I dream

Last autumn I heard about a competition to make a short film on the topic of follow your dreams. I had the idea of making an animation about my wild dreams of swimming and flying in my wheelchair.

I go to Arrcc in Folkestone, a centre offering creative activities for disabled people. Last summer we made paper cut pictures inspired by the Matisse paper cut exhibition at Tate Modern. I looked at paper cuts of the circus and dancers, made with really simple shapes, and thought I could use that idea in a stop motion animation. That's a good style for me, because I can draw simple shapes with support. You can see how I designed the paper cuts on the wall display.

I've done cut-out animation before. The first time I tried animation was at a community project at the Tyneside cinema in Newcastle, to celebrate the Angel of the North's tenth birthday. I made a little paper cut sequence about passing the Angel every day in my school taxi, and that inspired me to look for more opportunities to do animation, on work experience and in other projects. In 2013 I went to a workshop at Canterbury Anifest, where Charlotte Firmin showed us how Small Films used cut-out animation to make children's programmes like Ivor the Engine. I bought some software and started trying to make little animations at home. When I started going to Arrcc last summer, I was really excited that I could do film making there, because I was looking for opportunities to do more film making.

The other exciting thing that happened in 2014 was getting Grid 2 software and my new computer. With Grid 2 I can access the computer with the switch I use for my communication aid. That's fantastic because I can do more things independently, and the thing I most wanted to do was film editing. When I've make films before I have directed someone to be my hands on the computer, but I really wanted to edit them myself. I shot I Dream and recorded the voice over at Arrcc, with help from Dom, the film maker who works at Arrcc, and my mum, but I edited it at home. I needed help with the sound and subtitles, because I'm deaf,  but I did all the video editing myself with my switch. I was so excited when it worked! It's very slow and hard work, but I'm really happy I can do that.

Now I want to make lots more films!

Dr Who fan of the month

In October I did an application to Whovian.net to be Dr Who fan of the month. I worked really hard answering all the questions on my communication aid, but they didn’t choose me. This is what I wrote.

Why are you worthy?

I'm a big Dr Who fan! I don't just love the Doctor, have all the Dr Who, Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures DVDs, and have posters and a row of little Tardises in my bedroom. I also choose Dr Who photos for my profile photos on Facebook and Twitter, and write cryptic Dr Who tweets on my communication aid every Saturday morning about that evening's episode. Then later I tweet what I think of it. Tweets take me a very long time because I access the computer with a switch and special software. That's because I have cerebral palsy, and I'm also deaf. I love tweeting about Dr Who because on social media I can connect with other Dr Who fans and communicate equally with everyone. I have also made a Dr Who page on my communication aid, where I've programmed lots of questions and comments to make it easier for me to discuss Dr Who with other people. I always watch Dr Who Extra on i-player and I used to love Confidential, because I'm very interested in how films and television programmes are made. I'm working on a short animation about Daleks arriving in my village, and I have just made some block prints of an Ood and a Dalek. I'm planning to do a series of prints of Dr Who monsters, and maybe a Tardis print. I've even decorated my wheelchair with Dr Who stickers.

Firstly, how and when did you become a Doctor Who fan?

 I remember seeing a Dr Who trailer on BBC1 in 2005, with the ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler in the Tardis. I didn't know about Dr Who at that time, but I thought that looked an exciting programme. My parents watched with me, because they thought that might be too scary for me! I loved it, and I've watched every episode since. I thought Rose was a great character.

We're approaching the end of this year's epic series. What have been your highlights of the Twelfth Doctor's adventures thus far? 

 I think series 8 is fantastic. My favourite episodes are Deep Breath, Robot of Sherwood and In the Forest of the Night. I think Peter Capaldi is a great actor, though I do miss Matt, and I really like Jenna Coleman who plays Clara.

A new series means a brand new story arc and there's been an interesting one developing around Michelle Gomez as the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere, otherwise known as 'Missy'. Have you concocted any of your own theories about who she might be?

I think Missy is someone in the Doctor's life, maybe from a future he has not yet experienced. She seems to be a bad character, I'm a bit anxious about her!

Clara's been juggling two worlds this series as she's been developing a romance with Danny Pink, played by Samuel Anderson. Do you think that Danny's a good match for the impossible girl?

Maybe Clara and Danny will stay together in future, maybe they will get married, maybe not... Danny is not a bad match for Clara, but I'm not sure if he's good enough. No boyfriend can be as exciting as the eleventh Doctor!
 

2013 was a fantastic year for Doctor Who as fans around the world celebrated half a century of adventures in space and time. What golden memories will you cherish from the show's momentous 50th anniversary year?

