DONATE:

Aimee’s father has asked for any financial help you might be able to offer their family in this crisis, your money will go towards hospital/rehabilitation expenses. You can click this link or send a check to
“Aimee’s Fund”

Acct # 2050141288, c/o United Community Bank
119 Maple Street, Carrollton, GA 30117
(770) 838-9608

AIMEE UPDATE: (as of 11am Friday)

“Aimee is alert and trying to mouth questions.  Her breathing tube has been reoriented to increase her comfort and allow them to try to read her lips.  She said: “I can’t talk!”  We told her it was because of the tube, and we explained the need for it.  “Take it out!”  She also asked “what happened?” and “where am I?”

I thought it would be better when she became alert,

From her father’s update on Saturday morning: 

The miracle continues.

The words I hear from the medical professionals to describe Aimee’s continued recovery are “astonishing”, “incredible”, “confounding”, “mind boggling” and “unbelievable”. All those are fitting words. My favorite word is “miracle”.

Several days ago I asked you to pray specifically for Aimee’s lungs. On that day her lungs were stressed and damaged. Aimee desperately needed healing in that one area of her body so that the rest of her body could heal. When the prayers started, Aimee required 100% pure oxygen to be fed to her through a respirator. The doctors have gradually reduced the oxygen level over the past few days to 39% yesterday. The oxygen level is now a countdown to what I will call “Aimee Day”. When the level of pure oxygen she receives hits zero, Aimee will come off of the respirator.

On Aimee Day, we will finally be able to talk to our daughter. Our joy will be felt around the world. As wonderful as that moment will be for us, it will also be the time that Aimee receives all the answers about her condition. She will learn about the loss of her beautiful leg. She will discover that her hands lack the dexterity and tactile response she has known all her life. How would you respond in such a situation? I think that moment will be one of horror and depression for Aimee.

We have been trying to help Aimee by focusing her away from the negatives of her condition. When I see her, I rub her neck and shoulders as only a father can and she relaxes and closes her eyes. I then whisper in her ear that she is our miracle child, that great things will abound from her wonderful spirit. I want Aimee to know that her potential is as limitless as our love for her. She already knows this, because I have told her and Paige that all their life.

As Aimee Day approaches, I want to ask everyone to pray for my child’s psyche and for her self-awareness to not be focused on her physical being. Please pray that she will have understanding. Please continue to pour your love out to my daughter, because the collective love of the world is what she needs to pull her through. I have said that Aimee’s greatest gift to the world is her mind, but her mind is also as fragile as her body, if not more.

Please also continue to pray for Donna, Paige and me. Our journey along this road has been very difficult and there are many obstacles ahead. I also want to apologize to the medical community for my enthusiasm that caused me to misstate medical terminology. I understand that some of you are rolling your eyes and joking about things I have said and this is why I have backed off of trying to cite medical terms to describe Aimee’s condition. I am not a doctor, I am not a nurse – I am a father. Please accept my apology and look at the big picture. My daughter is alive.

Now on to another incredible development. Yesterday doctors revealed that they are continuing to examine Aimee’s hands and foot. It appears that they may be able to save more of her extensions than they originally thought. That is why they are taking that part of Aimee’s recovery very slow. We have had well wishers who have suggested all sorts of homeopathic remedies to reverse the deterioration of Aimee’s hands and foot. I want to thank each of you for your love and concern, but the doctors are using the best tools and medical technology available to cure our baby. I have complete confidence in the physicians and nurses at Doctor’s Hospital. As far as we are concerned, they are the best in the world. I am convinced that God has gifted these doctors and nurses with the knowledge and wisdom necessary to cure Aimee.

One final note: As Aimee Day approaches, the world is waiting to listen to her speak her first words. Words are very important and your words for Aimee have been encouraging and uplifting. To honor Aimee, please offer words for those around you that are equally encouraging. We often forget about the power of our words and sometimes we spout words that are negative and damaging. I must add that this is also one of my biggest faults and I am an imperfect work in progress. I thank you all for honoring my daughter with your prayers and blood. In like fashion, I pray that my words and actions will honor my Father in Heaven.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

May God bless you all.

From her father’s update on Thursday evening: It has been a long day. I just plopped on the sofa and went to sleep in a matter of minutes. Let me simply say that Aimee’s neurologist reported that her brain function is normal. We know this because she desperately wants to communicate with us whenever we go in her room .

The only way to communicate is for us to pick the topic in the form of a yes or no question and allow her to nod or shake her head. Yet there are so many topics that she needs answers to. We have quickly learned that this method of communication only stirs her up and makes her attempt to speak, which causes her to move the breathing tube and irritate her throat. We have come to the conclusion that it is in Aimee’s best interest to not try to communicate, but for us to simply be by her side. This is an emotionally painful learning experience for us and we do not want to frustrate our daughter.

