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.)