Andre Alforque

"The odds of establishing a true Low Traffic Neighborhood (LTN) that encompasses the entirety of The Nettelhorst School are effectively zero ." I got into it with Google Gemini today. It kept pushing back on my ideas of LTNs: Low Traffic Neighborhoods. It insisted I conform: push for bump-outs and the like that have already been put into place and are ineffective, stating "You are confronting a structural reality of American urban planning...". After calling it out and having it critique itself, it acquiesced. However, it stalled at being able to provide the next steps, instead leaving it to me to figure it out, asking "...what methods ... align better with your strengths and available resources?". full text: https://gemini.google.com/share/a432fa5731ab

 (note: created using Gemini AI) TITLE: Finding Myself in the Stars: An Autistic Reading of Pixar’s Elio (Visual: [Camera: Medium shot, host looking directly at the lens. Warm, inviting lighting. B-roll of Elio looking up at the sky plays in the background.]) HOST: History is written by the victors. But what happens to the stories written by those who don't fit the mold? When Pixar’s Elio debuted, the critical consensus was swift and unforgiving. They called it a "lackluster science-fiction adventure." They declared the protagonist "hard to connect with." But I want to challenge that baseline assumption. Why, exactly, was he hard to connect with? Was the failure in the film’s design—or in the audience's capacity for empathy? As a late-diagnosed autistic adult, I didn't experience a lackluster adventure. I experienced a profound, undeniable reflection. Let's as...

Dear Mom & Dad, Please practice social distancing, and adhere to calls to shelter-in-place. Early results from clinical studies indicate a significant number of people infected with SARS-Cov2/COVID-19 show no symptoms. These carriers are unsuspectingly spreading the virus and the disease it causes. Already, there are 16 positive tests confirmed in Lancaster, California as of Tuesday, March 24th. Today, LA County reports 1,216 confirmed cases, including 21 lost souls. Compare that to Illinois which was at 1,285 positive tests confirmed 3 days ago, and today is nearly double at 2,538 positive tests confirmed; across both urban and rural areas of Illinois. Our duty to slow the spread of this virus is two fold: 1) buy time for a cure and vaccine to be produced and distributed, and 2) prevent our existing medical structure from being overwhelmed. Remember that while this pandemic is occurring, people still have urgent medical needs. The current system has finite capacity in terms of...

I am trying. I am doing my best not to panic, to keep anxiety at the level of concern. But it's difficult and I'll tell you why. Right now, social distancing seems to have started, fueled, and caused by communities needing to act. They feel that need to act because we have no faith in our government leaders at any level. We have no faith in our government leaders because they did not have a plan, nor have proposed a plan, nor have put into action anything resembling a plan. We don't have a plan because it takes hard work and determination, it takes grit to create and maintain a plan against a future foe that will take an unpredictable form. And nobody in the government took that time and effort and grit to create the plan. And since we have no plan, we have no leadership. And since we have no leadership, we have no faith in leaders. And since we have no faith in leaders, we simply return to basics. We look after ourselves. We selfishly do the things we can to control what w...

Alexis will be participating in the Stallion Stampede walkathon on  May 11th .  Please help support her school.  Click here to donate . 

Dear Alexis, The past year you have experienced an immense amount of mental growth. From speech to emotions, you have been inundated with many difficult situations. For me, it's a harsh reminder of the black-and-white views of my own past, and the difficulty (near impossibility) to instigate change in people. On the optimistic side: as parents we learn and employ varying tactics to help you gain empathy, and for you to learn to keep an open mind in this seemingly unfair world set against your joy and happiness.  Regardless of how you act/react, I always love you. At times you have bent me beyond my personal breaking point. Looking back it's difficult to understand the exact factors both within and outside my control leading to that point. But because it's you, I must find ways to deal with it and move on. There's no giving up. I must have pliability both with my memory and my emotions. Despite the absurdity of your stubbornness and your demands, we still need to...