AN IMMERSIVE EXPLORATION OF “SAUDADE”

THROUGH LITERATURE, ART, AND OTHER MEDIA

I am honored to be among the world class multimedia artists included in Amy Serrano's colorful, engaging Saudades book.

My back cover photo is on the bottom right.

More of my street photography in Portugal is in the book.

Official book sales started July 31.

It’s available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and powerhouse Miami local Books and Books.

The Miami Launch event is on Oct. 4.

For much more information, click on the press release:

https://files.constantcontact.com/be755cbc401/7673ddfe-4756-4c76-b51a-0527d29455a1.pdf

JUST IN TIME FOR ART BASEL MIAMI

 A POP UP ART SHOW IN THE HEART OF LITTLE HAVANA

--WHEN THE ART WORLD IS FOCUSED ON THE MAGIC CITY

I’m honored to be one of the featured artists at Art & Design Gallery’s event during Art Basel Miami.

It takes place 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday December 8 and Saturday December 9 at 2380 SW 9 Street Miami – footsteps from my historic Little Havana home and just a block south of wonderful Calle Ocho.

The free event will feature art displays and sales, live music, food and more at Art by Hurley.

RSVP at:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/miami-art-exhibit-tickets-764844840507

SAUDADES

ANTHOLOGICAL CONTEMPLATIONS ON THE SAUDADE

OF PERSONS, PLACES AND TIME

So proud to be one of the artists included in the Saudades Project.

Thanks to Amy Serrano of Siren for putting so much of her creative energy into this book.

I can only hope that a gallery in Miami could host an exhibit of the works displayed in the upcoming book.

TODAY WE CELEBRATE 200,000 READERS -- AND A THIRD OF A CENTURY WITH SOULMATE HEIDI

HARD TO BELIEVE THAT IN LESS THAN A DECADE, 

MORE THAN 200,000 UNIQUE VISITORS ARE READING THIS BLOG

We have published more than 2,300 stories with pictures.

We have posted these daily to Twitter and Facebook, to boost exposure.

More than 500 of the articles have focused on human rights, such as advocacy for people with disabilities.

Nearly 1,000 have explored urban design, planning, zoning, architecture, landscape architecture and transportation engineering issues.

We are nearing our 1,000^th story on travel – to Turkey, France, Africa, Spain, England, Italy, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, Canada and far beyond.

We couldn’t have done this without the support of our partner of more than three decades – Heidi Johnson-Wright.  

She is my cherished wife, travel partner and advocate for a better quality of life for wheelchair users.

She has contributed more than 10 percent of the articles in this blog, ranging from travel pieces to memoir-like essays to music and book reviews.

Visit her blog at:

http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com/

CELEBRATING 165,000 READERS

BEFORE THE YEAR ENDS, WE WILL HAVE MORE THAN 180,000 UNIQUE VISITORS

Thanks for reading this.

This is roughly our 1,900^th daily blog post.

Before the year is out, we will have hosted more than 180,000 unique visits to this humble blog on travel, urban issues and disability advocacy.

We started this when we were in our 40s. Now we are well into our 50s.

We first started writing for a living in 1985.

Our first job at a big daily newspaper was the Akron Beacon Journal.

That Pulitzer-winning Ohio paper reached a daily circulation peak of 176,929 in 1973.

In early 2019 at the latest, we will eclipse that circulation of a mighty newspaper where our dad worked nearly 4 decades and where we honed our craft in the 1980s while attending Kent State University.

It’s been a fun ride. More than 90 percent of the thousands of photo images shared on this site our originals that we took ourselves in Turkey, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and dozens of other places that require a passport to visit.

We have published enough words of disability advocacy to fill an entire, standalone non-fiction book.

We have shared great ideas for the built environment through affiliations with PlusUrbia Design, On Common Ground, New Mobility and dozens of other firms and publications.

We will continue to mix fun with passionate advocacy for as long as blogging is a form of online communication.

MORE THAN 125,000 READERS

More than 125,000 unique readers have visited this blog for photography, commentary, travel journalism, urban design ideas and advocacy for people with disabilities.

We have more readers than the weekday circulations of some major daily newspapers.

We have taken readers to Istanbul, New Orleans, Panama, Florence, New York, Medellin, Santo Domingo, Los Angeles, Guatemala, Ohio, Nicaragua, Philadelphia, Ecuador, Nevada, Costa Rica, Utah, Mexico City, Chicago, Spain and beyond.

99% of all photos are taken by Steve Wright.

The image for this celebratory day was taken on the warmest Christmas day on record in New Orleans.

