11-16-2006, 03:50 AM
Hi Pond Diggers!
Thankyou for the opportunity to participate in your pond contest. By now, my presentation should have been delivered to you, on both dvd and cd. It's shown with and without sound, and needs to be viewed on a fairly new computer, or some of the slides with special effects will blank out. If this happens, I'll be happy to reformat it so you can view it as it's meant to be.
Here's the text of "I'M SO KOI":
Ten Reasons To Build Me A PondStarring Paté the Goose, Bill the Duck, Jezabelle the Faux Otter, & the PrimeMate
1. I'm so koi, and your pond will bring me joy.
2. This pond will help me POND-er as I wander over yonder.
3. A pond could bring me thrills, but I can't afford it -- too many bills.
4. I did the ALGAE- bra, and the cost made me des-POND-ent.
5. Mi hermano even threatened to relocate to Pa-KOI-ma when I told him that we'd have to go without it.
6. But if you build this pond, you will URN my undying gratitude, but it might give Venus an attitude, so I hope you're a forgiving dude.
7. Your pond can keep my frogs from croaking, stop my ferns from poking, get my feet a-soaking.
8. When you build it, sparks will fly, pigs will try, cherubs will sigh, cats will cry, fish will fry, friends'll come by to see the new water supply, and we'll all get HIGH!
9. I already have the bridge, now I need the troubled water, for my goose and for her daughter and our brand new baby otter. (Ok, ok! Give me a little poetic licence on this one, please!!)
10. Hey, but I'm the real McKOI. Yes, I am almost a DUCK-tor. (Psst! The competitors are just a bunch of d-KOI's !!!)
I want this pond sooo bad, for all the reasons you've heard. Is it too absurd? Can you dig it, baby? . . .
. . . Or should I just give you the bird?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABOUT ME
Okay, so besides being "koi" and just a bit kooky, this is who I am:
Animal lover, snow skiier, scuba diver, gardener, dreamer. Perpetual tease.
Worked in paralysis research for many years, and developed equipment that helped change the lives of others with disabilities. Received many honors for this work, including Outstanding Young Person of the World, One of Ten Outstanding Young Americans, an invitation to the White House, a Disneyworld exhibit about my life and work, and numerous other honors. Stories about this were done by "Sixty Minutes", "Good Morning America", "Entertainment Tonight", "People Magazine", a CBS made-for-televison movie, and many others.
Attended Interior Designer's Institute in Newport Beach, California, and have renovated many-a-home.
Decided to pursue my lifelong dream to become a doctor. Graduated from La Sierra University in Riverside, summa
cum laude, and was admitted to Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Completed two years of medical school,
and hope to finish and to work with children with disabilities.
I have a spinal cord injury, and am paralyzed from thechest down.
Lived next door to the family who owned the most beautiful residential ponds in the world for many years. Had
my own pond as well. Will carry the memory of that breathtaking view in my mind forever. Yearn for the day I
will, once again have a pond.
ABOUT MY GARDEN
My property includes a small cottage style home (one of the oldest in Loma Linda) on one third of an acre. It's located across the street from the medical center's parking lot, where it's seen by the multitudes going to and from the hospital and university.
When I moved in, the yard was so unsightly that the city presented me with a lawsuit and thousands of dollars in fines. With the help of friends (and with much more creativity than money) I've made it into what former mayor Floyd Peterson called "the most innovative garden in Loma Linda".
My outdoor space entails a circuitous path that travels through a series of garden rooms, each with a theme. Humor is incorporated throughout. Wheelchair ramps are disguised as bridges, and they SCREAM to be completed with ponds and streams.
The gardens are yet unfinished. And although I have a plan, I'm completely open and flexible about the design. When finished, this should be a dynamite property for a garden tour!
Photos of my garden are shown in the slide presentation, "I'm So Koi". All photos were taken in my gardens over the past few days, except a few older slides of me which were taken elsewhere, and several slides taken from your website (with permission). The slide presentation doesn't show the full scope of my gardens, since a major renovation was started shortly before I learned about your contest, and much of the outdoor space is in a state
of upheaval.
Thankyou for the use of your website photos. All teasing in "I'm So Koi" was meant to bring SMILES. I hope it
does so.
