Todd DeVries

06:48 pm: New Friends Made

Kathryn took me to a bed and breakfast just outside of North Fork, Idaho. While there we met a great family from Eagle, a suburb or Boise. We had the chance to share several meals, lots of laughs and compare books read. We took our kayaks to the local pond and let everyone try a paddle. One of the highlights of the weekend was watching the youngest child's passion for fishing.

11:49 am: Snow in Pocatello
This image of snow on ISU's campus is posted at the request of our lovely and talented Chantel K. It is her last day with us and she shall be terribly missed.

I once knew someone who defined true friendship as: "The person who you call at 3 A.M. when your car goes off the road in a snow storm and yu're 50 miles from home." Well, Chan, you've got my number!

Thu 05/01/2008 08:12 05012008017

09:47 am: Kathryn at IKEA
Here is kathryn checking out a couch at the new Ikea store in Salt Lake City.

Sun 05/04/2008 15:25 05042008021

12:58 pm: Kayaking in the Tetons
I've just returned from a kayaking trip to Lee Lake in Teton National Park. The hardest part of this trip is the uncertainty about the weather. It can be overcast in Idaho Falls, and Sunny in the park. It can be sunny in jackson and raining at the camp site. The proximity of those 13,000 FT mountains creates microclimate conditions which make planning difficult. This weekend, all the gods smiled upon us. If it isn't raining and/or the wind isn't gusting at 50 MPH+, I'm one happy camper. So on Sunday afternoon, with the air temperature pushing 65, the sun shining on the water, the day hatch on the boat got stuffed with all kinds of extra clothing. Sun screen and shorts never figured into my planning. But after last weekend's six inches of snow; who could have guessed.

Tags: camping, kayaking

10:33 am: From TED.com: Richard Branson's surprising revelation
This talk from ted.com by Richard Branson, in which he tells his audiance that he has dyslexia, gives us another learning and teaching resource. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/181.

Sur Richard Branson is noted as an Entrepreneur; starting multiple businesses under the virgin brand, a balloonist and a dabbler in space exploration. A bio can be found at http://www.woopidoo.com/biography/richard_branson.htm . This is the second major business figure of which I am aware who has self-identified as having a learning disability. Financeer Charles Schwab, http://schwablearning.org being the first.

TED.com, Technology, Entertainment and Design hosts a collection of both audio and video talks which push the boundaries of modern cultural experience. I've spent many hours enjoying some of these discussions.

Tags: disability

10:25 pm: First Impressions. Jott.com: For People on the Go.
I've recently been experimenting with a beta web site which allows one to use a cell phone to dictate short (30 seconds in length) messages and have them transcribed and e-mailed to an address of one's choice. The service is free at this point. No information is presented as to what the cost for the service will be once it comes out of testing and is marketed to the entire Internet. Located at http://www.jott.com, the company describes itself as:

Jott® is a revolutionary new service that automatically converts your voice into e-mail and text messages anytime, anywhere, with any cell phone. Jott® makes you more productive and efficient by capturing your ideas, notes to self, tasks, and more without using your keypad.

( Continued )

Tags: accessibility, technology

11:14 am: Jerry Lewis Telethon
Yesterday, http://karasheridan.com/ initiated the first anti telethon blogging event. She has gathered together in one place a fantastic collection of contributions celebrating disability and rejecting pity. Reading these posts and contemplating how disability is portrayed in our society was worth a few minutes of time out of my Labor day break. There is much of value to contemplate here!

Thanks for putting this together!

11:05 am: Unhappy Camper
One of the old English confessional statements says, "Man's purpose on earth is to love God and serve Him forever." If cats had a creed it would run something like "The feline's purpose on earth is to annoy man and frustrate him forever. While getting ready for a day trip on the Snake River this morning I opened one of my tents to repair a broken pole. The unwelcome smell of tom cat spray came up to greet me. Now, while feline spray isn't the worst smell, its one of the more pervasive and irritating oders out there. Nothing I've tried seems to truly get rid of it! So into the wash goes the tent, stuff bag, ETC along with the anti-cat solution. I wonder if the old tabby knows his legacy will outlive him and will travel to the remote corners of the state? Probably -- and somewhere his spirit will look down and laugh! Right now he's judiciously made himself scarce.

Tags: camping, cats

08:08 am: Introduction
Greetings from Eastern Idaho,

My goal for this blog is to join the conversation surrounding disability rights issues, assistive technology and higher education. I write from the perspective of a person who has a disability and a user and consumer of many adaptive devices. How universities implement laws providing access to higher education is my primary professional interest.

Not all entries will be of a serious nature. Kayaking, camping, skiing and other outdoor hobbies will make their appearance. I'd also like to share my current reading lists and receive recommendations for new authors from others.

So here goes! Please comment and enjoy the experience.

Todd

Tags: goals, introduction, personal interests