Just wrote this in an email to a friend and realized it's one of the most concise self-descriptions I've ever come up with:
"I resist a world that says only thinking counts, but I am still learning how to act in a world in which feelings matter."
November 2005 Archives
Luscious went out with a turkey in the 10th frame last night (but I still won).
:-)
They were on their 4th game, and I on my second. I think it's a good strategy as my measly 125 isn't anywhere in the range of our budding pros. Linus, meanwhile, took down a few strikes in only his second attempt. Impressive!
This Latin form of music and dance was the subject of Mari's a colloquim yesterday "aiming to throw out some thoughts and cultural sites for discussion" on translation and representation. Ivy Queen is one of the hottest stars. Her lyrics have been picked up even by several generations of women, not just youth. The talk about reggaeton - debates about the social issues it raises - apparently parallels talk about previous forms:
tango, whose lyrics spread "The secret tongue of "lunfardos", term used by thieves to refer to themselves. In this way watch became "bobo" (dumb-stupid) due to two characteristics, it is very easy to steal and it works all day long non-stop."
mambo: "Since the mambo there has never been a dance that has given rise to so much unbridled fantasy and pyrotechnics or reached such rhythmic rapture."
Merengue in the Dominican Republic.
Salsa didn't spread as widely - perhaps (!) because it's too hard for gringos to learn? ;-)
"I don't meet that many people who are awake enough to understand what I'm doing."
She said this to me after explaining a bit about the book she's writing, in which she details the last 16 years spent seeking justice for her murdered brother and other children who've been abused by a group associated with a very well-known political figure.
The EU's Directorate General for Interpretation has a site that defines and diagrams the various kinds of interpretation, including sign language.
Europa is the "official portal to the European Union". It's section on languages asserts:
"Our policy of official multilingualism as a deliberate tool of government is unique in the world. The EU sees the use of its citizens’ languages as one of the factors which make it more transparent, more legitimate and more efficient."
Meanwhile, the "first ever Communication" on multilingualism was just released on 22 November 2005.
Three texts for Intro to Mass Communication that were passed on to me by Professor Jeffrey Klenotic, who's on sabbatical and thus, I have the opportunity to teach at UNH:
1. Stanley J. Baran, Introduction to Mass Communication (IMC), McGraw-Hill, 4rd edition.
2. Jarice Hanson & David Maxcy, Eds. Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media (SNS), McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2nd edition.
3. Alison Alexander & Jarice Hanson, Eds. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Mass Media and Society (TS), McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 8th edition.
Radhika asks and the AoIR universe provides!
and
Which will she choose?
If one wants to use the same software (wiki-engine) that runs wikipedia, here's MediaWiki.
Now, this must have been a really cool way to learn about and/or experiment with biology: . It was hosted for awhile by the Ars Electronica, which is by far and away the niftiest website I've come across to date. It doesn't seem like one can get in as a guest anymore, but maybe that's just my bad luck today.
I did see this ... wow. Grotesque, yes. A bit weird too. (Does such an opinion expose a puritanical streak?) I did laugh, although moreso revisiting it afterwards with my good pals than during. :-) DEFINITELY "boundary-crossing" stuff, which George Carlin articulates well. Fascinating look inside comedy as an institution, too. Anyone for a socioeconomic class interpretation? Or are we talking basic social unredeemability - sheer outrageous excess? I always want there to be a message. ;-)
What's the moral element in such totally and intentionally amoral performances?
the night I miss bowling Luscious sets a record! (Someone else did really well one day when I was gone and I don't think it's been repeated since. Are we talking bad omen or what?!)
