(no subject)

[catsittingstill]

Had the last intermediate sign language class today. I feel like I learned a lot in this class. It's actually a good thing that they made me buy an extra copy of the sign language book I already had--I ended up taking lots of notes in this one (even though I don't normally write in books--a holdover from my grade school days when that was Vandalism). ASL vocabulary changes remarkably over time and distance--many of the signs shown in the book (which is a pretty decent book; don't get me wrong) are done differently here-and-now, and I jotted down notes about the differences next to the signs. I'm getting a better handle on ASL syntax, though I'm still not very good. I need more practice receiving!

I have one half the bottom of the canoe completely planked. Tomorrow I will cut the centerline. If cutting the knuckle was anything to go by, it may take more than one day, particularly as my husband and I are going to a deaf magic show (the magician is deaf; I don't know yet if his patter will be in ASL or not) tomorrow evening.

I'm still very pleased with the canoe-lifter. So far the casters appear to be holding out. To get at the middle section I actually stepped up on the bottom bar of the lifter, increasing the weight on it by at least 50% and maybe more like 100%. It took no notice whatsoever. 2X4s may have been overkill.

In other news I'm getting back into exercise, having challenged a friend to walk 1.5 miles per day this week. So far I am on track and then some, having walked 2 miles on 3 different days and 1.5 miles (plus 1/2 hour of dancing in the evening to round it out) the middle day. You know who you are--I hope you're keeping up!

Comments

[gfish.livejournal.com]

Wow, magician patter in ASL would be hard. The whole point is to distract people from what you're doing with your hand(s)!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

The magician (and his lovely assistant) was really good. He had one whole "escape artist" sequence where he had two volunteers from the audience tie his hands. He then had this great schtick where he had his hands tied, and a silk kerchief over them, and was trying to tell his volunteers what to do. Naturally they couldn't understand, so he kept taking his hands out from under the kerchief "for just a second" to tell them where to stand, or how to gesture, and so on. Then he'd slip his hand back under the kerchief, and "struggle with his bonds" until the kerchief fell of his hands and we could see that they were tied. It was very clever, and quite funny.

[pondside.livejournal.com]

You are inspiring. You're always inspiring but sometimes more than others.

Keep enjoying life. You inspire me to challenge myself to try something new more often.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

(grin) Thanks! If you get a chance to learn ASL, I've been finding it a lot of fun. I was surprised to see the number of people at the magic show, and it was a very different experience to be in the middle of a crowd chatting in sign language.