The End of a Year

So it’s been almost a year since I’ve posted in this blog.  There are several reasons why I haven’t posted for so long, but the main reason is simply that I just don’t have much to say about Deaf culture. I simply don’t have the desire to keep talking about the same issues that are already being talked about nearly every day.

I can, however, relate to this video:

A Few Minutes in the Life of a Sign Language Interpreter

This video is hilarious. I have no idea if this video is already posted… but it’s worth watching over and over again :)

I hope you all have enjoyed your year!

Letter from Mother

My mom emailed me. Part of her email goes as follows:

I am glad you called me this morning . I really enjoy chat with you for 2 hours .  I wanted to saying   I am  sorry .  I did not mean to hurting your feeling  I use Esl to communcation with you .   I am pse sign language .  so I will try my best to talk to you ASl sign language ok .  Please forgive me ok . I love you .Because you dont assiocate deaf community .  I thought you are like your Dad .   Because Your father dont using asl sign language to communcation with me .  Please forgive me ok .

I  dont know why God create me . I am Black and Deaf .  I am suffer . I dont know why God create that my Daughter is not Deaf . I wish I have a Deaf Daughter .  But I am glad you Learned sign Language when you were 3 years old . Because  my realtive refused to learning sign language . I was so fraustrated with my realtive . They left me out During thanksgiving Dinner and Christmas  too . I dont want to involved with hearing realtive anymore .

I have mixed feelings about this email. The one that stands out the most... is anger. I have been trying to not seethe with anger every time I think of this email, but it has proven to be futile.

Vlog: Setback?

So, I have my camera. I have Sony Vegas Movie Maker Platinum Pro. I have everything I need to make an awesome vlog complete with subtitles. But... I have a problem: I am camera shy (?).

For one... I am/was bilingual. I originally wanted to do my vlog in ASL. However... I don't know how people will react. I am worried that people will make assumptions about me and will get offended. Also, I don't think I want to broadcast my face. Sure, I can use a very effective way to mask my identity completely while still being able to retain clear facial expression. But.... I think eventually someone will find out who I really am. And things will backfire.

I thought about just doing a blog in voiced English with subtitles. But I still would have the issue of broadcasting myself on the internet. At least with a regular blog with text only I can stay fairly anonymous. If I start a vlog, I will expose myself to the world. And I will likely be subject to ridicule and undue hatred.

So... my worries and fears are stopping me from creating my vlog. For now, I think I will just stick with this blog, until I figure something out.

My Flip Video Camcorder

Ok, I got my Flip Video Camcorder a few weeks ago. It's not the one I previously linked to a while ago, but it still does the job. I was excited about it. I have always wanted a camcorder. However, I was disappointed with this one. I think it's just because I see so many good reviews for it, so I expected... more.

The camera is simple. Too simple. But it has 720p quality (it's supposed to be a HD camcorder, but I've read that it isn't "true" HD... it still has that jittery effect when you move it). I want to start making vlog videos, but alas. I must be patient. I want to buy Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Pro so that I can have everything I want :)

For now, I've been using my camera for other things. I'll share more about my Flip when I start making vlog vids. I think I'll give my camcorder a name <3

Nothing New in the New Millenium

I'd like to share these so-called "debates".

Are deaf people bigots against hearing people

Do You Think Deaf People Should Be Treated Equally As Hearing People

These "arguments" are the same as they have been for ages. That makes me sad. There's even an indication that some of these people know about Deaf culture. However, they obviously don't care.

The funny thing is that part of the argument is hearing people can reason better than Deaf people. Yet, this process of "reasoning" used in these "debates" is extremely shoddy. Apparently hearing people truly believe that Deaf people are not able to spawn opinionated drivel. Honestly I have no idea how to even address this type of "logic". High-powered willful ignorance is a difficult thing to defeat.

Ebonics

I'm tired of people misusing the term "ebonics".

Ebonics is not the same as bad English. Bad English is called "bad English".

Ebonics refers to the unique style and grammar that American Black people use (or African Americans, "Moorish Americans", or other variations of whatever you call us). It does not refer to internet speak. It does not refer to bad English. It does not refer to leet (1337). It is very specific. It isn't even confined to one ethnic group (which is why I don't use the word "ebonics"... I use the term "Black Vernacular English").

Next time you feel the need to label bad English as "ebonics", please don't. Ebonics has nothing to do with bad English. (I can't help but to repeat myself.) Please... save yourself from sounding stupid. Just... no.

