Funny things I 'hear'.

So I was talking to some of my deaf friends online the other day and the topic of discussion turned to funny misunderstandings. Some of them were quite humorus, others just leave you with a good grin on your face.

So I will start with my own that I can remember over the years:
I was about nine or ten at the time; my mother and I were driving to my grandparents house for Sunday dinner when I noticed a new building in Belleville. So I asked my mother casually. "Mum, whats going in there?"

"Oh a Lesbian Appliance Store.."
"WHAT?!"
"Wha-at?"
"Did you just say Lesbian Appliance store?"
"WHAT?! I didnt say Lesbian Appliance, I said GIL-ES-PEE'S Appliance store!"

Another funny one of my own from a few years back:
I was about the same age, maybe younger when I was spending the night at my cousin's house when we were laying on the pallet of blankets in the floor in the dark when she whispered something in my ear and I said could you repeat that please I couldnt hear you over the fan. And she whispered again and I still couldnt hear her. Then I said - You dummy, no wonder I can't hear you! That's my broke ear!

I would share the funny ones from other people, but I want their permission first before posting as some may not want the stories repeated online too many times.

So if you're a reader and want to share your story and have it posted, feel free to email me at dr_vfib@hotmail.com or leave a comment in the comment box if you have a blogger account if not, just email me and I will get yours posted.

I will do a follow up on this post once I receive submissions. Send in your funny misunderstandings of what people have said to you, deaf, hh, or hearing.

Me, Myself, & I - Darren's new video and 2nd single from 'This Delicate Thing We've Made'

Yep its another Darren post complete with his new video which shows his fun and playful side, and for the dhh readers - I have the lyrics included. This song has a definite flashback feel. Enjoy!



I'm kinda reeling
A deja-vu feeling
We've been together
In another life

Got me extending
That network's ending
The future echoes
With your memory

Now darling, I don't know what the future will bring
But I am willing to sing 'til I drop
Now baby, I don't know how it happened to be
But when we met it was like future shock

Tell me what to do, me myself and I
It's gonna take a time machine
To get it right
And it's so cruel, I wanna take you home
I'm gonna speed those hands of time right up
So that I don't leave here all alone. Woo hoo!

The death of the romance
Thought there was no chance
Then you appeared right in front of me
I got to thinking
Loneliness sinking
I felt the cloudiness come over me

Now darling, I don't know what the future will hold
But I'm not willing to do as I'm told
Now baby, I don't care how it happened to be
But I know that my future's right in front of me

Tell me what to do, me myself and I
It's gonna take a time machine
To get it right
And it's so cruel, I wanna take you home
I'm gonna speed those sands of time right up
So that I don't leave here all alone. Woo hoo!

Did you ever get the feeling that the universe is leaning?
It's accelerating, it will never stop
Did you ever wonder if the number one divide by zero
Is infinity and if that's the case then what?
If imaginary numbers are abstractions of the real thing
Then could someone make the clock of time stop?
If we were always meant to be together like forever
Than it must have been a future shock

I don't know what the future will bring
But I am willing to sing 'til I drop...

What to do, me myself and I
It's gonna take a time machine
To get it right
And it's so cruel, I wanna take you home
I'm gonna speed those sands of time
Right up so that I don't leave here all alone

I don't know what the future will bring
But I am willing to sing 'til I drop [Gonna speed those sands of time right up]
Oh darling, I don't know how it happened to be
But when we met it was like future shock

What to do, me myself and I
It's gonna take a time machine
To get it right
And it's so cruel, I wanna take you home
I'm gonna speed those sands of time
Right up so that I don't leave here all alone

Proper Priorities

So these days it seems as if everything is out of whack, not just the blood sugar, but I mean life in general. For one seems as if Ive been busted for playing games with God though I have been one to scream and curse at God for playing games with me in years past.

Today was just another talk, another walk, another go at the same boring life I've been living for too long. All I know is that right now there's a crack in the door and dammit I want more than what Ive got. I want to do more than I can.

