was true to the story as those jewels were what the Mirkwood elves besieged Erebor over before the Battle of Five Armies, that I am able to be valuable to a lot of people, not just with autism, for what I do for autistic people, as many have autistic loved ones and prejudice, stigma, and discrimination are self-destructive. Soon after it was over, I got the idea to make some robots out of cigarette boxes I collected for Tyler to play with, one representing the ego, another representing the id, and the other the super ego, to help teach him self-restraint. I got back and as I saw Dave with some new ice cream, I decided to eat it less nights to cut down on human waste, and I recycled all the cigarette boxes I collected except for some for beads and Tyler's robots. Then I found Caitlin said she could meet tomorrow at 10:45 at Town Center, and I said I’d meet her there. After that I gave Mom two bottle cap tambourines to give to Kyley and Hunter for Christmas and finished one for myself. I put my cousin's up on the top of a cabinet so Wally wouldn’t chew on them. 

                The next morning before I went to sleep, I realized how even though people have said that Gandhian economics wouldn’t have allowed India to become an economic superstar, it seems India’s real glory is the rich becoming richer while the poor become poorer, unlike Bhutan’s gross national happiness. After my meditation, showering, and breakfast, I drove to Town Center afterwards getting twenty more minutes of driving. Then I saw the movie with Caitlin at the movie. When it was over, we both seemed to have really liked it.  After the movie, Caitlin and I ate lunch at Panera and learned more about each other. After she gave me a ride home, I found my stone Teresa gave me. Then went to Bruce Smith where I got the December 2013 issue of National Geographic, the December 2013/January 2014 issue of Archaeology magazine, Sacred Places of the Ancient World from the editors of Archaeology magazine, and Mandela: His Life in Pictures: 1918-2013 and my medication. I then traded in a bunch of ones and quarters for fives. I also decided to take my World Archaeology tests in the Testing Center next semester. I ate dinner with the Wendland’s during which I heard Cam talk about his dorm life, with his building being largely Asian, and my mom suggested that the Chinese send their kids to America to be educated to meet the Chinese girls Americans have adopted and that their government probably became so corrupt because they were short of money. I got back and packed up for the trip to Colorado tomorrow. I also decided I would take my Early American Literature tests in the Testing Center as well.