Sunday, December 30, 2012

Review of This Is Forty

I recently went and saw the moview This Is Forty. It goes along with the funny Knocked Up.

This movie is insanely funny from start to finish. Honestly, I laughed so hard that I felt like I did a hundred crunches by the time I left the theatre.

As a blind viewer, there were few parts that didn't have any form of verbal things going on. By this I mean there were about three music sequences where there was no talking.

Yes, some of the comedy was aimed at a visual audience, but what I didn't get to see didn't take away from the movie. It was totally hillarious. I would just recommend taking a sighted person with you to fill you in to the visual parts.

I give this movie five starts and thumbs and toes up. I recommend it for anyone with a funny bone in need of exercise. This pretty much means all adults. It isn't age appropriate for the kiddos:)

Happy viewing:)

Monday, October 22, 2012

The good, The Bad, And The Ugly

No matter how positive a person is, it’s impossible to be optimistic all the time. Lately, I admit, I have been having the less than positive attitude. Don’t get me wrong, things are great.

Book stuff is wonderful and friends and family life is alive and kicking. The second situation is the reason for my slight state of dismay.

Having two beautiful daughters is the best part of my life. I would not change a single moment of it, even when I want to pull my hair out. Sometimes, one of them will do something adorable or new. I am elated for the newest milestone, but regret still floods my heart.

It’s a deep ache that stabs me all the way deep in my gut. My eyes start to sting and a lump forms in my throat. Sometimes, just being able to hear the even isn’t good enough.

Though I’m still happy it’s happened, I long to observe it for myself. Other people’s descriptions are great and much appreciated. It’s just not the same.

When Peanut started school, I was so happy for her. She was beyond excited and I don’t think her head left the clouds the entire morning. A genuine smile was plastered across my face. Inside, just inside, I was enveloped in a strenuous pity party.

It didn’t seem fair that I couldn’t see my baby at her first circle time, or doing the hand motions with her classmates to new songs. When she made her first new friend of the long school year, I couldn’t see the dimples on her cheeks as she smiled. When she played on the playground and rode in a wagon, I couldn’t see it for myself.

Am I usually down in the dumps about my situation? Nope, not at all. However, I feel it’s necessary to share everything with you, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The whole point of this blog is to shed a new light on the subject of blindness. I wanted to show people that there is a brighter side to the disability. Nevertheless, it is equally important to show the reality of the bad moments. Though they may be few and far between for me, they might not be for someone else.

To be able to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, you have to first see all angles of how they fit. So, that’s what this post is about. My shoes fit great, but sometimes there’s a lump in my sock that makes me uncomfortable for a minute.

Friday, October 19, 2012

On My Hands and Knees Begging For Help:)

I know that donating to a project or cause that you have no guarantee will be a success can be intimidating. Maybe you think your pledge won’t make a difference. Maybe you are leery of giving money to a stranger. No matter what the reason, I hope you will reconsider.

I assure you that every dollar earned will be going to this book project. My fans want it so much that it is crucial for me to get it done. That being said, there is no way I would ever back out of my end of the deal.

Kick Starter is a crowd funding website that aims to help connect people with creative projects with possible investors. A person has a limited amount of time to reach their goal. If their goal is not met, no money exchanges hands. That’s right, your money never leaves your wallet.

Second, if you decide to pledge, you will receive prizes for your generosity. Therefore, it’s kind of like purchasing something. Once the goal date has passed, all the people who supported the project will receive their items.

I plan to send people who pledge emails updating them on the progress on the production of the audio book. I am producing my books through a company called ACX. The narrator I have chosen is Melissa Strom. She is a well respected and very talented actress. She has agreed to stay on for the entire series which is anticipated to be four novels.

Again, I know it seems risky. Just know that I will never receive any of your financial banking information. All transactions are completed through Amazon Payments. This is a secure way to ensure your financial protection.

The reason it is so important to me to have my books done in audio is because… well, I myself am blind. I know what it’s like to look for a novel on Audible and have it not be there. That is one of the most frustrating things a book lover can go through. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, fans have written to me wanting to know when the series will be available in audio.

The only reason I haven’t done it by myself is because I haven’t had the money. My first book only just came out in August and the second will be out in December. Therefore, right now my funds are limited. I would never ask strangers for funds if it wasn’t completely necessary. This is the only way I can carry out this portion of my dream in a somewhat timely fashion.

I am a single mommy to two great little girls. I want them to be proud of their mom. Most of all, I want to build a career that will give them a better life. Yes, money can’t by happiness, but it is a big part of life.

I don’t want to depend on Disability income anymore. I want the pride of standing on my own two feet knowing that I’ve worked my buns off to get there. When I received my first royalty check of fifty dollars, you would have thought that I had been given a mountain of diamonds and gold ripe for the picking. I cried, knowing that this was my first real pay check. I earned it all by myself and not because of something that was beyond my control.

The town I live in is a difficult one for finding regular employment, especially when you have a disability. I have tried on numerous occasions to get a job. On all of those occasions I was turned down. They of course couldn’t tell me the real reason, but I knew what it was. They were intimidated by my blindness. They didn’t think I could handle the job, though I was more than qualified. I was never given the proper chance that I deserved and wanted so desperately.

You see, I have never been someone that enjoys getting something for nothing. That’s why it took me so long to decide on creating a Kick Starter project. I finally decided that it wouldn’t hurt to try. If someone didn’t want to pledge, they didn’t have to. If they did, then awesome.

I didn’t want to wonder for the rest of my life if it would have worked. It’s the what if’s that keep you up at night and kicking yourself in the end.

The great thing about a Kick Starter project is that you can back out at any time if you change your mind. The minimum pledge is one dollar, so breaking the bank is not a problem. You will have comfort in knowing that you helped in making someone’s dream come true. Someday when I’m as famous as James Patterson or any of the other great authors out there, you can say you helped me get to where I am.

I don’t plan to take your money and run. As I’ve said, you will get some really cool prizes for each of your donations. I will send you update emails and I’d like to keep in touch with you long after the project is completed. I want you to know that your contribution means a lot to me and I will never forget it or you. I will also be happy to respond to emails anytime, even if the project is done and the productions complete. After all, if it wasn’t for all of you, it wouldn’t be possible.

I only have until November first to reach my goal. That is less than two weeks away. So I am before you on my hands and knees begging for your support. Pretty please consider helping me achieve my dream. It would mean a lot and I’d be eternally grateful.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Help Bring Clandestine and Divinity to Audio

I have launched a project on Kick Starter My project is to raise the funds necessary for creating audio books of Clandestine and Divinity.
As most of you know, Clandestine and Divinity are the first and second book in the Bound In Blood series. Clandestine was released in August of this year in both print and eBook formats and is doing very well.

I have received several messages, mainly from viewers of this blog to make the series in audio. In order to make this a reality sooner rather than later, I have turned to Kick Starter for help.

For each pledge you make, you will receive several great rewards and prizes. It is a win win situation. You would be helping an author make her dream come true and getting something cool in return.

Even if you decide not to pledge, I would really appreciate it if you could visit the page anyway. You can see a super cute video of my two girls that will make you smile. While you're there, please be sure to help spread the word by pressing the Facebook like button, tweet it and or pin it. This will help get the word out. The more people that hear about this the better.

So have I convinced you yet? Please visit the site below and check out the project and cute video of the girls.



Thanks again and I hope you decide to help:)

Friday, September 28, 2012

Did That Really Just Happen 4

I haven’t had a Did That Really Just Happen moment in a while. I happened to have such an experience on Peanuts second day of school. I never would have expected an incident there, but what can you do? It just goes to show these things can happen anywhere.

I was there with my mom, dropping little Miss Peanut off in the morning. The first thing they do before breakfast is circle time. After this activity, the kids are directed to go and wash their hands before meal time.

Mom and I were just getting ready to leave when someone approached. “He,” a soft voice said.

I could tell it was an older man. I didn’t recognize the voice and had no idea who it was. “Hi,” I sounded a little unsure than intended, but the man didn’t seem to notice.

“Do you know the Crunks?” He seemed very hopeful, though his voice was barely above a whisper.

I searched my memory bank high and low. The name didn’t ring a bell at all. “No,” I replied. “Do they have a child in this class?” Stupidly, I found myself looking around for the Crunk family as if I could pick them out of a crowd. This was ridiculous on so many levels. Even if I had known who the Crunks were (which I didn’t), then I wouldn’t have been able to see them. So scanning the room was a pointless effort.

“No, they live on the east coast,” he said, dead serious. “I used to live there too. They had a son who was blind.”

“Oh,” I responded a little confused. “That’s cool.”

“Yeah, he was a nice kid. I thought maybe you two might know each other.”

Trying hard not to laugh I said, “Nope, sorry. Well, me and my mom are leaving now. I’ll see you later.”

He made his goodbyes since he was leaving too. He never said anything else about the Crunk family and left me more than a little baffled.

Why is it that some people assume that because you’re blind you must know every single blind person in the world? lol I wonder if the same rule applies to the deaf community. I didn’t react rude to this because it wasn’t ill intended. Some people just genuinely think this is how it works. I thought this was really cute. It used to happen a lot more often, but I haven’t experienced it in a while.

Has this ever happened to you? If so tell me about it in the comment section of this post. I am also looking for guest posters for this blog. If you have a funny Did That Really Just Happen moment and it’s too long to put in a comment, send me a message and set up a guest post. I’d love to have you. Just use the contact link on this page or leave me your email in the contact section.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

As Promised... Post on Craig Campbell

Hey guys!

