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‘Will anyone sleep with my Down’s syndrome son?’ Mother makes appeal for a lover for 21-year-old Otto | Mail Online

Posted: March 16th, 2009 | Author: Ashley | Filed under: Embed, Event, Photos, Uncategorized, Website | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Found this article posted in a friend’s facebook status.  I’m sure everyone will have some sort of opinion on this one, but it definitely makes you wonder how much right society really has to play on those with disabilities.  I’ll be honest, I didn’t really find anything wrong with this.  Maybe because I see sex as a beautiful part of my life, and would want that for anyone!  But I’m sure there are people out there who have some major issues with this mother and her adopted sons.  Eh, to each their own.

Like most mothers Lucy Baxter wants her child to live a fully rounded life – including the experience of a physical relationship and even finding love.

But her 21-year-old son Otto has Down’s syndrome and has had trouble finding a partner.

So she is appealing for women to come forward so Otto can ‘enjoy the same experiences as other men his age’.

Lucy Baxter and Otto

Lucy Baxter is doing all she can to find a girlfriend for her son Otto, 21, so he can lose his virginity

‘Then there was Sarah. We had a crazy snog together. It was a few months ago. I’m still waiting for her to call me back.’

She says she is even prepared to go so far as to pay for a prostitute for her adopted son.

Miss Baxter, 50, also hopes he may one day become a father – despite the controversy this may attract.

‘Society has a learning disability when it comes to Down’s syndrome,’ she said.

‘Why should these people be kept separate and pigeon-holed when they have the same emotions, desires and feelings as so-called normal people?

‘If he doesn’t get a girlfriend, I will feel really bad, because I have sold him this thing that he is like everybody else. That’s why I’m working overtime to get this sorted for him.’

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Otto enjoys a day at the park with friends

She has already helped James to set up a page on a social networking website to invite potential partners to come forward for him.

Miss Baxter from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, works for the mental health charity Mencap and campaigns for the rights of those with Down’s syndrome.

She is single and has never married but has three other adopted sons – James, 27, Titus, 14, and Raphael, seven. They all have Down’s syndrome.

‘I’d like all my boys to find love and enjoy sex,’ she said.

‘I would have no problem paying for Otto to go to Amsterdam to visit a brothel if that’s what he wanted.

‘A few of his friends suggested it a few months ago and since then I’ve talked to Otto about it in an adult way. Why shouldn’t he enjoy the same experiences as other men?’

Otto is an aspiring actor who has appeared in local stage versions of Macbeth and The Canterbury Tales.

He persuaded his mother to help him find a partner after three years without success.

He says his ideal woman is television and radio presenter Fearne Cotton.

He added: ‘I’m on a mission to find a girlfriend. My reason is I want to have sex. I’m looking for girlfriends everywhere.’

Recalling previous encounters, he added: ‘There was Jackie – she was a sexy bird, she was gorgeous. She gave me four kisses.

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Otto Baxter’s Bebo page, which his mother helped set up

‘I have brought Otto up to relate to everybody so he has always been to mainstream school and mixed with everybody. I would like to see him with a girlfriend. I would prefer to see him with a girlfriend who doesn’t have Down’s.’

Miss Baxter would be ‘delighted’ if Otto brought a woman back to their house for sex.

‘I don’t have a problem with any of it,’ she said. ‘He’s going to Las Vegas for a few days to promote himself as an actor so who knows, he might get lucky over there. When he gets back home I’ve lined up a few dating agencies for him to join. I always encourage him to go to nightclubs and other places where people pick up women.

She said she would love to be a grandmother. ‘I would also love it if Otto got a girlfriend pregnant. It’s another experience everyone else goes through so why not him?’

She acknowledged that this was certain to cause controversy and said: ‘I know if he did get someone pregnant everyone would have an opinion on it.’

Miss Baxter also hopes that her eldest adopted son will eventually lose his virginity but is not taking such drastic action as with Otto because James is a little less outgoing.

Carol Boys of the Down’s Syndrome Association said: ‘People with Down’s syndrome have the same feelings and desires as everyone else and there is no reason why they shouldn’t have relationships.

‘There are many with Down’s syndrome who have found a partner and some that have gone on to get married. Otto’s experience highlights that there are different challenges that they have to face because they have a visible disability.’

The family’s story is featured in TV show Natalie Cassidy’s Real Britain, on BBC3, at 8pm on Thursday

‘Will anyone sleep with my Down’s syndrome son?’ Mother makes appeal for a lover for 21-year-old Otto | Mail Online.

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‘Hair’ at City Lights

Posted: February 27th, 2009 | Author: Ashley | Filed under: Business, Event, Media, Photos, Review, Website | 1 Comment »
Jacqui and I in one of our first promo shoots for the show.

Jacqui and I in one of our first promo shoots for the show.

