In good news ...

[blamebrampton]

BABY PYGMY HIPPO IN POLAND!!!!

frayach , you may actually explode with delight at that video, so 15 second increments for you!

MORE IMPORTANTLY! Are you an American? You can use your voting power for good without worrying about the future of your economy! Click over to this site and vote to help Grace. It will cost you nothing except about 30 seconds and a US address, maybe a phone call if the producers ring to check you're real.

Grace is a friend of khittee 's 11 and about to enter Junior High, she also has cerebral palsy. Like every 11-year-old, she's keen to further her independence, but at the moment, she can't even get her wheelchair into her house, so is limited to short bursts of movement once she's inside, and a good rest in between. She is cared for by her single mother and grandmother, but as she gets bigger, it's harder for her to be lifted about by them.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition is that terrifying thing -- a reality show -- but it's one that does some genuine good, reworking homes to make them accessible and functional to the people who actually live in them, rather than whoever the architect had in mind. If Grace gets to 7000 votes, they will come to her house and make the thorough modification that her mum, sorry, mom, could never afford on her current salary. Currently, she is a little below half the number of votes she needs, because her mother is hardworking and sensible and does not have loads of American friends with mild Potter addictions and a bit of free internet time.

Ladies and gentlemen, we DO have loads of those useful people. Please go over and click if you live in the US, and please boost the signal. khittee's original post is here, and Grace's bio is here. The form asks that you mention your relationship with the family, something like 'friend of a friend' or 'wellwisher' might be a little less weird than 'Potter porn connection'. Thank you!

Comments

[brissygirl.livejournal.com]

I'll help boost the signal too. I'll get on the computer soon and post to both my active journals :)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Thank you, dear!

[brinian.livejournal.com]

something like 'friend of a friend' or 'wellwisher' might be a little less weird than 'Potter porn connection'.

What? You mean online friends with eclectic taste in fanfiction aren't good enough for TV producers? The shame!

Thanks for passing this on...have voted appropriately :-) She's at 3128 right now.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I know, it's so unfair, but it could raise a few awkward questions for Grace's mum -- 'And when did you gain a coterie of fangirls, madam?'

And thank you! I think that if every American on my flist could convince a few friends and family members to do the same, she would be over the line!

[absynthedrinker.livejournal.com]

Just voted for our dear Miss Gracie and sent a memo to my staff. In exchange for their vote they will be given a half-day schedule on Friday.

The baby hippo is adorable but animals in cages always make me a bit sad.

Peace,
Bubba

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oh you are a DARLING, thank you!

And yes, I do agree with you. Unfortunately, for hippos, it's a much safer life than it is in much of the outdoors at the moment.

[kayoko.livejournal.com]

Babby hippos are so tiny! My goodness!

I hate it when things are US only. Canada's not that different from the US, especially in terms of TV programming.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I do, too, though I can understand it from the TV company's perspective. And YES! Though it is a pygmy hippo, so smaller to begin with. But still -- so adorable!

[alex-s9.livejournal.com]

She's going to grow up to be a killer hippo, she already tried to bite off this poor guy's finger. *nods, nods*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It was an unusually tasty finger!

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

i understand wanting to help grace, but i'm not sure if extreme makeover is the way to go. have you ever seen the show? they don't renovate people's homes, they tear them down and build literal mansions in their stead. the follow-up costs like utilities, property taxes and general maintenance for such a huge house are never discussed on the show, of course.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It's her family's decision, they're the ones who have nominated her.

And with the stipulations they have for the house being wholly wheelchair accessible, it's not really possible to go too crazy, plus accessibility modifications usually do not increase a home's value, rather the opposite, sad to say. A quick flick through US sources indicates that upkeep costs on medically necessary house modifications like these are tax deductible, so that should also be all right.

But a good precautionary line of thinking! And no, I've never seen it nor would I watch it if it were on here: reality TV and I are just not close, except for The Edwardian Country House, that show was GENIUS!

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

well, to give you an idea of what we are talking about here, take a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_NVwP4hncA&feature=related. that's a standard house for the show, and it doesn't matter if they are building houses that have to fit specific medical requirements--they always build on this scale.

i'm glad to hear about the tax deductibility, though. i often wonder if the producers of the show consider the follow-up costs they are unleashing on people when they build such extravagant homes for them.

[khittee.livejournal.com]

Hi! Yeah, EHM does tend towards the grandiose on the remodels, however, the lot that Grace's house is on is pretty small, they would have trouble getting a much larger house on it, especially if the wheelchair accessibility limits them to one floor. I did pass your concerns on to her mother, though, and thank you so much!

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

oh, it's probably good that the lot won't allow a mansion-like house! i'd hope that the producers would also listen to people's requests re: their new house and not build homes that people can't afford to pay utilities etc. for :).

[slian-martreb.livejournal.com]

I have a nephew with spina bifida. I know that when my sister moved into her house, she was not yet pregnant with my nephew and could never have imagined that one day she would need to tear out half of her lawn to make room for a ramp.

While my nephew is just only turning two and we hope that his condition will allow him to walk with crutches instead of requiring a wheel-chair, it does require a complete re-thinking of how a family lives. Yes, my sister can now carry him upstairs to put him into bed. She won't be able to when he's eight.

I voted for Grace and would gladly vote again and again if I could.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It's a huge re-imagining of how you get by, isn't it? I'm tremendously lucky in that my family seems to get out of wheelchairs as often as we get into them, since it's only ever for traumatic injuries and we're good healers, but even for short periods of time, your house can turn against you. Parents who have to restructure how everything fits together for growing mobility-impaired children are just heroes to me.

And thank you very much.

[kudilu.livejournal.com]

OMG, the hippo was so adorable! and oooo, you have another hippo lover here?

voted, but debating whether to boost the signal - i lurk more than anything, and am not sure if this would reach more than 2 or 3 people (that it isn't already reaching) if i boosted it. maybe FB . . . i've got a bunch of re-linkers there.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I think there is something unusual about people who are not charmed by baby hippos or elephants (and would add adult ones, save that they can be lethal, and some people are put off by that ;-)

Facebook would be a useful thing in this situation, you could link straight to the family's bio and nomination page.

[khittee.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for reposting this for Grace!

Now, to go squee at the baby hippo~

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Thank you for allowing it! And that hippo is a total sweetie. Which reminds me, I need to go and see how the local zombie elephant is going!

[lisbet.livejournal.com]

Just voted -- she's up to 3242 now! A close friend of mine has CP and is in a wheelchair too, after many years of braces and crutches. We sometimes talk about designing the ideal wheelchair-accessible home for people who want to live independently. I've never watched EHM but would be very interested to see how they do it. Please keep us posted if you hear anything further!

[elanna9.livejournal.com]

Done. What a beautiful little girl! I hope this helps.