A Peek Into the Mind of KD

I decided to create this page for two reasons: a. Because it’s awesome that this site lets you create as many random pages as you want, and b. I thought it would be a good idea to have explanations of people, places, and things I mention a lot in this blog to avoid confusion. And to avoid explaining them repeatedly, since I’m incredibly lazy. So here we go!

AMBER is my older sister. She’s rather insane, but I admire her anyway for being-if I can quote Ann Brashares here-”quirky, passionate, and free.” She’s had the same boyfriend for about 4 years, but that’s OK because he’s a really nice guy. She plays clarinet in her college’s marching band, and she enjoys having at least a dozen friends around her at all times.

BECKY is a friend of mine from various camps I’ve been to. She’s a vegetarian, which means I’ve been introduced to many tasty, meatless recipes. I, in turn, have introduced her to some of my favorite musical groups and websites. As a relatively interesting side note, Becky is also the name of my mother.

BEYONCÉ is… well, I would hope you know who she is. But in case you’ve been living on Planet Oblivious, Beyoncé Knowles was a member of the group Destiny’s Child, and is now doing solo projects. She’s an amazing woman and I admire her a lot. She’s one of my favorite singer/actresses, and her marketed fragrances aren’t bad, either.

BRAILLENOTE: A small, portable device used by the blind, similar to a PDA. If you want more details on it, click here.

THE BRAIN: A collective term that refers to me and my friends Kaitlin, G, and Mary. We say this because we’ve spent so much time together, we’ve started saying things simultaneously and thinking the same things with almost alarming frequency. We have decided that this is because we share one brain.

CANE: The correct term for the long, pole-like device used by a majority of blind people in order to navigate safely and effectively. The only reason I put this in the glossary is because lots of sighted people who see me with my cane insist on calling it a “stick.” NEWSFLASH! A stick is something you find on the ground beneath a tree with bugs crawling all over it! (There. I feel better now.)

DC: My abreviation for the group Destiny’s Child.

ELDORA is my guide dog, the newest addition to my family. She’s a beautiful, playful, slightly insane golden retriever. She enjoys running around with random things–including my shoes–in her mouth, driving me nuts, making me laugh, and greeting all the people she likes with endless enthusiasm. Of course, she does a very good job of getting around campus as well. She’s a wonderful companion and I love her to pieces.

THE FILE: A journal of sorts that I used to write in when I became bored in class. This was mainly before I acquired a BrailleNote and could read during lectures. The File is full of insane amounts of rambling, dumb poems, song lyrics, and I don’t know what else. I eventually started printing out copies for my friends to read, and they love it for some reason. This is why I occasionally post parts of the File on my blog.

G is one of my best friends. We’ve known each other since sixth grade, but we really didn’t start hanging out outside of school until eighth grade. She’s rather cynical and sarcastic, and can be quite intimidating if you don’t know her very well. We call her “G” because her nickname is George. Her official name is Lydia, but I can’t remember the last time I called her that. How did she go from Lydia to George? It’s a reeeeeally long story.

JAMES is a friend-turned-adopted brother. I first met him a few years ago, and since then we’ve had some very random and interesting phone conversations. James has a passion for cars, beagles, and crazy practical jokes. I think they’re great if they’re played on someone else. I’ve been known to call him “J” on the computer due to my ever-present laziness, and he also came up with an abbreviation for himself in relation to me: Big brother from another mother, or B-BAM. I pointed out that this implies we have the same father, which we do not, but he doesn’t care and uses it anyway.

KAITLIN is another one of my best friends. I’ve known her as long as I’ve known G, and like G and me, she and I didn’t start really being friends until eighth grade. Kaitlin is a very mild-tempered person, but when she occasionally makes a sarcastic comment, it’s unexpected and hilarious. It’s easy to make her laugh and she’s really good at writing, even though she hates it. We tried to come up with a nickname for her, but none of them stuck the way George did.

KAREN is also a great friend I met at various camps I’ve gone to. We hit it off splendidly at age 10, then lost touch completely until last summer. Despite this, we’re back on track now. Karen is very outspoken and slightly bossy, but not in a bad way. She’s also now my adopted little sister.

KELLY is quite a common name, and I use it in my blog a lot with no last name attached. For this reason, I thought it prudent to clarify here that the Kelly I most commonly speak about is Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child. Contrary to popular belief, Beyoncé is not the only member in that group with potential. Kelly is an amazing singer, dancer, and songwriter, and she happens to be my favorite member of DC. Of course, this is not to say that I don’t like the other members; I can just relate to Kelly and her music the most.

MARY is another of my best friends from both middle school and high school. It’s rather hard to describe her, but I’ll give it a try. She is, without a doubt, her own person. She’s dynamic, dramatic, and daring (Ok, so I just used those particular words for the alliteration factor, but they’re all true). Mary is actually the one who brought me, Kaitlin, G, and herself together as friends in the first place by randomly deciding that she and I should have lunch with them one day. She likes to read out loud and is really good at it. She’s also infatuated with the color orange for some reason.

MICHELLE is once again quite a common name, but when I refer to a Michelle in my blog, it’s most likely Michelle Williams of… you guessed it… Destiny’s Child! She’s also an amazing artist, and her voice is powerful and unique and beautiful.

NFB: The National Federation of the Blind. This is an organization I’m a part of, and I’m very passionate about it. If you want more info, click here.

SISTA: This is the term, coined by James, that refers to the training center for the blind that I went to for about 7 months. It stands for Seeing Impaired Skills Training Academy. Although I usually prefer the term “blind” more than any other expression used to allude to lack of eyesight, the word SISTA was so hilarious that I’ve made an exception.

TAWNY was my puppy. She was a cute little beagle who always got into trouble by following her keen beagle nose straight into food or trash or whatever. We got Tawny when I was 5 and Amber was 6. She was our baby right up until she died of a heart attack at just over the age of 12. She’s buried at my nana and papa’s farm about 45 minutes away from us.

Well, that’s all I can think of for now. Happy reading, all!