That ’60s Show

City Lights goes tribal with revival of ‘Hair’

By Marianne Messina

THE ETHNIC diversity of the “tribe” (a.k.a. cast) performing in City Lights Theater Company’s Hair would probably have been the envy of the 1968 Broadway musical production, itself considered a musical capstone on civil rights, sexual liberation, antiwar sentiments and other upheavals of the ’60s. Directed by Lisa Mallette (who has smartly parsed her introductory speech into shorthand to be carried on placards), City Lights’ tribal chemistry is less cult-tight and more 21st-century fun, from the moment cast members greet you proffering flowers and offering to paint your face. Designer Ron Gasparinetti accents the flower power by bordering the set with hot-pink mushrooms, brightly colored flowers, clouds, sworls, yellow ink blots (or is that our brains on acid?) and a yellow-orange sun staring out from dead center like a third eye.

Short on plot, long on ambience, Hair is a love-in with an incidental story line about a young man named Claude (Joseph Banks), who is still trying to “find himself” when he gets his draft notice. With a little help from his draft-card-burning, free-loving friends, Claude must decide, “Where do I go from here?” The show spends a good deal of the first act in song (music by Galt MacDermot), mostly murky introductions of the tribe’s ethos and members, anti-stereotypes all.

Writers James Rado and Gerome Ragni render the tribe’s iconoclasm in impressionistic word lists like “Sodomy, Fellatio, Cunnilingus, Pederasty … ,” so I’ll dedicate my summation of the show’s highlights to them: coital simulations, silken nudity, strobing gunshots, hot hirsute Margaret Mead (RB Embleton), audience invasion, black light, Day-Glo body paint, candle vigils, dance-groove finale. These lyrical lists have their charm. As Hud (Phillip C. Pettiford) sings “Colored Spade,” Woof (high-energy Jacob Vega Canote) sings “Sodomy,” Berger (an exuberant Noel Carey) sings “Donna,” and Claude sings “Manchester, England,” their juvenile rebelliousness reminds us that these life-wild kids are such stuff as war fodder is made off.

People who know the music or have seen the show may be harder to please than neophytes. This enjoyable, nevertheless generic, production captures the mood but doesn’t freshen or flesh it out. The wonderfully live music occasionally drags, wallows in muddy tones and wants some riffing—or at least juice. But the cast, er, tribe, is chock-full of great singers, from Banks and Michelle Ianiro (Ronny), who sings “Aquarius,” to singers with smaller parts that jump out as pleasant surprises, like Ashley Bawdon and Nicole C. Julien (as Dionne). The City Lights tribe capture both the innocence—Raime Gerardy is a blonde doll of a virginally 16-year-old Crissy—and sensuality, of which thin, thrusting Pettiford and flag-bikinied Tenaya Hurst provide eye-catching examples.

Though this Hair is more fest than invocation, it has a strong finish. “What a piece of Work Is Man,” staged with the duo singing on high from the catwalks, packs punch. And in the production’s finale, the carefully folded flag traveling from hand to hand toward the fallen soldier-hero makes it impossible not to think of our daily Iraq War “honor rolls.” The immediacy of the tribe’s howling, “Let the Sunshine In,” drummer Gabby Horlick building a wall of cymbal crashes in the air, makes one wonder if the tribe might not have personal connections to this honor ritual.

HAIR, A City Lights Theater Company production, plays Wednesday–Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm (July 27 and Aug. 3) and 2pm (Aug. 10, 17 and 24) through Aug. 24 at City Lights, 529 S. Second St., San Jose. Tickets are $25–$40. (408.295.4200)

via Theater & Performance in Palo Alto, CA | ‘Hair’ at City Lights.

This review is from about 7 months ago, but I never posted it anywhere.  Jacob and I had a crazy summer being a part of this production.  There are a few people in the cast we’re both still incredibly in love with, I would go back to this summer again and again…  well, maybe with a few changes…  to the summer, not the show.

I especially like the Metro review because it makes me look good.  ; )

Thanks Marianne!  Now to find a stage to sing on again…

Sad you missed it?  There are some pictures to help you feel like you were there…  frolicking naked with us at our be-in… okay, I only have a couple lying around.  I’m sure JACOB will SEE THIS and post the large collection that HE HAS.  If I know my boyfriend, he’ll get that hint. ; )

Jacqui, Dani, Danelle and Myself

Jacqui, Dani, Danelle and Myself.

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best of craigslist : Antique furniture from former CEO’s office- $1.22 M

Posted: February 22nd, 2009 | Author: Ashley | Filed under: Business, Event, Website | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Antique furniture from former CEO’s office- $1.22 M

Date: 2009-01-23, 12:25PM EST

It has come to our attention that there is a great deal of value in the furniture that is no longer needed from the office of a former CEO. We have decided to put it up for sale. There are quite a few items and we would be willing to sell as a set or separately. Price is not negotiable. The buyer must be willing to come in the middle of the night for haul away as we do not want any additional people to see it than necessary. If needed a driver can be provided for an extra charge. The buyer must also sign a non-disclosure agreement saying they will not sell pictures to the press or speak to anyone about where the furniture was acquired or how much was paid.

