[stylist] Donna's on TV Monday! Here's a link if you can't tune in.

Robert Newman newmanrl at cox.net
Sat Dec 20 21:59:03 UTC 2008 

Donna great newsletter! You know, not too long ago a member talked about how
we as a Division might want to give out an award to which ever NFB
organization has the best newsletter or  the top three- a contest of sorts,
nevertheless, an award for a better than average creation. Maybe some day we
can find a group of members who are interested in pursuing this.

But hey, you are a multi talented woman.



Robert Leslie Newman 
Email- newmanrl at cox.net
THOUGHT PROVOKER Website- 
Http://www.thoughtprovoker.info

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Donna Hill
Sent: Friday, December 19, 2008 3:03 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org; nfbp-talk
Subject: [stylist] Donna's on TV Monday! Here's a link if you can't tune in.

Hi all,

Here's my first-ever newsletter. Thought you might enjoy. I'm not sure if
the pictures come through on our list, so it might be strange for those who
have sight if they don't.
Donna

*Donna's on TV Monday, December 22^nd !*

*There's a Link, if you can't catch it Live!*

*Caption to Photo: Donna Hill, blind songwriter/recording artist and avid
knitter, presents pink afghan with "Buddy Check" in Braille to Lyndall Stout
at WYOU's studios in Wilkes-Barre. Photo by Rich Hill

*In This Issue*

* Donna & Buddy Check

* Donna's Appointment to Post of Innovative Nonprofit

* Quick & Dirty

* Knit Wits!

* Going to the Dogs!

* Next Time

* Contact Info

*Donna & Buddy Check*

Monday, December 22 at 7 P.M., TV-22 WYOU (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre CBS
affiliate) is featuring Endless Mountains' singer/songwriter Donna Hill on
"Buddy Check." Donna, a Lehigh Valley native, East Stroudsburg University
grad & long-time Philadelphia area resident, is a two-time breast cancer
survivor. If you miss it, it will be posted. Go to this link, look for "WYOU
Buddy Check News" & click on the Play Media Button for December 2008 -
screen reader users, "WYOU Buddy Check News" is a non-linked text:

http://pahomepage.com/content/health_wellness/wyou/buddy_check

Donna has been cancer-free for eighteen years. She found both tumors herself
despite negative mammograms. "Buddy Check," a monthly segment on the local
news, encourages regular breast self exam.

"Not only did self examination save my life," says Donna, who started in her
twenties after losing both grandmothers to the disease, "It also limited my
treatment. Start checking now; Get familiar with what's normal for you. I'm
so grateful to be alive and healthy now. In addition to living in a
beautiful rural environment with my husband Rich and our black Lab, Hunter,
I'm doing the best work of my life."

* *

* *

*Donna's Appointment to Post of Innovative Nonprofit*

Born legally blind from Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), Donna, who plays guitar
and piano, learned to use a computer with a screen reader several years ago.
Her second cancer, diagnosed just after she had finished her third album
"The Last Straw," ended her dreams of marketing herself as a songwriter in
Nashville. Nonetheless, Donna is now using her talents as a writer, singer
and speaker to improve understanding of and opportunities for all blind
Americans. In July, she was appointed head of media relations for the
volunteer-run nonprofit Performing Arts Division, National Federation of the
Blind (PAD, NFB):

www.padnfb.org <http://www.padnfb.org/>

PAD supports blind entertainers through scholarships, subsidies, networking
and mentoring. Funding comes from tax-deductible contributions and sales of
the "Sound in Sight" CD, a multi-genre compilation of eighteen original
tracks and covers donated by blind recording artists. Donna came to PAD
after being asked to donate her song "The Edge of the Line," particularly
meaningful in the current recession. Hear clips at:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/padotnfotb

"Strong media presence is a powerful tool for social change," says Hill, who
worries about the seventy percent unemployment rate among working-age blind
Americans, "It's made a big difference for other minorities, but there are
few blind people in the mainstream media and virtually no blind women."

*Caption to Photo: PAD President Dennis Holston & 12-year-old, blind jazz
singer and Braille advocate Rocco Fiorentino (NJ) after Rocco's performance
at NYC's Birdland jazz club. Unknown photographer.

Donna is also concerned that only ten percent of blind kids are taught to
read Braille. 2009 marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Louis
Braille who developed the raised-dot code which remains the only tool
offering blind people true literacy.

"We don't consider sighted children literate, just because they listen to
someone read to them," says Hill, "But, that is what most public school
educators are essentially saying. Braille literacy is the major link among
successful blind adults."

