You *shall* be a mermaid!

If anyone remembers this story, about the double amputee who made a flippant remark at the beach:

"A little boy came up and started asking all the `why' questions about my legs (she was removing her prosthetic legs)," she says.

Rather than having to go through the logistics of amputation with a four-year-old, Vessey said: "Do you know about the Little Mermaid?

"He said he did, so I told him: `Well I'm a mermaid'."

(full story here)

Weta Workshop has actually made it happen. Nadya Vessey *is* a mermaid, look at that! A fully-functioning mermaid tail. Wow!

And the Close-Up video (interview and demonstration) is here.

A real mermaid

The terrific story of the double amputee, the flippant remark, and the Kiwi company that thought "why not?" is here.

Shelly West

I have just read Shelly Has a Baby, Shelly West's autobiography. It's the remarkable story of a young New Zealand woman who has lived through crippling arthritis and total blindness and achieved some remarkable things. The degree of hardship she has faced made me cringe, but she writes frankly and without self-pity, and I thought if she could bear to live through these experiences and talk about them, then I could bear to read about them!

And look at all the things she's done: got a degree in Italian and travelled to Italy, sung at country music festivals, got married and had a baby, written a book. She talks about wanting a career in public speaking. The book was published in 1997, and I would love to know what has happened since. Did she become a public speaker, or turn her sights to something else? How is her daughter getting along? Is it nosey to want to know more, when she has already shared so much?

Great book, anyhow. You can buy it here.