Winter Break Before Vacation 2014

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 my 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, my 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 paycheck 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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kansas City, Missouri, March 8-10, 2013

I got home for the weekend on Friday and called my friend Erin. On Saturday, I didn’t do much besides go to Bruce Smith and pick up my prescription and buy a copy of Archeology magazine and ride my bike. The next day I did my laundry and rode my bike again. On the way back to UCM, my mom and I bought some shredded mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and plain mini bagels, some beef jerky, fruit snacks, and some Snapple tea for the rest of the year before the break and when we got back I discovered I didn’t have my key. Luckily, a Public Safety officer was walking through the hall at the time and opened it with her master key.  In the meantime, my mom would send my key tomorrow and I’d just depend on Tyler to get in until my key arrived in the mail.

Warrensburg, Missouri, March 1-8, 2013

On the first day of March I went to my Geology class and took a quiz, which I thought I did pretty well on.  The next day I went down to Hastings and bought the new Buddhadharma magazine, which had a cover article called Confessions of a Zen Novelist which interested me being a Buddhist screenwriter. Later that night I watched one of Tyler’s movies, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, about a young sorcerer whose life is changed when he learns it is his destiny to defeat the evil witch Morgana, with Tyler and Mary, a very short first-year THRIVE student with Down Syndrome, who recently became very close together. The next day I heard that Tyler’s grandmother had died and I promised him I would go to the funeral next Sunday so I called my mom to tell her I would be coming home next weekend, the weekend before Spring Break. I also asked her to wire one hundred dollars from my account at home to my account at school.

                Later I finished my Excel 2 Capstone project and my Excel 3 tutorial and exam even later in the day I worked on the outline to one of my screenplays. I figured that maybe I’m feeling more inspired to write them after I’ve done a lot of things to help other people. Then that night after I finished running on the treadmill, I watched another one of Tyler’s movies, Take the Lead, about several troubled teenagers who are taught dance by a mysterious Spanish gentleman to help improve their behaviors, with Tyler, Jack, Mary, and Ryan, another first-year THRIVE students. Late morning to early afternoon the next day I watched another one of Tyler’s DVDs with him, Mysteries of the Bible, Part One. Afterwards, Nathan asked us if we, the THRIVE students, would stand out in the hall outside his room and ask Jena, his girlfriend, when she came out, “Will you go to the THRIVE formal with Nathan?” We did, and she said yes, if he would buy her a dress. I also worked on my Geology notes and understood the material better.

               

                The next day I worked on the Excel 3 Capstone project in my Essential Managing Information class with the rest of the class and found some more pebbles outside which I turned into mani stones. During my Person Centered Planning I realized that if my inspiration to write comes from helping people, then I’ll probably get a lot of inspiration from leading the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group. Later I did my Transition Planning II homework and I found out on Blackboard that I got a four out of five on my Geology quiz. I printed off my flyer for the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group and I made another toilet paper roll diorama of Palkhor monastery in Tibet. After study hall I went to Phillip’s apartment in Foster/Naux with Hillary and a few other THRIVE students, to see his new hamster, leaving myself about twenty minutes to run on the treadmill.

                The next day Tyler put his name on the flyer and I got a better understanding of my Geology material when we did a review for the next exam. I realized I still needed to go over chemical and mechanical weathering, what percent of soil it’s different parts are, the qualities of poorly drained and well-drained soil, and the different factors in climate change and their effect on it. The next day I got the hundred dollars my mom sent me and I worked on my Excel 3 Capstone project. When I went to my Geology lab, I got full points on the last assignment and after the lab I ordered refills of two of my medications.  During study hall, I came up with a pneumonic for the order of the letters for each level of soil (O, A, E, B, C), “Ocean and Evening Beer’s Cool.”

                The next day I made an appointment with Dr. Mayfield about the group for three o’ clock the next day and I kept understanding the material well in my Geology class and took another quiz, which I thought I did pretty well on. I realized that these autism groups form a good bastion of solidarity for autistic people and later that night, Tyler came to me with the flyer which was full of names which he had gotten himself. The next day I learned that Tyler’s grandmother’s funeral was a private affair and his mom would tell my mom. Later I did my homework for my Transition Planning II class and I went to my appointment with Dr. Mayfield where I told her about the flyer and she decided she could e-mail her students about the meetings so they could know what was going on without giving away their private information and she made a copy of the flyer to give to people who would be interested so she could send them updates. After class, I found out my mom hadn’t gotten the message about Tyler’s grandmother’s funeral and was already at UCM, so I decided to just pack a few things for the weekend and go home, even though I would be going home the next weekend for Spring Break.