I just wanted to let you know that I just published the post about Craig Campbell like I promised. You can find it over at Nicole Rae's Blog
The night totally rocked and I'll never forget it. Thanks to Craig, Peanut and I had a blast. I will never forget the hillarious experience of getting his autograph.

I hope you like the post and will share it with your friends. If you would like to show further support, please hop on over to my author page on Amazon and Facebook and press the like button. Everytime someone does, it shares the page with all of their friends. It can start a chain reaction and I would really really appreciate it.

Amazon Author Page

Author Facebook Page

Thank you so much:) I am grateful in advance:)
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Friday, August 24, 2012

Craig Campbell Rocks The Show

Going to a concert when you are blind isn’t as bad as one might think. I recently took my oldest daughter Princess to a Craig Campbell concert. He is an amazing country singer that really knows how to entertain.

Firstly, it is a music concert so of course the blind would benefit. They have extra good hearing and can appreciate the quality of sound coming from the massive speakers.

Secondly, even though some entertainers do dance and run around the stage, seeing the activity isn’t necessary for enjoying the show. Most singers also banter in between songs and whether you are blind or sighted that can be really fun.

In Craig’s case, he has an awesome sense of humor and kept the crowd laughing in between the several songs that he played for us.

Another great thing about going to a live show is that you get to sometimes hear music that hasn’t yet been released. It’s kind of a sneak peak into the future. In this case, the new songs that Craig performed for us were amazing. He has a wicked good voice and a dead sexy speaking voice.

Because it was a show at a fair, Craig stayed behind afterward to sign autographs. I don’t just mean a few either. He stayed until every last person got something signed and took a picture with him that wanted one. How exhausting. I don’t know how he does it. He performs for a couple of hours standing pretty much the entire time and then stands for another couple of hours doing a meet and greet. What a devoted performer!

I had a very memorable experience when it got to be my turn with the country star. I will never forget it and my friends and family are still laughing about it and the concert was a few weeks ago. I will be posting the full story on Nicole Rae’s Blog and you will be able to find it HERE

Yes, I know it’s kind of a teaser, but hey, that’s what I live for. If you take the plunge and hop over there sign up to be a follower and then you will be notified when the hilarious Craig Campbell experience is posted for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks for reading and remember… “When life’s got you down, keep your head up… you can’t see the ground anyway.”

Monday, August 13, 2012

Giving Up Is Not An Option

Sometimes things happen in life that you don’t expect. Sometimes for a very select few people, life goes completely according to plan. The majority of us this isn’t true.

The most important thing to remember is that you are not alone in this world and there are people who understand and sympathize with what you are going through. There is no problem to big or to small that doesn’t have some sort of solution or another. There are resources everywhere and thanks to the World Wide Web, the answers are at your finger tips.

Giving up is not an option. Even when you think there’s nothing left to be done, giving up is not an option. It is true what they say “quitters never win and winners never quit”.

All of this applies whether you are blind, visually impaired and even sighted. It doesn’t matter what walk of life you come from or what your financial standing is. You matter and so does your life.

Want to make it great? Get out there and do something with it. No body can make you happy unless you are first happy with yourself. If you want something go after it, fight for it and hold onto once you have it with a death grip. Don’t stop until you’ve obtained your dreams. Stare defeat and failure in the face and stick your tongue out.

The only thing holding you back from self actualization is your own inhibitions… so knock it off!

My dream… I am getting ready to publish my first book Clandestine If I can accomplish my dreams, I know you can too. So get out there and make it happen!

Monday, July 23, 2012

A Little About My New Project And A Little About Clandestine

I just got back from camping today and it’s been a very productive writing day. My kids have been absorbed in activities that they haven’t been able to do much in the last week or so which has allowed me to be very efficient with my latest project.

I am super excited about it because the main character of this one is a totally blind person. It isn’t as easy as you would think to write a character like that. Sure I can’t see so I can easily get into the person’s head to write them that’s true. But a reader (especially a sighted reader) wants description. A blind reader wants description too but for a different reason. I live by the saying that an audio book is a blind person’s television. This is because you don’t miss anything when you read like you do when you listen to your favorite show or movie.

Anyway as always I’m veering off track. In order to make a blind main character work affectively I have decided to make her someone who became blind rather than someone who was born that way. She has only been blind for a year so she is still in the stage where she is pretty much a Debbie Downer on the subject. It hasn’t dawned on her yet in the book that blindness isn’t the end of the world.

I went through a lot of mixed emotions when I lost my sight. I have also had gobs of people ask what that was like and how it felt. I thought it would be a good element to add to the story of such a multi faceted character.

The book is still in the beginning stages so I don’t want to give away much but I will tell you that I’m only at chapter 4 and I’m already falling in love with it. Don’t get me wrong I love Clandestine too but in an entirely different way. The Bound In Blood series is fun to write and I have put a lot into it. But with this project I’ve really delved into my soul and put a piece of my soul into it.

I hope you adore this story as much as I do. I am unsure yet if it will be a series but can definitely see the potential for one with the plot that is unraveling.

I promise to keep you up to date on that and also with the second book in the Bound In Blood series Divinity whenever possible. I know I have been neglecting my blogs lately and for that I’m sorry, I truly am. But its summer time so both kids are home full time, we’ve been camping a bunch and also been devoted to the new books I’m working on coupled with getting Clandestine out for your viewing pleasure.

There have been a lot of questions about whether or not Clandestine will be made into an audio book. When it is released it will only be available in print and EBook. BUT I promise that an audio version will be made available as soon as that is possible. Unfortunately, the production of an audio book is very expensive. I looked into hiring a narrator but the cheapest I have found is five hundred dollars and right now that is just not an option for me. That is definitely one down side to self publishing, accessible formats take a while if they come at all.

I have been looking into finding someone I know read it for me but that isn’t as easy as it looks either. I have to be sure the person has the right quality and tone to their voice to portray Emily as well as the rest of the slayer gang. It will be done I promise. I’m just not sure when.

I will write again soon and let you know how things are going. PS… I will be posting this same post on both my blogs so all of you will be equally informed.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Canes and Stones May Break My Bones but CarPorts Are really Embarrasing!

The first time I learned to walk with a cane I had to do so blind folded because I still had sight. My Mobility instructor explained that it was necessary so that I would learn to trust myself. I was leery but I did what I was told.

She was a very nice and capable instructor named JoAnne from the Washington State department of Services for the Blind (DSB). This is an amazing organization for blind and visually impaired adults to get acquainted with resources and assistance in learning skills to help with every day living. Most have a similar organization so do a quick internet search to find one in your area.

Before I get started with my first experience with cane travel I should probably mention that I lived in a neighborhood at the time that had absolutely no sidewalks. This definitely made the task a more cumbersome and intimidating adventure but an adventure none the less.

I picked up the basics fairly quickly and was feeling pretty good about myself. Even though I wanted to peak under the blind fold but I never did. JoAnne made it perfectly clear that if I got into a bind she was going to refrain from helping me unless I was about to do harm to myself or someone else.

It had been smooth sailing for the most part though so I really wasn’t too worried. After all, how hard could walking around the block in my own childhood neighborhood really be? The answer to that question… apparently very hard…

So I’m walking along talking back and forth with JoAnne thinking I’ve got the whole blind thing pretty locked. I didn’t even notice that JoAnne’s voice was getting further and further away from me. In fact, I didn’t notice there was even a problem until my cane hit something metal.

I instantly started to panic. I was walking on a road that was a straight shot with no metal anywhere on the road. There was absolutely no reason for me to have hit something like that. I stepped forward to examine the obstacle with my hand.

With in a second I realized I was touching what had to be a garage door. During this time JoAnne still hadn’t said a word. Completely lost and totally confused I turned around and her for some help.

She asked me where I thought I was. I of course said that I was in front of a garage. She then asked me I noticed about the way my voice sounded. I started to tell her I didn’t know what she meant when I noticed that my voice was echoing.

As I came to this conclusion she walked to me and slipped off the blind fold so I could see the pickle I had worked myself in. I had managed to veer off like a wobbly shopping cart into someone’s driveway. I narrowly missed hitting their parked car and went into their car port, which is of course why my voice had been echoing.

To make matters worse the owner of the home was standing in a pathway next to the driveway where I was standing holding a bag of garbage. He had clearly witnessed the entire debacle.

I later found out that when JoAnne noticed what I was doing and she saw the man she held a finger to her lips. He being a good sport played along while a complete blind folded stranger wandered onto his property. I was positively mortified. I was mad at myself for not being able to walk a straight line successfully. JoAnne didn’t let me stay down for long though, she assured me it was normal in the beginning and I would get better. The best course of action now would be to teach me how to get myself out of the predicament without losing my directional course.

Now ten years later I know though to pick up on audible clues to help me understand my surroundings more clearly. I know that it’s okay to feel confident and engage in conversation while walking but its imperative that I still pay close attention to what I am doing. I will never forget JoAnne and the things she taught me and appreciate every minute she took to make sure I learned to be a safe traveler.

If you are learning how to use a cane don’t give up. It can be overwhelming and at times even a little scary but it’s worth it in the end I promise. It will give you independence and after a while you will start to feel naked without it. Just be patient and learn to laugh when you make mistakes because it’s normal and not the end of the world.

