11.30.05 Tidbits

Tower Clock Yearbook: I was told that Tower Clock staff has begun to sell the t-shirts that has the photo of Provost Fernie and the comments that read: Know Thy Enemy. According to my sources, Tower Clock was censored by Provost for various problems. Some said she was the one that caused the Tower Clock to fail the student body in distribution of 2003 and 2004 Yearbooks. The shirts was reportedly sold out at the price of $20.

Somebody has to set up the online petition to get rid of Provost Fernie. This woman must go, at all costs.

Manny's Law: It appeared that Sarah Pack was not the only one that got tied up in the hospitals because of health insurance. More and more hospitals are not to serve the patients, they are in for money-making businesses. Another situation occurs to Manny Lanza that could have been prevented but no, he was shuffled back and forth for months before he died mainly because he does not have health insurance. This is outrageous. And NYC is now contemplating on forcing the hospitals not to do such a thing like that again. How? They are working with the state legislators to ensure that anyone entering the hospitals can receive the care they needed or face massive fines. Shame on doctors and insurance freaks! Perhaps in time, Sarah's death will not be in vain. Hat tip goes to Roy.

Stan Berenstain Dies: Stan & Jan Berenstain created The Berenstain Bears which turned out to be my favorite book during my childhood times. It may be the first literacy that I remembered reading.

Stan Berenstain has died at the age of 82. I salute him for what he and his wife did for me. New York Times has an article about Stan Berenstain.

Long live The Berenstain Bears!

UPDATE: Much to my delight, I received a personal email from the wife of Stan Berenstain this morning. Here is the message:

Leo, Mike, and I appreciate your kind condolences. We hope, inspired by Stan’s tireless, industriousness working with us on the Bears, to continue producing new projects in his memory.

Thanks so much,

Jan, Mike, and Leo Berenstain

I'm tickled pink!

Global Warming Triggers Mini-Ice Age? According to The Guardian, the weakening response of Gulf Stream to the rigors of Atlantic Ocean could trigger the Mini-Ice Age in Europe in the next decade. Sounds fun? At least, the Alps will be healthy than ever!

Sonny's Beloved Gophers Crumbled In The Pit: It is not easy to win at The Pit where they attracted more than 11,000 fans per game. Before the roaring fans of 11,413, Minnesota Golden Gophers crumbled to New Mexico Lobos, 62-44. It was the payback game for the Lobos who lost to Minnesota last year by 30 in Minneapolis. Good riddance, Gophers. You ain't that good.

Pitiful USA: The New York Times has reported that the United States Armed Forces has paid the defense contractors to plant the stories in the Italian newspapers about the United States Army and how it serves the Democracy well. Ahh, a sign of propaganda. What a Sempfer Fi! Let's face the reality -- the United States is not democratic country, it is Republic. Think about it.

GW Bush Is Such A Retard: GW Bush even suggested that the Al-Jazeera News Network be bombed because it is anti-American. Imagine someone making a suggestion to bomb the Fox News, because it is pro-American? Come to think of this, it would be so cool to do that, but I do not advocate this because these stuff are simply wrong thing to do. But no, to GW Bush, it seemed to be good idea to silence the others' voices.

Funniest Comment Ever On Xian Nut's Xanga! AS many of you knew, JuneAnn LeFors, that Xian nut who ranted on that Satan snatched my friend's soul because my friend was not Xian to start with. These silly theories of hers which is based on a fictious book, really.

However, I was checking the comments by many of her inane fans who wets their pussies when JuneAnn mentioned Jesus Christ. Many friends and I enjoyed reading the comments because it is insanely funny. But someone took a wipe at that Xian nut which made me nearly shot my snots out of my nose. The person wrote:

The mysterious cross of Christ Jesus compels you. The power of Christ Jesus compels you. The miracle of Christ Jesus compels you. The blood of Christ Jesus compels you. The mystery of Christ Jesus compels you.

Cast out the demonic spirits from a deaf June Ann!
Posted 11/29/2005 at 6:01 PM by badbadbadbadboy

Now that is funny!

Now This Is The One I Want To Hear From Canucks' Opinions! Do share your opinions on this article.

SIGNews Gonna Mention Me: I was told that SIGNews.org will have an article that mentioned me along with David Evans, Keri Ogrizovich and ... *ahem* Mike "McWeenie" McConnell. They inadvertently got my residence wrong but that's OK. I'll be back in NYC sooner than y'all think.

Cheers,

R-

Perlis' Tales of the City & Few Things

Perlis & King's Close Encounter Of Third Kind! A story that may be very common in New York than anyone else might care to admit! This is the story that has to be told.

The preceding events occurred last summer (2005) in NYC. King and I were riding the L train back from the Bowery where we had attended ASL Poetry night. We were sitting facing each other, chatting about this or that. While King was talking to me, behind her stood a man, with some kind of material draped over his arm.

At first I did not even look at the man, he was in my line of vision and standing by the subway sliding doors. Of course, I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye, something shaking. So I broke my gaze away from King to see what it is, as you know how us Deafies are when something moves in our line of vision, we must investigate!

Well! Wouldn’t you know it, the man had his penis out mere inches from King’s head and was jerking OFF! No, not cumming, but tugging and looks like a bit of grunting too! Funny the material draped over his arm could have been used to cover his antics, but instead he had it to the side and his Johnson in full view, little pink thinging...

I instinctively yelled, "Put THAT away!" the man looked startled and quickly zipped his one eye snake away. Meanwhile King, poor thing had no idea what had happened but knew I was yelling because everyone behind us was looking in our direction. King was confused and I was too busy glaring at the man to explain. He moved away about one foot and then proceeded to whip his "mini me" out again and have another go at it, again I yelled, “YOU PUT THAT AWAY, PUT IT AWAY NOW!!!!"

By now King knew something was seriously off, and the man moved to the opposite side of the car sliding doors, at the next step, I said loudly “Go on, go on” for him to leave which he did. Now, I don’t think the man had all of his marbles, and perhaps this is the only way he can get off but all I can think is how my deaf voice is forever ingrained in his mind. Probably late at night when he’s home alone, in bed, he might be replaying the incident over and over again, thinking of how good the back of King’s head looks and plays my voice along plays with his bedroom activities.

Perlis

Such is a life in the City, is it? Hahaha!

To Deb With Love: Know what amused me the most? Your being Jew and tolerated Xian's abusive rhetoric arguments. Don't you realize that JuneAnn's talks also condemned you to her idea of Hell just because your religion does not believe in Jesus? Don't you realize that JuneAnn, by her beliefs, views you as unequal and short of everything else -- JuneAnn is being nice to you but she knew that you are going to Hell just because you do not subscribe to Christianity's hocus pocus beliefs.

To whine about one thing on my blog regarding your brother and sister in law is even hilarious. It was written by someone else. I frankly do not care who is being said to the other. But let's face the reality, your brother is like that. And unfortunately for you, many agreed. That is why you were pissed off and decried about my blog each week. How many people other than your friends read your stuff? 5 per week?

To claim that my blog is full of negatives while you choose to overlook thousands of positive entries is such a baloney and you knew it. After all, people who lives in glass houses should not throw stones at others. Nobody cares about you and your nobody "Nick Who?"! And I think many would be displeased with the fact that a parent would smoke marijuana in front of their children, Deb.

In an attempt to turn the tables on me, I already got 4 emails from people willing to offer me their help to defend my turf, Deb. You better be careful in tread the grounds if you do not know how to land properly.

The whole point is that you had no business getting involved in something that you are not familiar. One thing that has not changed from day one about you -- you are so desperate for attention. Having a kid is not enough? You wanted more? Or what?

Oh, by the way, you claim that I was the Queen of Gossip back in college days, you may be right, it is entirely subjective. You need to know where the sources that I got from. Many of my sources are diverse, the ones that can be accessed from any groups. Including yours. You seemed to neglect that you supplied me with hardcore information to start with. Or dare I say that you forgot about it?

It is not about how bitter or angry I am in my life -- it is about to protect who I am and conversely, my real and true friends! It is too bad that a girl gets herself in jail for trying to buy weed and decided to frame her ex-girlfriend (who happens to be my best friend) for rape. And for you to advocate that kind of behavior is amusing and ridiculous, really.

What JuneAnn did is the classic example of Xian nut. What you defended your turf is normal, but to lash out at me at times is silly. Make better use of what is left on your website, Deb. You need it more than I do.

Confidential to GrayStorm: Get a fucking spine.

Best AWAY Message: McFly IMmed me today to tell me that s/he got this amusing AWAY message from someone else, it reads:

WARNING: Gally may cause anal leakage due to excessive bullshit.

Brilliant quote!

Cheers,

R-

The Night With DefBef In Manhattan!

Last night, I hooked up with Beth of HearingPeopleSuck for the whole night. Suffice to say, we pretty much talked about everything else.

