Autistic Pride Day in Leadville

On the morning before our trip to Colorado, I did not sleep at all for some reason (that just happens sometimes I guess), but I realized that if a chapter of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network is opening up in Kansas City, then it will be very close to the autistic social network/mutual aid society I started at JCCC and a similar organization that a friend of mine from high school started at Penn Valley, as well as Elizabeth’s group at KU (I thought), so they may be able to work together for their own mutual benefit.  I also remembered how Tyler said he thinks of me whenever he’s stressed as it makes him feel better.  We headed off to Colorado afterwards, and while we drove, I worked on my travel plans to Turkey.  I also got a new bottle cap for my collection from a drink at the gas station.  I also drove a little bit on the highway with some caffeine, during which time my mom taught me cruise control, and both she and Dave thought I drove really well.  

Next Wednesday would be Autistic Pride Day so I worked on a post for that holiday that was inspired by a post I had seen on Facebook called Thoughts from a Female Aspie.  We went to Whole Food’s where I got another bottle cap for my collection from a drink I got there.  Finally we made it to our home, which looked very different, and I could even see a stone patio and found several pebbles for my collection.  I saw that our bathroom had been almost finished.  I also got another new bottle cap for my collection from our drinks here.  Then Dave gave me new cell-phone charger.  After that I helped get my bed made. 

The next day Dave offered to pay me to pull the weeds from our patio after I finished meditating.  I also did fairly well with making eggs after some good pieces of bacon that Dave made.  He always makes good bacon.  Later I went to the recycling center with my mom and Dave, where I found two new bottle caps, one crown and one not, and then I helped them at the dump.  My mom and I got coffee and I got a lemon bar after that.  Then we went to pay the woman who remodeled our house, Sandra, and I went with my mom and Dave to help give her a feeling of appreciation by seeing more of the family whose house she helped remodel.  Indeed her neighborhood was very nice and clean, although the houses were by no means big.  Dave and I went to the taco truck outside Safe Way afterwards where I found several bottle caps lying around, including a new one for my collection and several for my wall fish.  I also got a new bottle cap from my drink they got me at Safe Way.  I drove back home so my mom and Dave could show me the way into town, which turned out to be a pretty easy drive.  I also met Elizabeth’s friend Kelly through e-mail inviting me to speak at the panel for autistic adults to the kids at her camp, Camp Encourage, after hearing of me from Elizabeth, and I accepted. 

                I got back and worked on my mandala made from plastic bags and realized how the words I make transcending sections of the mandala would give the piece a feeling of unity, just like my Drawing I teacher said intersecting shadow lines do in drawing, and how I will also have interesting and diverse pictures on there from all the different bags.  Then I worked on pulling the weeds until it started to rain and I went back inside and worked on my plastic bag mandala.  I also wrote in my bottle cap collecting journal.  I pulled more weeds until it was impossible to uproot any more of them and Dave thanked me for doing that.  Then I read about all the ruins along the Lycian Way and realized there seems to be all sorts of things right up my alley to do in all the different parts of Turkey.  I also realized that perhaps I may have had an influence on the Kansas Legislature’s willingness to pass a bill requiring some autism coverage with my testimony at the Kansas Legislature, which Elizabeth also attended.  After a dinner of pork chops and apple sauce that had some pieces of broken glass in It from the container breaking at Whole Foods, I worked on a belt made from plarn for my granddad for Father’s Day, and during that time I also realized that my blogging and other work may have prompted people to push for things such as the anti-bullying legislation, and they may have also prompted insurance companies to fear a broader autism coverage bill to be pass and prompted them to push for their current bill. 

                The next morning I cooked some bacon and eggs.  Later I took a walk around the train tracks and creek with my mom and Dave, where I found several more pebbles, some molten rock, including some to give to Jack and Tyler as gifts, and several bb shells, saw several beaver dams, and enjoyed being around Wally.  Afterwards I read thirty-six pages of The Divine Madman, where I sort of realized that Drukpa Kunley’s sexual exploits and promiscuity may have been a way to teach the girls how illusory romantic satisfaction, and I worked on a Father’s Day present for my granddad.  I helped Mom and Dave move some furniture after that.  Then I called Granddad, who agreed with how I might have influenced several moves that have helped autism, and Dad to wish them a happy Father’s Day.  After a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, where I did try and somewhat like zucchini, I finished and posted both my Ben’s Blog posts for today.  After that I talked to Tyler for a bit.

