The day after I got back from UCM I finished a drawing I
had started the day before: on one side was the face of Mahatma Gandhi; on the
other Thorin Oakenshield, the dwarf leader from The Hobbit. While Gandhi was
an ascetic who freed India through peaceful means and had a tendency towards
forgiveness, Thorin was vengeful, whether towards Smaug or Azog, and sought to
reclaim his people’s treasure horde, but the way I saw it, the yin-yang was
present: both loved the people, and were willing to fight, even die for
them. I finished the picture and posted
it on Facebook.
Later
I saw Kelly Green, autistic activist and moderator of the Facebook page and
website Artists and Autism, left a
comment asking me if she could put it on Artists
and Autism’s page, to which I said I would love that. Later I went down to Better Cheddar, where I
got a new bottle cap for my collection from my drink and found another one near
the tenant’s recycling bins.
The
next day I found another bottle cap for my collecting near the tenant’s
recycling bins. Then I went to
Starbuck’s where I read more of Water
Touching Stone. I got back and made
another coaster from receipts and worked on some more plastic bag yarn, or
“plarn.” My mom and Dave paid me to
drive them to and back from Homestead Country Club and when I got back I made
some more plarn and worked on some more receipt coasters. I soon saw my picture that was shared on Artists and Autism got over six hundred
likes on Facebook.
The
next day I read more of Water Touching
Stone at Starbuck’s before I went to Hen House to work. After that I got another bottle cap from a
drink I got there. I got back and talked
to Tyler. I went to work the next day
and got a different bottle cap from my drinks that I got afterwards. On Friday Erin and I got together at the
Cheesecake Factory and I gave her the drawing for a birthday/Christmas present,
and she gave me a documentary The Tibetan
Book of the Dead. The next day I did
a drawing of Peter, which I showed to my mom and Dave it and they loved
it. Then I did a drawing of Hook and started
one of Reeder. I showed my mom them and
my drawing of Elsa from Frozen, and
she loved them. On Sunday, I chipped in
with Cam and Jamie for a present for my mom and Dave, and decided to give Aunt
Laura one of my toilet paper roll wall pieces. I also went to work and got a new bottle cap from my drinks after
that. After that I went to work again
and got a different bottle cap at the CVS in the shopping square after I got
off work. On Wednesday I got together with Tyler and we
saw The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five
Armies, which we both particularly enjoyed. My family and I had Christmas Eve dinner of steak followed by Andres
matterhorn and pastries for dessert. That
night, Jamie saw my toilet paper roll wall piece, which he took a picture of
and shared it with Artists and Autism,
writing:
My 25 year old (older) brother with Asperger's Syndrome
made this out of toilet paper roll cardboard. He makes recycled artwork and his
name is Ben Edwards.
After
that I opened my stocking getting a beer magnet bottle opener, some chocolates,
two packs of Orbit gum, some “Hello Titty” condoms, an eraser, a dream catcher,
and a Tequila Worm lollipop from my mom and Dave. Then I gave my presents of paracord bracelets
to Jamie, Cam, Kate, and Graham. I also
got The Promise of a Pencil: How Ordinary
People Can Do Extraordinary Things, a beer mug from my mom’s and Dave’s
trip to Germany, a photo of an endangered duckling from New Hampshire, the Lego
Architecture Imperial Hotel from my mom and Dave, a completed theme song for Cheap Charlie, a mock reality show idea I had for my mom’s dad, who was
known to be extremely cheap, from Jamie, and some gummy bears and bottle caps
from Cam. Then we had bacon, eggs, and
mimosas for breakfast along with some cinnamon rolls. Then Dad picked us up and we went to our
grandparent’s house. I gave everyone
their gifts and they loved them. My
grandparents gave each of us grandchildren one hundred dollars, Dad and Sherry
gave me National Geographic’s Backyard
Guide to Birds of North America, The
Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age, and a
Buddhist mudra candle holder, while Todd, Laura, Abby, and Eric gave me the
Lego Villa Savoye and The Gallery of the
Celestial Buddhas. My aunt, of
course, loved my wall piece. Then we
went on our annual Christmas walk around the neighborhood. I got back and built the Villa Savoye. Then we had Christmas dinner and
cookies. After that we played
Pictionary. I also saw my toilet paper
roll wall piece had gotten over three thousand likes on Artists and Autism.
I
got a call from Hen House asking if I could work tomorrow from 11-7:30, and I
said I could. Then I finished my drawing
of Reeder. After that I went down to
work where I got a non-crown bottle cap and a USDA bottle cap from my drinks on
my break. I also realized that that if UCM’s
Autism Awareness” Homecoming queen Caitlin Stauffer really has done more for
the autistics at UCM than me, why are they still unwilling to come out of the
autism closet, and why have I never seen a poster by her on autism in the Union,
or a blog by her? I got back and asked
my mom to deposit my pay check and my one hundred dollar bill from my
grandparents, and she said she would.
Princess Anna, top middle; Peter, top right; Erin; bottom left; Jennifer, bottom middle |
did you that The Tao Leadership always say's those who always been honest with people will give their life's to another person no matter what.
ReplyDeleteI guess I haven't read that far yet. Just no there's more than just giving your life up for someone. There's also doing everything you can with it.
ReplyDeleteI mean "Just know," not "Just no."
ReplyDelete