June 2009 Issue

Planet Nilknarf

Cover Photo by Janette Tansley

June 2008

Ewetopia Highlight's from Olive, Gladys and Edna's Trip to Niagara Falls

About Goals “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Ancient Chinese Proverb

“GOAL” is a four-letter word! I kid you not. My natural tendency is to cringe whenever I hear it because I tend to associate the word with unpleasant, seemingly insurmountable tasks like trying to lose weight, overcome a phobia (hello, there's a difference between a phobia and a painful sensory issue!!!! But that's another story!) or try to get this place cleaned up. Recently at the clubhouse we were handed yet another worksheet about the subject of goals. My initial reaction was to pull a prune-face and exclaim “I DON'T DO GOALS!!! I just wing it!” But then I thought back to when we previously studied the subject of goals in our group sessions. I then remembered that they don't have to be anything really major, or earthshattering. Nor are they always associated with an unpleasant task. A prime example of a pleasant goal is saving money for an upcoming trip. When I started my Peer Support job in May of 2007, it was my first steady paid job in years and I was determined that I was going to save up at least $500 between then and September for a trip to Niagara Falls with my husband and friends, Mark and Janette. However did I DO it? At least it wasn't my only source of income. I occasionally sold dolls and other craft items too.

Eventually, the sweet taste of victory was mine as we fully appreciated experiencing our ride on “Maid of the Mist” and other attractions. Like I said, I don't really DO goals. I am more of a spontaneous person. “Wing it!” tends to be my motto. Serendipity and synchronicity work hand-in-hand for me. I've never actually found a job going out looking for work. The right job finds me! For example, almost immediately after I returned from Niagara Falls, the staff at CMHA offered me my Coffee Cart job! YAAA! A chance to earn even more money! And a chance to work toward an even greater goal! Preparing to go to my next National Carousel Association convention! This wasn't so hard because it was really just a series of nice, manageable little goals. Airport security had gotten tighter since the last convention I'd attended in Pittsburgh in 2005, so I knew that the first thing I had to do was get myself a passport! This meant going to the post office to pick up an application form and going to Black's to get my passport photo taken.

Getting my photo taken meant having to wait 15 or 20 minutes for it to be ready, so while I waited, I treated my friend Lori to a hot chocolate in the nearby food court. I was glad to see that they have changed the policy for passport applications. In the past, you would have to have a doctor, bank manager or member of clergy to fill in part of the form to vouch for your identity. I remember living in Lindsay and having to get a notary public to fill in mine because I didn't have any of these people in my life. Actually I did, but you have to have known them for two years. At the time we'd just had a new pastor at our church, I didn't have a doctor and my bank manager claimed not to know me well enough. Now all you need is a friend or acquaintance with a valid passport who's known you for two years, so I enlisted the help of my father-in-law. Then I took the time out to go to the passport office at the Whitby Mall. It didn't take long to get to and despite the huge crowd of hundreds of people there I don't think I waited much longer than 10 or 15 minutes. I was very impressed by their impressive system which broke the large number of people waiting into smaller group! I don't think I waited much longer than three weeks to a month for my passport to arrive, registered mail and I just happened to be home to sign for it. This was during that week in February when they closed the clubhouse down due to flooding! Let's hear it for synchronicity once again! Getting my passport must have cost me roughly around a hundred dollars, but it was worth it because it's money I know I won't have to spend again, at least not for another five years. It was probably during that time too that I'd renewed my membership to the National Carousel Association. Then there was nothing more to do until at least May when I filled in and paid for my registration as soon as it was emailed to me. I forget when I made my hotel reservation but that was probably one of the first things I did as soon as I knew the phone number! During this time I'd save my money, designating how much to put aside for my flight, hotel, food, etc. as well as getting to and from the airport. That way, when the time came, I was ready, things went relatively smoothly and I enjoyed an excellent trip. I was pretty much totally in control without any unpleasant surprises. What are my next goals? Well, in this new year I was hoping to save enough money to go to BOTH North Bay and the next National Carousel Association convention in Philadelphia, but I may have to put these temporary things on hold if I soon start to build my Autism Awareness Carousel! In the meantime I've had smaller, everyday goals to achieve. Sometimes just getting up in the morning has felt like a major accomplishment. Sometimes it feels like a major victory just going out the door. Especially if I have a list of errands. The important thing is not to beat myself up if I don't accomplish everything in one day. The important thing is to be happy with the things I DID do and remember that there's always tomorrow. Sometimes that can be a hard habit to break, especially for someone who used to work for a very cantankerous and demanding boss. I can't always control my circumstances. It's not my fault if the place where I

