“Change is the essential process of all existence” ~ Mr. Spock

But oftentimes “change” or loss is something that we do not embrace very readily or happily.

And there are those days when the Facebook memories, we enjoy so much are not very enjoyable at all…..

It is hard to believe that a year has come and gone ~ I have said goodbye to many of my childhood/teen age icons in the months since, but this was the first and by far, the worst in that long line of loss….

Repost Feb 2016 – from Feb, 2015…..

 

“Logic is the beginning of wisdom; not the end.”
...and yes, I do always have Spock ears readily available..

“Logic is the beginning of wisdom; not the end.” ~ Mr. Spock

From the post that I re-blogged yesterday: To Boldly Go…..

I admit it…

I am just a big old Sci-fi geek from way back. I watched the first episode of Star Trek back in 1966/1967 (?) and I was hooked – for life.

The first “sign” that DC learned when he was very young (for those of you that may not know, DC was non-verbal until he was 7 years old) was the “Live Long and Prosper” sign. If and when he saw a picture of Mr. Spock or heard him mentioned, he used that sign.

I’ve been in love with Star Trek and Mr. Spock since the very first episode aired back in the 60’s.

I loved the adventures in space.

I loved that all of the crew members were treated with respect and as equals.

I wanted a tribble.

I added new words to my vocabulary, most memorable –  “poppycock”.

I wanted to be a part of the crew, but not in a red shirt.

I loved everything about Star Trek.

I always had an affinity for the Mr. Spock character.  I loved his no-nonsense purely logical way of looking at things. I especially loved the episodes where he was confused and/or outright annoyed by human behavior – A piece of the action comes to mind.

I remember being sad when the show went off the air. But all was not lost! 10 years later “Star Trek the Motion Picture” was set to be released. I anxiously awaited opening day and although I admit I was a little bit disappointed in the film, I was thrilled to see all of my favorite characters again.

The movies that followed were so much better than the first “Motion Picture” and I saw each and every one of them more than once until the 2009 release of Star Trek the updated prequel. It was there that I stopped. Nothing against the movie or the actors. I’m sure it was and they were just wonderful. I just did not want to see new actors playing the parts of my favorite characters.

I  remember when The Next Generation was being advertised. I was outraged that anyone would try to create a new Star Trek even if the person creating it was Gene Roddenberry himself. How Dare He?!!! My boyfriend at the time, knowing how much I loved Star Trek taped it and brought it to my house for me to watch. I flatly refused. I would NEVER watch a “fake” Star Trek, Never!

Well…. never say never.

As it turned out, I loved it and every other that came after.

Not only was Mr. Spock my favorite character but I really loved Leonard Nimoy the actor. He was the only reason I was at all interested in watching Mission Impossible (the TV show).  I grew to love the show, but Leonard got me there. I will also never forget being glued to the TV watching “In Search Of…”.

I did at one time own the first, second and a few other editions of the Primortals comic books. I wish I knew what happened to them.

Then imagine my excitement when he showed up as William Bell on Fringe! Not to mention playing himself on The Big Bang Theory!

That Spock character resonates a bit more with me now than it did back then, if you can believe that possible. Having a child with autism has made me view Mr. Spock in an entirely different light. His matter-of-fact, logical, no grey area persona reminds me a bit of my son. It reminds me of the way many people perceive people with autism. However,  like many people with autism,  in spite of that matter-of-fact, no grey area, logical approach he had to life, his duties, his interaction with others, Mr. Spock showed compassion, empathy and yes, even friendship to those around him – in his own way.

Leonard Nimoy was one of my childhood heroes and I suppose you can say that I carried that adoration with me into adulthood. I was heartbroken to hear of his passing. There will never be another like him. It may be silly to you but I really feel that a piece of my childhood is gone forever – a small piece that I will never be able to get back.

Live Long and Prosper ~ wherever you may land.

“Of my friend I can only say this: of all the souls that I met on my travels, his was the most… human.”  ~ James T. Kirk

*******

And while you are still here, please check out two more posts from Blogger friends of mine:

Thank you Mr. Nimoy – from Autism Mom

RIP Mr. Nimoy – from SSirica

Gorn? No…… October reruns #TBT

So we’ve come to the end of the line – the last Halloween/Spooky/TBT/FBF post for October 2015. Never fear,  there will be just one more Halloween post in early November – I know you were worried 🙂

Recently, after writing “Leave the Shoe; take the chocolate” I commented to the only two people that “got it” that this was usually the case – I am sitting here just cracking myself up…… alone.