On our way to Better Burger, something odd happened. Always something happened to me in New York. It was on 8 Avenue and 18th Street, Beth and I was yakking and as we croseed the street, we realized that the cars has not stopped rolling down the street so we paused just a feet away from the rolling cars.

No big deal, right? Beth and I attempted to continue chatting as one man in his 40s attempted to speak with us whether if we needed some help crossing the street. I tried to fuck him off by waving him off and focusing my attention on Beth. Beth was on me as well. This guy walked in the middle of the road raised his hands to halt the cars from moving and ordered me and Beth to come across the street.

I could not believe what he did. I quickly turned to Beth who were surprised at his antics. Lots of people winced, flinched and were confused as this man ordered us to come across the street as he held up the traffic just for us! Naturally, we went across the street and rushed as fast as can be so that this weirdo will not follow and help us on the next street.

Later, we went to XL, The Urge and yes, The Cock Bar. The Cock Bar is now at The Hole instead of its old 12th Street and Avenue B. The Hole ceased to exist and underwent a month of renovation before coming to open as The Cock -- You could say that it is now "The Cock In The Hole" Bar.

Shortly, I was greeted with my good and dearest friend, Corey Tut. I hadn't seen him in months and it was absolutely electrifying just to see him once again. He did a lot of good things to me during my stay in New York. DJ JonJon Battles and I chatted about few things. Introduced Beth to few people. Beth and I witnessed a physical fight between the stripper and some guy. Later, JonJon said something about repeated gropes. I'm not sure if I get the exact drama in that moment. But who cares? I could not believe Keisha still remembers me -- some of you may not realize that Keisha danced in several Broadway plays and one music on TV.

To quote what Beth said on her blogsite, "a hot stripper who gave us free drinks (as if RT needed any more freebies)", I may be Deaf Gay Militant but I value friendships with anyone else that has character and of course, courtesy. Corey exceeded that and more. When I first entered The Hole, I was by myself. Corey was working as the DJ -- he went out to pull me aside and chat with me. Not many hearing persons would do that. Then from there, Corey introduced me to people like Richie Rich, Amanda LePore, JonJon Battles, Nita Aviance and so on.

DJ JonJon Battles recently won the HX's Fan Favorite DJ of the Year. Did not surprise me at all. JonJon also could sign all right but his receptive skills are badly in need of tune but it is not his priority -- his priority is DJ which is his thing to do. I was bit surprised when JonJon said that he googled his name and found it on my blog. He could not find his name on my blog (I mentioned him twice or thrice in the last two years, I believe) but thought it was interesting blogsite. Gee, thanks, JonJon!

After being inundated with lots of drinks, I was pretty wasted, Corey and I embraced hard because I knew it will be a while for me to see him again. Seeing him smiling so hard when I come in The Cock makes my night very pleasant one. After bid everyone else I knew good bye, Beth and I cracked a joke after a joke until we got to our pads. Literally, we make fun of everything else, really.

It was just another great night in New York.

Oh, yeah, I finally slept at 6 AM.

Confidential to Carrie: Thanks for the pictures. About time I get this! In time, I shall see what I can do with it for my blog!

As Of Now! I'm back to where I am right now -- and tomorrow, I shall regroup and work out at the gym. Yay. I'm so looking forward to build my muscles. And to have pains in my back and legs -- boy, am I so excited about this?!

Cheers,

R-

New York, Sarah Pack, New York!

Okay, this has been a hectic weekend for me. I told a friend that it seemed to me that coming back to New York is not a visit for me. I think I had been adopted by the city in the first place. Each time I came to visit, there are errands for me to do when I'm here in the city.

The city is dynamic as always. Of course, there is always some spots that could make you taste bad but life is like that, really.

As the Chinatown Bus rolls in Manhattan at break of Saturday Dawn, I could observe the riders being energized -- they were ready to roll off the bus and head on their own. To avoid the stigma of being a tourist, act like New Yorker!

Needless to say, I hit the subway train and crashed at my friend's pad. Saw DefBef of HearingPeopleSuck! She looks radiant as ever.

Later in the day, I went to Sarah Pack'ss Memorial Service. Lots of people came out for her second service in Manhattan. I saw many faces -- bloggers and friends. Julie Feldman, Kaybee, KD, Jade, Katie Roberts, Joseph Rainmound, Boris, Svetlana ... and naturally, her brother, Chris. I finally met the parents of Sarah.

Chris, as always, looked good. In fact, Sarah once told me that she knew Chris to be my type but warned me that he's straight as an arrow. She was right when I first met Chris. Anyway, Chris lost few pounds and was looking very well considering the circumstances that he lost his sister.

The service went very well. There are moments that I welled up with my tears. There are moments that people asked me who the persons are in this seating area. Why always me? Sarah Pack once said that I am the Information Center.

Chris Pack delivered a somber message. Melissa Yingst, another friend of Sarah, was not able to show up so she had someone come in and give her few words. I declined to share comments because I think it is not appropriate for the Church. Sarah and I had many, many good memories and the Church would crumble if they ever knew ...

It is not easy for me to hold my tears -- inside, I can feel the pains. But after listening to people who communicated with Sarah until her last hour, I am genuinely convinced that she may knew that her time was done for. But like Jade said, "She is on a long-term vacation. We'll see her again."

Truer words were never spoken, Jade!

Words cannot describe how I feel when people came to me and told me that my entries about Sarah Pack helped them in any capacity to surpass the shock, denial and grief. One former girlfriend of Sarah gave me several pictures for me to remember by. Thanks, Vicki.

Chris Pack is working on plans to set up the scholarship for Sarah Pack at New York University. I thought it is what she would love to have. An impact on people unfortunate in life. Truer to her wishes, her ashes will be sprinkled in the open sea. She once swam near the group of whales and she said it was one of the most amazing things she experienced.

Later in the evening, we went to Pinna II restaurant, an inexpensive Indian restaurant which is a favorite target of Sarah Pack. In fact, Sarah contemplated about coming to Pinna II Restaurant after her recovery from the illness. But that was not to be so we decided to complete her goal by going to that restaurant.

It was good to see many faces. Green, Perlis, DefBef, Kaybee, Jade, KD, Roberts, CMK and Surdus.

After that, Surdus and I went to Doc Holliday for a drink before we split to meet Manny and Merritt which is the story of another, for sure.

Note: Last night, I got to chat with Perlis who told me two outrageous experiences on the subway system. I laughed so hard that I had to ask her to write up the story for the world to read what really happened in New York Subway. These tales has to be the ones I called: Only In New York!

Sarah & Ridor Conversing In New York

Cheers,

R-

The Queen Is Back In The City

Damn The Gophers! Minnesota 69, Virginia 64. Close but no cigar. I guess Sonny is going to be relieved that he did not have to suck my cock.

The Dawn of Manhattan: Getting back to the city by Chinatown Bus is something that is nothing new with me. But this morning, it was bit somber to watch the slow dawn that blankets the skyline of New York. Nothing beats this town, man.

The Memorial Service: So many people showed up. More on this subject later, fellas. It was beautiful and somber.

Everyone Else! Man, it is nice to be back in the city.

Cheers,

R-

For Sonny ...

Category: Women's Basketball

In St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia Cavaliers has routed Alabama Crimson Tide 69-48 and will play in the Championship Game of Paradise Jam Tournament tomorrow afternoon.

Virginia is now 3-0.

Meanwhile, for Sonny Wasilowski's Minnesota Golden Gophers, they struggled to get by Nevada by 8, 83-75 in the first round of Paradise Jam Tournament.

Naturally, tomorrow, Virginia will play Minnesota for the Championship Game.

I'm hoping that the third time is the charm for Virginia Cavaliers! (Virginia lost two games to Minnesota in the last two years.)

Sonny, be prepared to weep and suck my cock when Virginia ransacked Minnesota, okay? ;-) I'm sure your wife, Lisa, does not mind that, though.

Cheers,

R-

Remember Vonetta Flowers?

In Salt Lake City, Utah where the 2002 Winter Olympics took place ... something cool happened. An African-American from Birmingham, Alabama dreamed of winning Gold Medal in Track & Field but circumstances led her to something daring, something new.

She tried out for bobsledding. By doing that, Vonetta Flowers became the first African-American to win the Gold Medal in Winter Olympics. Perhaps you remembered the famous snapshot of her hugging her teammate, Jill Bakken with tears rolling down her face?

However, Vonetta Flowers is attempting to win her second Gold Medal in that sport in the next Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

But something interesting came up today in USA TODAY.

Vonetta has twin sons, Jaden and Jorden. And Jorden is deaf. In fact, the article went on to explain that he has undeveloped ears due to the premature births. But nevertheless, I am happy to know that Vonetta is communicating with Jorden through the sign language. Jorden, at the age of 2, knew 50 to 60 signs. That is great.

Most parents would not communicate at all until the deaf kid gets to school -- Vonetta seems to take the initiative to do something about it. Good proactive on her part.

