In October, the world lost the humorist Larry Sloan, best known for creating Mad Libs. In this popular kids’ game, one volunteer asks the players to fill in the parts of speech in a story. Only the volunteer doing the asking knows the story, and the players’ random nouns and adjectives make for some ridiculous prose when everything is read together. I think the game became so popular for two [...]

Recently, many people in the signing community have pushed hard for more captioning on internet video — from Netflix to YouTube, Amazon to Hulu; and I want to share with you a success story! When a friend tipped me off to a Kickstarter campaign for a web series of shows about a fantastical arcade where video games are discussed, reviewed, and occasionally poked fun at, I immediately went to the campaign [...]

  Deaf Youth USA- Bay Area chapter released a public letter and petition to the California School for the Deaf, Fremont and wider Bay Area Deaf communities following an announcement about three new brands that CSD superintendent, Sean Virnig developed in collaboration with Convo Relay.  The three brands were modeled after a statue that is placed at the front of the school’s campus, “The Bear Hunt,” created by Douglas Tilden, [...]

Keyboard I long to impart words all my own, but his stubby fingers do the talking. He’s way too dull. I’m kaput from input. I’m a punctual email, a simple “thanks,” a click on “send.” Or I’m saved for later. I’m lucky if he fires an angry note to his boss. The sharp jolt of his soft taps is sometimes worth the tedium of wait. But I can’t bear witness [...]

  Do you think it shocking that when I turned eighteen I found my vote never existed no of course not why because according to the republic of you i’m an unfit child I’m an unfit mother Do you think we didn’t notice how ironic it’s a corporatocracy that ordering at a mcdonald’s is much more important than the thousands of miles traveled to a signing school because according to [...]

  Seattle, WA- GET YOUR TICKETS FOR THE SEATTLE DEAF FILM FESTIVAL!     Eleven different, exciting, and inspiring programs, including five feature-length films, will be shown at the Seattle Deaf Film Festival, beginning Friday, March 30th, and ending Sunday, April 1st, 2012, at Kane Hall 120 on the University of Washington campus. It is the first film festival of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. Films are accessible to [...]

  Signing Hands Across the Water An International Festival of Sign Language Poetry from the United Kindom and the United States On March 16th – 18th 2012, Swarthmore College  in Pennsylvania, USA, celebrates sign language poetry. Sign language poets from Britain and America will come together  and explore this rich and beautiful art form with members of College, the Deaf Community and visitors from the wider community. The festival will include: Friday March 16th, 7pm [...]

      Seattle, WA- The first Seattle Deaf Film Festival is coming soon! Deaf Spotlight, an organization that focuses on Deaf culture, cinema, performing arts and visual arts, is proud to present the Seattle Deaf Film Festival. The festival promises a full weekend of films on, about, and for Deaf community.  This three day event will begin on March 30, 2012 and will be held at Kane Hall on [...]

  Last week I went to see a silent movie. Well, truth be told, most movies I watch are “silent” – at least for me. I’d rather watch a captioned flick on my Macbook than watch a movie with hearing aid sound and floating captions on a weird bendy pipe arm, but that’s just me. Last November my mother sent me a link to a NYT review of a movie [...]

  There is a child somewhere who has not heard of death. There is always a child who has not heard of death and always a child breathing who does not think of stopping breath, or even that it could be stopped, making a rhythm of despair. Subtle, yet textured in their ignorance they are a hundred colors with one shade A thousand notes maintained in monotone. They are not [...]