EARTHBOUND TOMBOY -- THE BEST DISABILITY ISSUES BLOG EVER

LIFE IS A BULLRING

 

By Heidi Johnson-Wright

 Inspiration and strength sometimes come from unexpected places: the hues of a twilight sky, a silly escapade, a song lyric.

My husband and I were on a trip to Spain when we visited the Andalusian town of Ronda. It’s a lovely spot suspended over a canyon with three iconic bridges. Madonna fans will recall it depicted in gorgeous sepia tones in the “Take a Bow” video.

One afternoon, my husband and I dined at a lovely café, leisurely enjoying lunch and two bottles of Rioja. Next door was the bullring. No corrida de toros that day, but tours were available. We couldn’t resist.

After a pass through the arena’s small museum, we explored the field. Perhaps it was the joy of a pleasant day or the wine or both. I found myself possessed by the spirits of matadors past. I stood up and begin swooping my red jacket like a cape, daring my wheelchair to come at me, its handles like the horns of a bull. My husband began shooting photos as I posed, spurred on by the shouts of an imaginary crowd.

Perhaps it was silly, merely the momentary playfulness of a tipsy woman on vacation. But when we returned home, and I reviewed the pictures, I recalled the lyrics of a song I love. It was “Jean the Birdman,” by English singer-songwriter David Sylvian:

Life is a bullring

For taking risks and flouting rules

Who needs a safety net

The world is open wide

Just look out for card sharks

And the danger signs

I printed out one of my husband’s photos with the lyrics typed below. I posted it on my office wall.

On days when my pain flares or I’m anxious or things are just not going well, I look at the photo.

If only in my mind’s eye, I‘m back in Ronda -- clad in a bullfighter’s spectacular traje de luz – and life seems full of possibilities and adventure.  

http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com

TESTING THE TABS

from EARTHBOUND TOMBOY blog

 

By Heidi Johnson-Wright

It’s sometimes hard to gage how folks see you when you have an obvious disability. In their eyes, are you a pitiable creature, a thing to be loathed, a fetish object or simply another human being? I occasionally assume the worst about TABS – the temporarily able bodied. I catch myself now and then presupposing someone harbors bigoted views, even if they don’t.

When I was younger, I used to secretly put others through tests. Perhaps it wasn’t the nicest thing to do, but it seemed necessary at the time. I would make a new friend or meet a cute guy who was boyfriend material, then see how they would react to my disability in certain situations. I was B. F. Skinner and they, my lab rats.

When I went away to college at 17, I had my first personal care attendant that wasn’t a family member. I felt an immediate connection to her. She was enthusiastic but not fawning, and clearly had a sense of humor. She seemed perfect. Or was she?

One day shortly after Lexie had begun working for me, we were in the dorm bathroom. She was helping me with my morning ablutions. We were telling jokes – some cheeky, others raunchy – to pass the time. When it was my turn, I told her a joke that poked fun at disabled people but was straight-up hilarious. She laughed and shook from her head to her toes. Other people I’d told that joke to had frozen just after I delivered the punch line, afraid to laugh. Lexie showed no such fear. She passed my test with flying colors.

The tests I devised for boys were different. If -- when I first met them – I’d been walking, I made sure they’d see me later in my wheelchair. I then watched their reactions. Did their faces show shock or disgust? Discomfort or curiosity?

If a boy passed my initial test, then he moved to the next level. On a first or second date, I’d be sure to hold his hand at the restaurant or movie theater. My hope was he’d be at ease being seen with a disabled chick in public. Usually, he passed. Usually.

Looking back, I realize that my little tests were as much about my own presumptions and biases as anyone else’s. I wasn’t yet comfortable in my own skin and sometimes projected my discomfort on others. Now in my fifth decade of living with a disability, I can finally admit it. 

http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com/2014/11/testing-tabs.html 

EARTHBOUND TOMBOY: Person First Language

THE POWER OF WORDS

By Heidi Johnson-Wright

I’ve never been a fan of terms like “handi-capable,” “differently-abled,” and “special” when it comes to describing people with disabilities. They come off as trivializing, and make it sound like folks can’t deal honestly with their disabilities. I always imagine such terms were coined by someone who has never lived with a disability and dots each letter “i” with a tiny heart.

I dislike the word “handicapped” but I’m cool with the word “disabled.” And I’m a fan of people-first language. For those unfamiliar with the term, PFL is a way of speaking and referring to people with disabilities that respects them as human beings, rather than dehumanizes them. It emphasizes the person first and the disability, second. A man with a disability, not a disabled man. A woman who is blind, not a blind woman.

PFL represents more respectful, accurate ways of communicating. People with disabilities are not their diagnoses or disabilities; they are people, first.

