Realization...and a question

Y'all know I'm studying to be an ASL interpreter, right? Well, something happened to me today that made me appreciate the fact that I have the ability to hear.

Because the hearing population can for example, walk and hear at the same time, they don't need to keep and eye out for danger. They can hear something first before their eyes are drawn to it. People who are deaf, however, need to pay close visual attention to their environment to avoid dangerous situations.

Now on with my story:

I walk around my neighborhood for about 40 minutes a day, sometimes twice a day, for exercise and just to get out of the apartment. Most of the streets where I live are lined with trees on both sides. Pretty nice, right? Even though some have damage from the Hurricane Ike windstorm we had a few weeks back, the trees are still nice to view while walking.

So, I was looking down at the sidewalk while walking and really deep in thought when I heard a strange noise above me. It sounded like leaves rustling, but really loud. I smiled as I imagined it was probably a few squirrels running around. (We have a lot of those here). The sound grew louder, and now it sounded like something really heavy was falling out of a tree. I heard limbs snap and I looked up just in time to see a huge branch falling down out of the tree right above me. I yelped in fear and surprise as I dodged out the way and it crashed to the ground. It barely missed me. This was followed by leaves falling all over me and the sidewalk which were knocked off the dead limb as it fell down the tree. I stood there in disbelief as I looked at the size of the limb in front of me.

This limb was big...I mean BIG. If it had hit me, It would have definately knocked me down and I would've been hurt. This was a limb that had broken off the tree during the Hurricane Ike windstorm we had, but it hadn't fallen completely down the tree. I know this because the leaves on it were almost dead. It looked like the limb had been damaged at it's base from an earlier time, so I guess it was an easy target to be torn off the tree from the windstorm.

As I brushed the leaves off my pants, shirt, and hair, my immediate thought was, "What if I hadn't heard the branch falling from the tree"? "I would've been hurt and possibly need to go to the hospital". Wow...that thought was unsettling.

Suddenly, I heard someone shout if I was okay and I looked up to see a few people coming out of the nearby homes. They had heard the tree limb fall from inside their homes! It was that loud. I explained that this branch came down from the three and almost landed on me. We talked about how lucky I was and so forth, then we hauled the branch to the side of the road for city pick-up. A guy said he'd call the city to pick it up. I thanked them and I walked the rest of the way home, looking carefully at each tree before walking underneath it. Needless to say, I was glad when I got home.

So, I know first hand that the ability to hear in this particular situation is a blessing for me. Don't get me wrong, people who are deaf are blessed as well in that their other senses are hightened and they use them to avoid dangerous situations everyday. However... I wonder if a deaf person would've seen the dead branch in the tree and avoided it?

Thoughts??

Candyman Swing

Here is yet another video that has some swing dancing in it. It is an excellent song to swing dance to!! I can't help it..I love it!

This is "Candyman" by Christina Aguilera
Enjoy!

Kellie from liamshow.com...FUNNY!!!

Okay, there is this guy who started a cam show on youtube.com. He got so many hits that he expanded to a website and now is part of a TV show called "I Hate My 30's" on HBO. I guess he's making loads of money now...asshole. lol.. One of his best alter ego's is Kellie. She likes shoes a lot and is a smart mouth. She has a bit of a speech problem. She says "Deck" for "Dick" and "Betchslap" instead of "Bitchslap". You get the idea. Too bad she lives with her parents and grandmother. Liam plays Kellie, her brother, the dad, and the grandmother. He's pretty talented.

Anyway, his webite is liamshow.com. Check it out for lots of funny clips and info!

Here are a few clips I absulutely LOVE. They're short, so watch them all. The Betchslap Cereal one will leave you rolling in laughter! There's a Betchslap in every bite!! On the others, listen closely to the family conversations...hilarious! They have some swear words and the last one is a bit adult oriented, so don't play at work!

Let's Google my last name

I was sitting here at the computer just fiddling around when I thought, "Hey, why don't I google my last name and see what I find"? I knew my last name is very, very different, so there couldn't be much out there, and whomever I find would definitely be a relative. So, this is what I found...WOW... pretty cool, eh?