Every morning it's the same thing: up at 4:30, get dressed, brush teeth, wash face, grab a smoke and head out the door to good ol' PJP (the initials for my company). Get there around 5 or so, sit and continue to smoke my lungs away while I clock in, get my lovely bonnet on and be on the line ready to go at 5:35 - I personally dont like to be any later I have this odd obsession with being either 10 minutes early or simply not show up at all. 2:15 pm Im done and out, but damn Im too zapped to do anything for the rest of the day regardless of how nice it may be and I feel guilty for that sometimes for not letting my DD play outside when all I want to do is sleep. Im in bed by 9:30 or 10, 10:30 the latest during th week, on weekends Im up 22-30 hours straight, goofing off, looking up deaf related articles or just plain reading books, newspapers and whatnot so I dont feel like Im disconnected from the world.

I understand that you should put God first and all else falls into place and how often we hear that in church, sometimes more often than we care to know, but Im sitting here wondering - why I, the one that can sign Amazing Grace in ASL, pray in ASL, and thank God in ASL can't seem to get it right with God. I mean, here I call myself 'Deaf Baptist', but am I really that or is simply a subconscious mockery of the denomination I say I am affiliated with - although I dont post strictly SBC links on here.

Sometimes I feel like if I put too much emphasis on church, Im missing out on incredible moments with my daughter. Im not the same Bible Thumping Babe I was 10 years ago - Im the cynical jaded baptist that believes in a God and a Savior and has given my soul to Him, but I have my doubts that God is going to do anything with me. Im just a speck, a dot, another ant marching along. Heck Im a single mom college drop out that works in a chicken plant and can never seem to get it right with anything.

Why? Because again as mentioned in a previous post - there is still one part of my life that I haven't given completely over to him, partly because Im not ready to and the other because if I let go of this I feel that Ive lost part of myself in the process. But then I have said that if losing myself means becoming a part of God, then I know Im becoming something beautiful too. So what's the hold up? Its a missing prayer and a longing for something I can never have.

I know as a single parent you are going in ten directions at once and it's difficult to decide what comes when although others may not completely agree.

I was asked today what I wanted to do with my life within reason - I said I honestly could not think of what. Im just lost at sea at the moment. If I am incredibly smart, how can one make such incredibly stupid decisions time after time?

With enough pounding myself down - I have a friend that has lifted me up more times than I can possibly count - chewed me out when I needed it most and ignored me when I needed to learn to stand alone. Well now that friend is in need. I want to return the favor but not sure how. I have been praying that God would open the door for me in that area and present a way for me to help. I understand what they are going through. It's rough, it's hard and all you want to do is walk away. I just want to let this friend know Im here I still care and Ive never stopped despite things I might have said and done. Jealousy causes us to do amazingly stupid things. You dont have to hide those feelings inside. Like a true human being - I stay with my friends beyond the fair weather.

So priorties are shifting as the world changes and sometimes its hard to keep up.

The MSSD Incident

So some of you may have already heard about the MSSD incident where 7 students attacked another student and marked him with KKK and Nazi symbols. For those of you that don't know here is a CNN.com newslink:
The MSSD Incident

What bothers me most about this incident is not just the racist attitudes and hate crimes, but the fact there seems to be a double standard going on here through out the deaf community.

It is bad enough that people put down deafies just because we can't hear. Often I found myself labelled as deaf and dumb as a child and throughout my school years. When hearing people offend us we stand together as a strong group and say enough is enough.

It is bad enough that in the general world population people will commit crimes against another person just because they are black, gay, a woman, or if their religious beliefs are different.

But in the deaf community, I see double standards. We share our stories about being put down and shoved around by the hearing world, but amongst ourselves we find that we oppose Deaf homosexuals, Deaf blacks, Deaf women, and Deafies whose religious beliefs may be different from our own.

It is not right to be put down, and it is not right to put down others, but it is mind boggling to me when I see someone who's been put down so much, start to put down others. To me, it shows a lack of character. There's no need to go to a lower level to make yourself feel better. Surely one can rise above that and say to themselves, " I am not stooping the level of namecalling and hate crimes ". Sometimes the bigger person is the one that ignores the bullies and moves on with their lives and helps others deal with their issues in a healthy manner.

As for the student I hope he is OK, and I hope the other 7 have realized their mistake, use it as a learning moment in their lives and realize that everyone is the same, no one is better than anyone.