If you have any funny, embarrassing or informative stories to share on the subject please feel free to leave them in the comment section under this post. If you just have too much to say contact me and we can work out the possibility of you doing a guest post for this blog.

Thanks for reading and remember… When life’s got you down keep you head up, you can’t see the ground anyway.

Friday, May 25, 2012

I'm Blind But I Can Still Hear You

It’s possibly redundant but I feel I need to clarify something. Are you ready for this? Well here goes. Being blind doesn’t always mean you can’t hear.

I know shocker right? Well maybe not, but for some it apparently is. More often than you might think someone will yell at me when they find out I am blind. They will talk totally normal until that point.

What’s funny is how in one breath they are all “It’s so cool that you have heightened senses and stuff”, and then in the next they are yelling at you in case your lack of sight affects your ear canals. There are of course blind people that are also deaf. I however, am not one of those people. I do admit that occasionally I utilize selective hearing does come into play but that’s entirely different.

For the most part I smile good naturedly and don’t comment that they are blasting out my ear drums. And hey, that’s a huge concession on my part if you ask me. After all, if they blow the ear drums that would leave me with nothing but touch and smell.

There are days I want to look at them and yell back things like “WHAT DID YOU SAY? I’M SORRY I CAN’T SEE YOU!” Keep in mind that while I say this I would cup my hand over one eye like people do over an ear when they can’t hear something. I know kind of childish but I think it would be pretty funny. A girl’s gotta get her kicks somehow.
No I’m not in a “the glass is half empty” sort of mood. In fact, I am in a great mood. I have gotten a lot of work done on my book Clandestine I just had a random thought about this topic while editing and thought I would share it with you.

As you guys have heard me talk about before in earlier posts, one of the characters in Clandestine is blind. Her name is Lucy and in a scene she encounters this problem. I thought about making her reaction similar to the one mentioned above but haven’t decided yet if I should. Lucy is a perky girl that doesn’t have much of a filter. She does strike me as someone that would say something like that with a bright smile the whole time she was speaking. Who know, maybe I can work something like it in. I guess you will have to get the book when it’s released to find out… wink wink. Lol

Well I need to get back to the grind stone. This post was wiggling around in my brain so I needed to get it out so it would leave me alone. Okay don’t worry I am not weird or anything. The post obviously wasn’t freaking out in my head. I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. I get kind of OCD about things like that until I get it done.

If you haven’t signed up for my other blog that focuses on my writing and Clandestine please go take a peak and sign up. It is a fairly new blog but it’s getting updated all the time. I even do contests. My first will be ending today but I plan to do more in the future. This will be especially true around the time that Clandestine releases this summer. You can visit my other blog by clicking Here

Have a good day everyone. If you ever have any questions please feel free to share them in the comment section of this post or by sending me a private message using the contact link.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

I Want To Talk To You!

I am interested in interviewing people for Playing The Blind Card. The beauty of it is you don’t even have to be blind or even visually impaired.

Do you have a blind friend or family member? If so I’d like to talk to you. Sighted people who interact regularly with the blind community have an interesting perspective on the subject of blindness. It is also possible that you have a funny story to share. Maybe you have a message you would like to share.

If you have never met a blind or visually impaired person I’d also like to talk to you. Just because you’ve never met one of us doesn’t mean you don’t have valuable thoughts or opinions to share with readers. We can have a conversation that might inform readers about preconceived notions or stereotypes you may have learned in your lifetime. Don’t worry! This is a learning exercise only! It is not to make a person feel bad for something that they do not know. After all, no question is a dumb question. And no opinion is a bad one as long as it’s respectful to others.

Are you a professional working in the disability field? Do you offer a special service for the blind or visually impaired? If so, Id’ also like to talk to you. I would love to have the opportunity to tell readers about the special service you provide. If I fall in love with it, I will even put a link to your site on Playing The Blind Card.

Last but especially not least, if you are blind or visually impaired I want to talk to you. This is a call to all my fellow Blindy’s! Standing together we can make a difference. I would like you to help me inform readers about blindness. Have you accomplished something that might surprise people? Do you have an interesting job? Do you have kids? Do you have a guide dog? Do you just have something to say?

`If you fit any of the descriptions above I want to talk to you. Please either leave a comment under this post or use the contact link to the right to Email me directly. I would love to interview you for future posts. I hope to hear from you soon and remember… Together we can make a difference!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

I'm Hosting A Give Away!

Hey everyone! I hope all is well with you. Things are going really good for me and my girls. I just wanted to let you all know and give you the opportunity to enter a contest that I'm hosting on my other site "Nicole Rae's Blog". I'm giving away a $15 gift card to one lucky winner. Sign up is easy and it only takes a few minutes of your time. You have until May 25th to enter and the winners will be announced the 26th.

You can find all the contest rules and details on my other site where it's being hosted. The web address is http://authornicolerae.blogspot.com

The best part of this contest is you have the opportunity to be entered twice. Some of you may already have a leg up on this so be sure to go check it out.

If you have a mail box and you reside in the United States you meet all the qualifications for the contest. So what are you waiting for?? It's so easy and if you win you get free money from your choice of several stores. How cool is that? Be sure to tell your friends in any way you can. Share it, Tweet it, Text it, EMail it...whatever it takes. Help support an emerging author and win a gift card.

Thanks guys and I hope you enter:)

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Blind Characters Are Fun To Write

As some of you may already know I am working on a Young Adult Paranormal novel that will be out this summer. It is called Clandestine and is the first book in the Slayer Saga series. It has been very fun to write and I hope that everyone likes it.

One thing you might not know is that Clandestine has a blind character. Her name is Lucy and she is an amazing person. She has a perky bubbly personality that you can’t help but fall in love with.

In Clandestine she doesn’t have a huge role in the story. There is enough of her though that you will be left wanting more and more of Lucy. In the second book Divinity however, she plays a bigger part of the supernatural tale. I am having a blast writing Lucy’s part in Divinity. I have seen few books that have a blind character as a main character. Thanks to my own personal experiences it’s easy to write a blind character.

During Clandestine, Emily Jameson (the main character) suspects that her best friend may be either just freakishly intuitive or possibly even psychic. She doesn’t put a lot of stock in the latter option because she honestly doesn’t believe much in the whole prospect of telepathy, the supernatural or in magic in general.

At least that’s true until she’s violently shoved into the underworld when her small little town is taken over by vampires. These ones aren’t the teen dream though. They aren’t vegetarians and don’t sparkle in the sunlight. They are carnivorous creatures with an unquenchable thirst for the blood of Lakeview’s residents.

Can the blood suckers be stopped before the town is completely drained of life? Don’t let everyone else find out first! Pick up your copy of Clandestine as soon as it’s released. For more information and a chance to read the blurb about Clandestine visit my other blog at http://www.authornicolerae.blogspot.com

You can also find a link directly to the site on this page under the heading Visit My Other Sites. Please sign up to follow that blog as well as this one if you haven’t already. Help spread the words to all your friends and fellow readers by sharing this post and the ones from the other blog on Facebook, Twitter and in any other way you can.

Thanks for all your support and happy reading.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Being Friends With A Blind person

Today I am interviewing a sighted friend of mine. This will give you an inside look on what it’s like to have a blind friend if you are sighted. I’m of course blind and she’s my friend so the questions will be personalized.


Me: How long have we been friends?

Ariane: I have known you for about thirteen years.

Me: You knew me when I was sighted as well as blind. Am I any different now that I can’t see?

Ariane: No not really. You are still the same person.

Me: Do you have to help me a lot?

Ariane: No not really, you are pretty independent.

Me: What types of things DO you help me with?

Ariane: Transportation, I read things to you, guide you around sometimes. And sometimes I guide you into traffic and I’m like OOPS lol

Me: You have four kids ranging in ages from five to twelve. How do they react to me?

Ariane: Fine, they don’t see you as any different. Half the time they forget you’re blind. My youngest son always wants to know why you can’t just drive over to my house. My oldest son likes to give you crap about it. He likes to joke with you about it. One time we were at a birthday party. You called him over to you and said you wanted to see how tall he was. He said it tripped him out because he was like she can see? It didn’t occur to him that you would need to feel the top of his head.

Me: Do people ever give you a weird reaction when they find out you’re friends with me?

Ariane: Sometimes. I’ve had a friend who wanted to know if it was difficult to be friends with someone who can’t see. They wanted to know what types of activities you could go and do with a blind person. It wasn’t hard for me to explain because I knew you as a sighted person. We know how to talk to each other. I can explain things to you and you get it because you were sighted and have memory of things. I can basically do anything with you that I do with anyone else… except I’m never riding shotgun with you lol

Me: There are a lot of people out there that are afraid to get to know a blind person. If you could say anything to those people what would you say?

Ariane: Talk to them before just grabbing their arm and walking them across the street lol. Don’t be afraid to talk to them but don’t talk down to them. They aren’t deaf or mental disabled or a child.

Me: Is there anything else you would like the world to know about having a blind friend or about blindness in general?

Ariane: It’s not contagious. You’re not gonna become blind with contact. I don’t see you as a different person. It’s not the most important part of you. Once you get to know someone who is blind you will not even notice the disability anymore. Your disability is a part of you but not all of you. It has taught you a lot. You may have doubts and fears but you do things anyway. There are a lot of things that you can do that I can’t do. It’s made you stronger.

Me: If you had never met me when I was sighted… if you met me for the first time when I was blind would you still be my friend?