Interesting ... and yes, I am the fan of Vonetta Flowers.

About her son, check this.
About her, check this.

Cheers,

R-

Post-Thanksgiving Tidbits

Ewww! I just learned that Nick Lachey's birthday is on November 9. Just like me. I never liked Nick. His smirks has to be nuked. He is getting away with everything just because he's good-looking guy. Disgusting.

Thanksgiving Stuff: McFly asked me last night about my Thanksgiving moments. My worst, favorite or most memorable Thanksgiving dinners? It is not easy to think something like that.

The worst one was the one after my Drandma died, the Thanksgiving Dinner was very somber and surreal. Later after the dinner, the siblings ended up arguing about insignificant things. It was absurd. But I guess we were frustrated in some ways.

The favorite one? I hosted my own Thanksgiving Dinner with some help from Westbury and Manny at our Morris Place -- Carl Denney. We issued many invtations to many people -- so many people showed up. It was great. I believe Toby, Larry and KT were there as well. It was simply wonderful and impromptu dinner. We just go with the flow. And did it very well. Plenty of leftovers for days! Ugh.

The most memorable? Last year at Sarah Pack's. Sarah got in touch with me and made a threat on me to show up for her Thanksgiving Dinner. I did not want to offend her so I showed up. Turns out to be one of the most interesting evenings as we had tons of food to choose and chat with different faces. Wait! There is more. There was a group of Deaf Europeans that followed Sarah's friend to the dinner party about an hour after the dinner ended! So many of us gets to meet these fellows from Europe for few hours.

Suffice to say, when I was done with the party, I headed down to The Hole (now known as The Cock Bar) in East Village for these $10 All You Can Drink all night. Just perfect Thanksgiving for me, really.

Let's Face Music: Who Wants Elton John? I'm not a fan of Music. I can enjoy it. I can rock my head back and forth like Christian Burke do. But do I know the words? Not really. I do not think Elton John is attractive. I think he's like Liberace and Richard Simmons. I do not know why David Furnish finds him so hot. Anyone care to tell me WHY?! Anyway, it was announced that Elton John will marry David Furnish -- they had been together for 12 years.

George Clooney's 2005 Perspective: Actor George Clooney said that 2005 has to be his worst year. I kinda agreed. To me, many adversities has occurred. That is to be expected. But with the death of Sarah Pack, it may confirm what I already said all along -- that 2005 is the worst year to deal with. I so am ready for 2006.

Mr. Miyagi Is Dead: As a kid, I used to have HBO. And it showed "The Karate Kid" too much. My brain was saturated with the comments and antics of Mr. Miyagi in 1980s. And that Pat Morita who portrayed Mr. Miyagi has died as well.

Who Appointed Him As Fashion God? Former FEMA Head Michael Brown is opening his own consulting business on how to handle the emergency planning. This is the same person who wrote an email to his secretary, "I got this from Nordstroms. You'd vomit at it. I'm a fashion god!"

Gallaudet Women's Basketball -- A Joke? It is distressing to note that ever since the Golden Era of Ronda Jo Miller & Touria Ouahid, the Gallaudet Women's Basketball team has not fared very well in the last 5 years. The wins has decreased, the losses has increased. And the team roster has gone down to 8. The tallest player is only at 5'9. The current team is 1-2 as of now.

It means what? It is time to replace Head Coach Kitty Baldridge with someone else.

Taking Gallaudet to NCAA Tournament twice in 29 seasons are not successful. It is dismal failure. Bill Finney coached Women's Basketball team at Marymount University for 22 years, taking the Saints to the NCAA Tournament 12 times, winning 9 CAC titles -- Bill Finney routinely recruited the local players. Gallaudet can recruit anywhere else in the country and we only can get 8 players at its best?

The evidence is there -- we needed a better coach. Kitty Baldridge is done for. Let's just retire her and put someone else in. If she refused to surrender the position, the alumni and students reserve the right to fire her from the position.

I am aware that there are several students at Gallaudet who are capable of playing basketball but chose not to because they do not want to play for Kitty Baldridge.

C'mon, let's do something to preserve what is left of the program. E-mail James DeStefano to do something about the dismal failure of Kitty's teams. Don't let Kitty run the program into the grounds. If she does, it will take years to rebound from this. Do it now.

Leaving for New York: I'm leaving for New York tonight for obvious reasons.

Cheers,

R-

Last Night ...

Last night, before I hit the gym for a Wednesday workout, I rushed to Appomattox Regional Library. That library was the place where I usually go during the summertimes when I'm extremely bored at home.

Since I graduated from high school in '91, I had not been to that library in 14 years. Until last night, that is. I was delighted to learn that the Appomattox Regional Library is going to move in a new building with everything that seems to be all-new right next to the current library. The current library would be demolished, I believe.

The new building will feature a 17th century ship in its Children section. About time if you ask me. If you're wondering about the boat, you can cruise this link.

However, there are some images that I cannot forget out of that library. Among these are The Presidents of the United States by John and Alice Durant, Volume One: George Washington to William McKinley.

In George Washington's section, you should see this image where you can see George Washington smiling a little, extended his right hand to Martha Custis Washington as Martha's daughters and granddaughter watched in bliss. The picture has been somewhat stuck on my mind for years.

Here is the image, click on the picture to enlarge if you would like to.
The Washington Clan at Mount Vernon

And last night, I was searching for the name of the person who drew the portrait of George Washington, Martha Custis Washington, her daughters and her granddaughter.

Believe it or not, I cannot find the name and I'm stumped. Anyone knew of this?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

R-

Barry Strassler Is Hilarious

I stopped reading Barry Strassler's postings except to scour the job postings. But a friend of mine told me today to check a certain comment that Barry Strassler made about Rosa Parks.

I found it -- and it amused me to no end.

Barry wrote:

ROSA PARKS' LEGACY

Rosa Parks has been pretty much lionized in the news for changing the course of civic rights. All this woman wanted to do, one day in the fifties, was to sit down on a city bus.

Did she help the deaf? Indirectly, yes. Her actions sparked groups of disabled to fight for their own rights. And when disabled groups fight, it also rubs off on the deaf. And we, in turn, advocate for our rights.

It all started one hot summer day in Alabama with Rosa Parks.

Thank you, Rosa.

When did December 1, 1955 become one hot summer day in Alabama?

Says it all, eh?

Cheers,

R-

Pictures of Hunger Strike in Flint

See Michelley?
Simple Message In Frigid Climate
Show Some Support

I'm sure the group needs some kind of contributions. Anyone care to enlighten the readers on how to reach these people who might need our help during the strike?

Cheers,

R-

Thanksgiving Tidbits

Survivors' Christy Smith To Join Hunger Strike! It was reported that CBS' Survivors (The Amazon) contestant Christy Smith has left Colorado for Flint, Michigan to join the hunger strike with Ryan Commerson. Among the participants are John Clark and Adrean Clark, the owners/editors of The Tactile Mind Weekly who had been promoting, for years, to recognize ASL as the primary language to teach Deaf children.

Suffice to say, the battle has begun. I received the pictures from Michelley. I need to do some fix on these images before I upload it -- stay tuned for this tomorrow.

Michigan School for the Deaf asked for this.

Remember To Vote for Lee Trevathan! The Poll is still open. Vote for David "Lee" Trevathan, even if you're heterosexual -- we need a deaf bloc to win the whole thing -- after all, if he wins, he owes me few drinks!

Here Is The Picture of Nery & Edward: They were arguing about something else in Spanish language, I believe. When they do, their movements are swift, agile and smooth.

It is always interesting to watch Nery and Edward converse even with the fact that they are in 80s.

Virginia's New "Welcome" Sign: I hate the current one in Virginia -- it is so plain and dull. Virginia is going to change -- if you vote something other than "existing" one. I chose "Mountains". Click this for the vote.

Thanksgiving Facts? Many thought that the first Thanksgiving took place in Massachusetts between the Pilgrims and the Natives. That is not even true. The first one is in Virginia. It happened on December 4, 1619 at Berkeley Plantation. Berkeley Plantation is about 30 miles east of my parents' residence.

It was also reported that Thanksgiving was not supposed to be a "feast" but a "fast" -- by whom? Benjamin Franklin!

About Time If You Ask Me! It is official. Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey is going to divorce. Of course, they both cheated on each other for months. I disliked Nick Lachey's smirk -- I hope it goes away for a long time.

Pastor Pow! A Pastor in Russia did not expect this one -- he was preaching and one of the audience leaned in and socked him in the eye. The pastor went on to preach with a blood streaming down his face. About time someone gets to do that to a pastor. Know why? For years, the pastors, preachers, priests always preached that being gay is sinful. Then the audience picked it up and bashed the gays with baseball bats and all that stuff. And these people who spewed so much hate always exonerated itself using the freedom of religion. It is nice to know that someone exercised something different -- whack a pastor out.