The items are as follows:

  • Antique area rug, has some spots that are worn down from pacing but easily covered with other furniture $87 K
  • Sofa, has been slept in a few times but is very comfortable $15 K
  • Velvet curtains, very similar to the curtains from Gone With the Wind $28 K
  • George IV Desk, rarely used $18 K
  • Chandelier, still sparkles despite the current economic environment $37 K
  • Mirror with silver frame, has a few kiss marks we are trying to get off $5 K
  • Mahogany pedestal table, might have been stood upon but still in great shape $25 K
  • Off-white parchment waste can, perfect for shredded documents $1,400
  • There are other items as well. Please contact for more information.

via best of craigslist : Antique furniture from former CEO’s office- $1.22 M.

Jacob recently introduced me to the wonder that is “Best-of-Craigslist.”  Nothing need be said apart from;  you can expect to see more gems like this one.  Oh yes.

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Style.com: the online home of Vogue; Fashion, Fashion Shows, Shopping & More

Posted: February 10th, 2009 | Author: Ashley | Filed under: Business, Photos, Website | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Depression Chic: Style Trend Reports Spring 2009

Who needs economists? With an insight that’s downright uncanny, designers worked both sides of the crash of 1929, turning out glittery flapper frocks (Alberta Ferretti, Aquilano.Rimondi) and faded sack dresses (Burberry, Bottega Veneta) in equal measure. On the one hand, Jil Sander’s Raf Simons fringed not just dresses but suits, too; on the other, Marc Jacobs found himself at home on the prairie.

This is the trend I’m most excited about this Spring.  Why?  Oh, because it’s already in my closet.   My mother says I look like a bag lady.  I always called it “Homeless Chic.”  Style.com just published it before I did.  ; )

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Republic of Titulia

Posted: February 5th, 2009 | Author: Ashley | Filed under: Photos, Website | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Republic or Titulia

Titulia is a non-territorial republic that welcomes all immigrants.

Please log in, or register to become a citizen.
http://www.titulia.com/

As citizen, you can

  • participate discussions
  • read and write blogs
  • join or create parties
  • get elected
  • extend your fan base
  • poll citizens’ opinion
  • find like-minded citizens
  • make friends
  • and much more.

You could be the next president of Titulia.

Mary Brewster blogs:

There are various definitions of what a nation or a country means. The interesting question for us is this: What functions of a nation can be fulfilled by a virtual, online nation and what functions can not.

There are various benefits one receives by being the member of a nation, those that the government is usually providing – such as protection from criminals, an internationally recognized passport that enables you to travel,  the management of the infrastructure of the nation, etc. etc, just to name a possible few. The list is endless and varies from “real” country to “real” country.

Also, there is the cultural aspect of being a member of a nation with all its implications.

Here I would like to start a conversation on this topic, with the intention of trying to define what a virtual nation such as Tituia could achieve and what is out of scope by definition.

So my question to you is this:

What do you expect from your country?

This is a very innovative way to research such a concept.  I definitely suggest checking the site out, especially if you have an interest in politics, government or anthropology.

Of course, this can only go so far-  The Republic of Titulia has no way of enforcing laws or propositions in it’s citizens, since it is an online nation with no physical territory.  But look beyond that and this is a very exciting venture to be a part of.  A study of a nation with no evil secrets or history… yet.  : )  Maybe the person who created The Republic of Titulia set out to find such a nation and had no such luck.  I dare you to try…  or create your own.

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Christmas in the Park

Posted: January 24th, 2009 | Author: Ashley | Filed under: Photos | Tags: , , , , , , | No Comments »

That Ferris Wheel was huge.

Jacob, the Historian.

Sneaking pictures of me on the way to Palo Alto…

Oregon

More driving…

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The drive up…DRIVE.

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More yard…

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More of the driveway…

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I felt like Pocahontas…

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More of the backyard…

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Washington

Posted: January 24th, 2009 | Author: Ashley | Filed under: Photos | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

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That’s the beautiful house they built!!

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Washington

Posted: January 24th, 2009 | Author: Ashley | Filed under: Photos | Tags: , , | No Comments »

The driveway… even the driveway is pretty…

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I swear, there are some non-goat pictures in here…

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They only posed for me because they wanted to eat my phone.

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I want goats…

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Goats, what are you doing???

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Some of their backyard…

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I almost forgot how beautiful Washington was…

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Uncle Jeff and Aunt Julie’s beautiful front porch! They fountain water was frozen solid…

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MountaingoatsUSA2009

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Baaaaaaaaa

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Lucy… cutest terrier ever.

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More Goats…

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Lucy!!!

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I went exploring a lot…

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It’s beautiful out here.

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Washington

Posted: January 24th, 2009 | Author: Ashley | Filed under: Photos | Tags: , , | No Comments »

They were very vocal…

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My Aunt and Uncle have GOATS!!!

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