Conway

Conway is one of my favourite places to spend time relaxing. It is situated on the North Wales coast, United Kingdom and has a Castle which was built on the orders of King Edward I of England during one of his periodic attempts to take control of the entire British Isles.

The picture is taken from Conway harbour from which short coastal excursions are operated during the summer months and also you can observe locals repairing their own boats before sailing.

Nearby is the smallest house in Wales which a lady in traditional Welsh dress will explain the history of and maybe let you take a picture of her and the house to show your friends and family.

Also to be found in Conway town centre is Aberconway House which is owned by The National Trust.

I find the calm helps me to remember what I love about going to visit places and the seaside activities I loved as a child.

Princess Mononoke

Anime is a thing I'm interested in especially when it tells stories vividly and recently I got this one.
Made in 1997, it depicts the clash between the natural world and its old gods and the rise of humans with the beginning of of modern civilization, showing three elements of the Japanese  psyche warring for supremacy in the form of an ecological fable

Young warrior Ashitaka sustains a wound that refuses to heel from battling with a cursed beast.

Anxious to secure a remedy for this supernatural injury, he leaves the remote village he lives for the forbidding forests of the west where he discovers an enclave of humans under siege from divine powers. They are the deities of the past, the wolf gods and a wild girl of the forest called San.

Updated 2017 for blu ray image and tag

Alternative endings

I've often wondered what would of happened had I of lived in South East Asia, particularly in Japan as some Westerners whose folks go on employment  assignments do.
I'd almost certainly would have to learn some Japanese to get by as Japan is a country that very much expects you to integrate into its way of life and isn't bi-lingual although many do speak some English and other principal languages.
I might well had spent time in a school so I suspect I'd of worn a sailor suit uniform a bit like that one not that I'd of minded as actually I quite like it so being put into one wouldn't be an issue, wearing it with pride and the very structured school system would of probably suited me right to the ground. 
We'd of played Baseball that's a certainty and maybe soccer.
It sure would of been an adventure for me!

Disability and getting on

How different people handle changed especially life changing conditions or disabilities has always interested me not least for possessing several and having known a good number of people in a variety of situations who have too.

It's often interesting to see how people who on the face of may have similar conditions have made of their lives, how they may differ and how others are quite different although I'd like to stress from the get go I don't feel a 'my disability is worse or better than yours' take is really helpful not least for only you alone know how that affects your life or 'mine is more or less “real” than yours either for the same reason.

This being said it is my personal conviction how much you are able to make of your life even though you have disabilities depends very much on not only what opportunities may be available to you (and certainly there can be a lack of them that does our society no great favours) and what our own attitudes toward making the most of our lives can be when they are.

This can be more difficult when it comes to dealing with things such as social anxiety which as someone does find things like meeting people or using the telephone difficult I readily understand but unless we are prepared to explore how we may get more confident or better able to communicate, then our opportunities are limited.

I think it's that which sometimes is the harder thing because on top everything there is insecurity and a blanket feeling that you are not being understood.

There is though I feel a difference between an understanding that says “I am prepared to try to improve on the things I struggle with however hard that might be” and one that simply isn't prepared to even explore what options may be available even if they may not be a “total cure” because you may be limiting yourself from the experiences and opportunities that would enrich your life. You can't advance by staying still.

It's hardly fair on the face of it but those of us who have disabilities who in some way or other wish to make the most of our lives in mainstream society need to do as much as can for ourselves to find ways of maximizing it, perhaps in some respects even more than those who don't face the same challenges.

Things just don't come easy to us although I'd also add trying to compensate by excusing other things like 'fitting in' and following the accepted social conventions and rules as everyone else can of itself set you back simply because we have to 'hold our own' and isn't fair to everyone else even though I do recognize that's something I have been guilty of in the past.

Photo details: Illinois wheelchair basketball player Shelby Gruss a student of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC photo). This was a sport I played growing up.