Moral of the Story: Don't Argue In The Car! Check this out.

Interesting Subject? I was reading Richmond Times-Dispatch in the last few days -- there is a controversy out of a prestigious school here in Richmond, namely the University of Richmond. Many alumni hated the current President. In fact, the alumni donations has plummeted after UR President William E. Cooper has attempted to steer the different policies to attract the prospects from the Northeast rather than the local ones. He also wanted to raise the academic and athletic standards (Richmond is pretty classy ...) which did not appeal to the alumnus.

And the recent blunt of Dr. William E. Cooper's comments to the staff members, "The entering quality of our student body needs to be much higher, if we are going to transform bright minds into great achievers instead of transforming mush into mush, and I mean it."

They are losing the alumni funds. See the pattern? If we do not like the policies of Provost Fernie, Vice-President Paulie and President Irvie at Gallaudet -- all we have to do is to stop donate and talk to the media about their lackadaisal problems. Especially with Provost Fernie.

If the University of Richmond Alumni can do this, so can Gallaudet Alumni -- the students of Gallaudet cannot succeed without the backing of Alumni to fire Provost Fernie.

Think about it.

Cheers,

R-

New Information About Sarah

Today, I had an opportunity to talk with Sarah's brother, Chris. The family is going through the difficult times. They are pretty in shock about the whole thing. But I was able to get some helpful information that may make us feel much better.

Sarah Pack died at 7:40 AM last Sunday of Embolism. What happened is that she had a clot in her leg, it eventually got in her lungs. The doctor said that she died instanteously.

She will be cremated and her ashes will be sprinkled in the ocean as per her wishes. In fact, she will have three services. One will be on Friday in West Haven, Connecticut. And the other one on Saturday in Manhattan, New York. The last one will be determined by the family regarding honoring Sarah's wishes.

Chris has indicated that the family is aware that Sarah's friends knew more of her desirable charities than the family do and he'd appreciate that I could get the exact information on her favorite charities and I'll be able to turn them in for Chris to follow up with the family.

The main reason why the recent donation in lieu of flowers be donated to "Gateway Christian Fellowship. In the memo, please note for Ukraine orphanages and/or services for Deaf children." is that the family is aware that Sarah was touched more about this particular one: Deaf children in Ukraine.

But he is willing to add more if anyone could email me with specific information on what kind of charities that Sarah loved.

For Sano, Chris has requested that if you wanted to donate flowers, you may do so for this Saturday by making the arrangements via the Internet or your local florist shop to connect with New York. The address is St. Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church, Deaf Church, 213 East 83rd Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues) New York City, N.Y.

Otherwise, the family is taking one step at a time. Like everyone else, they find it hard to believe that Sarah has departed as well. But the family is aware that Sarah has many friends scattered across the nation, Canada and Europe and few more as well.

I was cleaning the boxes in the closet -- I came upon the comic book, Wonder Woman #73, where I recalled seeing a beautiful panel of Wonder Woman leaving her home (the story has that her home, Themyscira Island has disappeared for some reasons unknown to her -- later, she found out why, though). You could see her flying away but she turned her head to look at us all. You knew someday, she'll be back. That's how I feel about Sarah.

One time, we were so bored and we hung out on her rooftop facing the skyline of Manhattan -- she asked me what kind of comic book character would I love -- I said, "Mordru, of course!" She rolled her eyes and said, "That was one dumb question, right?" Sarah once joked that if she was so thin, she'd be hot like Wonder Woman. But to me, she is Wonder Woman.

Farewell But We Shall Meet Again

Hope this message helped you in any capacity regarding Sarah.

Now is the time to celebrate her life. What is done is done, let's rock and roll. That's what she would wanted us to do. Oh, to lighten up the mood -- Sarah and I always teased each other -- many friends can attest that I do this frequently -- I tend to greet her with a line like, "Hey, you fakey ho, whassup?"

She always shot me back that this unique line, "Nothing much, you Pepperoni ho!" She is right. I have the soft spot for Pepperoni. Not in my ass, but in my mouth. Hell, I'll eat Pepperoni over anyone's cock! And Sarah was right as always!

Cheers,

R-

Sarah's Tidbits

Sarah Pack’s Obituary: Here is the link. Unfortunately, I’m not surprised with the parents’ choice of donations. I do not think Sarah would like that at all.

Few words from Jade: Here is the message from Jade, another close friend of Sarah Pack in New York:

A TRIBUTE TO SARAH MARIE PACK

The news has come unexpectedly that SARAH MARIE PACK, a friend, my publicist, and confident has suddenly departed from the earth on Sunday, November 20, 2005. We will all sorely miss her.

Each Day When Tomorrow Comes

Each day when tomorrow comes, you would find a way to create an optimistic outlook on life and impact others.

Each day when tomorrow comes, you would rotate the troubles of the world into humor.

Each day when tomorrow comes, when mass of obscurities came knocking on your door, you manage to produce energy, form luminosity, and brighten those around you because you refuse to succumb its powers over you.

Each day when tomorrow comes, you walk the warrior in you shielded from adversity of every sinew and fiber of your being.

Each day when tomorrow comes, you are an essence and the mastery of life, and you teach us what life is all about.

Each day when tomorrow comes, your heart is enormous that you radiate love and support to those close to you and knows you.

Each day when tomorrow comes, you always look forward to life: * “…making snow angels, dancing in the rain, going down a block, swinging at a playground, walking a friend's dog, and many more fun stuff!”*

*This is an excerpt from Sarah’s blog while being hospitalized for 13 days.

To read more about Sarah and her beautiful and inspiring blog, please click here: Just Wondering OutLoud

Check These Out: Evidently, Sarah's impact on many others can be noted on people's blogs/xanga all over the country.

And so our creation begins.....
Melmira
Hirself
witty, charming, funny, resilient, optimistic, humble, timeless
Guthrie's TrekAsia Journal
Key Lime Pie Lovers unite!
Update: ~~~** Introspectives of the jenko
Update: Deaf In The City
Update: Wherever You Go
Update:The eyes translate body language and communication...
Update: Epiphaneia


Anyone to add? Please email me at Ridor9th@gmail.com so I can add. Thanks!

Sarah's Three Pictures: These pictures of last Thanksgiving Dinner which Sarah Pack hosted at her palace in Hell's Kitchen, I was invited and there, I got to meet some of Sarah’s close friends. After eating the massive food which I was not used to, I asked Sarah if I could sneak into Kaybee’s bedroom to lay down because I was stuffed and too tired to converse with many people for 15 minutes or so. She nodded. I vanished into her bedroom to lay down -- you know how it is with the turkey, it puts you to sleep.

Guess what happened next? Sarah joined. Boris joined. We were having a good time, evidently. I watched Boris playing around with Sarah next to me -- making it impossible for me to catch few Zs. We were joking about different things related to sex -- as you can see Sarah laughing out loud when Boris tried to do something. I tried to tell KD not to take pictures, naturally -- I was ignored. As you can see, I was amused at the antics Boris did to Sarah. Little did I know that it was our last Thanksgiving Dinner.

Enjoy!



One of Many Little Things That Binds Sarah with Me: Sarah’s grandparents lived in the southwestern part of Virginia near Blacksburg. My Hrandparents also lived in the southwestern part of Virginia in Big Stone Gap. The southwestern part of Virginia is the long rectangular that surrounded itself between North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia -- between these two towns is about 165 miles long due to the fact the roads has to go up and down the damned mountains.

We discussed about the morbidity of Appalachian Mountains folks or The South who seemed to be into taking pictures at the funerals. I had been to many funerals in the South where relatives and friends took pictures of deceased bodies. Sarah confirmed that she is not crazy about going to these funerals because she had the same experiences that I did. Needless to say, Sarah and I had heavy fits of laughters that I think the neighbors thought we were nuts.

Note to readers & friends of Sarah Pack: Feel free to email me of your memories with Sarah. I'll be sure to insert it in the next few days. This week on the blogsite practically belongs to Sarah Pack and her friends to celebrate her life. A part of this surely has helped me to cope with her sudden death, I guess, and I hope it does for others. After all, that is what she would like it to be. It is OK to be upset and reflect on this -- but you gotta celebrate somewhere down the route. I still have her emails sitting in my Inbox -- especially the last one that she wrote around 7:30 AM last Sunday before she passed away.

Sigh.

R-

11.21.05 Tidbits

Stop The Tmobile Spam Attack! Joseph Rainmound requested me to link this in order to warn anyone who has SK2, blackberry or pagers owned by T-Mobile. Last night, there had been a spam attack. My sister complained that it went on all night -- she turned it off.

At first, the national office denied that it was a national problem. But they admitted it. It will be cool if everyone who has the pagers call them -- in order to force them to stop this activity.