Kanka Settlement:
Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party.
Uzbekistan (Asia and the Pacific)
Date of Submission: 18/01/2008 Criteria: (ii)(iii)(iv)(vi) Category: Cultural Submission prepared by:National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for UNESCO State, Province or Region:Tashkent Region, Akkurgan DistrictCoordinates: N41 12 E68 59Ref.: 5286
Description
A site of ancient settlement of Kanka in the territorial and administrative attitude is located in 80 km in the southeast from Tashkent, in the southeastern outskirts of Eltamgali settlement. It is the ancient and one of the large city centers of Tashkent oasis. Kanka is the first capital of Chach state, small estate of Kanguy. Monumental fortification walls with towers surround the huge territory of more than 160 hectares. There are three cities inside, allocated into each other, and each of them by own fortification, curtains and ditches. Inside-small town typical of antique plan, once it has affixed with other suspension bridge. In its northeast part rise the most powerful construction of the city-citadel-arch, with the height more than 40 meters with palace of governor, man-sided bastions and house temple. The total area is 220 hectares. Kanka divides into three parts - citadel, shakhristan - town territory and rabad - trade and commercial outskirt.
Here is a map of the city of Kanka: http://www.maplandia.com/senegal/diourbel/kanka/



Ever heard of Megan's Law? Well, her last name was Kanka! Read for more info:
Megan's Law is a federal law passed in 1996 that authorizes local law enforcement agencies to notify the public about convicted sex offenders living, working or visiting their communities.
Megan's Law was inspired by the case of seven-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a known child molester who moved across the street from the family. The Kanka family fought to have local communities warned about sex offenders in the area. The New Jersey legislature passed Megan's Law in 1994.There is a foundation set up in her name. Here is the website: http://www.megannicolekankafoundation.org/

Here is a distant relative’s photo portfolio:
http://www.jaroslavkanka.com/

Here is a distant relative’s sports page:
http://kankasports.blogspot.com/

Here is a relative who is a director/writer for film:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1597581/

Here is an interesting note:
“Kanka” is a funny (sometimes shady) way of saying bro in Turkish slang, which literally is the first letters of Blood Brother mashed together

A Hockey Player relative:
http://www.eurohockey.net/players/show_player.cgi?serial=15377

A musician named Michal Kanka:

http://www.emusic.com/artist/Michal-Kanka-MP3-Download/12059490.html

A song “Kanka” (not in English):
http://www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/653738.html

And..let’s not forget this handy medicine for mouth sores :)

http://www.drugstore.com/qxp15811_333181_sespider/kanka/mouth_pain_liquid_professional_strength.htm

I may add more later as I find more information. I was pretty impressed with how much information I could find.

Another Swing!

I found this on youtube.com. This is a "swing jam session" put on by high school teens. Yep, I wrote high school teens. Turns out Swing is coming back! There are high schools that have Swing Dance Competitions. I couldn't believe it either, my friends...but it's true. Now that some kids have something to do where they can show off and dance wherever they are. Maybe it will keep them out of trouble!! Small towns sure could use a dose of this medicine!!

Now about the video. Because they are teens, they have boundless energy and they show it!! Wow they can cut a rug!! I could never move that fast or do those some of those aerials. Anyway, they are fantastic. AND...these moves are not rehearsed. The great thing about Swing is all the subtle cues the lead gives the follower to prepare them for the next move. If you notice, some dancers pick different partners each time. They'd all have to be extremely comfortable with leading and following. There are even guys dancing with guys!!

Gay Pride Parade 2005

I was looking for something in my box o' memories and pulled out this picture and just laughed. Wow...that was three years ago. Boy I look good..heh heh. This pic was in the local paper and I'd forgotten all about it. Geez...

The harness I'm wearing is one I designed and had made by a company in Florida. I like it a lot, but don't wear it very often. It pulls on my chest hair. A design flaw for sure..lol. It's very heavy too, but it looks great!

Anyway, I just had to share this pic. I had a lot of fun being part of the parade that year.

First day of ASL Classes!!

Well, today was my first sign language class at Columbus State Community College. Talk about intimidating from the get-go! Oh my gay stars, I felt like running out of there as soon as I found out I was the only man in the class! Then, I saw our instructor is deaf herself and needed an interpreter to speak to us. If that wasn't enough, she was signing one hundred miles an hour. I couldn't keep up. I caught some of what she was signing, but I had to rely on the interpreter to get it all. This is the first day of class and already I was scared to death!

Well, my fears were quickly put to rest when I found out that almost no one in the class knew any sign language. I know sign fairly well, but not enough to carry a decent conversation. So, I'm ahead of the game a bit, which is nice. Anyway, the instructor turned out to be a very easy-going woman who signed over and over that learning sign should be fun. So we spent the class time playing games involving gesturing, not signing, to get us used to looking at our hands and faces. We split up into teams of 4 and tried to guess the name of everyday objects written on 3X5 cards that we were given earlier. Those were fun games! One of the rules was not to sign, but one of my words was "book", so I did the sign for book. I got teased by the teacher a bit, which was funny, but she said that for some words, the sign is simply what anyone would gesture to refer to the object. Hmm..cool!