wanted to buy my embroidery thread isn't open on Mondays, but at least I can remember that for future reference so that I don't make the same mistake twice and I can plan accordingly. It's not my fault either if I am having trouble with my computer and the technician keeps me on the phone on and off hold for half an hour. I've learned that if there's a problem important enough to be solved I can always tell them “I have to leave now or I'll be late for work.” and they have actually been able to call me later to help me fix it. Making a list always helps, especially when I can check off each item I accomplish. Not everything can be accomplished in the same day, but there's a rewarding sense of satisfaction to eventually get everything done sooner or later. For example, one week my list was as follows: 1. Buy embroidery thread 2. Order “Aga-Boom” tickets 3. Pick up the CMHA calenders I ordered 4. Buy printer ink There were a few other things on that list but I don't remember. The important thing is that I got those things done eventually and managed to stay calm when I couldn't always get them done right then and there. So I couldn't buy embroidery thread on Monday. So the box office wasn't open until after noon. So the lady at the reception desk didn't know where my calendars were. I bought my thread on Tuesday, ordered my show tickets when I got home and got my calendars from somebody else at the office later who knew where they were. Accomplishing goals has a lot to do with learning patience, especially when we live in a society that is plagued with “Hurry Sickness”, but that's another topic. And now it's time for.... Design Your Own Carousel Horse!!

I created this beautiful “wedding horse” using stickers, glitter glue, sequins and a favorite photo.

Information on how you can order the entire book is here: http://margaretfranklin.netfirms.com/activities.html These books make great gifts and they're wonderful for art teachers. My friend Lorraine uses hers all the time!

Tara and Max In this months issue I would like to say a special hello to my new friend and mentor, life coach Tara Enns and her 7-year old son, Max. Max was recently diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, like myself. He's quite the budding artist. Here are some of his drawings.

I will likely be sharing more of his work in future issues. Anyway, when I spoke with Tara, she said she found out about me in the most recent issue of Kerry's Place's Living with Autism newsletter, shortly after her son's diagnosis. She opened up the newsletter and the first thing she saw was my article about the carousel. Tara works as a Life Skills consultant whose mission is to help people make their creative visions real and she's offered to coach me free of charge! Our initial consultation was great. She spoke to me about the Three Voices: 1.Creative/Visionary 2.Realist 3.Critic Now it's more often than not that our critic will play Devil's Advocate and try to talk us out of our creative dream or vision by telling us about everything that can go wrong and reasons why it won't work. The name of the game is to not listen to the Critic or give it the satisfaction. I've been hearing the Critic a lot lately about things not even related to the Carousel Project. Such as my trip to Sandusky! Especially with this Swine Flu propaganda going around! My critic was already nagging me enough with the prospect of me being cooped up on an ELEVEN HOUR bus ride but I tell myself it will be okay, as long as I have lots of batteries for my Walkman and lots to read and write; word puzzles, my journal, two more books about Asperger's Syndrome to review for the next book column, Archie comics. Besides I've already endured an eight hour bus ride to Binghamton back in 2003. And that was back in the days when I knew nothing about Asperger's Syndrome or Bipolar. Sometimes I think life was easier then when I didn't know about these things. But seriously, I am thankful to Tara and look forward to our next consultation. I've really enjoyed brainstorming and sharing ideas. Some of these things I've been doing already, such as putting together a Book of Possibilities!!This is where I keep all my lists, drawings and ideas. I plan on taking it with me to the convention.

Autism Awareness Carousel Update So far, Tiffany MacDonald and I have had several meetings regarding the carousel. Just before Easter we scouted three possible locations: The Abilities Centre at Iroquois Park, the old Knob Hill Farm building and Cullen Gardens. Nobody was around to talk to at any of these locations. In fact, the Knob Hill Farm building was all boarded shut with wooden planks nailed over every possible entrance. It looks like nobody's been there in years. But if I had the choice, I'd want the Knob Hill Farm building because it is HUGE!! It has room for EVERYTHING we would want there! The carousel, tea room and gift shop, not to mention space for extra museums and even the factory. I have so many visions and ideas and once the carousel is built, I'd like to see it become so successful that we'll end up having our own factory where we'll be commissioned to build MORE carousels for OTHER locations! They'll be popping up everywhere like MUSHROOMS!! A century later and it'll be the start of a NEW GOLDEN AGE of carousel building! Meanwhile I have had so many Fund Raising Ideas, including “Pennies for Ponies” Individuals, classrooms and organizations are encouraged to save pennies in 2-litre plastic pop bottles with the following label on the front:

Pennies for Ponies

On the back of the bottle, attach a label with your name or the name of your classroom or organization. I've affixed my business card to mine. When your bottles are full, bring them to Kerry's Place Durham location at 1077 Boundary Road, suite 208, or bring them to me and I'll take them there and we will count the pennies in each bottle and record them in a database before saving them in a Trust Fund. Whoever contributes the most pennies will win a pizza party! More details to follow! In the meantime I've put together an update on the project, sort of a condensed version of my

“Possibilities” book to share the progress of my project as it happens. It can be seen here: http://www.pdfcoke.com/doc/14877833/Carousel-Update I will post updates every few months and hopefully share some major milestones as they happen!!

