I wonder...

where we could possibly find an amputee who'd like to go to a shooting camp. Hmmm.

( Man, that ankle is loud. I'd be shushing myself at the library.)

pedal to the mettle

W & the Wounded Warriors. Good men, good cause.

please...

I need to live vicariously, ladies. (NancyR, Lissa, Phlegmmy?)

Glow. in. the. m-fin'. dark!

a will and a way

My friend Mad Saint Jack finally has a blog - and it's about damn time, too, because not only is he smart and owns lots of guns but it seems he makes a habit of doing awesome stuff like this.

Today is the day

Since it's a gorgeous spring day and I don't feel like fussing with cover shirts, I am going to open carry to the grocery store. For a long time now, I've talked about the importance of atypical gun owners - like women & the disabled - being more visible in the fight for our 2nd Amendment rights so this it it...I'm going to walk the walk.

I'm wearing a pink shirt (opted against the one that reads "Radical Militant Librarian") and dolled myself up a bit (ok, just extra lipgloss, but still) in the hopes of looking as nonthreatening as possible, but I'm still so nervous. Wish me luck.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

better living...

with bionics.

Lissa's Mike ran a 10K alongside some real superheroes.


Donate to Wounded Warriors today. (May is Military Appreciation Month!)

monopod

I have been known to use my prosthesis as a leg rest, popping it off and propping up my residual limb. I have attempted to use it as a tool when lacking a hammer and I've even played mean tricks on substitute teachers in grade school - sitting at my desk with my leg on backwards, smiling blandly and acting as if nothing was amiss. (2nd grade, I think. The impishness started early.) It's an excellent shin kicker and you never have to worry about someone stepping on your toes but this? This is frickin' AWESOME...

H/T EveryDayNoDaysOff

gimps with guns...

Don't mess with us because we're more likely to shoot than try to run away.

 (aren't we tough?)

Me & my buddy MikeW from Another Gunblog, who is awesome.

Judging a book by its cover

Sometimes better than CliffsNotes.

Heh.

Via Better Book Titles.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Discuss, II

Why does the DHS refuse to profile Muslims - a group which contains a certain subset known to be actively seeking violent jihad - but at the same time has absolutely no problem profiling amputees, even though there has never been a prosthesis bomber?

Your new normal...

...is old news. (for some of us.)


As heartbreaking as this photo may be, the real tragedy lies in the fact that it might have been taken years ago.

I have a feeling...

...it's gonna be a bitch.


(anyone know the story behind this guy?)

First they came for the gimps...*

For the past week, there has been a lot of talk on the news and in blogs about the TSA, opting out and full body pat downs. The entire country is offended that, suddenly, they are being forced to choose between being ogled by perfect strangers with x-ray vision or being felt up by perfect strangers with questionable fetishes in order to fly the friendly skies.

Well, welcome to our world - where the only opt out, ever, has been to not get on an airplane at all.

(Did you think you wouldn't be next?)

_______________________

*wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

(and for your reading pleasure, my TSA experiences: part 1 & part 2)

hahahallowe'en

me, pre-coffee, mid-the usual morning braindump: "Oh, I just had the best idea for a Halloween costume! It could win contests!"

Mike, who has learned that sometimes my morning braindump can be somewhat disjointed and nonsensical: "Okay..."

me, giggling: "Well, I'd go as an Elmer Fudd-esque hunter, but on crutches because I'd have my leg all wrapped up in bloody bandages. With maybe a toy rifle. And you could go dressed as a grizzly, carrying a bear trap with a fake bloody partial leg caught in it."

Mike, incredulous: "......"

me: "What? It'd be funny!"

Mike, pouring me coffee: "If you say so..."

I think he's just upset that he has to be the bear.

___________________

And proving that I'm not the only monopod with a weird sense of humor...author, motivational speaker, paralympian, and funny guy Josh Sundquist showed off his Halloween costume on Facebook:

cringeworthy

If you listened to the last BB&Guns, you probably heard me spaz out at Nancy's retractor story.

She has ever-so-helpfully provided us with a photo of said item. I think I speak for most amputees when I say I'm so glad I live in the era of modern medicine.

ooh, pick me! pick me!

Holy crap, where do I apply?

watching the watchers

Since my friend Nicole works at the natural history museum, she was able to score us free tickets to one of their recent fancy catered shindigs - drinks, a buffet of Indian cuisine, Bollywood inspired dance music and, best of all, an opportunity to take a peek at Saturn through the telescope in the observatory.

Naturally, I fretted over what to wear. I have trouble with this, especially for events where I have to dress up - I am not into fashion, hate shoe shopping, and always stress out over the endless "skirt or slacks" debate, which could also be called the "prosthesis: hide or show" debate. Since it was a very warm summer evening, I made the decision in favor of a skirt, an act that usually involves me saying, "Aw, screw it. I'll wear a skirt." Besides, it was long enough to obscure the transition between fake leg and real leg, the thing that usually catches the eye of people who are going to stare.

And usually, as you can see from the photo, I end up looking quite passable and having worried for nothing.

Over the years, I've noticed that if all your limbs (mostly) match in color and shape and you don't limp, people will only give you a cursory once over. It's as if their brains only process and accept what they are expecting to see. It's like hiding in plain sight and besides...no one really focuses that much on feet. People will look though, and having worn a prosthetic my entire life, I've realized it's par for the course. Children are the the most blatant in their curiosity, and that's fine. Adults will sneak a glance or two and then look away. It's all fairly normal behavior and although I may not like it, I can ignore it. Usually.

That night at the museum, a man positioned himself directly behind me and stared at my prosthetic. He walked past me a few times, still staring, never once looking up. It was when he started to slowly circle the group I was standing in, eyes still focused on what was below my knees, that I realized that he couldn't contol his impulses. It wasn't normal staring - the guy was some sort of freak and he was zeroing in on me, in a most unnerving and predatory fashion.

Self-defense experts always tell us to listen to our gut - that if something feels wrong and your monkey brain starts saying things like, "Uh oh, danger. Run! Fight! Fling poo!" you should probably pay attention. Excellent advice, although in polite company fighting might not the best course of action and I certainly was not going run anywhere - I wanted to see Saturn, I wanted to have a good time, and I wanted more free Indian buffet, dammit.

I decided to take control of the situation instead. In fact, I think he made his exit early because I had made him so uncomfortable. I, however, left the party decorated with henna and stuffed full of lamb kebabs, with visions of a ringed planet dancing in my head.

no excuses

When I was a kid, I was told over and over: "'Can't' is not a word," and so I learned quickly that there were ways that I could.

Jim Templeman can, too.

(h/t to SayUncle)

Gun leg!

I'm not quite sure if this is an actual, functioning prosthesis but it's pretty cool - especially the attached knife sheath.

Concealing that mag would prove to be a bit tricky, though.

(and don't get any ideas, no shooty tacticool leg for Breda. I'm so small that all I'd manage is perhaps an LCP leg. Maybe.)

Oscar's new paws

Even the smallest cat is a masterpiece*(...feet or no.)

*Da Vinci