The coursework isn't going to be that bad, and there are lots of opportunities to sign with partners in the class or deaf tutors who can help in a lab room. But what is most exciting is a class camping trip October 17-19 at Hocking Hills(a beautiful place to camp and hike). This trip is called "Silent Weekend" . We are to only sign or gesture the best we can while on this trip--NO speaking is allowed. This has been going on for about 20 years and there will be students there from all stages of learning ASL, plus deaf volunteers to help us with anything we need. While there, we're going to the Circleville Pumpkin Show. That will be fun, but we are still not supposed to speak while at the Show. Our instructor signed that we will learn more that weekend than in all this quarter about signing, emoting the signs, and gesturing. I would love to go. I have to get a tent and a few things first, so wish me luck. I really want to go to this thing. It's not mandatory, but I think it would be fun and so educational. I really shouldn't miss it.

Throughout the quarter, though, there will be all kinds of events posted where we students can "meet and greet" with the deaf community here in Columbus. So, I'm sure I'll be going out a lot. I love signing and want to excel at it!

So, while in class, I was signing to the instructor a bit and the gal sitting beside me said she was jealous I knew so much sign language. I said that I didn't really know that much, but you know what? I think I do and don't realize it. Hmmm..well, kudos to me, I guess!

Here is a great website I found for learning sign. Check it out if interested:

http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm

Have a great day!

Shirley Q Liquor

You know, I heard an audio of Shirley Q Liquor a while back and couldn't stop laughing. I mean, here's a straight white male entertainer, putting on make-up to look black, and doing comedy as a black woman...and getting away with it. Both Blacks and Whites love her and some hate her, but you have to admit, she is funny. Here are two of her audio clips acted out by a gay guy in Australia. I tried to get the real Shirley Q Liquor, but I couldn't find ones where the video was good quality. Anyway, I think these are funnier than hell.

Swing Time!!

Swing dancing is one of my passions. I love to watch it and do it when I can. I wish I could learn how to swing dance better. Maybe I should find someone willing to take a class with me. There is a place in town that offers lessons and a hotel where one night a week is totally devoted to swing dancing. Hmmm..I should do it!! Trouble is finding someone as a partner... anyway, here are three swing dance clips and one Balboa clip I love.

Nostalgic day...

I was going through a box and found some pictures from college at IPFW. I just had to post a few for those who also remember those good ole days in the basement of the CM building. Enjoy!

Freemasons Video

Here is a video I love: "When You Touch Me". Who said swim caps, fringe dresses, and 60's dance moves were out of style? Enjoy!

OH GURL!!!

Hey all!
Being a gay man, I love queers in comedy. I wanted to share a video that is really over the top funny. Ever heard of "Girls will be Girls"? That was a movie of drag queens trying to live life and always ending up in a mess. It's a comedy with a bit of raunch. Totally funny and not right. um...well, here is an additional clip not in the movie. DO NOT PLAY AT WORK...just a warning because of bad language and content that is hilarious...um..I mean, not work friendly.

Visiting my girls

I went to see my girls this past weekend. Here is a pic. They are sweet girls. Their names are Madelyn, Celeste, and Audrey(left to right).

We went to a festival and had a great time. Madelyn got a ceramic bird call in the shape of a bird. It is loud, so that will make her mother happy..lol. Celeste got a hand-made Asian fan, and Audrey got a few toys she liked. We then went to see a movie called "Space Chimps". I thought it was okay, but the kids loved it, so that's all that matters.

I'm divorced and live 3 hours away, so I don't see them as much as I'd like. We have a great time when we're together though, so distance and how many times I see them doesn't matter much.

Their mother is a great mother to them and I am completely confident the kids are being brought up with great care and love. My ex-wife and I get along pretty well, and I'm glad of it. It makes seeing the girls a lot easier.

So, there they are...my sweet girls. Aren't they adorable?

My first posting...

Well, it's about time! I've finally gotten up the nerve to start a blog. It wasn't that hard really. Just a few clicks and here I am!
I'm excited to see what all I can do with this blog and if others will really read it and reply to my posts. I thought about doing the MySpace.com thing, but that seemed a bit much for me. I'll start with this for now and go from there.
I have to thank my friend Sarai for the blogspot idea. Her page is pretty cool and is a great way to link friends together and share neat ideas. I'll include her link on my blog.
Anyway, I start college for the fall quarter tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm going for American Sign Language Interpreting. This should land me a great job with great pay. If I work as an independent contractor with an interpreting agency, I will get to pick my own hours and have freedom to choose what assignments I take. Whoo-hoo!
As for now, I am going to relax today and see what else I can do with this site. Wish me luck!