LiveWorkPlay Building Productive Lives Making A Buzz In The Ottawa Community Serving People With Intellectual Disabilities Since 1995 ON OUR OWN TOGETHER II Interdependence - Independence - Self-Advocacy The Innovative LiveWorkPlay Approach To Long-Term Housing For People With Intellectual Disabilities May 15: Day 8 The laundry room was a busy place all morning. Dale and Keenan were not scheduled to arrive until noon, so those that wanted to do morning laundry and weren't sure what do to got help from their peers. Nobody put a red shirt in with their whites, and the only minor problem was that somebody paid $1.50 for the wrong machine. There were lots of positives, especially the folding - Ryan could teach a clinic! At lunch there was great excitement over the chocolate pudding. Let us just say it's a good thing they don't have it every day. Laura did some problem-solving after she could not locate her third residence key which opens the hall door. She could not remember having one at all, so she got some help to go over to the Commons and they gave her one. End of problem! For whatever reasons, a certain participant wanted the chronicles to display their choice of black socks as a fashion statement. Apparently it is some sort of ritual celebration of freedom. All you have to do is put on shorts, black socks, and running shoes and say "Look mom, I'm wearing black socks" while someone photgraphs your feet. Speaking of feet, the world's largest slippers were located on Saturday night. See the picture below. Any guesses who is attached to the feet inside them? Dinner was quiet. Real quiet. The girl guide leaders were not around, and it didn't seem like anybody else was either. The cafeteria was offering fresh pizza, a popular choice. After dinner it was off to the NAC by bus to see a special one-night only presentation. Thirty two anonymous dancers in dark overcoats, fedoras and heavy boots take to the stage of Southam Hall for a monumental restaging of Joe, the late Jean-Pierre Perreault's haunting, heart-pounding ode to the working man. Created by Perreault in 1984 and hailed ever since as a modern dance masterpiece, Joe has been likened to "an architectural snapshot of the human mass - its numbing conformity occasionally threatened by daring flashes of individuality and rebellion." One of the first dance works to amplify human sound on such a large scale, Joe's "soundtrack" consists entirely of the drumming footfalls and breathing sounds of its dancers. The response to the show was mixed, and it seemed to affect people in different ways and it didn't matter if you were male or female, if you normally enjoy dance performance, or whatever. About 1/3 of the group participated in a standing ovation, another 1/3 applauded loudly but didn't stand up, and another 1/3 woke up and asked what all the noise was about. After the show there was a short walk up to Wellington to catch the bus back to Carleton. That's Elaine there on the left in the picture, she came along when Paul decided he didn't want to use his ticket because he was going to relax at Leeds and listen to his Pilate CD. It's a long project and it is important that everyone gets proper rest, so everyone in the project knows that it is OK to take a night off from a group activity once in a while. Arriving back from Joe the cool night air stimluated the appetites, and John cracked open his Black Forest birthday cake for everyone to indulge. It was a really good Saturday! PICTURES! Sharing the laundry room and a smile I did it mom! That's how you fold, dad! Laundry is all about organization I finally got my key and it works Black socks...the ultimate expression of freedom? The tulips are out Very dramatic Getting ready for the show 32 amazing dancers Parliamentary party Have your cake and eat it too Call Guiness...world's biggest slipper sighting