Copied with gratitude from here. :-)
we're having a good time in Briankle's class, discussing Walter Benjamin, The Task of the Translator and On Language As Such. Thinking together, as it were. :-)
To be sure, we're not the only ones. Others have been thinking too. I disagree with Sarah Dudek's assertion that "Benjamin’s thoughts cannot be understood without having a closer look at his concept of language". I thought we did a good job of imagining such a separation - or was that just me in my own head? I realize as I'm invoking the royal we (!) that of course you were thinking differently than me, but I'm using the "we" in the sense of the shared discourse - what was said out loud among us during class. :-)
The rest of Dudek's thought: " -'pure language' seems a rather vague term. [Benjamin's] whole project is so remarkable because it has an all-embracing notion of language as its basis: the world is made of language and the final aim is to understand this “textus” of the world, to achieve harmony between the inadequate human languages and the language of God."
David was right on top of the mysticism, eh? :-) Cabbala more precisely than Sufi, although there does seem to be a convergence of mystical spirituality from various religious traditions.
Dudek: "Benjamin posited a universal sphere of concepts, which he called the “intellectual part”, totally self-sufficient and distinguished from the “linguistic part”. The two components of the human being are connected to some extent, but the linguistic part never covers the whole conceptual sphere."
A new phd program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
A controversial figure, Chomsky equates sign languages with spoken languages in this article on The spontaneous invention of language. I know about the story of Nicaraguan Sign Language to which he refers, but I'm not familiar with the other case in which he says three deaf siblings of non-deaf/anti-sign parents, by age 3 or 4, had "developed a language. When it was investigated, it was found that it had the properties of normal language for children their age."
It would be very cool to know what he means by "normal properties".
thanks Annmarie!
If you missed the UMass Communication Department soiree at NCA, you missed some good chow! Dr. Westoutdid herself. (I know I'll be coming back for more next year, and the one after, and the next...!)
There were loads of job applicants, some potential grad applicants, and a decent number of current and former students. It was nice to meet Nessem in person, after seeing his name pop up on the department listserv once in awhile. There were students there from every current cohort, I think, and several of the cohorts ahead of 'mine' (2001).
Personally, I got to at least say hi, if not more, to Saila, Melissa, Michelle, Carmen, Viera, Jon, George (Zixu), Han, Haijing, Joanna, Lori, Razvan, Denise, Jung Yup, Niall, David, Elena, and Liliya.
Nessem, Ekra, and other previous grads where there too...along with a fair number of faculty: Michael, Carolyn, Leda, Lisa, Emily, Jarice, and Donal.
If I forgot ya, lemme know. :-O For the juicy stuff ...
Some of the European Field Studies folk are trying to get together to watch the original, 1973 version of The Wicker Man. Turns out is in the works...
The question is, will we actually view the original before the remake comes out?!!
"Ben is living with three other young men within comparable age range who are also autistic and mentally retarded in a single family house."
Against many odds, Ben is doing great. :-)
"The color of my skin still marks me as an alien in the country of my birth" - Maya del Valle
"Going beyond the buzzwords of 'multiculturalism' and 'diversity,' RACE IS THE PLACE is a hip-hop, fast moving documentary jam, where the political becomes personal."
There is a brief preview available.
Hmm mm. Thanks Tanya, for posting to the social justice listserv.
The Third Annual Korean Film Festival takes UMass by storm!
I have felt like this cat a few times. Not in the result (absolutely NOT), but the ex-pression, ex-pulsion of emotion. Yeah. :-/ Ain't proud of it, but there it is.
Don sent me news of this baby hippotamus who seems to have been adopted by an ancient male tortoise.
The original news story seems to have vanished ... or one needs a subscription to get it. The next post, "confessions", includes the text of a Reuter's release, and Urban Legends reports the status of this story as "true". Imagine!
Rule 2. Notice to Defendants and Right to Assistance of Counsel.
(a) Each individual defendant in custody shall receive not less than 30 days before trial a copy, translated into a language which he understands, (1) of the Indictment, (2) of the Charter, (3) of any other documents lodged with the Indictment, and (4) of a statement of his right to the assistance of counsel as set forth in sub-paragraph (d) of this Rule, together with a list of counsel. He shall also receive copies of such rules of procedure as may be adopted by the Tribunal from time to time. "
"...doing an ordinary job in circumstances so extraordinary as to be unforgettable" ~ Hilary Gaskin, Eyewitnesses at Nuremberg (1990:178).