I loved seeing the tenth and eleventh doctors together in The Day of the Doctor, and I was really interested to see all the programmes about the history of Dr Who. I enjoyed watching the BBC docu-drama "An Adventure in Time and Space", about the early years of Dr Who, and that encouraged me to start watching the very first stories from 1963. Now I've started to explore more stories from the sixties, seventies and eighties, so the anniversary year opened up a whole new dimension of Dr Who for me.

The spooky season of Halloween is once again upon us. What would you say is the scariest episode of Doctor Who to date, and why?

I find the Weeping Angels really scary. I think the scariest episodes are Blink, because Sally Sparrow's friend Kathy is taken back in time by the Weeping Angels and can never return, and Angels Take Manhattan, because I love New York and I felt upset about the Angels taking over the city. Amy and Rory were taken back in time; it was such a sad ending!

Is there any Doctor Who companion - past or present - that you particularly relate to?

I relate most to Clara, I really like her. She is brave, enthusiastic, confident and fun, and I love her style. I call my communication aid Clara because it's my companion, and I have a check dress a bit like Clara's.

Describe what being part of the Doctor Who fandom means to you in 12 words or less.

Connecting with fans around the world, sharing tweets, opinions, photos and clips.

Finally, is there anything else you'd like to say before you go?

Geronimo! Don't be lasagne!

 

Harry Potter Studio Tour

I went to Harry Potter studios on my birthday. It’s at Leavesdon where the films were made.

I saw lots of sets from the films. I liked seeing the great hall, Gryffindor common room and Dumbledore’s office. In the set for the Burrow we saw Molly Weasley’s magic knitting, pan cleaning and chopping carrots and saw how they worked. Out-side we took photos of Privet Drive and the knight bus. We went up Diagon Alley and looked in the shop windows, that’s really magical!

 

 

I was interested in all the props from the film. There are lots of costumes, I like the invisibility cloak and Hermione’s dress from Yule ball. The wands are all different, and we saw the mirror of Erised, Harry’s photo album, the horcruxes and letters the owl brings to Harry at Privet Drive. We saw wigs and masks for goblins, and animatronic animals like Buckbeak and Aragog the giant spider.

 I’m interested in film making, so I liked seeing how they used green screen to film flying broomsticks and Mr Weasley’s flying car. We went in the flying car, we were filmed with green screen and we saw the car flying through the countryside on the monitor. They also used green screen for Harry’s invisibility cloak. It had green lining which made Harry disappear on green screen. At the end of the tour we saw the huge model of Hogwarts castle used to film all the different shots, like Harry on his broomstick with the dragon in the Goblet of Fire. The model castle is really magical and impressive.

 I think that was a really, really great day out. I loved seeing everything and I think it was brilliant  that we could book a British Sign Language interpreter and guide who explained and showed us everything. The butter beer was fizzy, creamy, sweet and delicious! I can’t wait to go again.

 

Inaccessible Unacceptable

This is film we made at college with living streets. I directed it. We want people to be aware of the streets in Jesmond and about the accessibility problems. We want people to know how bad it is parking on a dropped kerb. The Student council thought about what maybe happen if people park on dropped kerb and made a storyboard. We made a script and we think about where to film the different Scenes. Filming took a long time but it was fun. People were nervous in front of the video camera but they got used to it. I enjoyed saying Action! And Cut!. When we filmed in doors we had a problem with lighting, it was too dark. We needed to use a light from the disco lounge to light Tom when he was reading the news. The problem was that Tom could not see because the light was in his eyes. When we filmed outside we had to wait for good weather. Every time we made plans to film, it rained! We used a little H.D video camera with a tripod, I checked the scene through the cameras screen before we started filming each part. Some times I used a Gorillapod tripod and put it on top of my DynaVox. We also used the gorillapod on Jill's wheelchair so that people could see things from her view. I used Serif MoviePlus to put the film together. I think editing quite easy, I enjoyed it. The music for the film was made by our Students in the music technology group. We hope you enjoy the film.

Unspoken: My Voice

In this little film, different people who use communication aids talk about their voice and why it’s important to them. Lots of people I know are in the film. I’m in it, but you only see my Dynavox scanning, not my face.

The video was made by Kate Caryer and her friends, for a fundraising event to support a drama project about AAC. I think that’s an interesting idea. Kate is a 1 Voice role model.

Learning Animation

Learning Animation I got a webcam for Christmas to use with my Zu3D animation software. My mum and I made a short animation with my little toy puppies to practise moving things just a little bit, adding sound and doing titles and credits. I think that’s good for first time, but we have lots more things to learn!

