No Questions Asked? ;)

First, a happy new year to you all!! May you enjoy the love of friends, the luck you need -- and then some -- and the joy and peace in your daily lives that we *all* could use! I am cheerful, but very, very tired. Still looking forward to the week, the month and the year very, very much.

Here are two quick -- and relatively easy -- requests, though, that may help me to remain cheerful and keep focused on others. First, anyone who might have accidentally ended up with the cord to the HP laptop I bought on credit for schoolwork (and have, mercifully paid off over the course of a few years) should return it to me. I will not be angry: I will be very, very relieved to once again have a functional computer. I need it quite desperately for schoolwork and I use it to stay in touch with my family, my far-flung friends and, dare I say it, my social and educational support network. Please return the cord. Thanks.

Second, and much more personal is the question of my health and others' ability to deal with it appropriately in social settings. I love my schoolmates because, by and large, if they have a question they just ask it. I do not mind explaining my circumstances and I, myself, am trying to understand my capabilities and my limitations. But the kind of labels that are applied to me, within earshot, by so-called adults who just ought to know better belie their ignorance, *not* any weakness on my part. Before you label someone or treat them as pariah, please consider how you'd want your mother, father, brother, sister or SELF to be treated in a similar situation, then act accordingly. In the name of "politely" not asking questions, many jump to conclusions and deliver much more rude treatment than they'd like anyone they love to receive.

Oh, and a big "I'm sorry" to my classmate whose name I forgot. Sadly, that was by far not the worst example of me blanking on a name I knew, but I still wish I'd have gotten it right!

That is all. Have a great 2012, all!