ASL 3 Test

I swear to Jebus, I hatehatehatehatehate how hard this class is. I get so nervous testing for this teacher, I forget to breathe. Every time he looks down at his paper to mark something, I panic. I literally feel light headed after testing. I shake like a leaf. The pit of my stomach feels like it's on the floor beneath my feet. I can feel my cheeks turning red.

I recorded myself before class, just to practice. Here's a YouTube link. An English description of the story is provided for the signing impaired. I swear, if I make it through this class with a C I will be surprised. It is the hardest class I've ever taken. It makes me miss french pronouns and all it's fucked up past tenses. Hope you enjoy the video, folks.

ASL Vlog from this weekend

My last blog was almost two weeks ago! How ever shall I highlight the events that took place? Busy, busy, busy, I've been!

ASL 2 class is going well. I have a final coming up next Tuesday. I feel pretty confident sometimes and other times I sit up in bed while I'm trying to go to sleep and start signing in the dark to make sure I really know what I'm doing.

Last Friday Chris and I went to the Linguistics Dept. welcome dinner and I met a lot of his professors. I also met a researcher from Center for Mind and Brain who does a lot of work with ASL. He told me he knew my professor and so I told my professor last class that I had met him. I had a whole conversation with my teacher in ASL about it and felt like a million bucks afterward. I hadn't been able to really have an impromptu conversation in ASL with any Deaf people yet. I remember the first time I spoke to someone whose native language was French, all in French. It's a good feeling.

There was also Marzipan torte there from Konditorei on 5th Street. It's the same bakery Chris and I went to on the day after we got back from our honeymoon while we waited for my flat tire to be fixed. I fell in love. It will forever be my birthday cake from now on. I had just one slice, but I didn't want to eat anything else ever again because I wanted to remember that taste. I am looking forward to February 25th.

I went back to Cross Fit. It was a lot better the next few times. I have five classes under my belt and I feel stronger each time and I'm a lot less sore the next day than I was that first week.

I went and saw my little sister Michelle, and her boyfriend Graham in Daly City last weekend. I played with her bunny, Waffle, who looooves pets and lets people hold him all day long. He's so soft and cute! I want a Holland Lop!!!

We had a great time! Sushi Saturday night and our own Star Trek original series marathon the next day, followed by The Wrath of Khan (because no one but me likes the V-ger movie), and IHOP and In and Out Burger. So, free calorie Saturday was more like Free Calorie Weekend, but it was okay because I'm still down to 150 as of today. Right on target.

I've also said before that I'm not going to let my goal to lose weight and be healthy get in the way of enjoying life and special occasions. I am able to curb the amount I eat without having to count every calorie, so I don't just completely go off the wagon, but I'm not torturing myself either. It's important to have that balance.

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday, which was very sad. I'm sure you all have heard it all over the news by now. I think that it's amazing that so many people heard the news on iDevices and that it was headlined everywhere, taking up whole pages in some newspapers. It could very well have been a little blip on the radar in the last section of the newspaper about the inventor of the Apple II if Apple hadn't taken him back in the '90's. His was the greatest comeback I've ever seen and his innovation will inspire generations. Rest in Peace, Steve.

I think I'll end this blog entry on that note. Have a good evening everyone.





-This blog entry was made on a Mac.

Racist and Audist Women in an ASL Class

It's been a terribly long week. Thursday ASL class was great, as always, minus the girl (I'll call her Helga) in the hallway before class talking over me and trying to belittle me while I was asking another girl (I'll call her Charro for sake of clarity), why she thought that the faults of Affirmative Action were worse than the conditions that cause the need for it (which Charro couldn't answer and only could give a, "it's my right to complain" spiel while admitting that as a woman and a Latina she would be getting the short end of the stick).  She also didn't know the first thing about Affirmative Action, not realizing that California doesn't even have Affirmative Action in place anymore and that Affirmative Action is not a "quota," but the quotas were put in place as one way to uphold Affirmative Action. Boy did she look dumb.

She looks white, talks white and is light skinned enough to "pass" for white, so I could see why she had a problem with Affirmative Action "treating her special for being Latina". If Affirmative Action gave her a better chance at fighting discrimination or getting into a better college, she would then have to admit that despite her and her family's hard work to be like the majority and forget their roots, she did have a history that didn't fit in with the White-All-American stereotype that minorities have been forced to conform to for so long. It's sad though, because I know so many people who do enjoy their heritage without the pressure to conform.

It was really hard to state my position clearly as Helga (who is, in fact white, and very angry about Affirmative Action possibly hurting one white person out of millions who constantly get treated better than their counterparts of different races) was talking over me. I finally told her to read a book. She was frustrating me so bad, I felt my tongue slipping over words. I started feeling shaky every time she interrupted me. I think ten years ago I probably would have just slapped her.

What wasn't surprising is that before this exchange, she and Charro had been complaining about having to write full paragraphs in their responses on the D2L posts for class. Helga even stated, "I wish he would have explained that in the first place," despite the fact that the syllabus we read out loud in class clearly laid out the guidelines for posting. These two have pretty clearly stated before class that they don't like the teacher. Helga felt the quiz was too hard with the teacher putting six blank spots for five possible answers (you know, so the last one isn't a freebie), because obviously she has some kind of trouble with multiple choice.