The last costume in the following post is another one of those times when I just thought I was being so clever and hilarious and no one got it. Part of the reason that no one “got it” was because there was actually a Star Trek species called Gorn, lizard-like aliens that I did not even remember until people brought it up. (My bad – Defeated again)

So here’s some hints for the very last costume:

  • Big Bang
  • Game
  • Stones – document – cutting instrument – reptile – Leonard Nimoy…

Trust me….. it’s hilarious (but you do have my permission to just humor me)

but….. no one will know what you are supposed to be

In the event that it still isn’t apparent to everyone…….. I LOVE HALLOWEEN, and I couldn’t be happier that DC loves it as much as I do!

“But, no one will know what you are supposed to be”, is something I have been told quite often on Halloween over the years. I sometimes have a very odd sense of what is funny or what, I’m sure other people will get. They don’t always ‘get it’ but I am cracking myself up so no one else needs to join in.

DC and I begin planning Halloween in August. He must have a costume for every event he attends and me, being me, just LOVES this!

As I can always come up with the odd costume, again, thinking I am just totally hilarious, more often DC will come up with a costume that is not a costume at all, just a character wearing regular clothes or worse, a costume that does not exist or that no one has ever heard of except for DC – who is watching very old or obscure musicals or Disney movies.

There was the year that he wanted nothing more than to be “Charlie Bucket” for Halloween……..

Basically, Charlie Bucket is a boy with blonde hair.

Charlie Bucket - Photo Credit - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Alrighty, then…….

In my mind Charlie’s birthday scarf was red – it wasn’t,  but I think I duplicated the jacket (doesn’t show up well in the photo, but it was very close), the hair and hat as closely as I could. I added a Golden Ticket to his trick-or-treat bag, for added recognize-ability  and I think I came pretty close to turning DC into “Charlie Bucket”.

and ……on a side note, the bag must always match the costume….

Even with the addition of  Willy Wonka and an Ooompa Loompa , people who did not know DC personally had no idea he was in a costume..

Then there was the year that DC wanted to be “Daddy Warbucks” from one of his favorite musicals,  Annie. I had planned to dress as Annie, but I broke my toe – the first in a very long line of toe-breaking incidents – so I could not walk around the neighborhood with him. Still,  I assumed that most people would know who Daddy Warbucks was even without Annie by his side………They didn’t.

Even with the addition of Sandy the dog to his trick-trick-or-treat bag, most people thought he was Mr. Six.

(Mr. Six was one of his choices a few years later and yes, everyone “got it”)

Photo Credit - Six Flags Amusement Park and *Al (at work) - Graphic Artist who works magic with my Halloween Pics every year.

I always do try to embrace his costume requests especially when he does come up with a character from a TV show or movie that is more age-appropriate than his usual choices. Generally when he does actually choose something or someone from a television show, it is usually a show that has not been on the air for years. He tends to discover favorite TV shows long after they are out of the public eye, but progress is progress and I will take it.

This year, he surprised me.

DC’s first costume of the 2014 Halloween season was “The Doppler Effect” (Sheldon – The Big Bang Theory) – He loves the Big Bang Theory and as I said,  I will go out of my way to encourage anything he might like that is more age-appropriate than the TV shows and movies he normally gravitates to. Obviously, he did not say “I want to be the ‘Dopper Inact’ (DC-speak)” but he did want to be Sheldon, which would have been easy to do,  as he has worn his Bazinga shirt to death, so we went for the Doppler Effect.

Sheldon, The Doppler Effect - photo credit teamliquid.net

No, not everyone knew who he was “supposed to be”, but he didn’t know or care. It was funny to the people that did “get it” and that is good enough for me.

Our next party costume was one that, not only did I think no one would have any idea about, but it was really difficult to find a photo on-line to copy from – The Timekeeper from “Spy Kids, All the Time in the World” – and yes, we are required to say the full title of the movie every time it is mentioned.

Timekeeper - Spy Kids All the Time in the World - Photo Credit: Disney - Spykids

Fortunately, I found some “Bag O’ Gears” on Amazon along with goggles that looked close enough even before gluing said gears all over them. The costume, of course was not exact, it really wasn’t even close, but gears were added, a pocket watch and a flask with a compass, looking close enough to a clock to fit the theme. I thought it made the point and more importantly, DC loved it. As it turned out a few people other than DC  had actually seen this movie and knew right away who he “was supposed to be”.