Canterbury Anifest

I went to animation festival on 4th and 5th October, in the university in Canterbury. There was a programme of masterclasses, film screening and talks. I went to a masterclass on cut-out animation with Charlotte Firmin. Her dad Peter and Oliver Postgate started Small Films in Canterbury in the 1960s, they made Ivor the engine, Bagpuss, Pingu and lots more animations for children's television. It was really interesting. I made a cut-out animation Ginger cat and animated and walking in a garden. There wasn't time to do much, I want to do more at home. I bought a Zu3d animation programme, it's easy to use but it can do lots of things. Later I went to a screening of short animations from around the world, by Students and independent film makers. I thought that was interesting because the films were all different. Some were funny, some sweet, some a little bit strange. On Saturday I went to a talk by Jim Parkin from Aardman about animating Shaun the sheep. Jim makes the models. He explained lots of things about how the programmes are made, with photos and clips. He was funny and interesting. He brought models of Shaun, little Timmy and other sheep, and after the talk we could take photos with the sheep models. I think Anifest was really good. I want to go again next year and go to more talks, films and maybe masterclasses.

Dover Dash

The Dover Dash is a sports afternoon for disabled people. It's in Dover leisure centre on Saturdays. I went twice. I played boccia and I tried to join in dancing. I was the only one with a wheelchair. They have other sports but I can't do them, maybe I can do kurling next time. I chatted to people with my DynaVox, some people didn't really wait for me but some were friendly. Kate organises that, she's nice and friendly.

More Outings

The Kent weather is lovely and warm and sunny, nicar than Durham. Then I want to go on outings. On Monday 2nd September I went to Deal, a seaside town with a huge beach and a pier it's a good walk for wheelchairs beside the beach. The pier is great for walking and looking at the sea. I went to the cafe at the end of the pier. I got chocolate milkshake, it was really chocolatey and Thick with cream and chocolate sprinkles on top, mmmm! On Wednesday 4th September I went on the bus to Canterbury with my mum. I used my new Kent bus pass. I went to the museum, I saw paintings about home. I liked little animated video with little airplanes in a house. I looked at bags but I didn't see anything because all the bags were a little bit small for all my things, I bought a good book about animation that was a good bargain. I had a chocolate and strawberries ice cream, it was really chocolatey and Delicious. I think the bus was good, I want to go to more places.

First Outings in Kent

I have been on some nice outings in Kent. I went to Howletts animal park on 2nd August I saw monkeys and tigers and gorillas and leopards and anteaters. We got ticket for 1 year so we could go lots of times. On Tuesday 6th August we went to coast at Dungeness, that's a huge shingle beach with a boardwalk. That's really different landscape with little wooden houses. There were dolphins in the sea. On Sunday 25th August I went to Whitstable. It's a little fishing port on the north Kent coast. I had a picnic near the beach. I saw lots of sailboats and dogs. I went to the exhibition of old Shell posters at museum. I think that's interesting, they showed views of Britain in the 1930s. I am looking forward go to Howletts animal park again and maybe a day out in London soon.

Red River Hogs

Honey Badger

Moving House

On Saturday 20th July I went to bowling with my friends for my goodbye party I had a fun time with my friends. I finished college on Wednesday 24th July, I felt sad saying goodbye to friends and staffs, especially my good friend Deacon and my pa Jess. On Tuesday 30th July I moved in Elham in Kent. I felt strange about leaving Durham because I have lived there all my life but I am happy because it is near London and France and the weather is better.
I going get hot tub help me to relax, I can't wait! We bought house with big garden where we want to grow strawberries and pumpkins and lots more vegetables and fruit.  I need building work now  so I can have a shower room and better access.

