A mish-mash

Wow. Three weeks since I last sat down to elucidate my thoughts in the decanter that is One Dad's Opinion. Three weeks that have seen opportunity after opportunity to write and discuss go whizzing by, victims of the fevered pitch which life takes on during the spring for me and my family. Jeez, I'm starting to feel less prolific than Not Mercury here!
As many of you know, I run a company that distributes fresh cut flowers to the North American markets. Here in Southern California, floral production is peaking as Mother's Day draws near. This is a potent brew in our business, and I spend far more time at the office at this time of year than I would choose to in a perfect world. In the flower biz, however, one must make hay while the sun shines, so to speak.
At the same time, J is in Kindergarten, T is in preschool, both of them are in T-ball, Colin is walking (which dramatically increases his destructive range - now knee-high) and babbling a lot, Grandma and Poppa take them on regular weekend adventures, we had Arts in the Park to attend, it has been warm enough to swim, we are trying to train our puppy Marley (who is rapidly approaching 100 pounds of hyperactive dogginess), the yard and house need lots of attention, L and I are trying to exercise a bit more, etc, etc.

I also have been following the autism/mito story as it develops in fits and starts. While fascinating from a purely academic standpoint, the real-world implications are far-reaching. At this point, I am of the strong opinion that any possible mito/autism connection (with the implication that vaccines are the link) has turned into a feeding frenzy for the anti-vax crowd, that they are being irresponsibly (and erroneously) offered chum by sensationalist David Kirby, that real mitochondrial experts are carefully weighing in with cautionary notes that are being largely ignored, and that some bloggers are doing a superior job of weaving personal experience with scientific understanding in an attempt to bring some well-needed grounding to the situation.

Another fascinating situation involving Neurodiversity.com author Kathleen Seidel has been unfolding rapidly and with great affect. Let me be the 1000th to say Kudos! to Kathleen for her oh-so-American, self-made Motion to Quash that may have propelled Clifford Shoemaker (a key player in the autism/mito scenario, to boot) to the brink of jurisprudential retribution. For shame, Mr. Shoemaker. At the same time, thanks for indirectly generating so much traffic for the Autism Hub.

I have also had my nose in a few different books/publications. One has been Elijah's Cup, a heartfelt opus written by Valerie Paradiz. Though I am only about 1/3 of the way through this book, I am completely drawn in by the story of Valerie and her son's early days entering the arena that so many of us inhabit comfortably now. I am eager to continue on with the lovely style of Valerie's writing and its powerful, positive message.

Another thing I had wanted to write at some length about is Autism: The Musical. Here's the short version of my reaction to this documentary: I LOVED IT. Not all of it, but who cares? I loved it. Please watch it.

I have also noticed that we have a couple more new bloggers here at the Autism Hub - the more the merrier!. Welcome, Bill! Your well-grounded opinions and wonderful sense of humor are very welcome around here. Welcome, Jeff Gitchel! I've been reading your blog a bit and I really like it. Your real-world guides are great!

I also have been actively at work behind the scenes, along with several other Autism Hub bloggers, on a project. Taking a page out of David Kirby's book, I'm not going to tell you what it is right now. Instead, I am going to leave you with this teaser: Leave your calenders open the week of June 25.