Ariane: I don’t think I would not talk to you. I might not be as close right away. If I met a blind person tomorrow it’s not like I would be all no sorry I’ve already got one of you. I’ve already reached my quota. I would still talk to them and get to know them.


So as you can tell Ariane and I have a close friendship that allows us to joke around with each other. She would never say something to intentionally hurt my feelings nor would I hurt hers. We both feel that in a situation like this humor is the best medicine.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

To All My Followers

Hi guys:)
I was wondering if all of you that follow Playing The Blind Card would go check out my other site Nicole Rae's Blog and click to be a follower of that one too.

I would really appreciate the support and that way you can stay up to date on both sites. You can click on the link to the right to go directly to Nicole rae's Blog or you can copy and paste the address below in your browser.

The address is http://www.authornicolerae.blogspot.com/

Thanks again and thank you for reading:)
xoxoxox

Monday, March 26, 2012

The Skinny On The Real Blind Date

I don’t really see what all the fuss is about with a blind date. Sure you don’t really know the person but so what. You don’t know the cashier that rings up your groceries either. You don’t lose any sleep or sweat profusely at the thought of telling him or her your name do you? Well, maybe you do but that’s probably to do with an entirely different problem.

When a blind person goes on a date every date is a blind date. They don’t know what the person looks like or whether or not they are wearing pink bunny slippers with a flannel shirt and nothing else. They can’t see that when the person smiles in greeting they are really revealing a mouth full of nothing but gums. They do not know if the person has a gnarly cold soar before they come in for the kiss at the end of the night. They can not see when they motion for the water to give you an extra shot in your drink. Supposedly, everything looks better in the dark, but that isn’t always a comforting thought if your lights can’t be turned back on in the morning.

Voices can be very deceiving. Sometimes a voice sounds like the sexiest thing you’ve ever heard. Don’t be fooled! Just because someone sounds like Edward from Twilight doesn’t mean they actually resemble so much as his big toe. A person who sounds identical to Jenna Jameson might be better compared to your Schnauzer. It’s quite possible you are in the middle of a nightmare with a face not even a mother would love.

This is not to say that this should discourage you. After all you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover right? Just because someone isn’t your type doesn’t mean they can’t be your soul mate. When you are blind it’s easier to get to know someone for who they are and not how dazzling their blue eyes look in the moon light. A blind person has to realize that their entire definition of “type” needs to be altered to allow for new possibilities.

Maybe more sighted people should close their eyes when meeting someone new. The main problem is things aren’t always how they appear and the first time you touch your date you might be unpleasantly surprised. Running away screaming isn’t a good option when this happens. Don’t forget you can always peak. So the next time you’re nervous about your big blind date remember…

There’s always someone out there with a worse plight then you. Just suck it up and take a chance. At least you can see to make a smooth escape if things don’t go as planned.

If you liked this post please use the links below to share it with your friends. Be sure to subscribe to Playing the Blind Card to receive updates via Email when future posts are published. If you have any horrible blind date stories whether you’re blind or sighted please share them in the comment section of this post. I also have another blog at http://www.authornicolerae.blogspot.com where you can read a description of my upcoming book Clandestine Slayer Saga Book 1.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Introducing My New Blog

It is still in the beginning stages but I have started a new blog today to talk about my writing. It doesn't have a lot to it yet but I hope you all will check it out and subscribe.

Once you are there you can click on the link labeled "Clandestine" to read a blurb about my upcoming book. It will be out soon in Print and EBook format on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ITunes and hopefully at some point on book shelves at local book stores:) That last one is more of a dream of mine but we will see what happens.

I will still of course be writing for this blog so don't worry. In the very near future I will be publishing a post entitled "The Real Blind Date". The name obviously speaks for it's self so I wont bother summarizing but I know you will love it.

Please check out the new blog "Nicole Rae's Blog" and be sure to subscribe. I am also now on Twitter and you can find me at NicoleRae@NicoleRae83.There is a direct link to my Twitter on this site already and one will be up on the new blog tomorrow. The address for Nicole Rae's Blog is http://www.authornicolerae.blogspot.com

I am getting ready after publishing this post to add a link list feature to this site and it will have a direct link to the new blog for your convenience. For all my fellow blindy's if you scroll down until you find the heading "Visit My Other Pages", the link will be under that.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

I'M PUBLISHING A BOOK!!!

Hi everyone long time no talk! I apologize for my extended absence on the blog. I haven’t forgotten it I promise. I have just been very busy with my latest project… my first book!!

It’s called Clandestine~ Slayer Saga Book 1! I’m getting it published and hope to have it out next month! It’s an Urban Fantasy/paranormal fiction book for young adults and adults who carry the genre as a guilty pleasure. : )

It will be available in print and EBook. I’m trying to get things squared away for an audio format to be released but that process is a little bit trickier. So to my blind readers I am terribly sorry. Hopefully though you will be able to read the book in the EBook format with an EReader using a text to speech program. I really am sorry about this but I am going the Indie publishing rout and audio publishing is very expensive. I will remedy that problem as soon as I am able I assure you. I know what it’s like to want to read a book only to find it isn’t available in an accessible format.

The publishing industry is a confusing place. A lot of work goes into publishing a book. My hat’s off to all the Indie writers out there. One good thing is that aside from the work it’s not difficult. Well, scratch that. Parts of it are hard and others are just tedious. A prerequisite for this business are definitely motivation, drive, knowledge and passion.

I will be using Create Space, Kindle Direct and Smash Words. Create Space is who will be printing the book. They have excellent customer service. They offer a number of services that you can pay for to get your book out there smoother. The good thing about them is that if you are like me and don’t have a lot of money to get your project completed; they don’t hassle you. They also don’t disregard your customer service request just because you’re not buying their services. To all my blind readers who are looking to get a book published the Indie way; I think you will be pleasantly surprised with Create Space. They are very supportive and not opposed to revamping their explanations to fit our disability. There Do It yourself (DIY) process on their site are accessible and easy to understand. The only problem with the site that I’ve run into is with the Cover Creator tool they provide. Once you get past the first step it’s no longer accessible. Well, I will say it’s no longer accessible if you are running an older version of JAWS. I’m not sure if the problem would be remedied if you were using the current version.

I haven’t had to use the customer support for the other two companies mentioned above so I can’t give a recommendation one way or another with them. I will say that I have read articles by other Indie authors that say they used them and the process was relatively seamless. I didn’t see any complaints mentioned. I have not found any articles written by blind authors so I’m not sure about that aspect.

Did I mention my book was called Clandestine~~ Slayer Saga Book 1?? I am so excited! I hope that all of you loyal readers and even new ones order a copy and request your local book stores and libraries to carry it once it’s out as well. In the beginning it will only be available online but it will be listed in the two main catalogues for book distributors. This means book stores and libraries can easily search the title and order copies! Isn’t that cool??

I will be posting a blurb about it soon on all my sites but I have to put the finishing touches on the description. I’m going to be launching a second blog soon on Blogger to further publicize the book and also future books as they come out. I have debated and am still sort of on the fence on if using this blog as my book blog as well as to talk about blindness is a good idea. If any of you have an opinion I would really appreciate you leaving it in the comment section of this post or using the “Contact Me” link to send me a private message with your thoughts. Also leave a comment if you are interested in more information about Clandestine! I would be happy to chat with you about it

Side Note: I’ve recently signed up on Twitter! I’m not really sure completely how it works yet but am excited. It will give me yet another way to connect with peers, fans and friends. If you follow me on Twitter you will get updates about this blog, the new one if and when I publish it, book info and random tid bits from my life. If you tweet to me I will always respond so happy tweeting! You can click on the link under the heading “Follow Me on Twitter” on this page or search for me at http://www.twitter.com I’m under the @name NicoleRae83. Additional note to blind tweeters: The “N” and the “R” of my name on Twitter are capitalized. Hope to see all of you there!!

Don’t forget to leave your comments about the book blog dilemma in the comment section. And if you haven’t joined this site, the You Tube Channel or the Facebook page what are you waiting for? lol But seriously, please show your support by joining, subscribing and or liking.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Dreaming Blind

Everyone dreams whether they remember them or not is another story. The images depicted during sleep depend on the person who develops them. I was recently askedhow a blind person dreams? Does a person who is born blind have different dreams from someone who became blind?

The answers are simple. Blind people dream just like a sighted person. The only difference is the types of dreams that they have. Just as no two people are the same, neither are their dreams. Dreams are based on thoughts, memories and experiences.

That being said, it would obviously be difficult for a person who has been blind since birth to dream images. They do not have any visual memories or experiences to draw from. This is not to say that they are incapable of having a dream. It has been said that some people have what is called an auditory dream. This means the person dreams in sounds and voices. The dream will exhibit scenarios based on the dreamers experiences but in an all audio format with no pictures.

As for people who became blind later in life, their dreams depend on at what age they lost their sight. For example, a person who lost their sight at age fifty are going to have more visual experiences to draw from then a person who lost their sight at age five.

Personally, I dream as though I were still sighted. My sight really started to decline at age twenty. My sight in the waking hours was limited at best. In dreamland though my dreams have always been vivid and clear as crystal. The only time I don’t see things properly in my dreams is when I’m picturing something or someone that I’ve never actually seen. If I’m dreaming about a person they might have blurry features but are still present visually in some form or another. Sometimes my mind even makes up their appearance but what I think they might look like. Sometimes, I get this right other times the person looks the exact opposite of what I imagined.