Using social media and the internet with my dynavox

I love Facebook! I post status updates and my friends and cousins and aunties write comments. I stay in touch with people I do not see often, like my One Voice friends and my family in the south of England,  France and Canada. I am friends with people from school and college too. I read what everyone is up to, I like or write comments, and look at photos.  I like that because I communicate equally with everyone. 
I like chatting on Facebook. Usually I chat with friends who used to be at school or college with me. My mum helps me, I talk with my voice and she types what I say. That#s easier for me than talking face to face, because I need signing and using my DynaVox with my switch is really slow. The problem is that#s not private, my mum sees everything.  My DynaVox is a computer too. For ages I wanted to access the internet independently, but I use a switch with scanning and I did not know How to do that. In September the DynaVox rep showed us How to use mouse scanning on websites. Now I can write a message on the DynaVox then post it on Facebook. I was really really excited the first time I did that independently. Mouse scanning is slow and quite difficult, but that#s like everything with my switch, I am used to that! 
I like email. I have a email pen friend called Libby in New York state. She uses a DynaVox too. We email every week. We have been pen friends for 4 and a half years. I can do email independently on the DynaVox email browser. That#s good but slow. It takes all afternoon to write all my news. Sometimes my mum types for me on the computer. The DynaVox browser does not cope with attachments like photos. I email people in my family to say thank you for presents, and friends to arrange to meet. 
I use the internet to look at websites like doctor who, watch programmes on BBC i-player, and for shopping on Amazon. Now I have mouse scanning I am thinking about secret shopping! We have a family blog but I did not do that for ages. Maybe I would like to try that independently now. The internet helps me stay in contact with people and the world. I That#s really important. I am fed up if I do not have access somewhere. 
I want to try talking to my One Voice friends and maybe Libby my American pen friend on skype.  I have not tried Twitter yet, but maybe I will try in future. 
My parents help me stay safe on -line. On Facebook I am only friends with people I really know. I do not have photos of me on the internet. I like choosing different photos for my Facebook profile. I used to have photos of my Ginger cat, now I have doctor who characters. Now I can do more things independently I have to think about safety. I went to a communication matters day about that. 
The internet and social media are a important part of my life. I can not imagine life with -out that. 

Dr. Who exhibition

Last Friday I went to the Dr. Who exhibition in Newcastle. I think that's really cool. I saw Ood (my favourite because their mouths are like noodles), Cybermen, Daleks, Slitheen and lots more monsters and costumes.

My 1 Voice animation

In March I did my work experience at the Media Centre. I chose that because I really wanted to do more animation. Now I'm a teenage role model, I want to do things to help 1 Voice, so I decided to make an advertising animation for the Blackpool weekends. I hope that can go on the 1 Voice website.

Trainee Role Model

In November Jemima was invited to attend the One Voice family weekend in Blackpool. This event is for families with children aged under 12 using communication aids. Jemima was asked to give a short presentation to a parents' workshop about what she has done with the One Voice Teenagers and how she has benefited from it. She was also to act as a trainee role model throughout the weekend, alongside the adult role models who are always involved in One Voice events. This is her presentation.

Hello, my name is Jemima. I am 17. I live at High Shincliffe, near Durham. My school is Northern Counties in Newcastle. I got my Dynavox when I was about 8 but it did not work very well because I had problems with all the switches I tried. Finally I got my throat switch and I was really excited. It was the first time I could work something by myself.

Soon after I went to One Voice at Blackpool. It was a Harry Potter weekend and we did little plays. I really enjoyed it and it made me want to use my Dynavox. It was the first time I saw lots of people using communication aids to do interesting things. I went to Blackpool three times and I felt sad when I could not go again.

So I was very happy and excited when I heard about the first One Voice teenager weekend. I have been to all four and they were all great! I like meeting the One Voice teenagers, they are my friends because I see them every year. It is good working with the role models because they are quite young and cool, just a few years older than us, and they are doing interesting things like going to university or starting a business. That helps me to think about the future.

The teenager projects are a little bit more serious than Blackpool. We have lots of fun and great discos but we think about things too. We have done workshops about good and bad things about communication aids and thought about what we are good at and how we can help people understand what we need. We had an exciting weekend making the Listen to me DVD and music video. I thought that was fantastic because I am really interested in making films. Last summer we talked about transition. That was useful because it helped me think about what I want to do and my dreams for the future. Some of us did presentations at the family network day. The first time me and my parents saw role models doing presentations we were amazed but now we can do the same. One Voice has helped me become more confident and positive. Now I am learning to be a role model. I want to help younger children who are starting to use communication aids. That is one of my ambitions for the future.

Blossom haiku

I wrote this haiku in August 2008 while enjoying an excellent meal at Blossom on Columbus Avenue, between 82nd and 83rd, near the Natural History Museum.

Hungry to be nourished:
Salt, sweet, tang.
Replete, too soon a memory.

Winter

When bony fingers of a north wind probe
and nip,
and channerin frosts gnaw
and drape all in an icy shroud,
the watery sun,
exposed when muslin clouds disrobe,
wanly illumines
leaf and grass,
brick and tile,
disclosing pallid liveries of winter.

