If you are an East Coast fan then go New Jersey Devils!

If you are a West Coast fan then go Los Angeles Kings!

FYI: This is a Stanley Cup(Hockey) post.

Have a nice day.

That’s all this post is for. Once my email starts working right I’ll post again. Until then I’ll keep posting youtube videos and other nonsense.

Just a song I found the other day. It’s almost 10 minutes long so don’t feel like you have to listen to the whoe thing. I just liked it because it has ‘shadow’ in the title. It’s by an artist named Miikka Leinonen.

Today I am writing about the colt named I’ll Have Another that will be racing for the Triple Crown on June 9th. It has been 34 years since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978. Just a week ago the movie about the racehorse Secretariat was on and I watched it with my Mom and little brother, Marcus. Secretariat was the first horse in 28 years to win the Triple Crown. He raced back in the early 70′s. In about a six year span Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed each won the Triple Crown. Now it is I’ll Have Another who is ready to take his shot.

I should admit that I’m not a very big horse racing fan. It really is a sport enjoyed by those who are wealthy. Now when War Admiral and Seabiscuit faced off back in the 30′s, horse racing was a HUGE sport. Anymore it’s just for those who can afford the horses, those who can afford to place large wagers on the outcomes of the races, and those(like me) who only tune in for the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes.

I really would not have written about this subject had it not been for the fact that there is a Triple Crown on the line. I had fun watching the Preakness because my Mother and I were down visiting the grandparents when it was on last weekend. The main point of that visit was to plan a vacation together. But with I’ll Have Another winning the Preakness to go along with his victory earlier in May at the Kentucky Derby, the visit took on a whole new flavor. I don’t think either of my grandparents really cared much about the race, or horse racing in general, but maybe they’ll tune in to the Belmont Stakes.

Now as to I’ll Have Another’s chances. The second place horse in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness was Bodemeister. He is owned by Bob Baffert who, every year, has a horse running in the Derby. But Bodemeister will not race in the Belmont Stakes(last I checked) so the path is clear for I’ll Have Another to win. Here is I’ll Have Another’s pedigree. That’s only if you really care. I don’t know any of those horses so I can’t tell you which horse had stamina or which had endurance or any of that.

I wasn’t even alive the last time there was a Triple Crown winner so it would be quite cool to see one. In other words, I will be rooting for I’ll Have Another to win on June 9th. If he can pull it off the owner, J. Paul Reddam, will be a very rich man. I’ll bet that if he wins the race, he will immediately be put to stud. That’s a life I could enjoy let me tell you! Even if he doesn’t win, Reddam still has a horse that won the first two jewels of the Triple Crown. Exciting!

I’ll Have Another Wins Preakness. Will you be watching the Belmont Stakes? I will.

So if I had a chance to redo high schoo knowing what I know now. Wow. I would have kept the same close group of friends that I had back then. Except Brad. He sucked. . I might have asked out a couple of girls instead of being so self-conscious about the fact that I didn’t drive. I went to a private school so everybody was so spread out around the city that I had no clue how I would have been able to pick someone up and take them out. “Yeah let’s get on the COTA bus and go out!!” I doubt many girls would’ve gone for that.

Something else I wouldn’t change is my taste in music. Back in high school I was BIG into the 80′s music. I loved a whole bunch of songs. I still remember how everytime I went with Brad to Zapzone he would play Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet. That is a great album that I’ll have to buy sometime. Something else I might change is that I wouldn’t have given Dave, @comsciguy82, Star Tropics. I gave him that old Nintendo game so long ago and NEVER got it back. Grrrrr. But he commented a couple days ago and I said to just keep it. It became a running joke between us.

Then there is Diane from Art Class. I lent her my original copies of Star Wars(The ones that hadn’t been changed yet by George Lucas). I never got those back either. I kinda had a crush on her though so I never really called her on that. She was a Junior when I was a Freshman so there was that too.

Oh and I would’ve paid more attention in Algebra 2. Sorry Parch! He tried so hard to reach me and I just plain did not care about the subjects he was teaching. Poor guy.

I could go on with some other stuff, like how I was pretty much an outcast in high school and how that has helped to shape my view of the world all the way to today. I was, am, and always will be an outcast. I like it that way though.

Thanks for reading!

Shadowrunner81(Dan)

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

Mike Foyle – Shipwrecked (John O’Callaghan vs Mike Foyle Club mix)

Today’s Schizable entry has to do with semantics, specifically the difference between using the terms ‘Schizophrenic’ and ‘People with Schizophrenia’. I will be the first to acknowledge that the terms look very much the same, but there is a movement within communities of many diagnoses to use what is called Person First Language. I agree with this movement and here’s why.

Medical Professionals, Nightly News Reporters and Professors of Abnormal Psychology all have used the term ‘Schizophrenic’ to identify someone with a disability on the Schizophrenia spectrum. I suppose when I think about it, it is just so much easier to remember someone by their diagnosis rather than anything else. This must have been the thinking of the very first person to ever use that term. “Dr. Hobart, Dan is ready to see you now.” “Who the hell is that?” “The Schizophrenic.” “Oh yes. Send him in.”

So where did I learn about using person first language? Two places. The first was during the months after my initial diagnosis in group therapy. One of the girls in the group asked me if I referred to myself as Schizophrenic or as someone with Schizophrenia. I had no clue what the difference was so I answered the former. She just shook her head and a couple of people said to use person first language when referring to myself. They said that if I didn’t, then no one else would either. The second person I learned this from is my little brother who works in the Autism Community. He is part of the reason why I read the Autisable blog. He says to refer to those children as ‘Children with Special Needs’ or as ‘Children on the Autism Spectrum’. He’s a pretty cool kid for a 24 year old.

I remember a Making A Difference report on the NBC Nightly News last year where one of the correspondents went to visit a factory that decided to begin hiring people with various disabilities. He said that the factory employs, “The Blind, The Deaf, Schizophrenics, among others….” Do you see the problem? He made his point by completely disregarding the individiual personalities of everyone in that room. So they happened to be blind. So they happened to be deaf. So they happened to have Schizophrenia. So what? They are people first. Their diagnosis should come second. Every single person in that factory has a story to tell and that report lumped them all together according to their disability.

Something that I’ve always known since first learning and accepting the concept of person first language is that any attorney worth his or her salt would be able to rattle me by simply asking the question, “Isn’t it true you made this up? You are after all, a Schizophrenic.” Oh my God would that get under my skin. There aren’t many things I’d be willing to face contempt of court over, but fighting for the person first language with a defense attorney would be one of them. It may not be smart, but it would be the right thing to do.

Now I am fully aware that I can’t be the Xanga policeman who goes around correcting every use of the word ‘Schizophrenic’. But I’m also not going to just let it slide when I see it. If and when I see it I’ll say something even if I get shouted down as has happened before and lost me two friends on here. I also call upon you either as a reader with any other kind of illness or especially if you are on the Schizophrenia spectrum, to stand up for your rights to be identified as a person first, and a diagnosis second. Now that you are aware, how will you react when it comes time to defend that right? Think about it.

Shadowrunner81(Dan)

If you would like to know more about my illness Here is the first Schizable blog post where I introduce you to it.

If you would like to know more about me outside of my illness Here is my introductory post.

Going to the Spaghetti Warehouse tonight to celebrate my little brother’s 21st birthday. Gonna get me some 4 cheese ravioli. Do you have a Spaghetti Warehouse near where you live and, if so, what do you like to get to eat there?

Have a good one fellow Xangans!

P.S. He’s a trekkie so I got him Star Trek III.