"There is no room for vengeance, there is no room for real justice in the world. You cannot revive the six million who were murdered; you cannot even do justice by reaching everybody who has committed a crime. What does that do? The thing to do is to learn what happened, and to make sure that it doesn't happen again, ever." (149-150)
"When the national government abdicates in time of crisis, and cedes its power and law-enforcement functions to organized mobs, then it is possible for Holocausts to occur, anywhere and at any time. It is all to do with the attitude that freedom can be taken instead of given." (150)
Peter Uiberall, interpreter at Nuremberg
Paraphrased from an email from Janice to the commgrad listserv: Here "is an NPR link to Talk of the Nation piece titled: The Changing Face of Television from Wed 11/15/05.
[An i]nteresting discussion about
*new delivery of television programs (paying for advertiser supported tv content through on demand) and
*the relationship between advertisers, broadcasters and consumers within a changing media environment.
*a TV exec saying that TVs primary work is selling audiences, and
*discussion of whether audiences will be willing to accept advertising in content they pay for (no discussion of product placement).
I asked my students today about the relationship(s) among appearance, identity, and authority - specifically mine. It's part of the ongoing pedagogy project I've been working on with Leda about the visibility/invisibility of our actual bodies in the classroom. By the end of the discussion several students were telling me how I should have taught (!) the class all along: roughly more form-based than content-based.
I gotta check these out. Been on my mind for DAYS. When is one taking one's strength's (good qualities, best characteristics) 'too far' and making them the burden/bane of others' existence? When is one embracing 'fate' (destiny, biochemistry, etc.) and acting out social roles or functions apparently necessary?
Interesting blogpost by Danah Boyd about Facebook as a public sphere where young people can "negotiate their peers and learn about the social world." The speeches in Public Speaking about Facebook emphasized its fun and useful qualities (although I have to seriously wonder if anyone really uses it to get notes from a missed class!) but also the risks of providing so much information to an unknown (and unknowable) public. Besides the debate on whether online communication somehow "takes away from" or "substitutes for" face-to-face communication, I'm wondering about differences between online "public speaking" and face-to-face public speaking.
While it's never been extremely popular, as far as I know, among the Deaf to be enamoured of gorillas learning sign language, wouldn't it turn the tables a bit if it became widespread knowledge that all language evolved from gestures?
There certainly is a different kind of (intrasubjective) phenomenological experience when one signs instead of speaking, but according to The Salk Institute argue there isn't much difference: "The capacity of brain systems to subserve language, regardless of modality, is a striking example of neuronal plasticity."
From a friend, this poem is intense.
I came out indirectly to my students in COM260, Public Speaking. I told them of the time I questioned Geraldine Ferraro, at the National Women's Music Festival, about how she could address an audience of 3000 lesbians without using the word, "lesbian". I don't remember exactly what I said, I'm pretty sure it was implicit - I was a member of the audience she was addressing (without knowing us too well). I do recall a moment of heightened alertness/silence - as if a shudder went through the whole class at the same time?
Commgrad GEO stewards report:
This is the THE most important mass action that GEO is organizing this
semester and it is vital that we participate to protect our own interests. Comm grad students were very active last year in contract related protests. So we hope that all grad students, new and old cohorts, will take time to be at the rally.
In addition to our great turnout at last year's A21 rally (link above), many of us also attended a
VSEI (Volunteers for Service to Education in India), Amherst Chapter, has organized “Sargam”, an evening of Indian Classical Music and Dance on 20th November 2005 at the UMass Amherst Campus Center Auditorium. Artists from the Western Massachusetts area, including students and faculty from the 5 Colleges, will showcase various Indian Classical performances.