Later in the week, I went back on D2L and Charro had posted a response in that know-it-all, defender of rights way of hers to another classmate. The original classmate was responding to an article written by a political pundit that was very anti-Deaf and anti-ASL. The classmate used a rhetorical question to make a point, saying, "What right does he have..." Well, Charro thought that the classmate meant to take away this pundits right of free speech and had to mention something about that. She finally found a whole paragraph to write, though, so good for her.

Later in class, one of their friends who we'll call-what's a good crack-head name? She looks like she's been torn up by some kind of stimulant in her past-well, we'll just call her Cracky. Cracky, before class, is constantly loud and tells the entire hallway all her personal details and opinions because she needs the attention. I wrote about her earlier on this blog. Remember the girl that thought the teacher made up the No English in Class rule because he was worried about what we were saying? Yeah, her.

Anyway, she was talking during class Thursday while the teacher was teaching a lesson. So rude! So I told on her. Because she wasn't just talking to someone next to her or whispering for help from a neighbor. She was talking out loud because our teacher is Deaf. Her neighbors (Charro is one, though I don't know if she participated) were laughing at her antics.

Yes, I'm a tattle tale. I mentioned it to a classmate who pointed out Cracky's D2L post where she wrote a response to another student that said, "Wow, you really stepped it up a notch with the boring and quotes," incorrect grammar is hers. Three women in my class too stupid to live. How does this happen?

So what do I do about it? I have to go to class and be with these people until December! Well, I decided that I'd just continue tattle taling because I've never done it before (my motto in High School was 'snitches get stitches'), and it actually felt good.

Second, I decided that I'd use it as fuel. This week at Cross Fit I'm going to kick some ass. Also, I decided to write a very well researched post for this week's discussion topic. I already posted it. It's about four paragraphs, so I know Charro and Helga probably won't even read it, but I had a great time writing it.

I also should probably do some meditating, just for good measure. Eventually, I'll just forgive these three because there's really no other way they could have acted. I'm a hard determinist and they are hard wired to make the poor decisions they make. Nothing I can do about it.

So that's that. Long work week, long school week. I'll have a weekend update later.

Vlog nineonefivetwozerooneone

Evening Ride

I rode the Green Belt this evening, which is a network of trails through North Davis that goes through different parks and barely touches any streets. Chris and I have explored it before, and I've gone on my own, but it's still new enough that I can get joyfully lost and then find my way back.

The sun was going down when I reached the dirt path that runs along the corn and sunflower fields that we usually get to from F Street. The sky was golden in the west with rays reaching for the last bit of blue on the other side. Flaxen fields of cut wheat met me near the end of the dirt path after I passed the weeping sunflowers. I got back on the Green Belt and headed back toward Anderson. I'm going to miss moments like this when winter comes.

I'm going to have to start thinking about a plan of action for the winter, whether it's running through the rain or getting back into the apt. gym room. I'm going to do some consulting over the next few weeks and see what other people have done during those dark days. I don't want to lose momentum because of the cold. It's so easy for me to use that as a cop-out.

Today was a good ride through the Green Belt and a good run on the American River Bike Trail. Tomorrow I start my ASL class, which I plan on biking to, of course. I feel really bad because I haven't practiced all summer! Hopefully, the little bit I use at my job will keep me sharp enough to not look like a total failure. We'll see. Now that the day is over, it's nigh time for bed. I'm pretty worn out and it's only Monday. Goodnight, world.

Wedding Things

I'm trying to keep my wedding simple. I really don't have the budget for anything grand. I'm not even having an official wedding party because I don't want to put a financial strain on my friends who also happen to be getting married (Seriously, we're one of three couples in my tightest circle of friends who got engaged in 2010). I've also spent nothing so far on a dress, but we'll see how that works out.

Chris's mom has a vintage, lace wedding dress that is so me I can hardly believe it. I know that I wouldn't look right in a silky, rumply, long-train stylish mod wedding dress that you find at all the bridal shops. Then again, I haven't tried any on.

The one time I tried to look at wedding dresses, I went to Renfro's on Main St in Placerville and they were snooty, snobby bitches whose first words to me and my friend as we were trying to look at their selection were, "Excuse me, what are you girls doing?" I said, "Looking for a wedding dress..." They asked, "Are you getting married?" Really? You really think I'm looking for a wedding dress to wear to the bar or something? They asked if I'd like to make an appointment to which I gave an emphatic, "No, thank you," and walked out the door. So that's the equivalent of my gown shopping so far.

I have only lost ten pounds and felt comfortable enough with that to let the cold weather and short days be a perfect excuse to stop exercising. Boo, right? But starting the ASL class has got me at least out of the house two days a week and I walk a lot at work to take the clients to the mall or the bowling alley or wherever we might go. I've also committed to eating fruit every day. If it doesn't mean less weight, it has at least made me feel better. So we'll see in the months to come if I can find the motivation and will to stand up and go (ugh) running. Maybe we'll have warm, longer days soon enough that I'll be able to go on the bike rides I enjoyed.

Since I began writing this blog post, I've set up time to play with makeup and hair with my big sister, Talia and to go to a bridal show with my Mom at Cal Expo next month. Talia also knows a tailor that is really good at letting out fabric. Her husband does some carpentry work for him and their kids play together, so I know I can trust him. I've also had a call from someone in my class who wants to meet a half hour before each class and on the weekends. My life is full and wonderful and I have more support than I could ever ask for.