I’m glad I dream so vividly. It gives me the opportunity to see faces and places I would have otherwise forgotten. It keeps me aquainted with the things that are most important to me. This way when the genious’s of the medical world invent a cure for my eye condition. Although, I do admit that I am slightly worried about this. People aren’t going to look just as I remember them. I wonder if I will even recognize certain people.

If you are a blind person reading this how do you dream? If you became blind later in life are your dreams different from when you could see? If you are sighted, what do you think you would miss the most if you only had auditory dreams?

If you have thoughts to these questions please log them in the comment section of this post. Also, feel free to ask any questions of your own. If I can’t answer them maybe one of the visually impaired readers wouldn’t mind fielding it.

As always thanks for reading.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Different Is Beautiful

All I see is blackness
My eyes are open
Still, nothing but darkness
Close your eyes
See what I see
But know for me there is no compromise
You treat me differently, as though I’m invisible
But I can still hear you
Even if you’re not visible
No matter our differences my feelings run true
It hurts to be ignored but laughter is grand
The same as it is for you
Even in the darkness I see you
So why in the light
Do you still have no clue
Open your mind
Turn off your judgments
You may like what you find
Equality is sweet
Differences are beautiful
So shake my hand the next time we meet

Written by: Nicole Rae

Friday, February 24, 2012

How To Give Directions To A Blind Person

Giving directions to a blind person can be tricky if you’ve never done it before. A lot of sighted people are of course very visual so it’s easy to give directions that don’t work for the visually impaired. This article is intended to teach a sighted person how to give descriptive directions that will help a blind person get to their destination safely without confusion. It’s not as difficult as it seems if you just follow a few simple tips.

When giving directions to a blind person it’s important to be as specific as possible. We can’t see landmarks; street signs or any other visual cues that would help us indicate where we are. This means giving directions needs to be like drawing a picture. When doing this activity you pay lots of attention to detail right? Well, that’s what a blind person needs when they ask how to get somewhere.

Many blind people navigate freely around their town or city every day. But even the most experienced traveler can get mixed up or lost on occasion. When they do they have to depend on people around them to figure out which way to go. It can be very scary and frustrating not knowing where you are whether you are blind or your sighted. When you’re sighted though it’s a little easier because you can retrace your steps and visually search for what it is you’re looking for.

Blind people have to be careful because one wrong turn or step can throw their sense of direction completely off track. Once this occurs it can sometimes be hard to regain control. That is when the person might solicit assistance from someone passing by, or from someone in a near by shop.

If you are ever asked for help don’t panic. Just remember what I said about drawing the picture. Use descriptive words to express what you are trying to say.I can’t stress enough the importance of being specific.

Use phrases like, “turn right,” or “straight ahead three blocks.” It’s not necessary to talk to them like they are three but it is necessary to convey the directions in a manner they can understand them. Try and imagine getting somewhere with your eyes closed. What type of information would help you get to where you needed to go?

Never use words like, “it’s on main street,” “There’s a big sign you can’t miss it”. The reason the first example isn’t a good one is because the person might not have a clue where Main Street is. Never assume the blind person you are helping is a seasoned traveler. It’s okay to say something is on Main Street but add some more detail with it. For example, “If you go straight ahead four blocks that will bring you to Main Street. Turn right there and it will be the third driveway on your left.” The reason the second example is no good is somewhat obvious. The person you are helping is blind silly. They can’t see the big sign unless it’s in the front of the store and they run into it. Even then, they don’t know for sure that’s the sign they were supposed to be looking for.

When you’re done explaining the directions try to make sure they understand what you said. Be sure to do so in a polite way though. It could be easy to misconstrue this has talking down to the person. If you have time and they still seem confused, don’t be afraid to ask if they would like you to show them. They might of course say no but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. The offer might be appreciated and welcome. It’s possible they wanted to ask you to show them but felt awkward. If they do accept your offer be sure to ask them what type of help they need if any while walking. Some might just want to walk along side you unassisted. Others might prefer to use something called sighted guide. This means that they hold your arm. No two blind people are alike though so checking with them on their personal preference is a must.

If you follow these few steps you shouldn’t have any problems giving a blind person directions. It’s not really that different from giving directions to a sighted person. There’s just more specific detail needed to properly convey your instructions. If you have any other questions about giving directions feel free to leave them in the comment section of this post. If you would rather you can also use the contact me link to send me a private message.

If you liked this post please share it with your friends. For further information you can also check out the You Tube channel for this site. There you will find a video called How To Talk To A Blind Person. There will be more videos to come on the topic of relating to a blind person. There’s a link that will take you directly to the You Tube channel on this page.

Friday, February 17, 2012

10 Things Better Not To Say To A Blind Person

1. “Look at that!”

2. “OMG did you see that?!”

3. “Can you grab the wheel for a second?”

4. “You’re not really blind. You’re faking.”

5. “Did you know ray Charles?”

6. “In your imagination, are you still blind?”

7. “Catch!”

8. “Do I have something in my teeth?”

9. “I waved at you when I saw you at the store yesterday. Why didn’t you wave back? That was rude.”

10. “We need to get their in a hurry. Do you wanna borrow my bike?”

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Scary Movie

The worst part about watching a scary movie is that my imagination tends to be worse then what’s on the screen. It might be a normal and totally typical scary suspense scene. My mined however, portrays it as the top ten scariest movies of the year all rolled in to one movie. I think it’s the whole idea of the unknown. You know, the boogie man is behind every corner and all that?

When I was a kid I loved scary movies. I watched them all. Nightmare On elm Street, It, Pet Cemetery and all the others. I didn’t even bat an eye lash back then. I could handle watching things that my big brother didn’t even like. He would find an excuse to have to leave the room while I laid on the floor cheering for more.

Now though, yeah not so much. I still like the idea of a scary movie now and then. They just scare the holy living crap out of me. I will watch them but never alone. Certain ones I wont even consider watching if I know ahead of time that the plot line doesn’t work for me. Which to be honest, these days that’s pretty much all of them.

When you can’t see suddenly the music is twice as creepy. People jumping out to frighten the unsuspecting victim makes you scream when it never did before. The voice of a vicious serial killer sounds much more menacing and gets engraved in your mind for later dream torture.

Once it’s over and I go to bed I tend to reenact what I just watched and of course think of all the reasons it’s logical, realistic, and was indeed going to get me in my bed. Thus, I don’t do a lot of sleeping on nights I watch a horror movie. Which of course is why I don’t watch them very often? I’m just not a fan anymore. I do miss the thrillers very much but my anxiety tends to override the desire.

Next time you rent a good horror flick try watching it for the first time with your eyes closed. Make sure you don’t peek. Try and remember when it’s over what your mind imagined and then watch it again with your eyes open for full viewing pleasure. Once that’s done compare the two experiences. When you could see it was it much different then you expected? Did your imagination run wild with overly exaggerated scenes while your eyes were closed? Did you jump and gasp more often? If you do actually take this challenge, I encourage you to leave your experience in the comment section of this post.

For the readers that are blind, do you feel the same about scary movies as I do? Or, are you much braver? Maybe you’ve even have found you love them more now that you can’t see? For those who were born blind how do you feel about scary movies? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section as well. I have disabled captcha when commenting so this process should be easier now.

Did you like this post? If so, please share the link with your friends. Be sure to check out the Facebook fan page and You Tube channel for this site before you go. Oh, and if you haven’t taken the “who are you?” pole yet please be sure to do that as well.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

No More Captcha

I've been trying to figure out how to get accessable captcha but still no luck. I wanted to announce that for the time being I have disabled the captcha when leaving comments all together. Once I discover a more accessable form of captcha it will be back up again.

I hope this makes it easier for blind and those with low vision to leave comments on posts of their choice. This will be continued on a trial basis. What I mean is, I'll keep it this way as long as a stupid spam bot doesn't start blowing up the page. Hopefully I will have found something that works well before then.

As always thanks for reading and I hope you come back soon. Oh and by the way! If you haven't joined the site or the Facebook page be sure to do that before you leave :)

Monday, February 13, 2012

Blind People Doing Big Things... Ice Skating

Stash Serafin has been blind since birth. Yes, that’s right, totally blind since birth! He is an unbelievably awesome example of Blind People Doing Big Things. His passion and drive has inspired many people.

Stash has been figure skating since 1968. He has helped raise money for Olympic skaters as well as for projects for skaters with disabilities. He has done numerous motivational speeches and appeared on Good Morning America as well as the radio.

Apparently Stash is a multi-tasker. Not only does he skate beautifully but he has also co-written a book titled You Can’t Get it’Cause You’ve Already Got it. You can find this book on Amazon.

The video I am linking below is one of three on his You Tube channel. In this video Stash performs his electrifying skating moves seemingly effortlessly. He spins and jumps in time with the music. He performs completely unassisted as he glides across the ice. Hitting the side walls of the rink is a danger but it doesn’t stop him. His skill comes from hard work and skating by sound. Every time he clears a jump or masterful spin the crowd erupts with cheers and applause. In between skate scenes you will get to hear from Serafin himself.

I hope you like this video as much as I did. I encourage readers to check out his other videos on his channel.





Sunday, February 12, 2012

The next You Tube Video

Hello all! Please come check out the latest video on You Tube for Playing The Blind Card called "How To Talk To A Blind Person".