Notice The Change? As of now, I am still reeling from the shock regarding Sarah Pack's death. I noticed that more and more hospitals are now known as "Medical Center". It implied that it is for profit business. Pay up money, we'll save your life. No money, you'll wait bit longer -- you gotta dance with Death the best way you can do. The hospitals are quickly getting on my list of "hateful things" along with police officers.

Whatever happened to the concept of hospitals being a hospital to HELP people? Today, thanks to the American capitalism, money comes first. Many hospitals will not proceed without the approval of insurance. To me, it is not appropriate.

Another Death: Sam the Ugly Dog has died at 14. Thanks for the link, Christian.

Jose Padilla Finally Charged: After 3 years in the brig without a charge, Jose Padilla was accused by the Government that he plans to use 'dirty bomb'. He was born in the United States and was denied of his due process. Finally, after 3 years, he got the list of charges against him because the government did not want to deal with the Supreme Court's rulings. What a wuss. And the best part is that no charge from Jose Padilla has to do with the 'dirty bomb'.

According to the constitution, the American citizens has the right to have a speedy trial. 3 years in the brig before getting the speedy trial says a lot about the administration and Pentagon's respect towards the constitution.

Virginia Cavaliers Women 2-0: They are now 2-0 after posting two wins over George Washington 66-53 and Wright State 74-56. They'll play Alabama and Minnesota in Paradise Jam Tournament in Virgin Islands. I hope the Cavaliers get to issue some kind of payback to Sonny Wasilowski's favorite team!

Yes, Barry, There is One! My father told me that he informed Barry Strassler of DeafDigest that there is one Deaf person that drives 18-wheeler truck, Barry did not believe him. In fact, Barry Strassler dismissed my father's claims. Last Saturday night, I got to meet Andrew King of Dale City, Virginia, the man who held the Commercial Driver's License. He said he was very lucky -- he got the CDL, then few years later, the computers came in to screen all drivers. The state also disallowed Deaf people from driving the 18-wheeler trucks because of "safety" reasons. Bullshit.

In more than 20 years, he said he hadn't gotten in an accident and he drove his 18-wheeler truck, hurling the materials to many states. He said that many businesses that he worked with knew that he is Deaf but as long as he gets the deeds done, nothing else mattered. No, he does not use voice, use hearing aids or has cochlear implants. He is just plain Deaf who is profilic in ASL. His appearance reminded me of Elvis Presley except that he has white hair all over. I teased him that Elvis is already dead so drop dead.

Oh, yeah, Barry Strassler claimed that no one has CDLs. Not even Andrew King of Dale City. Barry thinks he knew it all.

Remember Tower Clock 2001 Yearbook Controversy? In 2001, there was a 32-page section in Tower Clock's 2001 Yearbook that was considered to be one of the most hilarious, brilliant and radical. Provost Fernie seized the yearbooks and had this 32-page section removed. I vividly recalled seeing the drama at Gallaudet about this for weeks.

I was able to read these 32-page section when my friend told me she has it. I thought it was great! It was funny, they poked fun at almost everything else. But apparently, Provost Fernie does not like it at all. So she used the excuse to indicate that "6 students and parents" do not like it. My hunch is that there were no six students at all, just only Provost Fernie, President Irvie and Vice-President Paulie did not like it because they feel it may tarnish the image they worked hard to preserve.

If you guys want to read page by page, check this link!

Deaf People Cannot Donate Blood: In Canada, the Canadian Blood Services forbade Deaf persons from donating the blood. Their reason? That Deaf people would be embarassed in talking about sensitive information in front of interpreters. That is not reasonable and good cause to forbid Deaf persons from donating the blood. Wow, some places do make us feel less than 2nd class citizen!

Two Wisdom Teeth Pulled Out: It was 50-minute performance but I felt like 5-minute. I'm so high on vicodine. Who cannot love it?!

Cheers,

R-

Sarah and I

I arrived in New York by Chinatown Bus for a job interview more than 3 years ago. It was around 6 AM in the morning. The stench of Chinatown is pretty repulsive, to say the least. Standing on a street named East Broadway waiting for Kaybee to arrive, the sky slowly brightened as the skyscrapers on Lower Manhattan illuminated against the sky.

Prior to the trip, I had been to New York only twice but each time, it was very superficial visits. But not after this.

Kaybee was kind to let me stay with her in Hell's Kitchen. Later, after the job interview, I went to kaybee's place. There I got to meet her roommates. Normally, I am cautious and wary of meeting new faces. That is who I am. But kaybee's roommate, Sarah Pack broke through easier than committing a sin. How? She said something outrageous that made me like her instanteously.

She was saying, "Did you know that ... umm ... I often get free rides on cabs here in New York because of this [she pointed at her breasts]?"

From that point, I was hooked with her. Sarah went on to explain that most of the drivers are Arabs, Indians or dark-skinned guys. They always stared at her big breasts. She said it was such a nuisance but she knew that it excited them as well. Sarah said that they often declined her money to pay for fare. One time, Sarah told me that one guy personally thanked her for riding in his cab. She rolled her eyes and said, "At least, they are happy."

The next night, I was drunk and hungry. Sarah suggested a 24-hour diner on 11 Avenue by 49 Street. Today, the place went out of business. But when we entered the premise, it was cozy. WE munched bacon, sausage strips, eggs, pancakes and fried potatoes. It was fun chatting with Sarah as she mentioned about things in life from 2 AM to 5 AM. It was only the second night after I was formally introduced to her.

Her thoughts, frustrations and aspirations are similar to mine. We were able to change the subjects liberally as things go by. I hate the people who said, "Let's back to this subject ..."

IN fact, Sarah told me she HATED it!

It is no secret that Sarah and I am not in shape like many people. We are out of shape beings who struggled to deal with the issues surrounding ourselves. Sarah did not get big on "purpose". Her medical condition required her to take steroids which caused her to grow by size. Not her fault. I was able to divulge my frustrations on her, and her on me about our appearances.

When I moved to New York, and if I needed a timeout from the daily drama of New York Life, I simply paged Sarah and asked if I could come by and chat. She'd say, "Why bother to ask? Just come!" I ended up staying for hours and one time, for two days in a row.

One time, Sarah paged me to tell me to come over to her place for a dinner. When I arrived at her door, I saw Sarah standing by her apartment door. She said, "Bad news or good news?"

I opted for bad.

"I got locked out."

Good?

"I ordered the food from 9 Avenue diner and they're already here. We are going to eat at [pointing at the neighbor's door]."

I said, "You kid me or what?"

The old irish woman came out of her apartment and motioned us to enter her kitchen where we dined at her kitchen table. Throughout the dinner, we laughed, laughed and laughed about having our dinner at some stranger's home. We stayed about an hour before Kaybee finally got home and opened the door for us.

That is so Sarah. If things comes up in her face, relax -- it'll pass eventually. There are moments that I could not figure out what's going on in New York -- little tidbits that puzzled me. Sarah was there to explain that. I learned to appreciate New York through Sarah. One time she ordered ice cream shakes. I told her that I was not interested. She said, "Trust me on this."

It was homemade ice cream shakes from some restaurant on 9 Avenue It was heavenly. She introduced me to a lot of things and for that, I appreciated her very much.

It was such an unfortunate that three persons I knew and loved, Chanda Smith, Jake Temby and now Sarah Pack are gone. But I like to think that they are somewhere else to prepare one massive party for my Grand Arrival someday.

Yeah, that is probably the reason.

Cheers,

R-

If You're Bored In Sioux Falls ... !

This is amusing. 18 years old guy was caught having sex with ... a dummy. And he may have to register as sex offender, just because he was caught with his pants down fucking a mannequin.

Where did it happen? In Sioux Falls, South Dakota!

Cheers,

R-

1st Deaf Hunger Strike!

In Flint, Michigan, Ryan Commerson has decided to go on a hunger strike in order to force the Michigan School for the Deaf, Detroit Day School for the Deaf and the state of Michigan to change the policies and procedures related to ASL and Deaf Education.

For years, the state of Michigan has largely neglected the needs of Deaf children. Today, more and more people wanted the best for their children who are Deaf, the state of Michigan and its two deaf schools refused to comply with the changes.

For months, Ryan Commerson has pleaded, pressured and fought to get the schools to recognize ASL at these schools but these schools rejected, manipulated and blocked him from achieving something positive for Deaf children in Michigan.

For further information on this fiasco in Michigan, check the link at Starving for Access :: One Man's Mission.

Jeers to the MSD & DDSD for its plantation mentality on Deaf children in the state.

Note: Ryan is already tall and thin. Just don't get too thin, Ryan. Hang in there!

Cheers,

R-

An Update About NBC's SURFACE

Greetings! I got an email from Michael Krajnak who attached the message from Marc Hirschfeld regarding the hiring of a hearing actress as deaf character.

They do not get it. I understood that they could not find any. They could have stroll up to Gallaudet campus, I'm sure someone there would have done the job. They chose to get in touch with talent agencies. These talent agencies are well-known for ignoring Deaf people's aspirations.

