Deaf Weekend

Virginia Cavaliers is now 4-0, after a 31-10 win over Syracuse. The combined score of the season is now 182-48. This week is "bye" and next week, they will face the angry, wounded Tigers of Clemson who is crippled at 1-3. Good thing, they will not play at Death Valley. They will play them in Charlottesville.

Speaking of Virginia Cavaliers, I received an email from Liz Sahin. That was absolutely cool! Eventually, we shall meet somehow, someday, sometimes in the short future.

My weekend was very nice and mellow. The kitchen in my apartment has been ... imploded and replaced with brand-new stuff. Now I can finally wash the fuckin' dishes. Praise the Lord.

I over-napped last Friday, that was awful. I woke up much later and decided not to go to DPHH because it was too late. Later, KB said that the DPHH rocked. I'm completley jealous. I went to Nowhere Bar as I needed a break from my apartment. Ended up chatting with a friend of mine who is a bartender. One straight guy barged in the gay bar with two females. They were drunk and accidentally spilled the drinks on my shorts which I do not really care much, though. But the straight guy kept on apologizing and kissing my right hand. And bought me a couple of drinks. Relax, studmuffin, now -- go away.

Saturday, Web and I ventured out to Columbia University on West 120th Street -- it was beautiful day and beautiful campus. Very quiet. Since it was Yom Kippur -- the Day of Atonement -- lots of cute Jewish boys walked around. Probably to the local synagogues, I stared and drooled. *sigh*

The reason why I went to Columbia University is to watch the FunnyZero play which is performed by three deaf actors and one hearing actor. To me, I have the standards. I like the dark comedy. I like the stuff that you can find in Bill Maher, Chris Rock and all that stuff. I do not like the "light" or "cute" comedy. But the play was all right as can be.

I met my old pen pal for the first time in years -- Vigilante! That was her last name before she married someone else. Later, I get to meet her son who is 5, soon to be 6 on October 17, he said to me. Absolutely cute. But again, I'm not family-type. Like I told someone else earlier, if I have a kid, I'll toss it in the trash can. I can pamper but cannot raise one.

I decided to stay home on Saturday night because the next day was big day for many of us. Mark, Manny, Merritt, Lee, Dorian and Masa came in NYC from DC for Deaf Awareness Week Festival at the Lincoln Center.

I noticed something ... many people often said that I tend to talk too much, but in the last few years, I noticed that I underwent some kind of transformation -- I do not talk much, I get the kicks out of watching people. I smiled or snickered when one said the wrong things to others, or shared their opinions as FACTS to others. It was funny.

For example, I saw one guy telling the guy: "Did you know that I had a meeting with Ben Soukup in his office in Sioux Falls? Yes, true biz! It was strange for me!"

I'm like, "Who gives a fuck? I sat next to Ben at Deaf Way II and guess what? I never said a word to him because I do not find him interesting at all." No big deal.

Saw Karl Ewan, he was quite busy. Too bad, I could not say anything beyond "hi" to him. Dorian Fletcher is nothing new. He is still dramatic from DC. He fed me with cheap gossips which I am already saturated with! He also attempted to drop the bombshell which I yawned at -- that my childhood friend was diagnosed HIV Positive. Told him that I already knew. He gasped that I already knew. Knowledge is power.

It was good to see Margie last Saturday night. I was bit surprised that my blog does get around somehow. I shouldn't be surprised but still, a part of me is full of ego, a part of me wants to sulk a little.

God, I love Mark. He's crazy as usual. He is the one who inadvertently ended up on the stage with me in front of 1,000 spectators in DC few years ago. We had a lot of conversations to catch up and it was great.

It was good to see Lee ... he seems to age a little and matured a little which is much better than before.

Merritt and Manny, what can I say about them? They are just ... Merritt and Manny. Always dynamic duo from day one.

Thanks for a great weekend, lovers!

R-

There Are Weirdos Out There

I stole this email from someone else but I'm going to change the names and smokescreen the email address.

R-

* * *

hi everyone, i'm chris, 32 from england, just wanted to say this is a great site. i love seeing hearing aids on women, especially BTE's, something about them is so sexy (dont know why i feel this, but they really are very attractive). if anyone feels the same and would like to chat, you can IM at chrisXXXX (on yahoo) or chrisXXXXXX (on aol) would love to chat with anyone that feels like me, women (with or without hearing aids) especially welcome.

Where Is That Bottomless Pit?

It is amazing to observe the tactics of Republicans. They kept on breaking the new lows.

Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif) has been outed. There is a rule within Congress that family members cannot be employed by their senators/representatives in the offices. This faggot lives with Brad Smith, who is his Chief of Staff. Brad Smith is also the highest paid chief in the government. Do I smell the stench of liberalism? Nope, conservatives are the stench. David Dreier called himself the conservative Republican.

In Arkansas, there is the mass distribution to the rural voters by the Republicans National Committee. They sent the postcards to warn or scare the rural voters that if one votes for Kerry, they will expect that the Holy Bible will be banned, and that the gay marriage will be allowed. Is this a new low by the Republicans National Committee? RNC Spokesman admitted that they circulated these lies. Where is the apology for this false information?

And this one just came out of BlogActive.com, gotta love Michael Rogers for doing his job. He just outed Jay Banning, who is the Chief Financial Officer and Director of Administration of the Republicans National Committee.

It is sickening that we have too many Roy Cohns in the Congress, and it was certainly no surprise to see many Republicans imitating Roy Cohns from day one. Denying people the rights but hide their pleasures and rights for themselves.

Fuck them.

R-

400th Entry: Petru's Pictures

Thanks to a friend who forwarded this to me. Perhaps, some of you folks will recognize his face in the past.