It just gives a few helful tips on the right and wrong way to talk to a blind person.

Please be sure to subscribe to the video and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Over to the right is a link that says "subscribe to me on You Tube". Pressing this link will take you directly to the You Tube channel for this site.

Do you have any ideas for upcoming video topics? Leave a comment below with any suggestions.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Quote Of The Day

"Self pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world." ~~Helen Keller

Peek-A-Boo I Can't See You

All kids love hide and seek and my two girls are no exception. My oldest daughter loved that game since as long as I can remember. The moment she learned it was her favorite. This was true even though she didn’t always quite grasp the concept.

I remember when I could still see she would put her hands up and cover her eyes. She would be standing in the middle of the room when she did this. She thought what a lot of little ones thought. If she couldn’t see me then I couldn’t see her. My favorite though was when she would hide behind sheer curtains staring right at me the whole time. She saw me looking back at her but that made no difference. When I commenced the man hunt leaving no pillow unturned she would giggle from her latest favorite hiding spot. When I looked behind the curtain there was an eruption of hysterical giggles that burst from her smiling lips.

As my sight depleted, this game became harder and harder. I must admit it was made easier by her snickering that would get louder the closer I got to her. It was like a blind person’s game of hot and cold.

She soon realized though that playing hide and seek with mommy was the best. She could resort back to hiding in the middle of the room again and she didn’t even have to cover her eyes. She soon became the master of stealth mode.

It wasn’t long before the giggles were nonexistent. The thrill of the hunt was to enticing for her. She liked to wait me out and see how long it took to be found. Now I use the “found” term loosely because there were a few times where I would trip and she would give up the game to see if I was okay. Once I realized this I learned to use that to my advantage during the games that were never ending. I would randomly sit down on the ground saying, “Oh no honey! Mom fell down!” It worked every time. No, I didn’t do this every time but sometimes it was necessary. That girl could seriously last forever.

Have you ever seen the movie 007? I used to think of Lex as 00-kid. She could hold herself completely still. There wouldn’t be a single peep to help me locate her hiding spot. Sometimes I swear she stopped breathing.

The worst part about this was when she was in trouble. She would get into something and take off running with it. Just when I thought I was getting close to her she would dodge me and slip into stealth mode. I learned the power of patience real quick. She was young enough that threatening time out didn’t work well yet. I had to just wait her out. Sometimes she would get bored and talk to me. Other times though I would have to implement the fall down tactic I mentioned before.

I know what you are thinking. Scary. Yes it was sometimes but for the most part I knew it wasn’t a big deal. My house was totally baby proofed and nothing was left out that could be potentially harmful and all my plug ins were covered.

The most important thing for blind parents to remember is to take deep breaths and calm down. As long as you have your house baby proofed and all the exits locked, you don’t have a lot to worry about. Enjoy your kids and learn to laugh more when times are tough. It’s not the end of the world I promise. Kids hide from their parents every day. The only difference is our kids can do it out in the open.
Stay tuned for the next installment of Peek-A-Boo I can’t See You where I will tell you about my youngest. She has never known me as a sighted parent so things are a little different.

Did you like this post? Tell me so by using the reaction box below and see what others think as well. Do you have similar stories? Tell me about those in the comment section or send me a message using the “Contact Me” link. Also, don’t forget to join this site for updates on future posts.

Friday, February 10, 2012

11 Things I Wish I couldn't Hear

1. That kid that throws a continual temper tantrum while sitting in a shopping cart
2. The cars with the overly loud car engines that are not supposed to be that way
3. The people that yell at you because they think since you can’t see you must be deaf too
4. The people that talk to you like you’re two because you can’t see even though you are a full grown adult
5. The people in your life who seem to have never ending gas and love to share it with everyone (would also qualify for things I wish I couldn’t smell)
6. A child back talking until you as the parent reach the point of OMG! I’m going to beat my head against the wall just so I don’t have to listen to this anymore
7. The sound of crows in the morning when you’re camping and trying to sleep
8. The car horn that honks right next to you and makes you jump out of your skin
9. Negativity of any kind… people should really keep that to themselves
10. The annoying elevator style music some department stores choose to play
11. The sound of someone hocking up something that was better left where it was in the first place

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Playing The Blind Card Now On You Tube

Now readers can check out videos for Playing The Blind Card on You Tube! On the channel you will also see videos that others have posted about blindness. The videos used in the posts entitled "Blind People Doing Big Things" can also be found here. Be sure to subscribe to the channel to stay up to date on what's happening.

Please leave comments on the video page with your thoughts, experiences and things you like about the blog.

Below is the link to the first video. This video mainly talks about the blog and what people can find here. Since the blog is devoted to blindness, the video is audio only. So don't worry when you hear a voice and there's no picture... it's supposed to be like that. Enjoy!

Check it out!


Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Quote Of The Day...

"Remember when life gets you down to always keep your head up... you can't see the ground anyway."~~ Nikki Rae

Monday, February 6, 2012

Did That Really Just Happen 3

I frequently go to town with my Gram. For the most part not a lot usually happens during our shopping adventures. We usually get in and out with no problem or issue. There was one trip in particular though, that stands out in my mind.

We were at Jc Penny’s browsing around from department to department minding our own business. We were walking down the main aisle chatting away about anything and everything like usual. We tend to get distracted by our chatter and forget the purpose of what we were doing in the first place.

I was using my cane to help avoid obstacles. The cane I was using at the time was a standard cane with a rolling tip. I have never been fond of the tapping method.

So there we were walking side by side down the main aisle. I was holding my Gram’s arm and moving my cane back and forth in front of me like I was supposed to. There weren’t very many people in the store that day which is what I prefer. Up ahead several feet a woman was walking toward us.

Gram informed me that my suspicions were correct. The woman was staring at me. Don’t people realize that when they stare the person they are staring at can usually feel it? The woman was staring so hard that I should have been frozen in place with the intensity of it.

The sights and sounds around her were of no interest. Apparently the show of a blind person walking with a cane in real life was more appealing than all the clearance racks combined. The entire time she approached us her penetrating eyes never left me.

The nosy woman was so completely and utterly transfixed on me that she apparently forgot to look where she was walking. Maybe I should have offered to let her use my cane. As she was getting ready to pass me she seriously tripped over my cane. She stumbled forward bracing herself. She turned around like what just happened?

Without any hesitation I spun toward her and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t see you there”. My voice was totally dead pan with a hint of sarcasm as though it was my mistake and not hers. But of course completely obvious that I clearly knew what had really just happened.

She refocused her stare on me for a few seconds. Her face flushed red and she turned and walked away without saying anything.

The entire time this transpired Gram was laughing. After the embarrassed lady walked away I joined my Gram and burst into hysterical giggles. I guess the moral of this story is if you are going to stare at least keep an eye on where you are going.

If you liked this post be sure to say so in the reaction box below. As always feel free to leave comments with your thoughts and or personal experiences. They are always welcome and encouraged.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

You can Look But Don't Touch

Lots of blind people all across the world have a guide dog as their chosen form of mobility. They enjoy the freedom that a steady moving guide can bring into their lives. As much as a furry friend can offer a sightless person it can also cause some bumps along the road. However, these obstacles are not always the dogs fault.

Many of the people around the team don’t know the right and wrong way to interact with a blind person with a guide dog. Of course the puppy is cute and looks so incredibly cuddly. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean you should try and coax it over to you for a rub down or a baby talk session.

Rule number one for people who come across a guide team is you can look but don’t touch. It is never under any circumstance okay to interrupt a dog. When they are helping their person get from point “A” to point “B”, they are working. You wouldn’t walk into a surgery that is already in progress to quiz the doctor on the type of soap he used before opening up the patients heart would you?

Interrupting a guide while they are hard at work can be just as detrimental. Distractions cause accidents and accidents cause injuries. You may not intend on causing harm when you whistle at their beautiful Lab but it may very well happen. It might seem like an alright thing to do but it’s not.

A guide dog and their person are trained to work in sink together as a unified team. They communicate to each other all the time even if not in words. Once distracted the link is broken. A guide in essence is of course just like any other dog. If someone talks sweet or whistles at them they are going to turn their head and possibly trot over. But what if this happens while standing on a street corner? The dog may try to barrel across to greet you forgetting their person is still attached to the harness. This can put both the dog and their person in potential danger from passing cars.

If a guide dog is constantly bombarded with people trying to distract him or her they may become overwhelmed. It can in some cases be difficult for a person to get their guide back on track. The dogs guide work will suffer because of this and become sloppy. They may be too busy thinking about what the stranger distracting them is doing to notice a pole that’s clearly in their person’s path.

If you encounter a guide team and you are in position to reach out and touch the dog, please refrain from doing so. It is frowned upon by most blind people for someone to randomly pet their dog. Some will allow such interactions but only with permission. If they say no don’t be offended. They just might not have time or the dog may not handle interaction with other people gracefully. For some dogs, once they get that one pat on the head they can’t stop looking for their next fix from those passing by.

Don’t worry; guide dogs are not abused, unloved or lacking in the loving attention department. Even if you don’t see a blind person playing or cuddling with their guide that doesn’t mean they don’t have a deeply attached relationship. Most guide teams have a closer nit bond than that of a regular man’s best friend type of situation. After all, a guide dog works hard every day to ensure their person is safe every second that they are out and about. The blind person thereby puts all of their trust and their life into the guide dog’s capable paws. This makes for a firm lasting connection. Many people say for them it was love at first lick.

