Just Pat

"...all language about everything is analogical; we think in a series of metaphors. We can explain nothing in terms of itself, but only in terms of other things." (Dorothy Sayers, Mind of the Maker, 1941)

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Location: West Michigan

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Listening With Our Eyes

I look forward to this time every year. My sister is hosting our annual family reunion - my dad's siblings and their families. Dad's been gone for six years now, but the yearly reunion never missed a beat. I love traditions.

My dad's sister and her husband are deaf. They raised six children together - all hearing. My aunt was the first deaf licenced beautician in the state of Michigan. I'm very proud of her, and she has always been very kind and loving to me. Every reunion I psyche myself up for communication with my aunt and uncle. They always graciously help me to communicate with them, and I always am very conscious of the gaps in communication they experience with us. Every reunion I gain an element of confidence in communicating with them. I always learn from them.

A few years ago I began bringing an American Sign Language book to the reunions. It became very popular for a few years but then turned up missing. So today I went to a local book store to find another for us this weekend. I wasn't sure at first where to start looking. I looked at all the signs, but none were labeled language. I finally found two rows of languages in the reference section. I started with the a's for ASL, but no luck. So I looked through the s's for sign language, but it went from Russian to Spanish. Running out of brain cells and time I asked for help. I was led to a very obscure, unmarked shelf separate from the language section that had two rows of ASL books. I was glad to find them, but stunned that they were not only not in the section with the other languages, but also that they were unmarked.

This evening I began looking for resources for interviewing family members at reunions. I've been intending for years to capture biographies from our family members, and by golly we're going to give it a shot this year! I found a site that has instructions for interviewing family members. They recommend using a tape recorder to capture their story. It got me thinking about all we take for granted. All that our traditions fail to accommodate.

I have an aunt and uncle who tell the most amazing stories with their hands. They may only be talking about going to the store for celery and cheese, but the way they say it is art and music and drama. I understand less than a quarter of what they say, but I can watch them talk for hours. When they talk to their kids it's even better because they have to stay engaged visually with each other in order to communicate. Of course, when they get mad at each other they turn their backs, but when they talk to eachother it's like watching a play. It's beautiful.

I stole the title of this post from the book I bought from the obscure shelf. We'll give it a good work out this reunion. After it's over, maybe I'll remember a little how to talk with my hands.

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Friday, June 23, 2006

Hatbox Treasures


I'm cleaning out my email box tonight (pause...this is huge because I'm a saver) because I'm getting ready to switch from dsl to cable and I don't know what that will do to my email account. I've been at it about three hours. Yes, three. I had about 2500 messages in my inbox and 1600 in my sent box. That's nothing. My archives at work are ten times the size.

But I'm having fun because I'm finding old memories, like digging through a box of old greeting cards or photos. Here's a couple of fun ones. Enjoy.

The only juggler that has ever made me cry (sent by Monica)

The Pants Game (sent by Captain Wow)

Note: I used to place Matrix quotes on my blog title bar.

Neo: Yeah. Well, that sounds like a pretty good deal. But I think I may have a better one. How about, I give you the finger... and you give me my pants.

Morpheus: Throughout human history, we have been dependent on pants to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

Morpheus: What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the pants. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.

Cypher: I know what you're thinking, 'cause right now I'm thinking the same thing. Actually, I've been thinking it ever since I got here: Why oh why didn't I take the BLUE pants?

Tank: So what do you need? Besides a miracle.
Neo: Pants. Lots of pants.

Neo: Why do my pants hurt?
Morpheus: You've never used them before.

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