This past weekend, my family and I went to Atlantic City and Cape May. I had a great time, but both places were ridiculously crowded! In AC, I could not believe the amount of kids just hanging out by the doors of the casino while their parents gambled inside. AC is not a place to bring you kids for vacation - period. If you want to go to the beach, drive an extra half-an-hour and go to Wildwood! It's kid friendly!

Anyway, we all love to shop in the antique stores in Cape May. I found a beautiful cameo ring and bracelet, an old photo album, and some old photographs. I was also looking for a pretty parasol, but came up empty.

I'm going to write a lengthier post about my vacation later, but now I must work on my web page.

I'm really sick of having friends who don't care. One of my best friends, or former best friend, doesn't even call me. And whenever I try to contact her she says "oh I have to go!". One time I brought this up, the fact that she never calls me or contacts me - it's always ME contacting HER. Like I'm doing all the legwork in this friendship. Her response? "Well, I've been busy."

Too busy to make a five minute phone call? Too busy to say "hi Erin!" when you're on instant messenger? I seriously doubt it. Also, her away messages are like "i'm out with my crew at the bar!"....she obviously has time for THEM.

I have another friend who just got married and she doesn't contact me anymore. I get that you're now married, but so what? Does that mean you leave your friends in the dust? Last night I saw she was online, and tried to talk to her. She said she couldn't talk, but didn't sign off or anything. I don't know, I just feel like the people I thought were my friends just don't care about keeping up our friendship.

However, I do have a few friends who still contact me through letters and at least try and stay in touch. I know those people are my true friends.

....god, that sounded so high school-ish!

Who am I?

I was so excited just to be starting a new blog that I forgot to make a post about who I am and what I do. I tend to think that introductions are awkward and I always feel like a dork when I talk about myself. But I think in order to really understand what I write about you need to know a little about me. So I'll suck up my dork feelings and give you a peek at who I am.

I was born in August 0f '83 in a hospital in Elizabeth, NJ. My mom wanted to name me Scarlett after the main character in "Gone With the Wind", but thankfully my father convinced her otherwise. My parents then decided to call me Erin because...well...I really don't know the specifics. But I'm guessing it's because I had flaming red hair. I do like my name, but I'm still angry that my parents didn't feel the need to give me a middle name. Can we say "second child syndrome"? Really, though, I don't hold grudges. Generally.

At the age of 1 or somewhere around there, my parents noticed that I wasn't doing normal baby things like trying to crawl or walk. They took me to the doctors and he said something insane like I had 2 years to live. Of course, my parents freaked and got some tests done. Turns out I had Muscular Dystrophy and that doctor was wrong. Hot damn. I mean, MD sucks but at least I would live past 2.

By the time I was 3, I had my first electric wheelchair. I loved driving like a daredevil (I have indeed calmed down in my "old" age) and playing in the street with my friends. Growing up, I had the most awesome friends anyone could ask for. I never felt like I wasn't part of the group or that I was limited in what I could do. And I always knew that my friends would stick up for me.

Almost 20 years later, and I'm sitting in front of this computer typing away. I go to college and I'm in my fifth and final year. I'll be taking with me a degree in English/Gender Studies. One thing you must know about me is I can't spell. Yes, English major who can't spell - that's me.

Besides going to school and reading tons of books, I love running my online business. I sell zines and crafts by individuals, with a special focus on items by those who are disabled. A zine is like a self-published magazine where people can basically spill their guts.

As of late, I'm really getting into disability rights and advocating for myself. For the longest time, I just took everything that people did and how they treated me as part of life. Like, oh what could I do? This is just how people are going to act and there's nothing I can do about it. But then I realized that isn't true. I don't have to deal with this crap. I can let people know through different mediums that people with disabilities deserve respect and the rights that any able-bodied person deserves. Right now, my medium of choice is zines. Someday I may branch out into art or something, but I feel comfortable with zines at the moment.

So, that's me in a nutshell. You'll be hearing from me all the time, so keep coming back!

I love reading a zine that you can really connect with even though the zinester may be writing about something you've never experienced. The other day I finished Lauren's Quantify #6 which was just fantastic. The piece about protesting against the war in Iraq and feeling like she is losing hope really touched me. I've never been to a protest, mainly because of my disability and getting transportation, but I felt like I totally understood what she was saying. This issue also made me think about the activism I take part in and how sometimes I feel like what I'm doing isn't making any change. People will still think the way they do, and don't care to listen to what I have to say. But when I get those e-mails, the ones that tell me that their views on disability have totally changed after reading my zine - I know that I've done something. I may not be able to go to large-scale protests (the general chaos and police make me nervous) but I can make change by simply typing away at the computer and getting my stuff out there.

First post!

After a few years of using LiveJournal exclusively, I've decided to branch out and create a blog on blogger.com. I like the layout/features better than those of LJ. Plus, it's free.

Even though my user name is drivingblinddistro, I don't plan on using this blog for the distro at all...well, maybe I'll mention it a few times, but not that much. It's just that the user names bibliophile83 and driving blind were taken so I had to think of something to use instead. Damn you users, bibliophile83 and drivingblind!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my blog and come back to read often! I'll try and post as much as possible.

Take care.