Month: August 2022

  • Hold My Beer

    Two years ago, I was nearing the end of my first year at the university. I wanted to go to the university’s annual festival, “Student’s Day”, but I was scared. Public gatherings are difficult for me, mostly because the combination of being 158cm tall and very physically unstable is a winning one. People tend to…

  • Crosswalks

    I really don’t enjoy walking, as it involves moving my legs and carrying my own body weight (plus the occasional backpack) around, while trying to avoid obstacles of many kinds. But, in lack of a driving license, I find myself walking to bus and train stations. This involves using crosswalks. I love the concept of…

  • The Shower

    When I walked into my new room at one of the residence halls, I was delighted to discover the best shower ever built on planet earth. Not only was it ridiculously big and had grabbing bars at the right height, it had a folding seat. Everything seemed perfect. When I managed to get the water…

  • Soup

    I went to a boarding school in high school. Its dining hall had stairs in it, so I had to develop a system to get my food down from the stations to the tables. It took some time, but I settled on holding one very full plate with my left hand, while getting down the…

  • Calm

    I’ve always been one stressed human being (and as of recently, I’m also a stressed blue circle!). Some of this stress really isn’t my fault: a part of my medical condition is that my muscles are way more tense than normal. However, I’m the first to admit that most of the tension is definitely the…

  • Elevators

    I hate stairs. I was never great at the activity of using them, they always feel like an unnecessary risk, and they aren’t fun. I’ve spent much time in my life waiting for elevators to arrive. I’ve also learned to listen very well while taking an elevator: does the door squeak? Is it well balanced?…

  • Mic’d

    I landed in Austin, Texas this Friday, for a semester. I’ve discussed the needed accommodations with the responsible departments, and still was somewhat worried. I’m not used to getting live transcription in lectures, for example. It’s actually quite the opposite: at least for a while, I was known for being the one sharing her notes…

  • A Bath

    I hate showers. I have nothing against taking a shower. Once I’m in and the water’s running, everything’s great. Everything else, the logistics needed to get me to this moment, terrifies me. There are so many possible accidents just waiting to happen. When a look at a bathroom, I see a slippery floor. I pay…

  • Gifts

    I’ve always had a special relationship with medicine. As a kid, I often had to undergo tests to determine my accurate condition. To better break the news to me, my parents sometimes connected a checkup with a gift. I got the fourth Harry Potter this way, and read it while waiting for an especially harsh…

  • Thorns

    When I was in 6th grade, I had a reading part in a ceremony at school. I was so excited. To get on the stage, that was actually just the front yard of the school, was a bit difficult. All the kids had to stand together, very close to each other, on a ramp. The…