Friday, February 3, 2012

10 Reactions To Staring

Have you ever been out in public and felt eyes boring into your back? Did you ever wonder what you could say to them instead of the expletives that may be floating around your head? If you answered yes to either question this list can help you. The following are things you can say to your admirer while still being appropriate for public consumption.


1. “Can I help you?”

2. Turn around in their direction and blow a raspberry at them.

3. “I know I have a cute butt but could you please stop staring at it?”

4. “Peek a boo… I see you”.

5. Look right in their direction and say, “you have a little something on your teeth.” Don’t forget to point to your own teeth showing them where. This will leave them even more confused.

6. Start dancing wildly and really give them something to look at. Keep in mind this may promote more staring but for an entirely different reason.

7. Try and get as close to them as you can and ask, “Does that help you see me better?”

8. “Staring is how I became blind... just sayin.”

9. “I’m sorry I’m not telepathic so I don’t know what you’re trying to say. Could you please speak outside of your mind?”

10. Turn to them and say, “Did you know?” and then add in something really embarrassing and awkward that is totally random but making them regret they got your attention in the first place.


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Thursday, February 2, 2012

Quote Of The Day

"Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness."~~Helen Keller

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Note To Readers...

Hey everyone I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you for being part of this site. Today the stats reached a little over 500 views and it hasn't even been three full weeks!!! So thanks guys for being loyal readers! You absolutely rock! Lots of new things are going to be happening on the site soon so keep checking back often... and if you haven't click the "follow" link be sure to do that so you can stay up to date on the sites progress. xoxoxoxoxo

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Blind People Doing Big Things... Blind Water Skier




Who says blind people can’t take part in athletic activities? If anyone does they would definitely be wrong. This fact can in part be proven by a man named Steve Thiele. In an article on wire.com writer Erik Malinowski informed readers about this mans amazing achievements.

He is a 45 year old man from Audley England. He works as an IT engineer. An accident where he fell head first out of a tree has left him blind since age eight. Regardless of his disability he is now a true athlete. His sport? He enjoys to water ski and is quite good at it. The only special equipment he uses is a whistle that allows him to communicate with the boats driver audibly.

In the past, Thiele has been a competitor in the Disabled Water Ski World Championship. As if that wasn’t enough, he took his sport to new heights when he decided he was going to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest water-skiing distance by a blind person. Before his attempt the record stood at twenty miles. The only stipulation was he had to wear a blind fold like everyone else even though he is blind.
Thiele took this as an opportunity to raise money for two different charities. The charities included Cancer Research UK and Ghana Outlook. The second charity named, aids in the building of schools in Ghana. He was able to raise thousands of dollars for the two organizations. This alone is an outstanding achievement.

The blind athlete’s efforts did not go unrewarded. At the end of his trek the final distance calculated was 23.85 miles. He achieved this goal in 59 minutes and 45seconds. So not only did he make his goal but he did it in under an hour.

This is living proof that you can do anything you set your mind to despite your limitations. He is a role model for disabled people every where and should be very proud of himself. Below is a link to the video of this fantastic accomplishment that was posted on You Tube. Enjoy!


Sources: Erik Malinowski, “IT Manager Sets Blind Water-Skiing World Record”. Wire.com



Quote Of The Day

"Everything has it's wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn whatever state I am in, therein to be content"~Helen Keller

Monday, January 30, 2012

Funny Things Kids Say

Absolutely nothing beats the innocence of a child. When they are little they have little exposure to things that are considered “different”. The wonderful thing about a kid is they have no filter. They usually say exactly what they are thinking right when they think it. The children in my life are no exception to that rule.

My nephew once told me when he was little that he was going to buy me new eyes at wal Mart. He was going to make sure they were green because that’s what color my eyes are. He would make sure they weren’t broken this time and he was sorry they are broken now.

My niece once told me that she wished I could see her because she sure was pretty.

My daughter used to tell me on a regular basis that she loved playing hide and go seek with me especially when I was it.

The same nephew as above told me that he knew how to fix me. He went on to tell me that all I needed to do was blink. That always makes his eyes feel better.

Another one of my nieces tells me that I got ripped off on a regular basis and that I need to right a letter of complaint to someone.

My friend’s son said, “That would really suck to be blind. I don’t know how you eat.”

My other nephew used to make his own version of a Verizon slogan. “Can you see me now? … How about now?.... And now?...”

Another little boy told me that maybe if I cover one eye that would help me to see better.

A friend’s daughter was very upset. She said, “If she can’t see me how will she know who I am?”

My oldest nephew once told me that if he could he would give me his eyes… Or at least one of them he needed to at least see half of what was going on. But at least then we would be equal.


Sunday, January 29, 2012

Dressing In The Dark

Okay so obviously I can dress my children. Most of the time they are even matching. Nevertheless, this is a challenge that a lot of blind people go through every day. I have a few helpful tips to allow this to not become to big of a problem.

Whenever my girls try and dress themselves and try and leave the house wearing something that isn’t necessarily attractive I would fear the eyes would be on me again. For a long time in the beginning I was always afraid of that. I didn’t want people to think that just because I was blind, my children as well as I would look like we got dressed in the dark (no pun intended). When I would tell someone about my fear I would always say, “Everyone’s going to look at the girls! They are going to say poor little blind girl can’t dress her kids…” I figured that all parents thanks to my disability I had to work twice as hard to make sure they look good to fight against the stigma.

Before you say it, yes I know it’s irrational. Of course kids are not going to match all the time once they get to be the age where they want to dress themselves. I know that and you know that and pretty much everyone else knows that too. But, when they see the mismatched child with the tights on her head and me with my cane what do you think they think? In my defense I really don’t care about that anymore. I’m over it. If people are going to stare anyway I might as well give them something to stare at right?

My oldest daughter is ten and she helps out a lot with this dilemma. She tells me what colors things are and what kind of pattern they have on them. When my youngest who is three attempts some outlandish combination she clues me in before it’s too late. They drive me crazy but they really are the best kids in the whole world. Together we are a team… even if uncoordinated sometimes.

There is assistive technology to aid with colors. The main problem with this equipment is their price. They tend to be somewhat expensive so choose wisely. Also, remember cheaper isn’t always better in some cases. If you buy one and it isn’t right for you it may be a while before you can afford an upgrade. Always double check return policies for exchange and money back guarantees. I personally have one of these devices and it’s great in theory. The only trouble is that it doesn’t tell you if there are patterns on the clothing and it’s not always accurate. If you decide to go that route be sure you do your research. Check around and get the best quality product for your money.

Another solution for this is to ask for help! Of course not all of us have ready and able help at our every hearts desire or request. For those of you who do though, don’t be afraid to ask. I have my mom to help with matching issues. When it comes time to put clothes on the hanger she puts them on for me as matching sets. This saves me a lot of time and headaches in the choosing clothes department. She also helps me to treat the girl’s shirts for stains. Especially with my three year old this is a must. She tends to think it’s best to bathe in the food rather than simply put it into her mouth. I am very lucky to have a mom that is so willing to help with this no questions asked.

For clothes that are not meant to be mated pairs I just have to pay careful attention to what I’m choosing. I learn what things are by feel. After a while things are recognizable to my hands even if not to my eyes. I make sure her pants, pajamas and underclothes are all in their own separate drawers. If a particular pair of pants has embroidery or some other pattern that make they harder to match then they get hung up. This forces me to remember that these have to be matched more carefully then a plain Jane pair of jeans. In some cases I even put them in a certain area of the closet to help me remember what’s what.

This in turn brings me to my next personal preference. I try to mainly purchase pants that will go with any shirt combination. For instance, a regular pair of blue jeans will go with almost everything.

In addition to selective pants purchasing, I attempt to do the same with socks. It can be difficult for a blind person to mate a pair of socks once they are stretched or shrunk with continual wash and wear. And don’t get me started on colors! What I do is at least try and buy each member of the household their own individual style of socks. For example, for myself I might buy ankle socks. But since me and my oldest daughter wear close to the same size I could buy her mid length. My youngest daughter prefers ankle socks as well but that works because she of course has much smaller feet than me. The other thing I try and remember is that white socks are the best option. Once different colors get thrown in the mix it gets harder to fold them properly. This would then mean that someone in the house is going to end up with a striped green sock paired with a solid hot pink one. While this may not matter if you are wearing pants to hide them it wouldn’t work if you were wearing shorts.

It’s important for blind people to wake up and swallow that huge lump of pride that some of us have in our throats. Learn to laugh when you find out your child doesn’t look their best. It’s really no big deal. Even sighted people take their kids and themselves out in public wearing God offal combinations that others wouldn’t be caught dead in. The only difference between us and them is that they chose to look like that on purpose. We at least have an excuse. If you have the “blind card” at your disposal you might as well use it in this circumstance.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Blind Black Friday

Black Friday can be a treacherous shopping day no matter who you are. Its main objective... get everything on your list at rock bottom prices and of course survive the crazy at all cost. People rush, trample, scream, fight and generally forget all the manners and good grace they were ever taught during their entire lifetime.

So, do you have a mental image in your head yet? Perhaps a memory floating through your mind? Do you ever recall after the shopping day was finally done saying to yourself, “I’m never doing that again”? If you said yes to any of these then great! We are on the same page.

I tell myself every year I’m never ever under any circumstance going to do that again. Then, the following year roles around much too quickly and I find myself waiting in the long lines like everyone else. I know ridiculous but unfortunately they had me at “savings”.