R-

From: Hirschfeld, Marc (NBC Universal) >
Cc: Olmstead, Kahlil (NBC Universal)
Date: Mon Nov 21, 2005 01:24:26 PM EST
Subject: Surface

Michael,

I wanted to respond to your letter regarding your concerns about the actor who portrayed Lee's deaf girlfriend in the episode of Surface a week or so ago. For financial reasons we needed to hire a local actress who was proficient with sign language. Our local casting directors sent a notice regarding the upcoming role to approximately 50 talent agents in the Southeastern United States and only received a handful of submissions. Several were auditioned and the actress that booked the role was the only one that was the right fit physically with Ian Anthony Dale, who plays "Lee". We were told that she was proficient in sign language but clearly that was not the case and there was no one on the set to supervise her signing.

We apologize for her performance on the episode and will supervise this more closely in the future. Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention and thank you for being a fan of "Surface".

Sincerely,

Marc Hirschfeld
Executive VIce-President, Casting
NBC Entertainment

JuneAnn LeFors Is Xian Nut

June Ann LeFors Is One Xian Nut! This bitch has no right to capitalize the death of Sarah Pack to fit in with her twisted agenda of promoting Xian religion. By reading her entry, June Ann LeFors is what I termed as: Fundamentalist Xian. That kind of group is nuts. They try to justify the means of something hocus pocus to define what is wrong with their lives.

Sarah is not a friend of June Ann LeFors just because she is friend to Melissa Yingst! Let's be honest here. June Ann LeFors has been greatly brainwashed by Xians to a point where if she sees a face on a palm tree, she'll say that it was done by the act of Jesus Christ.

May June Ann LeFors rot in Hell for what she wrote about Sarah Pack! Even I'm certain that Sarah would roll her eyes at June Ann's condescending comments. Sarah and I occasionally discussed about our distaste in fundamentalists (be it Islam, Jews or Xians). We loved to poke fun at them. Know why? Because we knew they were idiots.

Perhaps the best lesson for June Ann is yet to come when one of her own brats drop dead, then I'll say something about her God doing NOTHING for her! That would be amusing to see how she reacted to it. She is one big delusional bitch, issuing her opinions on everything else that she's better. Well her sin is what? Pride and narcissism. These will be the downfall of her life.

Know Who Tom Willard Is? Tom Willard used to be Editor-in-Chief for the national newspaper for the deaf, Silent News. He was pushed out of Silent News after his repeated conflicts with the owners of Silent News.

However, that is not the issue here. He was placed on persona non grata from Rochester Institute of Technology. Why? Because he tried to offer the business card to one swimmer in the locker room. Tom thought it was no big deal.

Look at Tom's face, he does fit in the image of a ... pervert, by any means. I'm sorry to say this but let's use common sense. He does look like one, is he?

I think he should know better than to offer his business card to a "prospective model" in a locker room. That, to me, is creepy thing to do. That is more of solicitation, in my opinion.

Not only that, he's 48 years old. Why was he on the RIT campus? To cruise? What was he up to? If he wants to cruise, go to Gold's Gym or any local gyms in Rochester instead.

Anyway, Tom Willard is correct about one thing -- he was deprived of due process. But it is tacky to know that he would lurk around the college campus to solicit students for his "photography" exhibits. And it is tacky to set up his own website to whine about it.

Good thing, it rained today. Am working on logistics to get myself to New York immediately to pay my respects for Sarah Pack. I am entertaining no supplicants today!

Cheers,

R-

Damming The Stream Just For Fun

Trying to deal with the untimely death of my good friend, Sarah Pack, I took my parents' digital camera out on the exercise walk. I thought of this particular stream that I once told Sarah a long time ago. She asked me if I had a picture of this particular activity that I did. I told her that I did not take the pictures of that before. Tough luck, I guess.

What activity is this? Well, many years ago, my brother and I biked around the neighborhood, we stumbled upon a park called "Riverside Park". It is one lousy, cheap park for anyone to hit on -- it only has baseball field, basketball courts and tennis courts. That's it. Nothing else.

But if you go to the edge of the park, there is a small forest with an abandoned road down the hill -- many kids zoomed their bicycles down the hill. There are some trails that you can BMX yourselves throughout -- but the chances of you flipping over your bikes are pretty high. It happened to me. At the bottom of the hill lies a small stream that flows into Appomattox River.

This particular unnamed stream is not fast moving stream. In fact, it is pretty small and slow. My brother, Gary and I had this amusing idea -- to dam the brook and see if it will back up the stream as much as can be. Just like the Hoover Dam turning the Colorado River into Lake Mead.

We went back home and brought the equipments necessary to build the dam. But we also organized the sticks and rocks that sits next to us because we were aware that the hearing kids that zoomed by the stream can be vicious. They'd try to attack us -- we'd hurl these weapons back at them in force. And yes, it happened twice or thrice. Anyway, Gary and I discussed about this particular brook, we brought two small wood boards to insert on the ground level to give the sand/dirt some support to push the water back.

We also brought small shovel and two 1-inch width pipe to have water flow into the pipes as we did not want the water to overflow the dam. So we pushed two boards down and quickly pushed dirt on the main stream and hurrily dig some more sand/dirt to build up a little -- it was about 2 feet tall and about 6 feet width.

Voila! It worked. Gary and I looked at the stream that steadily build up against the dam, the vacancy of water flowing into the river. We inserted the pipes -- it worked like charm. Sure enough, we hung out and played around a little but always came back to keep an eye on the build-up of stream against the dam. The dam held very well as the stream went as far as can be.

It was getting darker. Gary and I left for home. Later in the evening, a storm occured. Gary quickly mentioned me about the brook. I said "FINISH GONE!"

Next day, we went back only to see the different stream going in its path -- yes, the dam was gone, I guess the downpour overwhelmed the dam and rushed its way to Appomattox River.

Either way, this project still ranked as one of the fun moments in my childhood life. Call it lame if you want to but it is for me.

Today, I went to the brook to look around -- The brook is still there. Of course, Sarah and I joked about this particular brook. I think it is fitting that I posted these pictures that I took today.

Cheers,

R-

For One, A New Adventure Has Begun!

I posted the entry for Sarah Pack last night as she wanted to share the message to her blogreaders and friends, our friends crisscrossed each other, especially in the blogosphere. Her blogsite can be found at Just Wondering Outloud.

Then after that, Sarah and I chatted each other through the pager until 3 AM, then I told her that it was bedtime for me. We bid each other good night. It turns out that it was the last time that we would have this conversation as she passed away this morning.

Her entry, A Message from Sarah Pack ... was her last testimony to our readers/friends through my blog. Perhaps it was a message for me from her heart.

It was Sarah who gave me the book whom the title eluded me at this moment. It was a book about the interesting tidbits of New York. When I was down, I simply had to page, VP or IM her and we'd go on hours of conversations about anything else.

I know I have a bad habit -- when I get excited or wanted to laugh, I tend to raise my hand right above my ears and lightly slapping on my head in an incessant act -- perhaps 4 or 5 times just enough to express my excitement or laughter. Sarah loved that -- she always smiled so hard when I do that. If she joked, and I did not do that motion, she'd say: "What's wrong? You don't like what I said?" I'd smack her off by slapping on my head just to shut her up. She'd grin.

Sarah was introduced to me by her roommate and my close friend, Kaybee of urban versus rural, three years ago and from there, Sarah and I was pretty close until the end.

Sarah certainly knew me bit that much. Let's say we shared a lot of things with each other. She was great, funny, classy and intelligent. Sarah has certainly helped me in many ways from A to Z -- she was a great listener, storyteller and adviser when I needed one. She certainly was a fan of my blogsite. She would page/IM/email me whether if I plan to update the blog.

Rest in peace, Sarah. I shall miss you very much.

Oh, Sarah, thanks for everything! You did so much for me when I was in New York -- for that, I appreciated this very much. Love you lots.

XOXO,

R-

Claws, Cavaliers, Club & To Subjugate

Deadly Claws! During my college years at Gallaudet, Crystal City Underground Mall was the place where Will, Jake, Dylan and I used to buy the comic books then went to dine at its food court once a month ... all we do is to hang out and make fun of books and so on.

Will once mentioned that he noticed the super-heroes tend to raise their fists in the sky as if they were clawing something as a symbol of "power". From that point, we all made fun of it on a relentless manner. Some of us would joke about manufacturing the sexual super-heroes such as Masturbator! Erectus! Jism! Cummer! Butt-Pirate!

Of course, we howled with heavy fits of laughters. Jake and Will did a lot of imitations of guys who raised their fists in the sky. It was funny.

Then on my graduation day at Gallaudet, Mom & Dad took a picture of me with Will & Jake imitating the claws thing. Not many people would expect to understand why we did it. Too bad I could not get ahold of Will these days and Jake being dead. Ahh, you got it right -- life is so just not fair.