I also cringe when I see disability stereotypes trotted out by the media. You’ve probably seen them yourself. Putting the person with a disability on a pedestal. Depicting a person with a disability as dependent or as an object of pity. Representing the person as having special talents or abilities because of his or her disability, i.e. the blind person who’s musically gifted.

I could live a long, happy life without ever again reading one more tear-jerking human interest story about incurable diseases or severe injuries. I’d like to see more stories that focus on issues of quality of life for folks who are disabled. Issues such as accessible transportation, housing, employment opportunities and social interaction.

Disability is a natural part of the human condition. The folks with disabilities I’ve met (and myself, too) would rather be known for the things that reflect on their character or their essence as human beings. They would rather be known as a devoted parent or a successful attorney or an amateur gourmet chef rather than as someone with a brace on their leg or someone who wears hearing aids.

So, please: no more heroic overachievers or long-suffering saints. No more cutesy terms that set the teeth on edge. No more stigmatizing words that leave a sting.

Just people – like everyone else.

http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com

THINGS PROVOCATIVE, EDGY AND PROFANE

THINGS PROVOCATIVE, EDGY AND PROFANE

By Heidi Johnson-Wright

You might call me a cripple or a freak.  Though if you’re going to use epithets, I’d prefer “gimp girl.”

It’s pejorative. But since I both struggle to walk and have ovaries, it’s true.  Not “True” as in the Spandau Ballet song, but “true” as in truth. The kind of truth that -- if you own it -- will set you free. 

I’m ready to own my particular truth. I’m ready to be set free.

Oh, wait a minute. Perhaps you’re thinking I need to be set free because I’m a prisoner in my own body. I can’t water ski or kick box, so my life is devoid of all meaning. May I point out that such a thought stems from the assumption that being able-bodied is always superior to being disabled? That’s a very progressive way of thinking, provided you’re living in the Middle Ages.

OK, that was rather bitchy of me. Sorry. Let me back up and clarify a few things. I’ll try to be more polite.

I don’t want to be anyone’s inspiration. Don’t pat me on the head or gaze at me with pity.

And for heaven’s sake, if you pass me on the street, don’t hand me dollar bills. (I’m not a stripper.)

I don’t exist on this planet primarily to suffer, and my suffering isn’t about making you feel more content with your own situation. None of this “I felt sad because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet” nonsense.

If you’re still expecting heart-warming tales about a chick who triumphed over a terrible disease and grew up determined to find a cure, you’ve stumbled upon the wrong blog. (Forget medical research. I wanted to grow up to be Joan Jett.)

But if you seek out things provocative, edgy and profane, welcome to EarthBound TomBoy.

Follow EarthBound TomBoy at http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com 

 

MORE THAN 30,000 READERS!

THE ONLY BLOG ON EARTH THAT COMBINES ARCHITECTURE, URBAN TRAVEL, SUSTAINABILITY 
AND WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

We close out the month of October by thanking the more than 30,000 people who read this blog.

You are diverse.

You have visited from more than 100 different nations.

Some of you are not native English speakers, but you visit our site and practice your second language -- or paste our information into online translator services -- to read our original content.

Thousands of you have contacted us personally for advice on planning wheelchair-accessible vacations.

Hundreds of leading hotels, museums, theaters and other attractions have reached out to us for advice on how to better accommodate people with disabilities.

We have resisted the offers to advertise on our blog.

We continue to provide unbiased and opinionated reportage on urban planning, progressive architecture, websites, sustainability, books and other aspects of urban life and mobility.

Thank you for reading our daily posts and please tell your friends about us.       

OUR 900TH POST!

THE ONLY BLOG ON EARTH THAT COMBINES ARCHITECTURE, URBAN TRAVEL, SUSTAINABILITY 
AND WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

Welcome to our 900th post!

For nearly three years, we have posted daily to this blog that explores the best of urban living -- at home and on the road -- while exploring universal design for wheelchair users and other people with disabilities.

We have taken you to Italy, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Canada, England, the Bahamas and dozens of sites around the United States.

More than 90% of the photos are from the original fine art photography collection of Steve Wright Photography.

Many of the book, music and fashion reviews are from the brilliant mind of Heidi Johnson-Wright, an award-winning author and one of the top Americans with Disabilities Act experts in the English-speaking world.

One hundred percent of our postings consists of original material.

Unlike other blogs, we do not simply paste in bits of news stories from national outlets.

Nor do we ever lift material from other blogs -- as many other blogs do to get free and easy content.

Not here.

We write every day and we appreciate the tens of thousands who read our material.