The event is a fundraiser to help support education related projects in India. A part of the proceeds from this event will also be forwarded to support earthquake relief efforts in India and Pakistan. More info: the artists and logistics.
some of my students may - or may not?! - be thrilled to know that academic interest has been tweaked. Copied from the air-l Digest, Vol 16, Issue 11:
Searches of the papers at AoIR conferences and the journal indexes come up empty. Who is doing research on the social networkingwebsites, such as Facebook, Myspace, XuQa, Tagworld, Catch-27, etc.???
--
Mark D. Johns, Ph.D.
There might have been more than usual at the lesbian potluck last night ... I know potlucks have been around forever and used by all kinds of groups, but I learned of them only through lesbian community, so you'll forgive me if I characterize the event according to 'my culture', eh? :-) Let's see, there was the unfortunate, nonattendee who still does not know that they were once gypped out of a chocolate drop dessert ... some critique of faculty (gasp!) and department politics (horrors!) ... and a few compliments (reserved mostly for esteemed colleagues).
I'm making pretty good progress with "the weblog hustle" - everyone keeps signing those consent forms (with varying degrees of permission), except for the dude from English and someone's significant other. What do I make of it when people just opt out by refusing even to sign the dang thing? I think it's an indeterminate zone (such as I've been operating in all along) and leaves me completely at my own discretion (since one of the options is never authorizing me to post under any conditions). No ban sets me loose, don'tcha think? ;-)
Much of the time we talked about our students.
It's Leda's panel, I'll just present a part of The (In)visibility of Teachers: On Meaning, Body and Pedagogy
from John Cleese to the citizens of the United States of America:
some excerpts, with added links (procrastination station?) :
Talked with the Head Nurse today; she's going to look into a special vest or some other "approved" piece of restraint equipment. Then we'll get to the official paperwork. there's a standard form but of course we'll doctor it as necessary to make it work. We also talked about a communication board ... she'll check out what's available, but I'm thinking we might make a custom one for Sam. Of course it's got to have the practical stuff on it, but there's all kind of sayings unique to Sam I was thinking we might add in. Please add any ideas you have.... I was going to play with spelling to say "Yuck Fou" and also "Yank Thou" (Thank You) so he can indicate disgust and gratitude, as relevant. Whaddaya ya'all think? Sam said, "I think it's wonderful!" So do send us whatever you think we need to include. ;-)
Sam's favorite joke today was from Nona; honorable mention to the one from David about "never hearing the end of farting in an echo chamber"):
Disproving rumors that I might disappear after having dinner (compliments to the chef!) in the inner sanctum of Chi Omega, please note that I escaped intact! Really, there was no threat, only me facing a wee bit of my own historical (as in, when I was in college, back in the day) "outsidership". Actually, some of my stereotypes were dispelled...I was impressed by the young women I met tonight, who were ambitious and friendly. :-) Elaine and several other students were honored for thier academic accomplishments. We spoke of many things, including class (!), foreign travel, television (I think the chef's tv reviews are publishable, and you almost convinced me to watch Nip/Tuck, which they argued actually works to convince viewers NOT to go in for plastic surgery), and work.
I'm really glad I was able to be there. :-)
especially those of you interested in professional sports, check out this weekly blog, Edge of Sports, by Dave Zirin. He'll be speaking on campus, btw, tomorrow Thursday, November 10
Isenberg School of Management - 133
UMass Amherst Campus
7:00 p.m.
thanks Chris!
I was asked about good books to read on the deaf community, and also about the range of sexual orientations… the context was something along the lines of Takaki’s A Different Mirror, which I continue to find an amazing tool for undergraduates who simply do not know these significant components of ethnic US history. A couple of new books out on the Deaf-World look great. I purchased a brand new one by Paddy Ladd on Deafhood (centered in Great Britain but generalizable in significant ways), and eyed a couple others: People of the Eye (specifically about the Deaf community in New Zealand), A Journey into the Deaf-World (mostly US-based?), and an introductory level textbook, Deaf-World.
