I love to join Andy for lunch during the work week once in a while. Today, we had a lunch date at Sun Asian Kitchen in South Mountain. The food was delicious, the ambience lovely, and the prices very reasonable ($4.95 for lunch specials).
Category: Lifestyle
My views on politics, religion, health, intimacy, and more
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Would You Want a Leader Who’s Not One of You?
As an American Sign Language interpreter, I think I have a perspective of American Deaf culture and the issues at Gallaudet University that few hearing people can grasp — and, unfortunately, the messages the average hearing person gleans from the hearing media don’t seem to be doing much to illuminate the situation. I would like to try my best today to speak as one hearing person to another about my understanding of the issues transpiring at Gallaudet University from the perspective of a person who has a fairly good understanding of both the deaf and hearing worlds.
It seems to me that the only message hearing people are getting about the protests against Jane K. Fernandes (JKF) as the incoming president of Gallaudet is that she is “not deaf enough.” I would like you (my fellow American who can hear) to put yourself in the shoes of those deaf students and ask yourself not “is she deaf enough” but “is she one of us?” And ask yourself, would you want a leader who’s not one of you?
Perhaps we must begin with the understanding that the main criterion for membership in the American Deaf culture is the use of American Sign Language — not one’s degree of hearing loss! There are plenty of people — particular senior citizens — who are stone deaf, but they do not use American Sign Language, and they do not identify themselves with the Deaf culture. In light of the imperative that one reach out to other users of American Sign Language and make themselves understood in that language, my opinion as someone who has been trained for many years at communicating fluently in ASL is that JKF fails this primary criterion.
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Busy Rehearsing for Yom Kippur
I haven’t had any spare time to blog this week, because I’m spending my spare time rehearsing the Kol Nidre song and the Isaiah haftarah for Yom Kippur services this Sunday evening and Monday morning.
I first learned to read Hebrew at the age of 32, and I first learned torah and haftarah trope for my bar mitzvah at the age of 33. I read my first haftarah for Yom Kippur mincha service (Jonah) when I was 33, my second haftarah for Yom Kippur morning service (a selection from Isaiah) at 36, and my third haftarah for Yom Kippur morning service (the entire Isaiah haftarah) at 37.
I am a bit out-of-practice since I don’t read Hebrew every day, and I haven’t seriously chanted trope since the time I chanted the Isaiah haftarah for my synagogue two years ago. This makes for a lot of cramming, and I have a tendency to put things off!
Perhaps when I am done rehearsing and performing the Kol Nidre and Haftarah, I will publish audio or video of it, but I’m not sure whether or not that’s appropriate.
Anyway, forgive my absence, and if you observe Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I wish you L’shanah tovah tikateivu v’tehateimu!
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Two Fathers
Andy received a link to this YouTube video this morning, and I was so happy to see it. Our friends who got married last weekend are going to adopt, and Andy and I have talked about it. Here’s to all those kids who have two fathers, and to all those male couples with children! A marvelous Dutch video with English subtitles.
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Been sick
I’ve been suffering so much with allergies the past two weeks that I’ve had to call in sick to work several times. It’s hard to interpret when your nose is running, you’re sneezing, clearing your throat, coughing, hacking, feeling tired, feverish, etc. I’ve been taking Claritin (which I take every day) and generic Mucinex (guaifenesin), which helps with the coughing (and is a lot more pleasant to take than cough syrup). I tried taking cough syrup with the cough suppressant dextromethorphan, but that makes me feel lightheaded and disassociated, as if I’m floating in a bubble– and not in a good way! I don’t even feel safe driving when I’m taking dextromethorphan! Blech! At least the guaifenesin is free of unpleasant side effects, and it seems to help break up the congestion. Anyway, sickness is a part of life; one could even say it’s a part of health. I believe that we need to get sick every once in a while to allow our systems to clean out and recharge– as long as we get the rest our bodies are telling us they need.
I don’t like to call in sick to work, but I do it when I need to. It’s never convenient for the workplace, but you know what? They’ll manage. If I don’t stay home and rest when I’m sick, I won’t get better. If I’m contagious and I go to work, I’ll get other people sick and the business will lose even more money than if I had stayed home. I just try to give my employers and/or clients as much notice as possible so that they’ll have time to find a replacement. I hate to lose the money by not working, but one has to budget for being sick, and that’s what the bank is for.
Looking on the bright side, being sick always reminds me to appreciate being healthy! What a joy it is to breathe freely, feel energized, and be relatively free of pain and discomfort! 🙂
Daniel Greene 