monday feb 8
2nd week here
After meeting some wonderful people at HOPE yesterday, I woke to an email from one of them regarding US Census job positions. In Hollywood alone they are looking to hire 1500...yes thats right 1500 people and you make $17 an hour! So, I called and made an appointment to take the placement test. I arrived at the testing facility on Melrose, which happened to be the back room of a driving range (a really cool range on Melrose that is 2 or 3 tiers tall.) There were 7 of us who took the test, which started after the hilarious host had to read, verbatim, from a 5 page sheet telling us to take our time, answer as many questions as possible and fill in all circles completely with a #2 pencil. during this whole process I felt like I was back in high school preparing to take the SATs or some other big exam. Tidbits about the experience; I was the only white person in the room, the only one who didnt have to retest ( I got a 27/28 and the one I missed is because it was worded stupidly) only one who doesnt speak spanish fluently. You are able to retest as many times as it takes you to pass, which to be honest makes me a little concerned about the accuracy of this census' outcome! Nonetheless I find out in 2-3 weeks whether I will be pounding pavement gathering information in order to accurately spreak the $400 billion.
After leaving the testing center I walked around that neighborhood a bit. LA city College was right around the corner from where I parked and I found the Los Angeles Bowlers Association, which had been converted (somewhat) into a fruit stand. As I drove home during rush hour, I passed the hidden taco joint i love so much, subway entrance *sidenote-i love riding subways in New York, boston, pretty much wherever there are not earth quakes, i dont think i will be buying tokens anytime soon for that fun ride* I realized that traffic in Hollywood during rush hour is really never that bad.
Once back at Sam and Ants I find that they have gone out for the night. So, after doing the dishes and making some dinner I decide to put on some TV as background buffer while I do some blogging. Well that idea was quickly changed when i put on the Temple Grandin story on HBO. Before i get into the story and emotion it brought to me, I want to give a little backstory.
As most of you in my life know and remember, I was the mother of an amazing and beautiful little girl named Rosa. If you dont know the story, I cannot get into it but I will be at a point in my life hopefully soon where I can share it with you. *Im in the process of writing a book about it ALL!!!* Regardless of where she is, however far apart we may be, I will never stop loving, caring and hoping for my baby. Rosa was many things-she was a dancer, dreamer, she was silly and she was mildly autistic, she was different but not less! It took some time, patience galore and lots of creativity but we figured out some new and creative strategies to deal with what was a struggle at times. In all the books Ive read on autism, people Ive talked to, shows and movies Ive seen I have never felt so connected to one as I was to Temples story. There are some very drastic differences from her form of autism and that which Rosa had, Temple could not stand the human touch, therefore she could never hug her mother and her mother never her. Luckily Rosa was able to show love and affection through hugs most of the time. There were also many similarities between the two. So many memories and emotions cam flooding back to me. Just when I thought the wounds had almost healed, the stitches were torn out of me tonight.
When I first arrived in LA, and for every day since, i have not been able to drive or walk anywhere without seeing signs and ads for this movie starring Claire Danes. I didnt give it the time of day, the ads looked corny and I thought they were just pumping Claires career reboost. I also had a hard time because often times people try to explain autism or glorify it or stupify it or just flat out make it something it isnt. I cannot stand cheesy or half assed representations of autism, and i thought thats what this would be. I was so far from right in my judgements. I highly suggest that everyone watch this movie. The movie had just started and from the first minute i could do nothing else but watch it. I started at a scene where temple is stating she will rather stay at her aunts camp than go to college. You may not think this to be unusual, most youth who have an extraordinary summer would opt to stay and have fun instead of going somewhere new and different, but the faces she made and her body language brought me back to a time in life i had thought i had put behind me. Temple saw the world in pictures, she has a photographic memory and relates phrases to pictures to experiences and so on. Like I said before she did not hug people but while in college she built a machine similar to what she had seen used on cows for branding, that when inside had the same calming effect as a hug. There was a lever that when pulled brought the sides to squeeze and release, simulating hugging. Many autistic children have moments where something happens, a loud noise, someone being mean, a touch or feeling that sends their emotions into overdrive and they almost have have an out of body experience. When Rosa had her moments where something would set her emotions haywire and all she could do was hit or scream we would wrap her in our arms and just squeeze, repeating over and over to breathe and reminding her we loved her. This would calm her to the point she was able to hug back, get back into herself and talk about what just happened and why. For people that have never had experience with autistic children they think they are just bad and unruly children who need more order. But I will tell you although you do not grow out of autism you can grow into routines, understanding and knowledge. These children are not any less smart, they just learn differently in most cases. DIFFERENT BUT NOT LESS! Moving on, Temple currently teaches at Colorado University, had made dramatic changes to the humane treatment of cattle in slaugherhouses, and is an advocate, educator and inspiration for autism.
The tone of the evening quickly changed when literally as the movie ended and I was bawling, Sam and Ant walk in and start watching WWE wrestling which I find super ridiculous and cant help but laugh. We then watched diners driveins, and dives which featured a restaurant from LA! The Nickel Diner is this crazy little joint on Main and 5th in downtown which serves...Ryan get ready for this....Bacon donuts!
If you are not familiar with autism please educate yourself
www.autismspeaks.org
And please take the time to watch this new movie or read her story, and when Im finished with ours, you should read that too:)
Fun fact:
On this day 50 years ago construction began on the Hollywood walk of fame. Today Ringo Starr got his star next to George and John's. Paul is the only Beatle without a star, and plans are in the works to change that.
Okay its nearly midnight and I have to get up early
Dont forget to smile (especially all my friends in the Who Dat Nation)
-J
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