Collar, leash
Collar with wrist cuffs
vibrator, butt plugs, vibrator, inflatable butt plug
Harness & dildo
Penis gag, modified ball gag
Locking mitts
Riding crop, flogger, paint stirrer
Body harness, nipple clamps
The post goes on to explain how one experiment has shown the new language's affect on "spacial reasoning skills." It was a very interesting article and you can read the rest of it right here. I think it's best points were about how language and mental processes are linked.In the 1970s, a group of deaf Nicaraguan schoolchildren invented a new language. The kids were the first to enroll in Nicaragua’s new wave of special education schools. At first, they struggled with the schools’ focus on Spanish and lip-reading, but they found companionship in each other. It was the first time that deaf people from all over the country could gather in large numbers and through their interactions – in the schoolyard and the bus – Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL) spontaneously came into being.
NSL is not a direct translation of Spanish – it is a language in its own right, complete with its own grammar and vocabulary. Its child inventors created it naturally by combining and adding to gestures that they had used at home. Gradually, the language became more regular, more complex and faster. Ever since, NSL has been a goldmine for scientists, providing an unparalleled opportunity to study the emergence of a new language.
I couldn't decide on any one topic today since I have lots of little things on my mind. So we're just going with that today!
SHOOTING OUTSIDE MY APARTMENT
If you haven't already read it on Twitter, it'll be a surprise to you to know that there was a shooting outside my apartment last night. As in RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. My friend MB and Matt and I were chillin when we heard what sounded like gunshots. MB and I heard one and Matt heard the other. A lot of times we think we hear gunshots when we hear a car backfiring, so we weren't sure if that's what it was.
We popped out heads out of the apartment building and saw a Mexican man holding his left leg and calling someone on his cell phone. There were a few other Hispanic adults around him (the apartment buildings across the corner(s) from us have a lot of Mexican families in them). Other than the guy holding his leg, we had no indication a shooting had actually happened. Then, someone ran back to him from their apartment and gave him a Mexican flag, which he proceeded to use as a tourniquet around his thigh.
Now knowing something had definitely happened, we decided to wait and make sure an ambulance showed up, in case we needed to make any calls or whatever, though it seemed the shooting victim was taking care of it. We sat on our porch and ten minutes or so later (a very long response time for our neighborhood) four or five cop cars rolled up and the cops swarmed the corner. They got a description of a "black male on a bike" (Yes, we were close enough to hear some of what was said) and several cop cars rolled back out, presumably to look for the suspect.
A few minutes after that the EMTs got there and then a bit later the ambulance showed up. I went back inside knowing that the victim would be taken care of and wondering what the heck happened. Was this something random or something pointed? There's never been a shooting this close to me in the city and I'm kind of surprised that I don't feel at all concerned for my own safety.
WOOO NATURE!
First off, Tuesday I went on a nature hike in Burr Oak Woods Conservation Area with my friend Bob.
Field full of wildflowers!
Dead tree that was hosting a mushroom convention.
See the dragonfly?
No, kitties, look over THERE!
Are they ever going to get tired of sleeping on me?!??!
But I didn't use the room that much, finally figuring out that I really didn't have the right table for me (which is why I always ended up on the floor). So I invested in a drafting table which came in Saturday. With that, I was all ready to re-arrange the art room again, but before I did I finally decided that awful green paint (that doesn't really show up on the pics very well) just HAD to go. It made the room like a cave; it was noticeably darker than the rest of the apartment.
I still need curtains, but it's almost perfect for me now...
Check out the sexxy drafting table!
This counts as mostly clean since things are stacked nicely :P
Stacking things makes them more awesome!
Storage that is random enough for my randomness.
Aspies LOVE penguins.
I had an exhausting, sweaty, dirty, challenging but fun weekend at the Kansas City Chalk & Walk making my Alice In Wonderland Cephalopod (which you can also see in a smaller version @ my current show).
SATURDAY
I had just got the outline started when...
..a massive storm front moved in, blew tons of things around/away, and chased all of us away for about 2 hours.
Afterward, we all came back out from where we'd been hiding and started back over. Luckily the weather held for the rest of the weekend.
Matt helping out with the outlining.
SUNDAY
I was tired already when we got started Sunday. I hadn't slept well and my leg muscles were aching from all the squatting-standing-squatting-standing-squatting from the day before. (SRSLY you try doing that for 3-4 hours and see how you feel.)
Thankfully, my sweetie pie Matt was there to help me both days with some of the crushing-the-chalk-in/painting-it-in (not to mention picture-taking, water-fetching and various other go-furin). We brought a mortar & pestle and ground the chalk up, mixed it with water and painted it on. I also rubbed chalk over this sometimes or sometimes rubbed in chalk first and then followed up with the "paint."
Matt was solely responsible for making the clown fish. For some reason I woke up Sunday unable to correctly draw a clown fish. When I told Matt, he stepped right up and offered to do it for me, even though he pretty much never draws and pretends he has no artistic talent. I was very grateful.
Matt also added some shading for me on what I had made the first day so that the image had greater depth and impact.
IDK who Matt Graves was... the square was sponsored by someone who did know him, but they never stopped by to tell me about him.
All done!
Amy (above) was working next to me at the Chalk & Walk last year, but was way across the courtyard from me this year.
Nicole (above) was also one of my neighbors at last year's event and she got me into the Chalk Walk in the Historic Northeast earlier this year as well. She was also far away from me this year. I think the organizers were trying to make me meet new people or something.
