Amid the 4 Ps confronting us Californians —pandemic, poverty, protests, and pyrotechnics* — comes a heartwarming story from Sydney Page at The Washington Post. Just what I needed, as a fellow cleft-affected person, to forget about the "plagues" which are depressing us in the San Francisco Bay Area. We've had to keep indoors (no outdoor masked activity) for twenty-something straight "unhealthy" Spare the Air days due to wildfires. Then a man who has a 2-year-old with a cleft … [Read more...]
Rory Gilmore and Janie Junebug love books and share ’em.
Many of you remember The Gilmore Girls popular show which aired 2000- 2007. It created a book club for people to read all of the 339 books referenced on the show, esp by Rory Gilmore who loved reading books. She also loved the smell of books. Rory Gilmore loves books. Rory taught us important things that are now a part of many people's everyday life. First - always take a book with you. This tip has saved countless of us from complete boredom. Whether we're meeting up with a friend … [Read more...]
How to boost the CLEFT HEART book and reap rewards.
Thought some of you Cleft Heart book fans might get a kick out of seeing a photo (top right of the collage below) of politicians Pelosi and Schumer under an umbrella in D.C, back in the day. Actually, it's my sister Barbara and me in front of the U.S. Capitol after my dad mustered out of the military as a journalist in Washington, D.C. for the Navy's All Hands magazine. My loving sis wrote last year about growing up with a brother with clefts here and here. She wanted to add to the book I'd … [Read more...]
McCain—Survivor, hero, villain, family man.
I've been thinking about Senator John McCain—survivor, hero, villain, family man? In mourning the passing of a one-of-a-kind U.S. senator, I've concluded he was a complex character, defying pigeon holes. McCain—more than a survivor, hero, villain, family man. I get the impression that McCain was inventing himself as he went along. —1st. A rebel and later a poor student at Annapolis, frustrated that his family pigeon holed him as a Navy Man given that his dad and grandfather were … [Read more...]
How to be a CLEFT HEART book booster and reap rewards.
Thought some of you Cleft Heart book fans might get a kick out of seeing a photo (top right of the collage below) of politicians Pelosi and Schumer under an umbrella in D.C, back in the day. Actually, it's my sister Barbara and me in front of the U.S. Capitol after my dad mustered out of the military as a journalist in Washington, D.C. for the Navy's All Hands magazine. My loving sis wrote last year about growing up with a brother with clefts here and here. She wanted to add to the book I'd … [Read more...]
Peyton Manning: Special treatment re sex scandal?
Today's blog begins to transition from the main prior focus of the website (clefts, disabled heroes, etc.). It embraces a newly added focus, loosely called 'discrimination' which includes special treatment of males, superstars, etc. by society. This blog features a compelling combination of both the former focus and the current focus of my website. The key phrase is "Peyton Manning cleft palate special treatment." Peyton Manning cleft palate special treatment. A little known fact about Peyton … [Read more...]
My brother’s clefts: When birth defects aren’t defects-Compete & Cooperate
A Disability, or Not? By Barbara Schonborn I didn’t think my brother Karl had birth defects. Nor did I think his cleft lip and cleft palate were disabilities. When we were children, Karl was just my competitor or my buddy. Brother with no birth defects completes the family. Steven, my second brother, was born when our family lived next door to our grandparents Schonborn in a rural neighborhood of Puyallup, Washington. Steven had no birth defects. His nose and mouth were normal, and he … [Read more...]