2009 National Carousel Association Technical Conference, Sandusky, OH On Thursday, May 7th, I took the bus down to Sandusky, Ohio for my first NCA Technical conference. It was awesome! I visited some pretty amazing carousels and I really learned a lot of wonderful things. On Friday morning we all met up at Castaway Bay resort and took a bus to Cedar Point. We had exactly half an hour at each carousel, which, sadly only allowed us time for one ride on each (with the exception of the Racing Derby)after everyone had taken as many pictures as possible. The first one we rode was the 3-row Dentzel menagerie at Kiddy Kingdom. It has a 57-foot wide platform with 52 animals (16 standing and 36 jumping) and two chariots. This carousel is said to have been one of Dentzel's favorites. Cedar Point purchased this carousel from Hunting Park in Germantown, PA in 1968. Besides horses, there are bears, ostriches, a lion, tiger and donkey. While this carousel was in storage in Memphis, being refurbished to operate at the Chicago World's Fair in 1938, Daniel Muller was commissioned to add extra floral embellishments to many of the outside row horses. This carousel is also the home of Muller's famous armoured “Postage Stamp” horse.

Above: Three different outside row standers.

(Left) the famous Muller “Postage Stamp” horse (or at least its fiberglass copy. The original is in the Sandusky Merry-Go-Round Museum) Right: Assorted menagerie figures!

Our next stop was the Muller Midway carousel. Built in 1912, this is one of the few Daniel Muller carousels still in existence and the oldest operating ride at Cedar Point. This four-row platform also measures 57 feet across but has 64 horses. While they were all originally jumpers, the outside row horses were made stationary in the 1980's.

And last but not least, the Prior & Church Cedar Downs Racing Derby...!

The Cedar Downs Racing Derby is 90-feet wide with sixty-four horses that move back and forth in slots, producing a racing effect as the ride picks up to a momentum of 15 miles per hour! It was built by Prior & Church in 1920 and brought to Cedar Point in 1967. Its previous

location was Euclid Beach, where it ran for 47 years. The Cedar Downs Racing Derby is only one of two remaining Racing Derby rides left in North America, the other one being at Rye Playland in New York. I've ridden both and they're was awesome! I also used to enjoy riding the one that was at the CNE, but sadly, they got rid of it in 1989. :( The one that used to be at the CNE actually used to run previously at Sunnyside amusement Park, but that is another story. We also headed up to Schopfle Garden Park in Lorain County where we saw a beautifully painted aluminum Theel children's carousel:

Above: (Left) Buckeye & Goldenrod, (Right) Iris On Saturday, May 9th, we had a day filled with seminars about various carousel-related topics and then later that afternoon we had more seminars and dinner at the Sandusky Merry-GoRound museum. We had a choice between “Maintenance” and “Gift Shop”. I figured, since my own carousel hasn't been built yet, to take the Gift Shop class in order to learn about promoting my own products to promote the carousel. I figured I could always ask questions to the people who took the maintainance workshop to find out what I missed. I also entered a raffle to win a carousel horse. In fact I blew $40 on tickets. If I win, it will be one less horse to have to carve for the carousel. If not, at least I've done my part to help the museum. Their building, the former Sandusky Post office, is literally falling apart. It's over 100 years old and the mortar between the bricks is crumbling. The main entrance was roped off with scaffolding on the premises. Inside, however, there were all kinds of wonderful things...

Previous page (Left) Bayol cows after and before restoration (Right) Bayol donkey made for British carousel. Below:(Left) Assorted figures on display including a Dentzel rabbit. (Right) Newly carved Herschell-Spillman style frog.

As you can see, even my doll had a good time on this trip:

TV Time...!!! This has been one busy and exciting time since I've been back from Sandusky!!! On Thursday, May 14th, I ended up having a TV interview on Oshawa Rogers Cable 10 news program “Mid Day”. I was live on the air at 12:40 and the show aired twice more that day. I wore my black “Autism Awareness T-shirt with my white embroidered carousel horse skirt and my NCA jacket, as well as my straw hat with purple flowers and my pink marble Crocs. I wasn't the least bit nervous or at a loss for words, however I wish my segment could have been longer than 6 or 7 minutes because there was so much more I would have wanted to say and not enough time to say it all. At least they got the important part. I was able to mention my upcoming sale and got a customer the following weekend as a result. A man came with his daughter and two grandsons, one of whom is on the autism spectrum and they bought two T-shirts and two horses from me. All in all, my Victoria Day Weekend Sales were quite successful. It was worth my while to sell a total of four T-shirts, at least four horses, one doll and one teddy bear. My T-shirts normally sell for $25 each but I offer greatly reduced discounts at these outdoor sales. You can also “adopt” my carousel ponies for $4each or 3 for $10. The Last Word ......and now, The Last Word...

....and what about Naomi?????????????????