I’ve not followed the literature in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered studies so can’t really offer a recommendation for something contemporary that provides a broad survey of sexual identities … if anyone has suggestions, please share! This site of online resources came up near the top of a basic google search. ;-)
"We are witnessing a collision between huge increases in the power to move information, and an equally enormous surge in the effort to lock it up." Editorial, The New York Times.
I haven't done any peer-to-peer file sharing myself (yet).
Don, I hope you have your scotch ready!!
When Anne left me at breakfast this morning to attend a workshop, she said, "Just don't look so mean!" (I was asked for my "hair history" later at lunch; I'm not sure if this is what Anne was teasing me about - it could just as easily have been my typical oh-so-serious expression.)
Don wasn't scared off by me at all. In fact, we had quite the conversation about singing mice, possible cross-species communication between elephants and whales, reincarnation (comparing the Buddhist belief that people re-live the same life seven times with the movie, Groundhog Day), and an American Indian criticism of Christians who learn how to pray but not to listen. Don was confronted by a friend who specifically referred to the ways American Indians listen to the earth, to nature - the wind, the birds, the signs of life that can warn and guide us. I've always been drawn to listening to Indians, myself - personally, and academically. One of my professors, Donal Carbaugh, has worked extensively with the Blackfeet communicative practice of silence.
The best serendipitous moment during Don's and my chat was when Don argued that whales, elephants, and walruses might share a common ancestor, and then he broadened this to talk about the role of carbon in all life, explaining “we all come from the same element.” Is it too weird he would say this after I’d just spent hours on the flight from Boston talking with an organic chemist?
Billed as "he Premier International Conference on Television, Mobile, Advertising & Marketing, Cable & Satellite, Broadband, Motion Pictures, Publishing, Radio, Magazines, News & Print Media", I'm curious what kind of coverage this conference for mass media insiders will receive, where, and when.
Thanks, Nancy, for sharing it with the commgrad list!
I don't leave for another chunk of hours, but the socializing has been one of the best parts of my time here at ASLTA. The presentation was fine (more or less) - we've got some tweaking to do in terms of organization and satisfying a wider range of learning styles earlier, but we received "plenty good feedback" (to play with a transliteration of ASL, smile). One participant said she liked "thinking about thinking", which sums up the approach, although I do hope there will be some practical outcomes, too. (Cindy kept teasing me and Eileen about our "meeting of minds" up in the ozone.) :-) Tom was trying to figure out how he could adapt a lesson for his own students (in interpreter training programs). A handful of other folk also commented on the usefulness of having a new way to think about familiar things. And someone commented that we were brave to get up and talk about this stuff at all...I think everyone who came to even listen is brave, too, given how explosive and painful trying to get past or through the tensions between the Deaf and sign language interpreters has been for many of us. I think what I personally feel best about is how well Eileen, Anne and I worked together as a team. They both are easy with the edges of my passion, which both supports and tempers my modes of perception and engagement. In other words, we make a nice but powerful kind of meaning together. :-)
Proposals to this student conference at Ohio State are due January 20. The conference itself is April 7-8...
My workshop leanings at the moment are toward:
Martin Kuhn (U North Carolina): Blogging Ethics
and
Bob Benz (Scripps Company): Reality Constraints of Online Journalism
:-) That was one of my favorite moments, but there were many on the flight from Boston to Salt Lake City. Our conversation was as wide-ranging as I imagine possible among strangers: Steve, the (touche!) “soft” scientist (organic chemistry), me the (accused!) “pseudo” scientist (communication, Note: the link is to Miami University, I attend UMass-Amherst), and Joanne the dream interpreter, Note: she said she attend "the spiritual institute" in NH but I can't locate a website. Eclectic, yet connected. I did some prepatory reading for Public Speaking while the two of them watched The Island. Plausible, apparently, to the point of being scary. About money, corruption, and real science (as opposed to the un-real kind, grin).
