Winter Break Before Vacation 2015

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