“Nothing is more overrated than mediocre sex nor so underrated as a good shit.”

Marty, who is sometimes wrong but seldom in doubt, credits Allen Ginsberg with that quote and Marty thought of it today when her two back scratchers went missing.

These weren’t elaborate and ostentatious back scratchers (If such things exist). These were simple, sturdy, everyday, underrated, bought-at-the-local-Asian store wood back scratchers.

Marty keeps one in her desk drawer and one by her bed. And now they’ve vanished and its a hot and humid day and Marty is rather desperate for one.

Marty’s father, Larry, appreciated back scratchers and kept them at the ready. If, however, the back scratcher wasn’t up to the size of the task, Larry would go up against the brick fireplace in our kitchen - vigorously. Groaning with satisfaction, he looked like he was dancing a one-man rumba.

Recently, Marty found this footage of her father enjoying a scratch on a family camping trip long ago.

Gimpy activists in the U.S. picked “Feel The Power of the Disability Vote” for their 2008 political slogan. But the political system, in our opinion, clearly isn’t feeling it.

The July 26th 2008 Presidential Candidates’ Forum on Disability in Columbus, Ohio, featured Tom Harkin standing in for Barack Obama and John McCain weighing in by remote from Arizona.

What this says is that every Gimpy person, and every person who cares about a Gimpy person, needs to vote this November and make the political system really feel the power of the Gimpy.

Being disabled suddenly by accident or illness eliminates the routines that we and those close to us depend upon to help maintain stability in our lives.

Many of the changes are things no one could prepare for, but it can help you and the newly disabled to hear from those who have gone before, especially since newly disabled people can feel frightened, abandoned and without direction.

The suggestions offered here come from a woman who was paralyzed for several years in her 30s and then slowly regained her mobility through hard work and the guidance of people in similar situations.

The author writes from a first-hand perspective that sudden disability can lead to a new, functional and successful life.

(via Disabled-World.Com)

This powerful sculpture of abandoned wheelchairs was commissioned in Europe to remember the tens of thousands of Gimpy men, women and children killed by the Nazis because they were deemed unworthy to live.

We’ve come a long way since then in recognizing the rights of people with disabilities - but we still have a long way to go in accepting people seen as “different.”

Educate yourself and others to what it means to have an equal playing field for people with disabilities. What benefits the Gimpy, benefits everyone. To hear more about that click on “Cait on NPR” in the tool bar of this Web site.

The two birthday cards above reflect a common theme in humor when it comes to portraying older men and women in western society.

The two images come from this study conducted at Webster University in St. Louis by Linda M. Woolf, Ph.D.

Woolf found that jokes concerning older women generally view them as lonely, sexless and frustrated and that these attempts at humor merely reflect societal attitudes - not reality.

Woolf’s study also found that older women are often viewed as unhealthy. Interestingly, older men are perceived as being healthier than older women even though, on the average, women live seven years longer than men.

The U.S. Mint will release 400,000 new silver dollars in 2009 to commemorate the 100th birthday of Louis Braille, the creator of the alphabet for the blind.

The front of the coin features Braille’s face and the back has the Braille code for the word Braille - or “Brl” - inscribed, above a depiction of a boy reading a Braille book with a cane resting on his arm. Behind him is a bookshelf bearing the word “Independence.”

The Braille silver dollar will be the first U.S. coin to feature Braille characters.

The coin’s release coincides with a campaign by the National Federation for the Blind to boost Braille literacy by doubling the number of young Braille readers by 2015. The NFB says fewer than 10 percent of blind children are learning Braille presently.

Cait joined newsman Tom Brokaw and author Philip Roth for a show about Boomers and disability on “To The Best Of Our Knowledge” - or TTBOOK - a nationally syndicated public radio show for curious people.

Smartly produced, TTBOOK calls itself the kind of show where someone might mention Charlotte Bronte or Anthony Trollope in one segment and U2 or They Might Be Giants in another.

With a weekly listening audience of about 2 million people, TTBOOK had our Canadian Cait talk about who we are, this Web site and our mission to Gimpy people everywhere.

Click here to hear Cait (It takes a few seconds for the sound to start so be patient.)

Click hear to link to the full TTBOOK show and background.

WorldCat is a free online network that claims to have links to more than 10,000 libraries with access to 1.2 billon books, DVDs, CDs, tapes and videos.

You type in a title and your zip code and it finds the item in the library nearest you.

You also could help people at a distance. For example, if you knew your Aunt Karen wanted to read The Apron Book, you could plug in the title, her city or zip code, and then contact that library on line to see if the book could be taken or sent to her, which many communities do for the elderly or the disabled.

In the last decade, 129 accessible playgrounds have been built in 24 states - in large part because of a nonprofit group formed by a Connecticut couple who lost their son to a degenerative neuromuscular disease.

More of these playgrounds are in the works as part of national movement to create recreational spaces for people with disabilities.

Accessible playgrounds have rubberized surfaces to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers. A child in a wheelchair uses wide ramps to reach the top of climbing structures and many of the playgrounds include “cozy spots,” where children with Down syndrome or autism can go if they are overstimulated.

Click here to learn more.

This is one of 10 temporary and very tacky tattoos that stay on for up to three days. Thank god they are not permanent.

They’re perfect to wear to a family reunion to embarrass your spouse and children.

Click here to see the rest, if you must.

Eds. Note: Cait’s first words when she saw the “Born to Ride” Tattoo was, “I am so going to get that and I want it sewn across the back of a jacket.”

Marty feared Cait would feel that way.