I rambled on about communication metaphors, quantum dualities, the uncertainty principle and neurochemistry while Steve explained some of his work with light on carbon molecules. “We’ve got black and white figured out, but not the chemistry of color.” He explained how we see things in reverse, not just inverted (like a mirror), but actually we see white because the object reflecting the light is completely black – it accepts nothing. Joanne knew about Messages from Water, I saw some of these photos on exhibit in an t-station somewhere...somewhen.
Told stories on my mom (knocking ‘em dead at 73!) They told stories too . . . “if you can remember the ‘60s, then you weren’t there!” I was too widdle to remember much. :-)
The most extreme incident was letting Joanne pray for me (!) and my loved ones’ hearts to heal. I confess, no one has done that in my presence since my Nazarene days (practically ancient history). It was sweet though, as genuine as those gestures come. The ease with which it happened confirmed the amount of healing already accomplished.
Oh yes, I spent time in another dimension today. First, there was the "arrival" which extended 45 minutes from bus station to doorstep. Then there was chat, coffee, a lost wallet. Calls to the library. The police. Aha! The wallet, there all along! ;-) A car-cleaning. A meandering drive to the Asian Market for lunch. Pre-determined safety zone for clearance through airport security checks - 1:30. After consultation with the map (yikes!), discussion of at least three alternative routes, the addition of a navigator, and an anecdote about getting lost in Boston (I'm calm!): at 1:52, we pull out of the parking spot into a stall zone behind a driver camped out waiting for ... something. My blood pressure to burst a geyser? Nah, I wasn't really stressed, but was it good for conversation or what?!!! Which way are we going? Where are we? Did we miss the airport sign?
I lost a sweet pair of needlenose pliers through security. Plumb forgot I had 'em in the backpack. Had my eye on a "hard hat area" construction sign but couldn't bring myself to the actual act of theft. Could have mailed them to myself for $8 - probably less than it will cost to replace them? - but would have had to exit and re-enter through security all over again . . . such are the trials of travel. According to my good buddy, airline travel ought always be accompanied by the stress they'll taxi down the runway without ya. Memory flash: Took on the tarmac!
AGNES ACHZIGER Age 94, passed away October 6 in Carmichael, California. Born January 29, 1911 in Russia, she was the daughter of Nicholas and Martha Bashkov. Agnes was preceded in death by her husband, Rhine Achziger; two brothers, John and Mike Bashkov; as well as her sister-in-law, Edna Bashkov. She leaves behind to honor her memory her sister, Mary Myers; two sisters-in-law, Arnella Bashkov and Jean Bryant; and twent y-two nieces and nephews. Her final resting place will be in Mojave, California, beside her husband Rhine. Services entrusted to LIND BROTHERS MORTUARY Carmichael (916) 482-8080
Published in the Los Angeles Daily News on 10/9/2005.
Uncle Sam had good energy and a clear voice when I arrived tonight. We read through about 20 emails, mostly jokes (some funny, some ok, some duds - inevitable, eh?) One was disturbing.
Some folk are trying to organize a boycott of the Eid stamp re-released by the US Post Office in honor of two major Muslim holidays. Eid-ul-Fitr is a sacred Muslim holiday. The people promoting the boycott are blaming all Muslims for the actions of a few. This is hardly fair. It reminded Sam of the desecration of his church in Longmont, Colorado during WWII. It was a site of attacks by "patriotic" Americans because the congregants were immigrants from Germany and Russia. Sam said, "The young people had a hard time understanding the violence. Many of them had brothers serving in the US Army." Sam also remembered some political activism he was part of during that time. There was a politician who used jingoism to campaign against others. We looked jingoism up in the dictionary to be sure it's the right label: "an aggressive attitude combining excessive patriotism and contempt for other countries" (OAD, 1980).