*Quick & Dirty*

Is this where she asks us for money, or to become volunteers or something?

Well, we certainly wouldn't turn down either, but let me guess. Is this you?
You'd really love to help but even ten bucks would be painful and you're
going nuts with your current schedule. Here's a list of quick, no cost
alternatives to cash donations

* Link to PAD from your web site.

* Forward this to people you know.

* Tell your favorite nonprofits they can earn $4 for each $12 order they
take for the "Sound in Sight" CD with no minimum or upfront costs.

* I'm pretty sure I don't know what I'm doing at least half the time, so if
you have a suggestion, let me know.

* Hey, words of encouragement are always appreciated. It really is an uphill
battle.

* *

*Knit Wits*!

Yes, guys, you can skip this, if you like. On our camping trip through South
Dakota, Wyoming and Utah this fall, I spent a lot of time knitting. Well,
what else was I going to do, drive? I made several lap warmers and shawls,
all in the same pattern -- Butterflies from "The Pattern Library: Knitting"
edited by Amy Carroll, 1981 (US publisher, Ballantine Books). I already had
it memorized - all 14 rows. No matter that it doesn't look as much like
butterflies as big seashells. Each butterfly, which is on a lattice-work
background, is a solid fabric of reverse stockinet with 6 ribs which start
out separated by 3 stitches and ultimately come together in a wrapped
cluster. The ribs are made by knitting through the back loop. There're a lot
of "k 1 - TBL" stitches in the lattice as well and just as much decreasing
either by knitting 2 together or using slip, knit pass. I couldn't help but
wonder why sometimes you knit 2 together and sometimes slip, knit, pass?
After a thousand miles or so, I realized that the reason was to keep the
"TBL" 
rib stitch on top of the stitch that it was being combined with. If the
"TBL" stitch comes first, you use slip, knit, pass. If "TBL" comes second,
knitting the two stitches together gets the "TBL" on top of the finished
stitch! OK, tell me your latest knitting revelations. I'll use the best one
next time and give you credit.

* *

* *

*Going to the Dogs!*

* *

**Caption to Photo: Donna's 5-year-old Lab guide dog, Hunter, takes a
well-deserved rest. Photo by Rich Hill.*

*A few weeks ago, Hunter and I were walking cross-country on paths through
the fields near our house. With him guiding me, I often . well, space out
and get lost in my thoughts of new songs and stories as well as the physical
joy of walking.*

* *

*Suddenly, Hunter stopped, and I was brought back to my senses. It seemed
like a strange place to stop. Fortunately, more than thirty-five years of
using guide dogs had taught me something. The procedures for occasions like
this that I had learned during my four visits to the Guide Dog Foundation
for the Blind (Smithtown, NY) popped into my head.*

* *

*First, I stuck my left foot forward and swept it around in front of us. 
This would have revealed a ditch or a branch across the path, but I 
found nothing. I heard an animal in the brush and thought Hunter may 
have stopped just to look at it. I encouraged him to go forward. He didn't*

* *

*O.K., what's next? I lifted my right arm forward and swept it through 
the air at head level. I was sure that there weren't any overhanging 
branches, and I was right. Was he staring at a rabbit?*

* *

*Next, I inched ahead and as my foot swung forward, it hit .*

* *

*A wire? A really long extension chord about ten inches off the ground? 
Ah, yes, I remembered. They were looking for natural gas deposits in the 
area. The company doing the seismic testing had draped wires all over 
the place. We carefully stepped over the obstacle and continued on our 
way. How could I have thought he was goofing off?*

* *

*"Good boy, Hunter! You deserve to bask in the leaves!"*

* *

* *

*Next Time*

* *

Donna's visit with US Congressman Chris Carney! Till then, have a joyous 
holiday season!

* *

* *

*Contact Info*

For house concerts, other bookings and information about PAD or 
acquiring Donna's writing services:

Donna Hill, Head of Media Relations

Performing Arts Division, National Federation of the Blind

(570) 833-2708

dwhill at epix.net <mailto:dwhill at epix.net>

RR #3 Box 15-C, Meshoppen, PA 18630

For Donations to PAD, Make checks payable to:

"National Federation of the Blind, Performing Arts Division" & send to 
above address, or use PayPal at:

www.padnfb.org <http://www.padnfb.org/>

Published 12/18/08 by D.W. Hill


-- 
For my bio & to hear clips from The Last Straw:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill

Apple I-Tunes

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374

Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind
www.padnfb.org







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