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Learning Braille is going quite nicely. Learning to write was a piece of cake. I'm building up on the speed of writing every day. Practicing reading, however, is a bit trickier. Since I'm learning "blind reading", I'm only using my sense of touch to feel the little bumps in the paper. I got the hang of it quite quickly, but I still need a lot of practice before I'll be able to read fluently.

Unlike with the visible writing with a pen, where you just use one hand to write and no hands at all to read, you need to use both hands with Braille. When writing Braille, you have to feel the cells in the slate with one hand and write with the other. With reading you need to use one hand to read and the other to mark the next line. I read with the fingers of my right hand and I mark the next lines with my left.

Another challenge with reading is that my sense of touch is not particularly sharp, since I've never had to use it before for feeling such delicate things as bumps of Braille writing. However, the more I practise, the sharper my sense of touch gets.

I must say that seeing with my fingers is quite a challenge, but I'm getting better every day.

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Texting Chelsea. I text my daughter every day, just to let he know that I love her and I’m thinking about her. I don’t always get great or long responses, but it’s not about that. I just want her to know I am thinking of her, rooting for her, and that I love her.

It’s a huge adjustment just being in college, but she has to deal with living 4-5 hours away, so I know she needs as much support as she can get!

We both got a kick that we’re in school at the same time, doing home work, etc. I just get better breaks than she does, and YES… I will rub that in as often as I can!

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i've tried for years to convince me otherwise, but today more than ever i feel like a guest (or a ghost?) inside my own house.

i take a breath from apologizing my mother for her stubborness.

tomorrow i'll have the glasses on again, and not a single tear will be spilt, i swear.

This is quick-click, as I was on my way to work early one January morning.

I found it comforting to see this man cycle his way into the horizon...

a good omen for the year to come.

p.s. Happy New Year y'all!

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I drag myself out of bed... I start driving to work... and I'm usually treated to a gorgeous sky for the sunrise...

Now, the 2nd one I put in there, not because I go to church every day.. but a lot of the time, I have those moments where I'm thankful for the things I have in life... and I make sure to mention that... or say a quick prayer for my friends that might be having a rough time in life.. To me, its that one moment of pure clarity that I'm able to have that makes everything perfect.

Then... there's work. I work for the automotive industry here at work, designing tooling and machining concepts for our customers. Sometimes its a pain in the butt... but sometimes its really rewarding.

And then lastly... the sunsets around here. During the winter there are usually clouds that are a blazing when the sun hits them correctly...

Then... I get to come home and enjoy life with my wife. I'm sure you'll see enough pictures of that soon enough. lol.

Some of my many addictions ~ laptop & electronics // digital camera // flowers // coffee // cell phone // cigs // giant coffee cups & saucers // sunflowers // candles // ... and Photogamer!! The circle is complete. ~ Sota!! ~ where's the ladybugs? ... the leopards?!? I may have to create an Addictive, Part II :o)

Well, at least I try to become this a daily! routine.

It is the Daily Rotinue at a Tribal Village in Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh, India. (C)H.K.Rajashekar.

M4H 4/52: Daily routine.

I am a creature of habit. I admit it, I assess change with a cynical sideways glance instead of jumping in with both feet. One of my daily routines is breakfast; I have the same breakfast every. Single. Day. I get in a breakfast routine and I stick with it for months or even years (hey, I like this breakfast). Each day I have oatmeal (in the same bowl) mixed with Maine blueberries, stevia, and cinnamon. And I have coffee in the same mug.

I get the best reception outside my apartment. Oftentimes after work, I'll call to check in. Are you on Cingular? We can talk for free.

I mentioned before that writing Braille is done in reverse: you write from right to left and you have to write the mirror image of every letter. When you flip the page over, you get the text written correctly and can read it from left to right with the letters written correctly.

This is what writing Braille looks like. I learn "blind writing", so I only use my sense of touch to write. I have to feel every Braille cell separately before I emboss the letters into the paper. My left hand runs along the cells in the line and I punch the bumps into the paper with my right hand. When I come to the end of the line, I move down to the next line and repeat the process.

As far as the orientation of the pen within each cell goes, you get the feeling where and how to move the tip. You can also use the sides of the cell to find the correct position for the tip of the pen and then press down to make the bumps in the paper correctly.

You'd be surprised, but, as complicated as this process looks, it is actually much easier if I do it in the dark or with my eyes closed. If I try to write Braille by looking at the cells on the slate, I get totally confused and make nothing but mistakes. However, if I "write blind", I hardly ever make a mistake any more.

Oh, one more thing: you can see that I'm holding a pen in my hand. When I got the slate, I could not get the Braille stylus. So, a friend who is blind and has used Braille all his life told me that using a pen to emboss Braille works just fine. I use an old BIC pen with a medium tip so that I don't tear the paper.

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July’s Above and Beyond Challenge was about daily routines: what is and what should be in my daily routine. Now this may seem pretty simple, but when I am spread too thin, I sometimes see things that I wish I could fit in, and then the things that I wish I could get rid of. It’s that ever long struggle to find balance. I have failed very often, but feel like I am starting to come into that place in my life when I can find balance.

There are things that I still have not found time to fit in my schedule each and every day…. But it’s about learning priorities and balancing things accordingly. This challenge really helped me see that the balance is coming and better than it was: not perfect, but better!

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A person sits cross-legged on a red yoga mat, typing on a laptop with weights and a smartphone nearby

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