Sam says, "The problem is, once they strap you in, it's written in stone. They'll do it all the time." BUT - we've been informed that we can specify the conditions under which Sam can be strapped at all. Which probably means we can specify the conditions when Eden Park cannot strap Sam up. Currently, when Sam's body gets too tired and he slumps over in his chair, when the staff are able to respond he asks them to help him into bed. Sometimes, that will still be what Sam wants. Other times he might want to stay up, and will choose to be strapped up in his chair for A LIMITED TIME ONLY. It makes sense to start with the shortest of amount of time that seems like it might be enough for Sam's muscles to rest and build up some energy to be able to support him again. Sam says starting with 30 minutes is good. That means, once he is strapped up - which should ONLY ever be when he indicates this is what he wants - staff will return WITHOUT FAIL in 30 minutes to unstrap him. If, after some amount of time, Sam wants to be strapped up again or go to bed, he may so indicate. AT NO TIME, EVER, SHOULD SAM BE RESTRAINED FOR MORE THAN THIRTY MINUTES DURATION.
One of my students asked on Friday if we could have a fiesta at the end of the year. Of course - complete with a pinata? This seemed to throw him - is it my stereotype or his monolingualism? He used a Spanish word to convey the idea of a party. Should that necessarily have conjured up an image in my mind of a pinata? I actually had a flash of memory in that moment. We had a pinata at one of the BM's early birthdays - I think it was when she turned 4, but maybe it was her 5th. ;-)
The kids were out of control, ohmygosh I had to go wading in there and holler like a drill sargeant to keep anyone from getting clocked! It was an awful lot of fun, but the moment it began it was clear there was potential for an accident. Whoa! So, this is flashing through my mind, as I'm also wondering, how does he not associate a Spanish word with its cultural event? Is this because English has colonized the term so completely it's original semiotic relation has been severed?
Another work(ing) encounter...
I've been having more/continuing laptop stress: "there is not enough space on your startup disk to complete that operation."
I understand why folks can become convinced by the mind = computer model. Basic physics - if there is only so much room, only so much can fit. If the start-up disk is full to the limits of quantum mechanics, no room to jiggle things around and make space for that next priceless video clip. If my mind is full to the brim with whatever neurochemical reaction is playing out from memory, no room to incorporate an alternative interpretation.
thanks, Matt, for all the reassurance there's only a 1 % chance this Lacie hard drive will crash. I want at a ten-year guarantee!
"Do you know about me?!" I have a couple of "uncles". There's the fictional one, and then there's the non-biological but infinitely real one.
I met Leon Trainee at work today. He had to figure out how to answer my mundane and persistent questions: what time can I catch the bus? Will it really be there at 6:55 am? Do I choose time asleep or time with my friends?
It's all about timing. Well, and having something to say. ;-) How much of my life has been spent "out of time" with others? By far and away the bulk of it. Even many of those times when I *thought* I was "present" and "reasonable" turn out, in retrospect, to have been projections of emotional events past. Part of feeling "happy" might be the experience of moving into the temporal now with a minimal trace of the subjectively imprinted past. (Or maybe feeling happy is only possible in the "now" and in the "future" if there are glimpses of it in the "past"?)
I've often wondering about this too (sent by email): "A few months ago at a Betty Colonomos workshop I watched the dynamics involved when 2 interpreters worked together interpreting a dialogue, with each interpreting one of the 2 participants conversations. Seeing it interpreted that way made the dialogue easy to follow. What I'm wondering is, would that work in a situation where there were multiple participants? Would one interpreter sign the message of the first speaker, and the other terp sign all of the other respondents? or take a type of turn taking approach? This reminds me of interpreted plays. My experience is limited in this arena."
Seems like a bunch of stuff to sort out: primary might be finding some kind of balance between not turning interpreting into a show, whil still producing the most effective accessibility and participation. I know from the wee bit of theatre I've done that the timing there is really tricky...has to be coordinated with the other interpreter visually, as well as auditorily keeping up with the stream of incoming incoming! speech. I've also experienced, a very few times, divvying up the voicing when there are more than one Deaf person involved. As I'm remembering these experiences, there were still issues with temporality...