Me and my dream

Last weekend, Jemima volunteered to give a presentation at the One Voice family network day. One Voice supports families with children using Alternative and Augmentative Communication, particularly high tech communication aids, and the annual summer weekend is one of the highlights of Jemima's year. Role model presentations raise the aspirations of children and parents by showing them what AAC users can do, and now Jemima and her friends, the first generation of One Voice children, are themselves ready to act as role models. The teenagers' workshops the previous day had focused on transition, and Jemima chose to talk about herself and one of her current ambitions:

Hello! My name is Jemima. I am seventeen. My favourite TV show is Dr. Who and my favourite movies are the Harry Potter films, Narnia and Prince Caspian, High School Musical and the Japanese animated films made by Studio Ghibli. I also like some of my parents' old films like Four Weddings and a Funderal and Sleepless in Seattle.

I'm profoundly deaf. I understand sign language. I like talking with my voice but I can speak more clearly with my Dynavox. I use scanning with a voice switch. That is slow and hard work.

I will stay at my school for one of two more years. Then I think I'll go to Northern Counties College. I want to study ICT and I hope to do some courses in a local college. I want to learn about film making. I was first interested in film making when my dad videoed holidays and family events. My first experience of how a real film is made was at the One Voice weekend in Blackpool in 2002. I loved the video. Then I made two Video Nation films for the BBC with my dad. I thought that was fun and interesting. We planned what we wanted to film and recorded me talking with my Dynavox. The first film was about me and my life. It was in a series called Voices. Then they asked me to do another one about Christmas. Last year I really enjoyed doing the One Voice DVD project. I liked working with Silverfish and seeing how they organised the filming and edited the film. I showed the DVD to my class when we made a film about our school for our Duke of Edinburgh Award. I interviewed someone who went to my school when she was a girl and has worked there for a long time.

Last month I learned about animation at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle. It was a workshop for teenagers to celebrate the tenth birthday of the Angel of the North. I see the Angel every day when I go to school. They showed us how to do animation with paint, sand, plasticene and cutting paper. I chose paper and talked about my idea with my Dynavox. Everyone's work was edited into one film for the Angel's birthday party. I am waiting to get my copy. I really want to do more animation.

I saved up my birthday money and last Monday I got a little video camera. Now I am going to learn to shoot and edit films. That is my dream for the future.

The Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I’ve read Little House in the Big Woods and now I’m reading Little House on the Prairie. It’s the story of when Laura was a little girl in America about 140 years ago. Laura lives with her Ma and Pa, her big sister Mary and her little sister Carrie and the good dog Jack.

They live in a little house in the Big Woods in Wisconsin. The house is made of wood, it has beds, chairs, table and stove for cooking and a wood fire. It has an attic where they keep food like pumpkins for the winter. They have a cow to give them milk, and Ma makes butter and cheese. They have horses to go to different places to see their grandparents and aunties and uncles and cousins, and once Laura goes to town, to the store where they buy sugar, coffee and material to make clothes.

Pa goes hunting for food in the Big Woods, he shoots deer and sometimes bear and once their uncle Henry kills a pig. They grow vegetables and corn and Pa finds honey and the whole family help to collect maple syrup. They keep food for the winter because it’s really snowy.

Laura and Mary don’t have lots of toys, they have rag dolls and imagine a play house under the tree. At Christmas they get mittens and a candy stick and Laura has her rag doll. They think that’s really special.

In Little House on the Prairie the family decide to move west. They go in a covered wagon for many weeks and choose a new place to live. At first it’s like camping, but Laura’s father builds a house and digs a well. That’s really hard work and they have to find food on the prairie.

I think the books are really interesting because they are about a family who lived one hundred and forty years ago, so I learn about how people lived when they had to do everything by themselves, with no electricity and no television and telephones and computers. They make their clothes and toys, and grow and catch their food, they only go to a shop once or twice a year. It’s really different from our life.

Seed potatoes planted - all in one day!

The potatoes I planted in spring 2007 were a success: 21 seed potatoes yielded about 20 kg, about a month's worth of cooking. However, the flavour of the potatoes was remarkable only in being without distinction. Further, some potatoes were attacked by insects and/or by slugs. Others suffered from scab and/or blight.

Monday 5 May 2008 was a bank holiday in the UK, and the weather was unusually fine. An early start saw a rectangle of turf, 2 m x 3m cut and lifted. In the afternoon I rotavated the new bed with a borrowed rotavator that bucked and kicked, but did the job remarkably well. At tea-time the bed was raked and composted. I planted the potatoes as darkness fell. To date, this year, 64 seed potatoes have been planted: 32 Charlottes, 16 Juliettes and 16 Sunrise.

The bad news is that there are half as many potatoes again yet to be planted. Moreover, there is a bag of onion sets to go in. Looks like another job for Mister Rotavator.