An Exciting Prospect for the Semester Begins

When I got back, I found out my study hall days were Mondays and Wednesdays. I also found out, unfortunately, that my payments for my Geology and Lab class and my Essential Managing Information class had not been received so Kriti told me to go met with Jessica tomorrow at eight. 

                The next morning I met with Jessica and we got me signed up for Essential Managing Information at 9-9:50 on Mondays and Wednesdays and Intro to Geology at 3:30-4:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a Geology lab from 12-1:50 on Wednesdays. I went to my Essential Managing Information class afterwards and after that I found two new pebbles for my collection and turned them into mani stones. Then I made a toilet paper roll diorama of the city of Timbuktu in Mali and started making flowers from paper plates, one saying, “Do good,” another saying, “Do no evil,” and another saying, “Purify one’s mind,” forming a saying of the Buddha. Later I went to Crazy Dog’s and then I went to Hasting’s where I bought a current a current issue of Sufi magazine and a November 2012 issue of National Geographic Traveler. I also went to my Transition Planning II class at 4 which I had on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4-4:50 and there we got our textbooks.

                The next day I talked to my granddad and he mentioned my internship, which I still didn’t know what it was. He said he knew but wanted me to be surprised saying, “Oh, you’ll enjoy it!”

                On Wednesday I didn’t have my Geology Lab. I found out when my teacher dropped by the lab I was sitting in and explained that he sent an e-mail out to all the students saying it wouldn’t start until the week after next week but I wouldn’t have gotten it because I wasn’t signed up, so I sent that time deleting several old e-mails. On Friday I went to Crazy Dog’s with Tyler and that night we watched one of my DVDs called Secrets of Shangri-la about hidden Buddhist texts and art found in caves in the Mustang region of Nepal. The next day I found another pebble for my collection which I turned into another mani stone and I worked on my decorative flowers made from paper plates. I also made another toilet paper roll diorama of the city of Djenne, also in Mali. The next day I went down to Walgreen’s and bought some shampoo. Then I went to Hasting’s where I bought an issue of Total Film and Sci-Fi magazine which had front page articles about The Hobbit movie.

On Thursday of next week I got a call from Jessica and found out what my internship would be: starting the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group. She told me to make an appointment with Dr. Mayfield to talk about planning it and I did for Friday at 2:30. I also got a call from Jessica that day about my Person Centered Planning time as my original one at 4:30 conflicted with my Geology class. I told Teresa that and she said she could meet me at 12:30 on Wednesday and I told Jessica that I could make it there that week because I didn’t have my lab until the next week. The next day I went to my Person Centered Planning and Teresa gave me a schedule of people’s times so I could find someone to trade times with.

                Later that day I went to Hasting’s and bought a Rolling Stone Collector’s Edition The Hobbit The Ultimate Guide and an issue of Ancient American, a magazine which believes Christopher Colombus was one of the last people to discover America, which featured on the cover an article about King Arthur’s colonies in Pre-Colombian America. I read a quote in there by Peter Jackson saying, “When you realize your film gets better with every day you work on it, it becomes hard to take a day off.” This really encouraged me as I often never get around to working on my screenplays.

                I read the Rolling Stone magazine later and felt inspired by how Peter Jackson could make a huge film career without having to move to a place like Hollywood, since I hoped to make my career and stay in my home state of Kansas. The next day I took one of my ripped socks and used it to insulate my coffee mug. On Friday I went to my appointment with Dr. Mayfield and I told her my plans for the group. She also told me of a meeting for student organizations at four next Wednesday. That night I went to Crazy Dog’s and bought some soap in town. Tyler left that day to work at his job at AMC over the weekend and on Saturday I texted him the homework assignment for Transition Planning II.  I wrote thank you notes to my grandmom and my Uncle John and Aunt Nini for their Christmas presents. The next day I went to Hasting’s and bought the current issues of Smithsonian and Shambhala Sun magazine.