R-

Tony's Challenge!

When I was a kid in VSD, there was a younger kid named Tony. He had some kind of fetish with fire alarms. He thrived on getting attention when he pulled the fire alarm and forced everyone else to come out of the building.

At one point, he did it every night around midnight. Especially on a dare by others (probably his roommate), he'd ran past the houseparent who frantically chased him down but to no avail and he'd jump and bang.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The fire alarms blared. Many weary and tired boys ended up being moody and sleepy. Some cried for a moment of sleep. Some cursed Tony. Some laughed. Some in the state of daze after suffering the flashes in their eyes when the flashlights struck them in the darkness. Some walked out with the pajamas. Some walked out just with the white socks and white fruit of the looms underwear. Some came out of the building barefoot with a bright color underwear. When I was 8 or 9, it was not the time to check the erections or bigger dicks. Never thought about it.

For a week, pulling the fire alarms were a routine. Many houseparents became frustrated and decided to phone the local fire department who came to scold Tony. Apparently, one of the firefighters who did not want to deal with a deaf person about the hazards of pulling the false fire alarm. The firefighter told Tony that he already wired all the fire alarms, that if Tony attempts to pull it again, Price Hall will explode.

If that does not excite Tony, I do not know how anything will.

Tony walked into Harrison Hall, the cafeteria and announced that the firefighters claimed to wire the building with explosives if someone tried to pull the fire alarm ... "And I will pull it tonight because I hate this dorm!"

Many boys were in awe of Tony who seems to be bold and presents a formidable challenge to these wicked, evil houseparents who used their voices to bark around.

Several boys debated about the merits of packing up clothes. I thought it was ridiculous but my roommate, Jia, begged me to do the same because my comic books will be burned to nothing! I freaked out -- we all packed up and put it by the door, knowing that tonight is the inevitable.

Right across the boys' dormitory is Carter Hall, which housed the elementary girls. They also heard about this incredible story. They clamored to wait and tent out in two bedrooms overlooking our boys' dormitory.

The night came. Tony zoomed past and jumped.

EEEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEE!

I panicked and ran out of the dormitory, forgetting my luggages and books. I turned to see Jia only in his flip-flops and white underwear, pushing his wooden chest out of the dormitory. I saw Roger running out of the dormitory with only underwear on his body with his 3 heavy luggages and tripped over the wooden chest which was pushed by Jia. I thought of my comic books and tried to run back inside. But I was denied the entry. Lots of boys ran around and pleaded to get clothes before it explodes. The fire trucks arrived. We all saw the girls staring at us from these bedrooms in Carter Hall -- they are enjoying the free views of young boys running in their underwears.

and yea, the building never blew up anyway.

The next morning at Harrison Hall, many boys were ridiculed by girls. And Tony was the ultimate King of Price Hall. For a week. Before he was booted out of school.

R-

Quote of the Week

Today, after the meeting at workplace, I quickly went to a convenience store to get the snacks (No lunch or breakfast and my stomach was threatening to behead me for not living up to its promises). After dealing with a funny Egyptian guy who runs the convenience store -- I swear that this dude flapped his hands more than I do on a daily basis!

Anyway, upon returning to the office, something caught my eye outside of the building where some deaf people mingled. I stood and watched one elderly deaf person at the age of 88 which I found out much later that his name is Ben.

He signed very eloquently and very smooth with fingerspelling which is remarkable if you compare him with Rayni, really. ;-)

However, Ben confronted that nutty deaf woman who uses "Bush/Cheney" button, Ben said something that impressed me, considering the fact that he is 88.

"If you vote for Bush, you are asking for trouble! At 88, I already saw many presidents come and go, and Bush is the worst of all."

Bingo! This fella is just wise.

R-

You Think It Is Fucking Okay?

I always feel that we should use the f-word as much as can be to devalue the shock itself to minimize the offensive term out of itself. Say it as much as you can, the less it became offensive. You get used to it.

Now with the report coming out of New Zealand via AIM news which I tried to link. It just won't cooperate so I am literally forced to copy and paste.

Surprise! Why the F-Word Is OK to Say

The f-word may be considered one of the English language's most offensive swearwords, but researchers from Victoria University in New Zealand report it may be okay to say it at work--under certain circumstances.

According to these daring researchers, saying the f-word within the confines of your own work team helps to build and reinforce team morale, reports New Zealand's Dominion Post. They came to this startling conclusion after analyzing the conversation patterns of a work team laboring in an unidentified soap factory.

The eye-popping findings:

The f-word was easily the most commonly used swearword.

When it was said within the context of this close-knit work team, it was not considered offensive.
Since the basic attitude in the group was one of friendliness where the workers genuinely liked and respected one another, they could use such oaths without being rude or insulting.

"Forms of f*** occur frequently in certain contexts and serve a range of functions, including the role of positive politeness strategy," wrote study leader and linguistics professor Janet Holmes in the international Journal of Pragmatics. "F*** is regularly associated with expressions of solidarity, including friendly terms of address."

And there's also good news for work whiners! The study found that complaining to a sympathetic colleague can help build solidarity among co-workers. The researchers defined whining as a "long or repeated expression of discontent not necessarily intended to change or improve the unsatisfactory situation." Complaining is an emotional release that can build rapport. "Teammates regularly have a moan to each other," Holmes wrote in the journal. "Whining to a sympathetic co-worker both reflects and constructs the close relationship between team members, thus consolidating the team's solidarity."

A word of caution: Swearwords, especially the f-word, must only be said in the appropriate context.

But the fact that it can be said at all at work and be acceptable is proof positive that our language is constantly evolving.

I think I will laugh manically like the little munchkins from an old movie called Gremlins.

R-