The Timekeeper, the challenge of our Halloween season, “nailed”, according to a few reviews, we moved on to our final party before Halloween night.
The Beast…. because of course, there must be at least one Disney animated character in the mix.
This was not DC’s first Halloween as the Beast, but years ago, it was much more difficult to find a Beast costume, so again, we had to go “makeshift” and put random pieces together to get the effect. A friend of mine happened to have a mask, so that really helped.

This year, he had the real thing, straight from the Beast’s wardrobe – because, as you know, the Beast is no longer a Beast, he is a handsome Prince, he has no need of this outfit anymore.

The one costume that continues to make the list from the time DC was very young and still to this day is “Jim Dear” from Lady and the Tramp.

(sigh….)  A man in a suit…..

Not my idea of a Halloween costume, but – this is not about me….

……not ALL about be, anyway.

This year, while purchasing a 40’s style hat for DC to wear to an event we attended, I came across and purchased a derby type hat as well.
Next year I will give in to his request for a  “Jim Dear” costume. I suppose I will be shopping for a stuffed Lady and Tramp, and whatever else I can come up with to make “Jim Dear” recognizable. I have 10 months to think about it.

I began writing this post almost two weeks ago after DC attended his first party of the season, holding off publishing until the last costume of our season ‘dropped’ – on Halloween night.

The following is a combination of my encouragement of DC’s affection for something popular, age appropriate, something he actually thinks is funny, and me thinking myself quite hilarious.

Lizard Spock

Alright already…….. Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock – come on… that’s funny (you’re humoring me, remember?)

The search is ON!

 

Every once in a while a blog I follow publishes a post listing the “search terms” that brought readers to the site. I do not know if this is a regular thing that the site does, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen more than one. The “search engine” posts are usually written to make a specific point (this post is not). I always find those posts interesting of course due to the point the blogger is making but also because I love the fact that we are able to find these “search terms”.

I have often wondered how people found their way to my site. Of course there are the people who officially follow me and others I know read from twitter (and twitter), tumblr, facebook and the many other places this blog is posted and shared. But how does one just happen upon it? After a little bit of searching through my ‘stats’ page, I finally found the list of search terms. Some were pretty close to what I expected, some were interesting and others a bit surprising.

This is one of those posts that I put together and save to post later when we are away or when I am really busy and really don’t have the time to write. Like the “Blog Title Series” (Series? Yes…. there’s more), they are very often off topic or “fluff”.

I like fluff, sometimes fluff is fun.

Search terms between January and June 2015:

There are hundreds of “hits’ that are categorized under “unknown search terms” (so…. I guess THAT would “officially be my top  category 🙂 ). I wish I could see what those terms were, but as they are unavailable to me, I’ll just go with what I CAN see.

I will begin with the list of individual, one-time searches that each brought one ‘hit’ to my page. In almost each case it is clear to me how my page came up in the results. But really, how many results would one have to scroll through to find my page by searching the word – “movie”? That is real determination……

“Autism Ravioli” was a puzzler for a minute but I am guessing the clicks went to “Progress with a side of Pasta” or “Please pass the garlic bread“.

(all searches listed have been copied and pasted exactly as they were entered into the search engine)

charity miles april fools contest
toy story transitions
those of us they never called,when choosing sides for basketball
movie
james taylor and autism
autism ravioli
one step at a time speech
taking it a step at a time – autism
peter pan live coloring sheets
book store blues
was buddy holly autistic
good costumes for the song we go together
thetardisphotobooth
autistic child pressing phone buttons in 22 months
top blogs autism blog ranking

***

Next we have two or more searches for the same or close to the same topic. I believe at this point if anyone were to search band-aids and autism it would be difficult NOT to find my page.

kaleb-moon robinson
kaleb moon-robinson

mad men a thing like that
mad men “a thing like that”

hershey park autism 2015
dollywood autism                                {amusement parks
dollywood autism adult

bandaid on kid
has a child with autism ever become obsessed with bandaids
child obsession with bandaids
were band aids based on stickers

***

Next we move on to weather. This is absolutely understandable. I am sure I write about DC’s storm issues as much if not more than his band-aid obsession……

2011 halloween nor’easter storm alfred
power outages autism upset
thunder and autism power outage change
upset by power outage autism
afraid of power outages autism
power outages autism

***

The biggest surprise for me here is that THE most popular search terms(s) that brought people to my blog had nothing to do with autism at all. The largest set of terms that brought people to me – were terms having something to do with Leonard Nimoy or Star Trek!