                The next Monday I completed my Windows 7 tutorial at my Essential Managing Information class. On Wednesday I found out to my dismay at my first Geology Lab that I didn’t have the required textbook. After class I e-mailed Mrs. Fahrmeier, who was substituting for Mr. B in Transition Planning II and said I wouldn’t be able to make it because of the meeting. I did my assignment for that class and e-mailed it to Mr. B. Then I went to the student organization meeting someone I knew.  Mckinsey was there and she seemed glad to see me. We said hello and asked how we were doing before we sat down and heard the presentation. That night I helped Tyler with his Transition Planning II homework and the next day I switched my PCP time with Jennifer in THRIVE for Monday at 1:30 and helped Tyler with our assignment for Transition Planning II again that evening.

Warrensburg, Missouri, November 25-30, 2012

On Monday after I got back we didn’t have Transition Planning class for the rest of the semester except for a mock interview. The next day, after seeing how I make so many crafts out of recycled trash-wallets out of snack wrappers; bookmarks out of toilet paper rolls; crosses out of lollipop sticks; and so on-I thought maybe I should join a student environmental group like what they had a t JOCO.  On Wednesday, Mr. B asked me to come see him at 2:40 about my interview time. I went there and he said he wanted to reschedule it for 3:15 next Thursday because he had a meeting in St. Louis on my original date and I said sure. When I went to my Person Centered Planning I told Teresa I was thinking of joining a student environmental organization and she gave me a list of student organizations and sure enough I found a group called the Environmental Awareness Club. I also talked to her about my other blog The Autist Dharma and how my dad likes how it blends Buddhism with so many pop-culture things. She said it sounded like he’s very proud of me. I’ve wanted to make films that reflect the teachings of the Buddha for so long now and I realized that’s the kind of thing I’m good at.

That night I saw a commercial on the Disney Channel about planting trees and I thought how much easier life for people in Africa would be if there were more trees and how people could work more easily and be saner so warlords would have a harder time inducting people into their armies. The next day I had a bite to eat in the cafeteria with Alex and I realized the Environmental Awareness Club could sell the eco-crafts I make to raise money. On Friday I ran into Cassie at lunch where she was sitting with a group of friends and said hello to her. I asked her how her Thanksgiving went and she said it went pretty good. I told her mine went good to. I got my mom to wire fifty dollars from my account at home to my account at school and I started using some rocks I found and collected to make a paper weight saying my name. I made a paper mache log in which I embedded the rocks and on each of them I wrote a letter of my name. I also made a photo holder for the picture of the Dalai Lama on my altar by wrapping a third of a paper clip around the base of a flat rock and curving the other end to hold the photo, and I watched Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor with Tyler.

Warrensburg, Missouri, October 28-31, 2012

The day after I got back I made a mani stone from the pebbles in my collection which I have found in Warrensburg. Basically, that is a stone that has the Buddhist mantra Om mani padme hum (Hail, Jewel in the Lotus) carved, or in my case, painted on it, found throughout Tibet and parts of the Himalayas. I used my watercolor pencils and wrote it in Tibetan like the stones I’ve seen in books, and put it with my other mani stones. I decided to print off some of my sources for my Public Speaking class today and the rest the next day because the Lovinger computer lab only allows twenty-five pages to be printed of a day and I had to print off my outline for a screenplay for my Screenwriting class. I returned my books that were due today and I checked out Lonely Planet books on West Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania again and a Rough Guides book on Zanzibar.

                During my Transition Planning class I did some corrections on a homework assignment which Mr. B let us do. The next day when I saw Cassie at Einstein’s, she seemed happy to see me. I also wrote up my outline for my next speech and submitted it on SafeAssign and printed off the rest of sources. I talked to my mom that night and told her I had my voter registration form at home and she said she would look for it and try to send it. Early in the morning the next day I read that the voter registration form can be faxed so I wouldn’t have to worry about mailing it before the deadline. I called my mom and told her that you can fax the voter registration form and she said she would do that when she found it.

                I talked to Teresa during my Person Centered Planning about my confusion over the fundraising aspect of starting the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group and after talking to her I realized I could talk to the Office of Student Activities about that. I also mentioned that I wanted to find peer mentors, people who modeled good communication for the group and help them if people came to them with a problem and realized I should talk to the head of departments. That night my mom called and said she’d faxed the form and I went to the THRIVE Halloween party wearing a cowboy had I’d got at the last minute and just saying I was Indiana Jones. In order to throw less away I took the Styrofoam plate I used to eat off of and cut out bits of it and made it into a decorative plate which I hung in my dorm.