                The next day I cooked some eggs, and then read some more of The Divine Madman, which actually helped my better grasp the Tibetan language, which still has a long way to go, and I got an appreciation for how Buddhism is good in all trials as all trials are indeed impermanent.  I later went down to the National Forest and Turquoise Lake with my mom, Dave, and the dogs where I took several photos and we picked up several recyclables.  I got back and finished a belt made from plastic bags.  Then I worked on my wood drawing for my granddad, which I was so satisfied with I would be sure to take a picture of to have a sort of copy for myself.  On the way to dinner I did see that the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network had successfully gotten the Autism CARES Act to include changing the agency which looks at issues of adults with autism.  I went to the Grill with my mom and Dave, where I had some delicious steak and chicken tacos.  We got back and watched Ron White’s A Little Unprofessional on Netflix after that, in which he seemed to have gone downhill from when I had seen him before. 

                The next day Later I went into town with my mom and got some tacos at the taco truck, which I learned you can ask for with just meat and they will remember it, and I found a new bottle cap lying around as well as several ones that would be good for my Rainbow Fish wall fish, and got a new one from my drink I got there.  My mom and I went into town and I got a guitar-shaped mints tin, a hazelnut truffle, and a box of edible flowers, which I didn’t realize what it was, but realized my mom might like it and decided to give it to her as a Mother’s Day present.  Then I got three more Native American post cards to frame as wall art with my other post cards and they all have a theme of warriorship.  I gave Mom the gardening kit and she loved it.  Then I drove to the liquor store, which we remembered on the way home and got some new beer, and I realized my bottle cap collecting journal also functions well as a beverage tasting journal.  I drove back and when I got home I got another new bottle cap for my collection.  Afterwards I edited my Autistic Pride Day post.  Then I worked on my travel plans to Turkey.  After that I wrote in my dream journal for today, yesterday, and the day before that.  I had a great turkey sandwich with the sauce from the taco truck.

                The next day Then I assembled the other bunk bed for our room.  After that I worked on my travel plans to Turkey.  After that I went on a walk by our tracks with my mom and Dave into an old abandoned mine field outside our property and found several new pebbles, picked up some trash and recycling, saw another bird species, and I realized what it must be like to explore Turkey with all its hidden secrets and undiscovered ruins.  I also found some bone in the park and several clay pebbles on our property.  After that I worked on my Autistic Pride Day blog post, which I finished and posted after a dinner of pizza, with some frustration of uploading my pictures. 

                The next day I got a new bottle cap from my drink at the café my mom and I ate and much to her delight, she finished her bagel sandwich before me this time.  Afterwards I helped her move a trundle bed into our car and into our house.  On the way back to Minturn, we saw a deer carcass on the side of the road.  I also decided I wanted to use my career to help kick-start an Autistic Renaissance.  Then I got a buttered bagel and a Chai tea smoothie at a coffee shop in Minturn, before buying a CD called Turkish Groove (recommended by Lonely Planet) at Scarab.  On the way back to our house we saw an eagle and a coyote feasting on the deer carcass, which I realized must attract wildlife.  I got back to our house and Later I read about Cultural Studies and decided I might like to do something with that as well as filmmaking.  After a dinner of a turkey sandwich with sauce from the Mexican taco truck and brewing some hot tea, Graham and Lane, his girlfriend, arrived and I got to meet Lane, and it was nice to see them.

                The next day we got some tacos at the taco truck and found some more of my rainbow fish wall fish before went white-water rafting.  After that we went to Tennessee Pass where I learned Lane’s sister is a blogger with Asperger syndrome and I gave Lane the addresses to my blogs and my e-mail address to send me a link to her sister’s blog.

                The next day we drove home and I got another new bottle cap from my drink along the way I also got some tacos at the taco truck with my mom, Dave, Graham, and Lane, and found some more of my rainbow fish wall fish.  Then we went white-water rafting.  After that we went to Tennessee Pass where I learned Lane’s sister is a blogger with Asperger syndrome and I gave Lane the addresses to my blogs and my e-mail address to send me a link to her sister’s blog.

                The next day we drove home and I got a new bottle cap again from a drink at the gas station along with some spicy chips.  I also practiced some highway driving for about an hour and both my mom and Dave said I did really well.  When we got home I found out I worked from 4-10 the next Friday.