 

IMG_0467

logic is the first step to wisdom
logic is the beginning of wisdom
how wisdom related to light in logic
mr spock logic is the beginning of wisdom not the end
leonard nimoy autisim
logic is the beginning of wisdom not the end
spock quotes logic is the beginning of wisdom not the end
of my friend i can only say this: of all the souls that i met on my travels, his was the most… human.”
what is it like to meet william shatner photo op
wisdom is not end
logic is just the beginning of wisdom, not the end”.

***

I can not say that this does not make me very happy!!!!

~”That is a human emotion, Doctor, with which I am totally unfamiliar. How could I be “unhappy?”~ Mr. Spock – ep. I, Mudd

#LLAP

************

 

 

(Yes, I do understand that the results are a bit skewed due to the “unknown search terms” – so don’t rain on my parade)

 

“Logic is the beginning of wisdom; not the end.”

...and yes, I do always have Spock ears readily available..

“Logic is the beginning of wisdom; not the end.” ~ Mr. Spock

From the post that I re-blogged yesterday: To Boldly Go…..

I admit it…

I am just a big old Sci-fi geek from way back. I watched the first episode of Star Trek back in 1966/1967 (?) and I was hooked – for life.

The first “sign” that DC learned when he was very young (for those of you that may not know, DC was non-verbal until he was 7 years old) was the “Live Long and Prosper” sign. If and when he saw a picture of Mr. Spock or heard him mentioned, he used that sign.

I’ve been in love with Star Trek and Mr. Spock since the very first episode aired back in the 60’s.

I loved the adventures in space.

I loved that all of the crew members were treated with respect and as equals.

I wanted a tribble.

I added new words to my vocabulary, most memorable –  “poppycock”.

I wanted to be a part of the crew, but not in a red shirt.

I loved everything about Star Trek.

I always had an affinity for the Mr. Spock character.  I loved his no-nonsense purely logical way of looking at things. I especially loved the episodes where he was confused and/or outright annoyed by human behavior – A piece of the action comes to mind.

I remember being sad when the show went off the air. But all was not lost! 10 years later “Star Trek the Motion Picture” was set to be released. I anxiously awaited opening day and although I admit I was a little bit disappointed in the film, I was thrilled to see all of my favorite characters again.

The movies that followed were so much better than the first “Motion Picture” and I saw each and every one of them more than once until the 2009 release of Star Trek the updated prequel. It was there that I stopped. Nothing against the movie or the actors. I’m sure it was and they were just wonderful. I just did not want to see new actors playing the parts of my favorite characters.

I  remember when The Next Generation was being advertised. I was outraged that anyone would try to create a new Star Trek even if the person creating it was Gene Roddenberry himself. How Dare He?!!! My boyfriend at the time, knowing how much I loved Star Trek taped it and brought it to my house for me to watch. I flatly refused. I would NEVER watch a “fake” Star Trek, Never!

Well…. never say never.

As it turned out, I loved it and every other that came after.

Not only was Mr. Spock my favorite character but I really loved Leonard Nimoy the actor. He was the only reason I was at all interested in watching Mission Impossible (the TV show).  I grew to love the show, but Leonard got me there. I will also never forget being glued to the TV watching “In Search Of…”.

I did at one time own the first, second and a few other editions of the Primortals comic books. I wish I knew what happened to them.

Then imagine my excitement when he showed up as William Bell on Fringe! Not to mention playing himself on The Big Bang Theory!

That Spock character resonates a bit more with me now than it did back then, if you can believe that possible. Having a child with autism has made me view Mr. Spock in an entirely different light. His matter-of-fact, logical, no grey area persona reminds me a bit of my son. It reminds me of the way many people perceive people with autism. However,  like many people with autism,  in spite of that matter-of-fact, no grey area, logical approach he had to life, his duties, his interaction with others, Mr. Spock showed compassion, empathy and yes, even friendship to those around him – in his own way.

Leonard Nimoy was one of my childhood heroes and I suppose you can say that I carried that adoration with me into adulthood. I was heartbroken to hear of his passing. There will never be another like him. It may be silly to you but I really feel that a piece of my childhood is gone forever – a small piece that I will never be able to get back.

Live Long and Prosper ~ wherever you may be.

“Of my friend I can only say this: of all the souls that I met on my travels, his was the most… human.”  ~ James T. Kirk

*******

And while you are still here, please check out another post from a friend of mine:

RIP Mr. Nimoy – from SSirica