Down Memory Lane: Kmart

When I was four or five years old my family went to K-mart often. During one of our trips my brother spotted a Batman nightlight. My brother asked if he could have it. My mom promply told him no. "Put it back," she instructed him.

My mom was engrossed in her shopping when my brother stealthily added the nightlight to the bottom of the cart. He gestured for me not to say anything. I normally followed my brother's instructions, so I didn't say anything. When my mom was finished she went to the checkout counter to buy the items. When she spotted the nightlight she tried to explain to the cashier that she wasn't buying the nightlight. My mom didn't realize the nightlight was in the cart until the cashier wanted to scan the item. Confusion resulted. The cashier neither understood our language (American Sign Language) nor our intentions.

Auto Captioning on Youtube

I was going to make a post about "full term breastfeeding", but I got distracted by the captions.

Youtube introduced a feature called auto-captioning that transcribes speech into text automatically on screen. (Click here to read more information). It's a noble idea. However, the speech recognition technology still needs a lot of work.

Take a look at the captions for this video. (To view the captions scroll over the CC emblem and click "Transcribe Audio" under the Caption Actions list.)

Down Memory Lane: Hearing Dog

My mother was a single mother who struggled to raise two children (before my younger brother was born). We were extremely poor. Everything we owned was of value to us.

One night we went to sleep like usual. I slept in the living room, which placed me between the front door and the bedrooms. When morning came I woke up to my mom's anger. A burglar snuck into the house while we were all asleep. I don't know what was stolen, but my mom was furious. She turned on me. "Why didn't you stop him?" she angrily asked me. I was still somewhat confused as to what happened. I tried to explain that I had been sleeping. My mom punished me anyway. I never saw the burglar, nor did I even see any signs of forced entry.

I love my mom. I don't mean to create bad impressions or pave the way for presumption. This is simply one of the memories I have of my childhood. I try to stress to people that hearing people are not just like hearing dogs. We don't hear every single thing. We don't always wake up to noises.

Down Memory Lane: Lip Reading

I recently went to go see my family in Arizona. My family and I have so many memories. We mostly had sad memories, but some of our memories were happy ones. Some of them were funny (at least to me).

When I was a kid I often got asked questions I didn't understand. One question was "does your mom lipread?" Finally I asked someone what lip-reading meant. "It's when she can look at your lips and know what you're saying," I was told. I was fascinated. I thought it was something like telepathy. For several weeks I wanted to see this magic in action. I pointed to my lips and mouthed out the word or phrase I was trying to say whenever I came across a difficult concept to sign. My mom just blinked at me, wondering what was wrong with me. After several weeks of seeing no magic I stopped.

Rant on Presumption

I noticed that human analysis gives way to presumption often. I often make statements that appear to be plain English to me, yet do not appear to be plain English to someone else. I find this to be very frustrating.

On the one hand, it is natural for human beings to want to make sense of the world around us. Even from childhood we have a tendency to categorize things and give the categories certain attributes. For instance, we learned that certain large vehicles with wheels are called "cars". We discovered that cars tend to be larger than adult humans. They all tend to have things in common, such as the tendency to have four wheels, a pair of headlights, hood, trunk, etc. However we know that if a car loses a wheel it is still a car. It is the norm for a car to have four wheels, but this is not the only thing that defines a car.

Liza Minnelli's Quiet Love

Someone has written a blog about this song called Quiet Love. Here is the link:

http://fookembug.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/liza-minnelli-sang-quiet-love-in-sign-language/

This song is awesome. I am somewhat grumpy that I've never heard this song until today. It is so beautiful and raw. It makes me wonder about the inspiration behind the song. I can't find much information about it.

See What I'm Saying

Ok, so there's been a lot of buzz about the new movie "See What I'm Saying". I can't wait to see it! I'll write more about it when I see it. For now, this is my new favorite song:

Flip Mino Camcorder

"I've just learned about this today :) This is handy for interpreting students."

Flip Mino Camcorder with Personalized Design - Available only at www.theflip.com. Check out this unique Flip Mino design. The Flip Mino camcorder combines remarkable video quality in a pocket-sized package. Now personalizable - create yours today. You've never had a camcorder that's this much fun.

View >>

Edit March 03, 2010: I want one of these so badly. I forgot I posted this here. When I get this I can have a real vlog (yes, vlog not blog). *sigh*

Second Edit: Flip Video has been defunct for quite some time. That is why the information above no longer works.