How many of you can lie in bed for 8 hours in one position? Not me. Aimee has been lying on her back with only slight positional movement for nearly a week now. Keep in mind that Aimee cannot be moved a great deal because of the wounds that have wracked her body. Fortunately she has a nice soft air mattress beneath her that significantly reduces any possibility of pressure sores. As I mentioned, the nurses do shift her frequently. Our baby girl is so fragile right now and maintaining her comfort is a round-the-clock effort.

The nurses here are loving and helpful and they are helping me learn what is best for Aimee. I stood at the foot of Aimee’s bed tonight and spoke to her nurse about a lot of things. The nurse actually ministered to me. She was concerned that I might crash and burn if I didn’t get any rest. She’s probably right. I am now going to bed.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support for Aimee. I promise you that you will one day see and hear the power of your prayers when Aimee delivers her story from her own lips. I await that day with intense anticipation.

God bless you all.

And if you are so-inclined, look up the app ‘Snake ’97′ on your Droid/iPhone.

It will bring you back to your roots.

Forty minutes ago, I’m looking all over for my iPod. I wanted to meditate with it before going to sleep having missed my morning meditation due to the fact that I chose to procure clean boxers instead of getting in touch with my inner zen at 7am. I KNEW I’d had it last night so it couldn’t be far away – in fact, I knew it was in one specific room. But there was no way I was finding this iPod.

So I play the meditation track on my computer for fifteen minutes and about halfway through, as I’m laying down and breathing, I feel something bump into my back. I figure it’s the remote and I can’t be bothered to turn over and push it away as I believe Ghandi’s spirit is starting to come through me.

I continue to breathe.

Upon finishing the meditation, I get up and look down to see that I was laying on the iPod the entire time. Oh the irony.

Instead of ripping the place apart, I simply chose the path of least resistance because I still had an apparatus to play said meditation track. And by doing so, by saying “alright, I guess I’ll do it this way tonight” I had a great mediation, SO great that I ended up manifesting the very item I had been trying to find half an hour earlier.

It’s a perfect story to illustrate how important getting in touch with one’s inner-self is. To be grounded, centered and happy, free of the mind-clutter that we accumulate in the day-t0-day. The best things in life come easily when we are in the FLOW…when we are at peace with ourselves, with others and with the universe.

So now that I’m extremely impressed by my manifestational (new word) abilities and the fact that I feel so centered and calm, I shall head to sleep and probably dream that I’m actually the Wolverine and my abs look like Hugh Jackman’s. Because everyone knows that is what I dream about on a nightly basis. Or if you didn’t know that, you do now.

‘night

With the phenomenon of Harry Potter and its many releases in both the film and literary worlds came a new genre of music called Wizard Rock (generally referred to as Wrock). Fans of the series have created a new way to express their love for the characters and plots, through music. With a do it yourself attitude in hand, many of the bands under this genre have even gone to release tracks and music to the public, attracting fans within and beyond the universe of Harry Potter.

Credit for the foundation of the genre goes to the band Harry and the Potters. They were originally the ones who started writing and releasing music about Harry Potter. Fronted by brothers Joe and Paul DeGeorge, the band came about out of spontaneity and panic. It soon grew to be the foundation of an entirely new genre. Following in the brothers’ footsteps came such bands as Draco and the Malfoys, The Whomping Willows, Tom Riddle and Friends, and The Moaning Myrtles.

This goes beyond just making music though, many of these bands have toured and played shows for fans all over the United States. Including the annual Wrockstock festival held in Missouri. And the shows, aren’t just shows, they’re flat out performances. The musicians cos-play their respective characters during shows. It goes beyond just lyrics about the stories because the songs become the stories. With the invention of this genre, fans from all over the country have another way of connecting with one another and can find comfort knowing they are not alone in their love from Harry Potter.

Stemming from this idea of Wizard Rock, in 2008, youtuber Alex Day coined the term “Time Lord Rock” or Trock when he and fellow youtubers Charlie McDonnell, Liam Dryden, and Edd Plant started writing songs about hit BBC tv show Doctor Who. Their band Chameleon Circuit released their self-titled debut album Chameleon Circuit in 2009 and followed up with their second release Still Got Legs in 2011. (And any living person with functioning ears should listen to the songs “And Awful Lot of Running” and “Nightmares.”) Both of these albums were released on DFTBA label which was specifically designed for web phenoms to have a way to spread their music to fans.

The great thing about both of these genres is that they can reach far beyond those in the inner fan base of both topics. You don’t have to love Harry Potter to listen to wrock and you don’t have to watch the show Doctor Who to enjoy the songs of Chameleon Circuit. This is because the people releasing these albums actually have talent. They aren’t just hack fans trying to get attention but people who know how to play instruments and write songs. This gives them merit as musicians and helps to create songs that are worth listening to.

I hope this has given some insight into the world of fandom music genres and will inspire some of you out there to give it a listen or even explore the subject matter! Because, let’s be real, I wrote this with the intention of brainwashing the entire world into watching Doctor Who and listening to Chameleon Circuit…