Virginia Goes 1-1 Over The Weekend: Virginia Cavaliers Women's Basketball team opened the season with a 66-53 win over George Washington in the District. The best part is that the Cavaliers never trailed.

But Virginia football team totally sucked against Virginia Tech's Castrated Turkeys, losing at home by 38. I'm so fumed at that score.

Thanksgiving Dinner & Dingo: Went to Richmond Club of the Deaf tonight with my parents for its annual Thanksgiving Dinner & Dingo. Over 50 Deaf locals were in attendance. Among the repeated comments that I had to endure from the elders were:

YOU LOOK LIKE YOUR MOTHER!
YOU SO BIG!

If I could, I'd make sure that they do not exist in the first place. But really, it was good time. I saw Nery and Edward at the event as well! Remember Nery? Yeah, THAT. Of course, I took the picture of Nery and Edward -- holler if you want to see who Nery is. Nery is amazing woman from Cuba. Illiterate but classy.

Somehow, I was engaged in a conversation with one deaf elder woman, Kathy whose told me that his husband kept on showing people of her senior year picture in high school and claimed that the picture is his first wife and that Kathy is his second wife. Actually, the picture is none other than Kathy -- Kathy seemed to be amused and said, "MY HUSBAND ALWAYS DO THAT ALL TIME. ME DODO NOTHING BUT LET HIM TEASE OTHERS THAT ME HIS SECOND WIFE."

Shortly, she mentioned that she is aware of my orientation which surprised me but she said, "I SUPPORT YOU AND RESPECT, YOU OKAY WITH THAT?"

Of course I smiled like Hell. Soon, Nery's husband, Edward interrupted and mentioned about one deaf guy named Ralph, I believe. He went on to explain that Kathy's husband knew who he was. And that in Edward's dramatic body language, he went on to say: "ROBERT DRUNK, ME SAW HIM FALLING DOWN THE STEPS AT RCD OLD BUILDING AFTER HIS WIFE SHOVED ON HIS BACK. HE HAD BLOOD OUT OF HIS EARS -- I HAD TO SCREAM AT BLACK FOLKS OUTSIDE CLUB TO CALL AMBULANCE. 5 DAYS LATER, ROBERT FINISH DEAD. ROBERT WIFE DENY THIS BUT I SAW HER SHOVING HIM!"

The story is not important as it is to observe Edward's body language -- it is so dramatic but so eloquent to see him doing that. Nery interrupted (Nery and Edward always argued!) to tell him that she agreed with his tale.

This is the classic moment of Deaf grassroots in action.

Ahh, I played DINGO, did not win any. The gang from Fredericksburg won it all. Since my legs, arms and back are sore from a heavy workout in the last 6 days, people giving me handshakes or hugs were unbearable but understandable at its best.

Just One More? This picture strikes a chord with me. As you can see Iowa's Necole Tunsil towering above this player in white uniform, you can see Necole using her body and size to intimidate her opponent. Not only that, you can see the thousands of fans watching her intimidating others.

The picture is similar to what I do on my blogsite against the others who chose to attack me -- of course, I shall apply the intimidating factor on anyone else -- if it takes anything to do that, I will. As always.

Cheers,

R-

A Message From Sarah

A dear friend of mine wrote her own blog, Just Wondering Outloud could not update her blogsite because she had been hospitalized for almost two weeks in a row. She paged me to request that I publish an entry for her in order to share the message with her readers.

Cheers,

R-

* * *

Good news!

Finally transferred from NYU Medical Center (Tisch) to Rusk Institute next doors for intense rehab last nite. Today is my 12th day of hospitalization. Well, just looked at the clock and its around 2:30 AM. Make that 13th day. Still can't walk, move or
feel my left leg or lower back.

Can't even tell when I need to piss or poop. But, that will change. Am already able to move waist a bit without too much pain. It was so excruciating and helpless during the few days prior to being brought to the ER via ambulance. Was in neurosurgery unit. They thought I'd need back surgery. Fortunately they later determined I didn't and I eventually transferred to regular neurology unit. Thurs nite, transferred to Rusk for intense inpatient rehab after insurance finally approved!

What I do feel is intense excruciating pain in back and left leg. They finally pinpointed source and location on spine that weakens my left leg and causes such pain in lower back and leg. Just sat for the first time today. Hurts like hell but hey. Gotta start somewhere! One step closer to walking and regaining independence.

Normally, I'm self-conscious and private. But, quite frankly, when u can't walk, move much, go to the bathroom or bathe, u really don't give a shit abt "privacy." U need these precious nurses. They've been great. We joke a lot. Its better to use sarcasm and humor to get thru stuff when u have to.

I admit I've had mental guns and armory tanks ready to shoot when its painful or am being transferred to a gurney for another test, those damn doorway and elevator bumps, few test machines, etc. But kept my personal promise that I wouldn't turn into a bitter bitch.

Pain sucks. Immobility sucks. Incontinence sucks. But, the thought and determination of walking again and being "independent" again is strong in my mind. I look forward to smelling fresh air once again.

And, tomorrow, I will finally have my hair washed for the first time in 2 weeks! Have my shampoo, etc ready for this!

Feel free to visit anytime. They're very flexible with visiting hours for me, so u can visit anytime after 2 PM til nite. They will let folks visit me after 8 pm too.

I'm at Rusk Institute (at NYU Medical Center) which is at 1st Ave and 34th St. Entrance is on 34th st. I don't have the specific mailing or visiting address besides the entrance. You can google it. I'm in Room 119, Bed D.

Feel free to page me at nypack@tmo.blackberry.net.

No internet access, so emails to the pager are well-welcome as well as visits! Visits brighten up my day! Folks seem to visit every few days. If u have free time, come on over! U know what its like being w hearies for so long.

U can even email me Seinfeld type emails, ramblings, or just short or long notes. Anything from deafies are welcome after being in this hearing mouth-flapping hole for nearly 2 weeks.

Thanks for posting this for me, Ridor.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Hugs, Sarah Pack

Mowl Dispels Provost Fernie's Antics

Anthony Mowl, like Donald Tropp, nailed Provost Fernie on couple of points.

I was informed last week that prior to the Town Hall meeting, the professors were encouraged to cancel classes and to attend the Town Hall meeting to discuss about the incidents involving the hotel drama and goalposts.

Guess where they took the meeting at?

Andrew J. Foster Auditorium! Don't know where it is? It used to be Ely Auditorium. That is one small place to host the Town Hall meeting! Needless to say, many were turned away at the door due to the full capacity. It can hold as many as 250 out of 2,000 students. Not to mention the faculty and staff as well.

The meeting did not go as per the idea of "Town Hall meeting" -- it was more of "patronizing everyone else" in the process. A friend confided in me last week.

But am I surprised that Fernie behaved like this?

Really, no.

It is my hope that by the end of IKJ's tenure -- I mean, domain, Fernie shall be left in her obscurity where she can address her "Crisis Management Team" to a group of "yes-sayers" at some no-good school somewhere away from Gallaudet.

Great article, Anthony Mowl!

Cheers,

R-

* * *

Getting Used to the Smell

By Anthony Mowl

Anyone who went to the recent Town Hall meeting will agree with me when they say that an ugly mess has started to spoil. The meeting resulted out of the Homecoming and goalpost fiascos, with students, staff and faculty filling Foster Auditorium to capacity and forcing the overflow to watch the meeting on television.

Over the past two weeks, The Buff and Blue has been aggressively reporting both events that were discussed in the town hall meeting. The cover of the recent issue was a news article of the events of the goalpost incident, and my recent column lashed out at those responsible for the Homecoming embarrassment. Donald Tropp’s editorial was a direct response to Provost Jane Fernandes’ email to the campus community regarding the two events. There were at least two messages sent through those articles. The first is that the overall student body does not condone the actions of a few stupid individuals, and what happened is extremely embarrassing. The second message sent was that there are serious underlying issues that need to be looked at, and maybe there was more to the goalpost than actually meets the eye. Many questions were brought up in what is supposed to be a student forum in The Buff and Blue, questions what students want to see answered.

When I sat down in my seat at the town hall meeting, I finally expected to see productive discussion. After all, teachers were encouraged to cancel classes, and my boss supported my missing work to attend the event. There were several people on stage that opened the meeting with scripted remarks, including the Provost herself, SBG President Mike Higgins, GSA President Carrie Pezzarossi, and several other student leaders. Along with 99 percent of the people who tuned in, I didn’t do a single thing during either incident, but for 25 minutes I sat and listened as each one took their turn lecturing and blasting those involved with the incidents, patronizing everyone in the room as if we didn’t know the actions of a few would reflect the entire Deaf community. After all, wasn’t how those actions reflected us the main reason we turned out for the discussion? Everyone knew that the real issues would be discussed when the floor would be opened, because many students felt strongly enough about the events that they’d ask the hard questions. I only had to be lectured at two more times before Brendan Stern got on stage. His message was simple; while he agrees the actions of those involved were wrong, he believes that the lack of communication at the event escalated a situation that was preventable.

