This weekend I was Mr. Multitask. I wrote out several invites to our gaming con in the spring. Saturday, the staff of Chimearacon held a planning meeting to see where we all are on our respective projects. Let's put it this way: there are several more letters I have to write.
Then it was time to bottle my first brew creation. 38 bottles from my 5 gallon carbine. Not bad... Priming and bottling is definitely a two person job. All this while doing the regular chores.
The flu bug has made it's way through our family. Today, we all felt good enough to see Thor. If you haven't seen that movie yet, go see it. My kids and I had fun playing spot Stan Lee.
I put together a bourbon pecan pie while doing the laundry. Good thing I didn't mix those two up.
I've been following a few blogs lately. Some are funny while others more inspirational.
Questions were posed through the blogs and it got me thinking about what defines me.
Am I hearing?
Am I deaf?
The hearing world considers me deaf. Try as I might to 'mainstream' myself, I can't quite bring it home. That Thor movie? I had to wear a special set of goggles that put the words up on the screen. Which by the way was 90% effective. Characters moved their lips on screen and no digital letters appeared underneath them, so yeah... it didn't ruin the movie, but it certainly took me out of it. Nevertheless, I did enjoy spending time with my family.
To the deaf world, I'm considered a spy for the hearing world. Good natured ribbing from my deaf friends, but I get the impression they don't fully trust me simply because I wasn't born that way. I'm not 'one of them'.
Communication between the deaf is more one-on-one. One person speaks or signs while the others observe/ listen. Personally, I find that really polite. You can actually have a constructive discussion with someone.
Hearing people tend to talk over each other. Multiple voices coming from different directions is confusing to the deaf. Let me put it another way: Part of my pecan pie calls for spicy pecans. Cumin and cayenne pepper glazed on to the pecans.
I was trying to explain to my wife the final stages of cooking the pie. She wanted to tell me the spicy pecans smelled good. With our overlapping voices, I found myself interrupted twice. More than a bit annoyed, I asked her if she had something to say. Not sure if it is how my brain is rewired, but I have to stop and give a person my complete attention while they speak. Doing the rapid talk/ talk back simply doesn't work for me anymore. Sorry folks, if you want to say anything to me, I have to listen.
If there was a top five of questions or lines said to me about becoming deaf, one of them would be;
'Must be lucky being able to turn off your ears.'
To which I smile and nod while keeping my big mouth shut. While it might be nice to go silent when my youngest daughter has a temper tantrum, every night I say a little prayer that my family will wake me in case of a fire. Yeah, fire alarms are pretty much useless to deaf people... Go figure.
While I'm in the neighborhood, I want to tell you about the two most common things hearing people say when I tell people I'm deaf.
1.) I'm sorry.
2.) That's okay.
1A.) I'm not sorry. Actually, I'm glad I lost my hearing. I've learned so much since having it taken away. If a doctor came up to me and said they discovered a way to restore my hearing, I don't think I'd want it back.
2A.) Of the people who say that's alright, are the ones who start treating me like an imbecile. A dismissive stance like that means they've assumed a lot more than what I've just said. Two sentences spoken and I've lost 50 IQ points in their mind.
Got news for you folks:
I cook a damn fine dinner and dessert. I write stories people like to read. I make my own beer. Take that to the bank all you unbelievers.
Then it was time to bottle my first brew creation. 38 bottles from my 5 gallon carbine. Not bad... Priming and bottling is definitely a two person job. All this while doing the regular chores.
The flu bug has made it's way through our family. Today, we all felt good enough to see Thor. If you haven't seen that movie yet, go see it. My kids and I had fun playing spot Stan Lee.
I put together a bourbon pecan pie while doing the laundry. Good thing I didn't mix those two up.
I've been following a few blogs lately. Some are funny while others more inspirational.
Questions were posed through the blogs and it got me thinking about what defines me.
Am I hearing?
Am I deaf?
The hearing world considers me deaf. Try as I might to 'mainstream' myself, I can't quite bring it home. That Thor movie? I had to wear a special set of goggles that put the words up on the screen. Which by the way was 90% effective. Characters moved their lips on screen and no digital letters appeared underneath them, so yeah... it didn't ruin the movie, but it certainly took me out of it. Nevertheless, I did enjoy spending time with my family.
To the deaf world, I'm considered a spy for the hearing world. Good natured ribbing from my deaf friends, but I get the impression they don't fully trust me simply because I wasn't born that way. I'm not 'one of them'.
Communication between the deaf is more one-on-one. One person speaks or signs while the others observe/ listen. Personally, I find that really polite. You can actually have a constructive discussion with someone.
Hearing people tend to talk over each other. Multiple voices coming from different directions is confusing to the deaf. Let me put it another way: Part of my pecan pie calls for spicy pecans. Cumin and cayenne pepper glazed on to the pecans.
I was trying to explain to my wife the final stages of cooking the pie. She wanted to tell me the spicy pecans smelled good. With our overlapping voices, I found myself interrupted twice. More than a bit annoyed, I asked her if she had something to say. Not sure if it is how my brain is rewired, but I have to stop and give a person my complete attention while they speak. Doing the rapid talk/ talk back simply doesn't work for me anymore. Sorry folks, if you want to say anything to me, I have to listen.
If there was a top five of questions or lines said to me about becoming deaf, one of them would be;
'Must be lucky being able to turn off your ears.'
To which I smile and nod while keeping my big mouth shut. While it might be nice to go silent when my youngest daughter has a temper tantrum, every night I say a little prayer that my family will wake me in case of a fire. Yeah, fire alarms are pretty much useless to deaf people... Go figure.
While I'm in the neighborhood, I want to tell you about the two most common things hearing people say when I tell people I'm deaf.
1.) I'm sorry.
2.) That's okay.
1A.) I'm not sorry. Actually, I'm glad I lost my hearing. I've learned so much since having it taken away. If a doctor came up to me and said they discovered a way to restore my hearing, I don't think I'd want it back.
2A.) Of the people who say that's alright, are the ones who start treating me like an imbecile. A dismissive stance like that means they've assumed a lot more than what I've just said. Two sentences spoken and I've lost 50 IQ points in their mind.
Got news for you folks:
I cook a damn fine dinner and dessert. I write stories people like to read. I make my own beer. Take that to the bank all you unbelievers.
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