Still have that mental nightmare in your head? Well now I’d like you to attempt to imagine the experience all over again but as a blind person. Ha Ha, got a headache yet?

Of course I should start off by saying I’ve never done Black Friday by myself. I honestly don’t think that prospect would ever occur to me. The night before, I gather my list and wait for my ride (who ever it may be that year) and sike myself up for the coming day’s events. I am going to share with you to help you discover the monumentous horrors… oops I meant joys of my Black Friday experiences.

Most of the time as I’ve mentioned in a prior post, people tend to give me a wide birth. I can’t explain it I think they think blindness is contagious. Sometimes I like to purposefully cough in their direction for good measure. Is that rude? Anyway as I was saying. If I start out at a store where you have to wait outside in a “line” it sucks just like for everyone else. It’s of course always freezing outside and the “line” tends to do a wrap around the entire store half the parking lot and a million blocks later you find the end where I tend to get the pleasure of standing. You know how some people camp out in line so they can be the lucky winner of a scarf for getting there first? Well, I’ve never been that person. I’ll just buy my own scarf thank you very much. Although, one year at Target I got to move to the front of the line because they didn’t want me to get trampled. Sure I can take care of myself but it was sure considerate of them to think of me (sarcasm). Personally, I think they just didn’t want the bad publicity in the paper. The headline would read: Blind Girl Smashed At Black Friday.

When stores allow you to be in the store from the beginning that is also interesting. When my companion for the day tries to walk down and aisle they sometimes leave me with the cart at the end so they can move through quicker. Sounds fine right? You would think so but nope. That’s always about the time someone else wants something from a shelf that I am of course blocking. They for whatever reason say nothing. They just stand there expecting me to use the force and know they are there. Sure I feel them staring but that’s a regular occurrence for me so it doesn’t normally occur to me someone might need to get by me until it’s much too late. Oh and besides, what am I supposed to do every time I feel eyes on me be like, “hello? I feel the eyes on me… am I in the way?” Um… probably not.

Another problem that tens to happen is when I’m rushing through the store by sighted guide I sort of get run in to a whole lot of people, shelves, displays, signs and the list goes on and on. In all fairness it’s not their fault. They are in a hurry. They want to get in and get out as quick and painless as possible. It just so happens that in the process of this my lack of pain tolerance is forgotten. I’ve never gotten seriously injured so really it can be categorized under “no blood, no foul”. When I run into a person there is usually one of two reactions. First, they and or I say excuse me and we then go about our business. Second and much more common the other person gets some what annoyed. The worst part is sometimes they stay annoyed even when they find out I can’t see them. Apparently those people are related to the staring people and think I have the Jedi mind tricks and extra human abilities.

While all this is going on my heart is racing and not with anticipation. I’m personally not a huge fan of shoulder to shoulder traffic where I can smell ten different kinds of bad breath and body odor at one time in the artificially confined space. It’s very overwhelming for me to have a million different people and conversations happening around me all at once and they become jumbled into one giant loud humming noise. On Black Friday there is definitely no avoiding the crowds. The things I do for my baby girls… hopefully some day they will appreciate my self sacrifice.

Once we have all our items and go to stand in line I’m totally relieved and over the stress (at least a little) because the excitement of getting my girls things they wanted for Christmas is powerful for me. I don’t have the money to go spending crazy on them all year so Christmas is my one big hoopla for the year.

The worst part of standing in the line is when my companion gets distracted in conversation or by browsing the impulse items that the store’s strategically place through out the line. I’ve actually had someone run into my back with their cart to get the point across that the line was moving. Boy do they usually feel bad once they fine out they just tried to run down a blind girl. Hahahaha! Some people seriously need to learn manners. Under what circumstance is it ever okay to just randomly ram your cart into someone? Haven’t they ever heard of saying “excuse me”?

The last part of the line is the check out. A person should be home free at this point right? Nope, of course not. Inevitably in my effort to hurry and get the heck out of there I punch in the wrong pin number for my debit card. Which as you probably know means you have to have the checker reset so you can rerun your card. This always embarrasses the crap out of me. It always makes me think that the people in line behind me assume I have no money and they’re about to watch me have to put all my stuff back. Not to mention they tend to get a little huffy when the line is held up. I can’t blame them though I’m not a very patient line waiter either.

As much of a hassle as Black Friday can be I do think it’s kind of fun. Obviously, why else would I keep coming back? I just wish the dropped prices wouldn’t bring out the animalistic blood lust in people. No item, no matter how cheap, is worth the loss of ones humanity.

PS… Do you have any horror stories from deep in the trenches of Black Friday? Share them down in the comment section.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

11 Worst Questions To Ask A Blind Person... Just In Case You Were Wondering

1. When encountering a person from high school that you haven’t seen since before you lost your sight they may ask you a question like “Are you blind?” Or even better dramatically ask, “OMG what happened to you?” An acceptable response to the first is “OMG am I? HOLY CRAP! How did I not know that?” An acceptable answer for the second might be, “I didn’t eat all my carrots? Do you eat enough carrots in a day?”

2. When someone asks how you text you should tell them your phone is brail capable and watch their reaction.

3. “How do you wipe your butt?” Okay, so this doesn’t really need a reaction. Just give the person a good strong glare and leave it at that because that’s just a rude and completely odd question to ask someone.

4. “How do you watch TV?” Personally, I usually just say, “well, how do you watch TV?” My favorite answer for this one is… “Well, I usually turn on the captions.” To this I actually had someone reply once “really?” They sounded totally amazed. Hahahaha

5. “Do you idolize Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles? Oh! And do you bob your head like them?” For this there is no real response because well… really? Why would you ask that?

6. “How did you know you were blind?” A good reaction for this one is as follows. “It was the funniest thing; suddenly I heard a voice in my head like a loud speaker. It said hey guess what you’re going blind and the person you’re talking to right now is an idiot”. How do you not know you’ve lost your sight? Okay, so I know it was kind of rude of me to call them an idiot but they caught me on an off day.
7. “If I take you to see a silent film, could I get you in for free?” Response: just walk away shaking your head.

8. “What does (insert object) look like?” My favorite response to this is to describe something as though I see it then laugh at their reaction.

9. “Since you can’t see a book to read it anymore did you forget how?” Just say “it’s like riding a bike”. Then, when they ask, “you can do that?” you can say, “Sure can I borrow yours?”

10. “Why don’t you wear sun glasses?” This one is probably one of my favs. I usually say, “They’re too hard for me to see through.” When you say this make sure to sound as serious as possible with a straight face… reactions can be comical.

11.  As odd as it sounds, someone may randomly come up to you while you’re holding your cane in plain sight and say, “Do you know where the Febreeze is?” To this you smile and say, “oh yeah sure.” Turn down the aisle and point vaguely off into the distance. “Do you see that sign down there?” There will probably be hesitation while they attempt to look. Eventually they say, “No, I don’t.” Their voice is strained in concentration. Then you look in their direction and reply, “Neither do I. You may want to ask someone else.” Then hold up your cane toward them.
PS… Believe it or not all of these questions have been asked at one point or another. They are perfect examples of why it’s imperative to have a good sense of humor. Don’t let things bother you just roll with it. Don’t forget to click the “Follow” link to be updated when future lists are published. Also, if you like this list be sure to share it with your friends on Face Book, Twitter and or e-mail. If you have anything to add to this list, let me know in the comment section for future posts like this one. I hope I made you smile.






Blind People Doing Big Things...Blind Hunter

A lot of sighted and even some of the sightless people pigeon hole the blind community as merely part of the vast group of disabled population in the world. Some people may even assume that certain activities are beyond a blind or low vision person’s capabilities. In pretty much all cases this is completely untrue. As long as the word “can’t” is not a part of their active vocabulary there’s very little they are unable to accomplish. All they need is the drive and motivation to get the task done.

While perusing the internet I found a man with just that kind of motivation. I came across this video last week on You Tube. It is a great example that blind people can do anything they set their mind to regardless of their limitations. In this video you will see a man named Mike Sanders. It was taken August 1, 2008.

The video captures Sanders and company on a hunt at 6:50 am. He used a .308 caliber rifle. Before watching be sure to turn your speakers up. You can hear the two men whispering while they prepare.

In the beginning, Sanders’s companion tells him where to aim the rifle. The desired target was an antelope off in the distance. You can hear the companion telling him in which direction to point the gun. They do this until the aim is exactly how they want it.

Once given the go ahead Sanders makes his shot. His companion and the person behind the camera informed him that the antelope was down. He made his kill. The pride his friends felt for him was evident even in just listening to the video.

Sanders was elated at the news. He sounds as though he was totally astounded by his own accomplishment. He even asks his friends more than once, “Did I get it?” His feeling of victory was very powerful.

Several people commented on the video of Sanders. One commenter said, “What a fantastic story, you are a true inspiration!! Your excitement after the shot is absolutely priceless. Congrats!!!”. Most of all the comments were similar models to this one. There’s even a comment from a blind user asking for hunting tips on sighting a gun.

I myself am not a hunter, but I too was moved by what I heard. His excitement was infectious. Check out the video and see what I mean.

PS… No worries for anyone with a weak stomach. The clip does not show the antelope fall.  Also, to my brother Bob... See! I told you I could go with you! :)

Disclaimer: I hold no rights to this video. I’m merely posting it as a fan.