The question was a simple volley on Brendan’s part, a lob that the Provost could have hit down the baseline cleanly. Fernandes knew this question was coming because it was already addressed in The Buff and Blue a week earlier. The administration scripts their every response to serious issues that occur, and luckily the Provost had a few days to think about this one and wasn’t put on the spot. She got out of her seat and walked to the center of the stage ready to deliver her prepared response. At first the Provost said she agreed with what Brendan had said, and she wished DPS and MPD had better training. But she added, communication was NOT the issue and she went on to verbally reprimand Brendan on stage in front of the entire campus community for attempting to sidetrack the discussion and shift our focus away from student behavior to communication issues.

Was it just my eyes or did the Provost really say this? Had the Provost picked up a copy of The Buff and Blue in the last week, or is she illiterate? Did Jane really see the need to sit down the entire campus community, made up almost exclusively of mature adults, for an hour and half lecture as if she were in charge of MSSD again? Halfway through her remarks, I got out of my seat and left the Foster Auditorium in protest, and I wish that every other student who disagreed with the Provost that day had done the same. I refuse to participate in drivel such as the one that was delivered at the Town Hall meeting, and I refused to be treated as if I’m some child running wild in the halls of an institution. What’s done is done. Everyone including myself who sat in that auditorium that day agreed that the entire situation was embarrassing and everyone that auditorium came to hear what the Provost was going to do about it, not what she thought about it. The events of the last few weeks have escalated into a huge situation here at Gallaudet growing worse by the day, and let me just say this much: October 30th was the fault of the students.

The current campus-wide dissent however, I’ll let Jane take credit for.

Paradigm Shift

When I was a student at VSDB, playing at the playground which was and is still located in the center of the campus. Most students referred the playground as "Mall" for some reasons unknown to me, even as of today.

However, in the playground, there are different stuff to play with. Merry-Go-Round, Swings and all these little things that all kids play.

Since I was enrolled at VSDB, I always saw this maintenance guy coming to the "Mall" at 5 PM to lower the Ole Glory flag from the flagpole. The flagpole is located in the midst of the playground.

One day, a student told me that he was told by someone that a flag is not allowed to touch the ground floor because they said so. I was perplexed and asked why. Another student said, "YES! TOUCH FLOOR AND USA WILL BOOM! NO GOOD! MUST NOT TOUCH!"

That logic blew me away. I quickly asked, "WHO TOLD YOU?"

One student pointed at a hearing houseparent. Fuck. They always do that to scare Deaf students into submission with these wacky ideas. I shook my head and dared them to join along with the maintenance guy to help out and trick him by taking the flag and toss it on the floor. The students stared at me with horror and in state of disbelief. They refused to take the dare.

So it was entirely up to me to do the job.

I walked to the flagpole, knowing that the Maintenance guy will come at 5 PM to lower the flag, then fold it neatly and tuck it somewhere else in the maintenance office. Sometimes, he lets the student do it provided that he watched the student closely. The guy was probably in his 70s. Probably a die-hard Patriot during the Cold War.

Yes, it was during the Reagan-Gorbachev Years, approaching the end of Cold War.

Like always, he came at 5 PM. He was probably delighted that a student is interested in doing something like this. The students huddled amongst each other not far away from me, watching me in terror.

As I helped him to lower the flag, the guy took the flag off from the rope and folded it neatly -- when he was done with it, I snatched it and tossed it on the grass.

Suddenly, the Maintenance guy grabbed my right arm and yelled at me in gibberish as I turned to see the students running amok in all directions as if the world is coming to an end. You could see several houseparents being startled by the shrieks of the kids as they ran around to calm them down. I smiled and shoved the guy to make free and ran around the playground -- I was victorious.

I defied the phony beliefs. My blasphemy act proved that no flag will bring down the United States. You can burn, shit, piss and drag it but will it reflect upon the ideals of America? No, not at all. The day continues into the night. Then the morning came. Nobody cared if I tossed it on the floor -- it is just a flag, an object that we attempted to make it too serious, I think.

When people whined about people descerating the US flags, My reaction to this idea: Get a grip. There are better things to whine about, really.

Cheers,

R-

Zachary & Yamka!

I went to Regency Square Mall and observed my sister Lily's two children, Zachary and Yamka playing in a large playland with other children. Zachary is 4 and Yamka will be 2 in March.

It was pleasure to watch them engage in action with hearing children at the playland. Lily is Deaf, Zachary and Yamka are CODAs (Note: They can hear but is Child of Deaf Adults). I was bit concerned about the delayed development of their speech and interaction skills with hearing children. Research has proved that the CODAs tend to pick up the speech much later than the hearing children do because the CODAs communicated with their Deaf parents primarily by sign language.

I'm sure Zachary is doing fine in dealing with other children, he's adapting as can be. My concern is for Yamka. Yamka is the kind of girl that once you turned your head around, she disappeared. You'd have to chase her all over the place. However, Yamka is still young from entering a school, so ... her interaction skills with hearing children are dismal but, she is not even 2.

But ... Zachary and Yamka are tough. They'll be OK. In one incident, I stood and observed Zachary as he looked around to see if nobody is seeing him, then he turned and ran around, used his left arm to knock a guy onto the floor. The floor is very soft -- the kid on the floor was bit stunned but giggled with a huge smile on his face. Zachary realized that I saw his action -- I told him that it is not nice. He shrugged. Tough kid, that kid will beat up on anyone else. Good for him, but not now.

As for Yamka, she was sitting next to the soft bench as one hispanic girl -- probably 4 or 5 years old but is bit taller for her age -- was standing on the bench, trying to leap over Yamka's head. Yamka looked upwards and shook her head, she was trying to say NO to that girl who attempted to leap over her head. Instincts probably played a role in this as Yamka could not get this girl to listen, Yamka shoved this girl's right leg as she lost the balance and fell on the floor.

As you can see, these kids are going to be tough. And they are not even 5. Lily's hands are going to be full in years to come.

I rather to have a rough-nosed, experienced, tolerant and challenging nephew and niece than anything else, really.

Cheers,

R-

November 9 Is Ominous

I was born on November 9. Growing up, I know this particular date is problematic at times. Especially with the fact that my parents never had a birthday party when I was stuck at VSDB for many years. Naturally, I learned to embrace the negative and turn it into something interesting.

I noticed that many things happened on November 9 throughout the rest of history. Some events that happened on that particular date either changed the world or sent the ripple effect across the planet.

Not only that, I noticed that November 9 seems to be the one that made an impact on the Jewish communities in general.

I am content to say that November 9 is Ominous in comparison with any dates. Unless one gets to prove it, I'm sticking with November 9.

Here are some important tidbits associated with November 9.

1526: Jews are expelled from Pressburg Hungary by Maria of Hapsburg
1720: Rabbi Yehuda Hasid synagogue set afire
1799: Napoleon becomes dictator (1st consul) of France
1802: Elijah P Lovejoy, American newspaper publisher/Abolitionist, born
1862: Union General Grant issues orders to bar Jews from serving under him
1865: Confederate General Lee surrendered to Union Gen Grant at Appomattox, VA
1872: Fire destroys nearly 1,000 buildings in Boston
1874: Israel Bak, created 1st hebrew printing press, died
1903: Gregory Pincus, Inventor (birth control pill) , born
1904: 1st airplane flight to last more than 5 minutes
1915: Italian liner Ancona sinks by German torpedoes, killing 272
1918: Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates after German defeat in WW I
1923: Beer Hall Putsch-NAZIs fail to overthrow government in Germany
1924: Miriam (Ma) Ferguson becomes 1st elected woman governor (of Texas)
1927: Giant Panda discovered in China
1930: 1st nonstop airplane flight from NY to Panama
1934: Carl Sagan, Astronomer/author/professor (Cosmos, Broca's Brain), born
1938: "Kristallnacht" (Crystal Night) - Nazi stormtroopers attacked Jews
1938: Al Capp, cartoonist of Lil' Abner creates Sadie Hawkins Day
1951: Lou Ferrigno, deaf body builder/actor (Incredible Hulk), born
1952: Chaim Weizmann, 1st President of Israel, died at 57
1953: Abdul-Aziz ibn Sa'ud, founder of Saudi Arabia, died
1962: My parents wed.
1965: At 5:16 PM, massive power failure in New England & Ontario, darkened NYC
1970: Charles DeGaulle, French President, died at 79
1973: Ridor was born in Richmond, Virginia
1989: The Fall of Soviet Union begins after the dismantling of Berlin Wall
1990: Carl DuPree, Gallaudet student died when the security officers crushed and choked him
2005: Riots in French Continues for 13th night.

Care to add more?

Found this in Mom's photo album, taken in 1999.



I think I rest my case!

Cheers,

Dark Lord R-