All the best,
Loma Linda, California
Thankyou for the opportunity to participate in your pond contest. By now, my presentation should have been delivered to you, on both dvd and cd. It's shown with and without sound, and needs to be viewed on a fairly new computer, or some of the slides with special effects will blank out. If this happens, I'll be happy to reformat it so you can view it as it's meant to be.
Here's the text of "I'M SO KOI":
Ten Reasons To Build Me A PondStarring Paté the Goose, Bill the Duck, Jezabelle the Faux Otter, & the PrimeMate
1. I'm so koi, and your pond will bring me joy.
2. This pond will help me POND-er as I wander over yonder.
3. A pond could bring me thrills, but I can't afford it -- too many bills.
4. I did the ALGAE- bra, and the cost made me des-POND-ent.
5. Mi hermano even threatened to relocate to Pa-KOI-ma when I told him that we'd have to go without it.
6. But if you build this pond, you will URN my undying gratitude, but it might give Venus an attitude, so I hope you're a forgiving dude.
7. Your pond can keep my frogs from croaking, stop my ferns from poking, get my feet a-soaking.
8. When you build it, sparks will fly, pigs will try, cherubs will sigh, cats will cry, fish will fry, friends'll come by to see the new water supply, and we'll all get HIGH!
9. I already have the bridge, now I need the troubled water, for my goose and for her daughter and our brand new baby otter. (Ok, ok! Give me a little poetic licence on this one, please!!)
10. Hey, but I'm the real McKOI. Yes, I am almost a DUCK-tor. (Psst! The competitors are just a bunch of d-KOI's !!!)
I want this pond sooo bad, for all the reasons you've heard. Is it too absurd? Can you dig it, baby? . . .
. . . Or should I just give you the bird?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABOUT ME
Okay, so besides being "koi" and just a bit kooky, this is who I am:
Animal lover, snow skiier, scuba diver, gardener, dreamer. Perpetual tease.
Worked in paralysis research for many years, and developed equipment that helped change the lives of others with disabilities. Received many honors for this work, including Outstanding Young Person of the World, One of Ten Outstanding Young Americans, an invitation to the White House, a Disneyworld exhibit about my life and work, and numerous other honors. Stories about this were done by "Sixty Minutes", "Good Morning America", "Entertainment Tonight", "People Magazine", a CBS made-for-televison movie, and many others.
Attended Interior Designer's Institute in Newport Beach, California, and have renovated many-a-home.
Decided to pursue my lifelong dream to become a doctor. Graduated from La Sierra University in Riverside, summa
cum laude, and was admitted to Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Completed two years of medical school,
and hope to finish and to work with children with disabilities.
I have a spinal cord injury, and am paralyzed from thechest down.
Lived next door to the family who owned the most beautiful residential ponds in the world for many years. Had
my own pond as well. Will carry the memory of that breathtaking view in my mind forever. Yearn for the day I
will, once again have a pond.
ABOUT MY GARDEN
My property includes a small cottage style home (one of the oldest in Loma Linda) on one third of an acre. It's located across the street from the medical center's parking lot, where it's seen by the multitudes going to and from the hospital and university.
When I moved in, the yard was so unsightly that the city presented me with a lawsuit and thousands of dollars in fines. With the help of friends (and with much more creativity than money) I've made it into what former mayor Floyd Peterson called "the most innovative garden in Loma Linda".
My outdoor space entails a circuitous path that travels through a series of garden rooms, each with a theme. Humor is incorporated throughout. Wheelchair ramps are disguised as bridges, and they SCREAM to be completed with ponds and streams.
The gardens are yet unfinished. And although I have a plan, I'm completely open and flexible about the design. When finished, this should be a dynamite property for a garden tour!
Photos of my garden are shown in the slide presentation, "I'm So Koi". All photos were taken in my gardens over the past few days, except a few older slides of me which were taken elsewhere, and several slides taken from your website (with permission). The slide presentation doesn't show the full scope of my gardens, since a major renovation was started shortly before I learned about your contest, and much of the outdoor space is in a state
of upheaval.
Thankyou for the use of your website photos. All teasing in "I'm So Koi" was meant to bring SMILES. I hope it
does so.
All the best,
Loma Linda, California