Someday this might be helpful - TAMS, text analysis markup system.
by Eduardo Galeano.
Those who work are afraid they'll lose their jobs.
Those who don't are afraid they'll never find one.
Whoever doesn't fear hunger is afraid of eating.
Drivers are afraid of walking and pedestrians are afraid of getting run over.
Democracy is afraid of remembering and language is afraid of speaking.
Civilians fear the military, the military fears a shortage of weapons, weapons fear a shortage of wars.
It is the time of fear.
Women's fear of violent men and men's fear of fearless women.
Fear of thieves, fear of the police.
Fear of doors without locks, of time without watches, of children without television; fear of night without sleeping pills and day without pills to wake up.
Fear of crowds, fear of solitude, fear of what was and what could be, fear of dying, fear of living.
The preceding is from upside down: a primer for the looking-glass world (p. 79). If you want more: "Fear of unemployment allows a mockery to be made of labor rights."
I guess it will really only become "old-fashioned" if the model actually changes, but I was struck by the normalcy with which a group today operated on auto-pilot.
I've been working in a setting where I move around constantly, putting my body (as the interpreter) where the speech (spoken language) is coming from. Sure, this means people notice me more often, but you know what? It means they're actually paying attention to the communication process! I had felt that some things were different, were going "better" somehow, but I wasn't sure why. Today, going into a different situation where folks are using the traditional model, I was able to identify some of the differences.
Smaller class than usual today - perhaps people were lured away by the promise of a mellow fall day? And then the temperature plunged. Impromptu's today included legalizing marijuana, lowering the drinking age as a long-term remedy to minimize binge drinking, and the dangers & promises of technology. We have an awesome public sphere developing... not to mention some quite promising public speakers. :-)
Btw, thanks "Radio" (!), for letting me copy your notes from Monday. Here's the list we brainstormed of the topics covered to date: baseball, facebook, foreign accents, teacher's appearance, dress codes, stress, unions, drinking, same-sex marriage, Iraq war, menopause, notion of a "public", rhetoric (orality, rhetoric, eloquence), privacy, discrimination, Woodstock, moral dilemmas, gender, activism, peace rallies, feedback/authority, POWER - what are you going to do about it, VOICE, deviating from the script.
An excellent resource for anyone interested in Democracy Online (seems to be based in Great Britain?)
Relevant articles from "top blogs".
Current discussion: Should voters expect privacy when seeking information about candidates online? Draft paper on international electoral standards and the Internet
You wouldn't know it by my frequent (cough, cough) appearances at meetings, but the Vermont Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf is my professional "home". My roots are in Indiana . . .
I've had some exposure to "Demand-Control Schema" but have already put the workshop by Lynette into the calendar. Hope I can pull it off when the time draws near... If I'm still in the country in May I'll attend the community forum.
I first learned of Rosa Park's years of preparation for civil disobedience from Paul Loeb, in this excerpt from Soul of a Citizen.
The following opinion column on the true story of Rosa Parks's activism was first printed in the Keene Sentinel on Tuesday, November 1, 2005. The Keene Sentinel grants full distribution or reprint rights to this piece as long as credit for first publication in the Sentinel is given.
This could be downright creepy, but hopefully it won't ever be used to any ill purpose. Every now and then, Sam gets so tired he just can't hold himself upright in his chair anymore. It's a bit disconcerting to walk in and find him slumped over. :-( He's ok (if uncomfortable), but doesn't have the muscles to pull himself back up by himself. I've fiddled around with a couple of the safety harnesses they use for lifting him and it does the trick - I think without too much discomfort. At least, with less than being doubled-up. The nursing home staff won't (can't, I guess) do it unless Sam signs an official form giving them permission.