Kansas City, Kansas, October 26-28, 2012

I got home with my mom that night and she, me, Dave, Cam, and Graham ate at Elsa’s Ethiopian restaurant. I spent the night building some of my Lego sets, looking for pieces to them in the bucket of Legos and putting megablocks pieces I find with the other megablocks pieces. The next day, my mom and I went into the Plaza and I got some new shoes which adjust better to the heel of my foot and I looked in Barnes and Noble at the Lonely Planet books in the travel section. That night I went with my dad, Cam, Sherry, Grandmom, and Granddad to eat dinner at a steakhouse in Overland Park. I came back that night to my mom’s and we watched the movie, Memento, one of the films mentioned in my book Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies, as I want to write Buddhist themed films and think it’s important for me to learn from those kinds of films. The next day I took Wally and Lulu for a walk while some people came to buy one of our puppies. Then later on I went back with my mom to school.

Displaying the Sacred

I started playing a game on my phone called Tetris to try and ease my mind over things that have stressed me out. My highest score is 126,092, Level 13, 129 lines cleared. I wanted so much to beat that high score. However, the further you get into this game the faster it goes. After beating my Tetris score from last night, I found I was a much better Tetris player when I put my Buddhist beliefs to practice: just taking things as they come.  

As I ate lunch another thought occurred to me as I remembered Julia Garcia showing how the word "impossible" contains the words "I'm possible." When you look at the word "unable" and you read the u, then the n, the able part, you notice it says, "You enable." While I still had not found a girlfriend at UCM, as I have so long hoped to, I also realized that the best way to flirt with a girl would be to try talking about herself.

When I was walking down to my Creative Writing class, I ran into Cassie whose wavy strawberry blonde hair had been straightened and partially braided. We said hello and I told her, "Wow Cassie, your hair looks beautiful. Of course, it already looked beautiful."

"Thank you," Cassie said and I couldn't help but notice she seemed to blush a little. 

"And I love the braid," I said.

"I appreciate that," she said, still seeming to blush.

I went down to my Creative Writing class where my poem was work shopped. The class as is their custom told me what was right with the poem and gave me some suggestions about how to improve it. After class I got some more note-taking paper to take notes in class.

The next day I looked up UCM student organizations and found the UCM Fencing Club which meets Mondays and Fridays in the Lovinger Gym at 7pm. Everyone is welcome, it said, and all equipment would be provided. The next day Learning Strategies class got out early because Mrs. Carter got a call saying her husband was in the hospital because of an emergency. That night I went down to the Lovinger Gym but found it deserted. The next day I went to the library to work on some Plato Math, and I got finished with my weekly planner when I got back. 

The next day I finished my study guide for the chapter we read in Learning Strategies. Then I read more of Relax, You're Already Home and read a chapter called Accept, Accept, Accept. After reading that chapter it occurred to me that I had to accept the fact that I could not do anything about Jack's mom's cancer and thinking about it would not help. 

That night I also realized that my Creative Writing class could also help me with my screenwriting. At first, I honestly thought this class was not about the kind of writing I am mostly interested in, being about poetry and short story writing, while I'm mostly into screenwriting. But I thought Once we get into story writing it will be really interesting because many films are based off short stories. The movie The Adjustment Bureau was based off a short story called The Adjustment Team. I never saw that movie was another one of those movies where, I think Peter Griffin in Family Guy best described him as "a Boston-educated street crud." But never-the-less short stories can inspire films. They also are the basic units for novellas, stories that are made up of connected short stories.  That is basically what the show Avatar the Last Airbender was even though it was never made into a successful film. 

I also read a chapter called Displaying the Sacred in which it advised we keep an altar in our living space. That night I got out from under my bed a red velvet stool on which I placed a chime on the back. In front of it was a miniature bronze stupa my family got me one Christmas when I was in High School. Leaning against the stupa was a picture of the Dalai Lama, for all the virtues he represents, propped up by a green stone. Next to it was a Buddhist bowl that my grandparents had gotten me one Christmas when I was in Junior College. And in the front of the altar was a Celtic poem called Song of Amergin.