Sometimes you don't know what you think you know...

I was rereading a magazine this Christmas night, reading an article about People with HIV who are positive role models....and this quote stuck out:

“Some of my careless and unfortunate choices have created a label for me in which people continue to perceive me…This perception, however is far from the man I have become today”, from ‘Positive Role Models’ in the Instinct, Volume 13, Issue 7.  

This quote is so powerful and meaningful to me…think about it…and remember it before applying stereotypes to folks. 

We've all made decisions or done things in our lives, which have not been right...and sometimes we knew it at the time...and sometimes we didn't, for a myriad of reasons...but regardless...it's who we have become that is important....not past deeds or or perceived labels.  We all have them...labels that is...and we should discard them...and live as and who we are...now.  Today.

Merry Christmas!

Metro Song

Communication....period.

So, as most of you know, I'm an interpreter between people who can hear and people who are either deaf or hard of hearing. Please notice that I didn't say I'm an ASL Interpreter or an English Transliterator or an Oral Transliterator or an Interpreter for the D/deaf.  I'm an interpreter between People who can hear and People who are either deaf or hard of hearing.  The other terms noted above are ways of painting folks into boxes, or adding more labels to separate us as a Human Race and or to give us more reasons to bicker, discriminate against one another or judge.  I'm a pretty good ASL interpreter, a rockstar signed English transliterator and a pretty good oral transliterator....my point being, I've made it my business to make communication my business....not just one mode or another, but all that I can possibly accommodate.  It's about communication...period, not the how.  I'm not speaking ill of any mode or language...just trying to promote communication and understanding.

I have family members that sign, some that don't, despite being part of a large Deaf family, some that read lips, some that use signed english, some that make up their own sign language.  I'm really fortunate to have been exposed to all that I have...it's helped to shape my philosophy and my practice.  It's also helped me to step back and adopt a Person First approach to everything I do....but that's for another blog.  :)

Thoughts?

Accepting the things I cannot change....

You know, my family tradition is very strongly rooted in the wisdom of the Serenity Prayer...but you know, DAMN it's hard to follow sometimes!  There are lots of things that I can't change...but there are lots of things that I can.  On particularly tough days, when it seems shit is just determined to happen...it helps me to remember that all of the non important things will pass away, pass from concern.

Today, I posted to Facebook (y'all KNOW I love me some FB) that I was "letting go of unimportant things.."  I hope that I'm able to fill some "space" with more important things....better connections with family and friends, service/volunteer work in realms other than mentoring in the interpreting field, even though I do LOVE mentoring interpreters...who'd have thought..., and a more healthy Jay, physically and mentally.  Those are things I think we can all improve on, but have been on my mind for a bit.

I'd love some feedback!  Night, y'all!  I love y'all!

Ok, I'm back

Well, for those of you that know me in real life, you know that the last 2 months has been crazy.  Here are the Highlights:

May 28-31 - Visiting friends in Dallas
June 12 - Deaf and Hard of Hearing Awareness Day at Kings Dominion in Richmond
June 12-13 - Capital Pride in DC (I played AND worked Pride this year)
June 18-20 - VRID Conference in Charlottesville - I'm on the board, and I co-presented an awesome workshop!
June 26 - Took the Virginia Quality Assurance Screening performance evaluation in Richmond
July 2-5 - Celebrated Independence Day with friends from in and out of town
July 9-11 - spent the weekend with Friends that I haven't seen in SIXTEEN YEARS!  Show'd 'em DC, JAY STYLE!

And then have had friends in town staying with us every weekend, since!

Needless to say, I've been BUSY!

Here's the line up for the next few weeks:

July 29-August 1 - Chattanooga for the RID Region II Conference
August 7-8 - Celebrating my birthday in DC (going to see Avenue Q with a big group of friends and who knows what else!)
August 13-15 - Celebrate my mom's birthday in NC
August 20-22 - Lisa's wedding in Michgan
August 27-28 - Training in NC

I'm tired just typing all of this out...but it gives you an idea of why I've been Blog-Absent!

Beer and a Blog

Ok....so, tonight I thought I had to work...a normal gig that I do every Wednesday night.  It turns out that, indeed, I didn't have to work.  To add insult to injury, if I'd read an email that I received three weeks ago,  more carefully, I wouldn't have hauled my cookies over to another part of town, dressed to work, only to be turned away....without pay.  My fault...I own that, but what strikes me as important about the fact that I messed this up tonight is the importance of the intricacies of communication.  You'd think that, given what I do on a daily basis, I'd pay more attention.  Here's the catch, tho.....the intricacy found itself imbedded in a piece of electronic communication...an email.  How many of us just glance right on past things in emails without really taking the time to understand what they mean?  I get a ton and a half of emails every day...job requests, bill pay reminders, forwards from my Mom (Love You Ma!)...I think I should start paying more attention.  You never know what little gem might be hidden in there....like a night off.  And a night off is like gold...it's extra time with loved ones, it's a chance to be by yourself and just enjoy life.

So...here I sit...at the Champps restaurant near our apartment, watching the Nationals/Pirates game, drinking a beer and blogging.  Nerd...I know.  But hey...whatcha gonna do?  Exactly what this Southern Boy in the City is doing....taking advantage of life on this day, thinking about the things that happened....drinking a beer, watching a ballgame and tell y'all about it all, missing his family, and counting his blessings.

Love y'all!

To Blog or Not to Blog....

Ok....so, for anyone that knows me, you know that I love to talk. Sometimes I feel compelled to tell the world....something. Sometimes that something is somewhat profound....more times, though, it's not. As of late, I haven't felt like I've had a creative outlet...and I need that.

I spend my days speaking and signing the words of others. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my work most of the time...it allows me to go places I would never dream of going and meeting people that blow my mind. But sometimes, I need to talk about what *I* need to talk about. We all do. Again....everybody needs an outlet. So, I guess this is going to be mine....for the time being, anyway.

I don't think I'll have a theme just yet....just observations, thoughts, randomness and all that jazz. Comments are always welcome!

Seeing as I work with people who are Deaf and lots of my friends and family are Deaf, I'm going to make this a vlog as well....Thanks for the suggestion, Josh!