lolypup.com

I know I have not posted much but the last month was hectic to say the least. I was finishing up my last course for the summer, which I received an “A” in as well as making preparations for my move back to Texas as well as job searching.

A dear friend of mine (Sandra) flew to DC to stay a week and then help me drive back to Dallas, I was a horrible host as I had so much on my mind and plus school, but I hope she did at least get a relaxing break from her hectic life in Dallas.

Saturday morning on August 9th at exactly 12:00 P.M. I said good-bye to DC. My friend Kelly had came over to help me clean that morning so I would get my deposit back and she wanted a picture of us. Considering how dirty we both were feeling, im surprised the picture came out as well as it did.

So as of now I am back in Dallas, Texas, safe and doing well. Another update will come soon!

Most people know I dont watch much TV, and while I have caught the occasional episode of Seinfield over the years, I never had the pleasure of catching the “Puffy Shirt” episode. A few years ago I remember reading about it when the shirt was donated to the Smithsonian Institute. However even in that article it did not discuss the episode itself in great detail.

Last night while couch surfing I happened to catch this episode and loved it. Have you ever wondered what its like to be deaf? Have you ever thought what life must be like never having clear communication, with your friends, family and strangers alike. Its frustrating on so many levels.

The premise of this episode is that Seinfield goes to dinner with some friends, Kramer brings his date a “low talker” and while most people would find it hilariously funny it hit a chord with me. This is the number one reason why I don’t socialize as much with hearing people as I would like to. Offers for dinner, lunches, small get together’s and other functions become a parody of embarrassing miscommunication.

It seems that Seinfield unable to hear the “low talker,” just nods his head and smiles and tries to be polite never knowing he nods his way into agreeing to wear the puffy shirt live on national television.

So the assumption would be, just ask them to speak up or repeat themselves. I have, I do but you can only ask someone to repeat themselves so many times before they dismiss you with, “Oh nothing, its not important,” or they sigh in frustration. A few years ago I attended a birthday party for a good friend of mine, about 30 people at the party all hearing with the exception of me. The host as well as the birthday boy are well aware of my deafness, so when I asked the host if he minded turning his stereo down (Which was blaring in the background while everyone was trying to talk), he acted as if I insulted him and asked “Why?” I reminded him I was deaf and he seemed put out, needless to say we are not as close friends anymore as we could be.

Anyways, I finally had the chance to watch the Puffy Shirt episode it was a classic Seinfiled moment full of laughs but for me it was also just a bit sad.

“We are the national military, You are free.”

What more needs to be said, the rescue of 3 American POW’s and Betancourt along with 11 other hostages was a remarkable accomplishment for the Columbian Government.

Today I attended the DC Caribbean Carnival and I had an awesome time. I managed to take over 450 photo’s before I noticed rain drops falling. This was a wonderful production, I have not enjoyed such an event in a long time. I have been lucky as I have attended Pride Parades across the country from Atlanta, Georgia the Gay Capital of the South to New York City, two of the largest events in the country. I have celebrated Mardi Gras down in New Orleans on Bourbon St. with more than half a million people as well as New Years Eve. I recently had the pleasure of attending EuroPride in Madrid, Spain where I have never witnessed such a mass celebration by an entire city for a single event. Having experienced some of the largest festivals the world has to offer, I was impressed with todays event like no other.

When I was a kid, the highlights of my summer was spending them with my family in a small East Texas town called Grand Saline. Every Friday night we would walk down to the local Rodeo Grounds and I would stand in awe as the Parade of Flags was marched into the arena. Ive always loved parades the pageantry, the excitement and the crowds.

I was extremely impressed with the DC Caribbean Carnival, it was truly a community and family event the city can be proud of.

I have been wanting to go camping in Pennsylvania for the last few years but just never having the chance to do it. Finally yesterday talking to a friend, I made the decision to just “do it!” So I made reservations for July 10 - 13th. I have not been camping in more than 10 years so this should be an experience. I will have to go to Campus Activities at Gallaudet and rent the camping equipment since I dont own any and this is cheaper than buying.

The best part is that its a private campsite with a pool and I want to go swimming so bad and we dont have many pools here in DC. Everyone else around me is screaming to head to the beaches and while I enjoy going to the beaches, swimming in the ocean is not my idea of fun and relaxation. I like my water clean and free of salt and animals!

Im not able to take a real vacation this summer so will try and squeeze in a few days here and there away from work, school and the city.

After having lived here in DC for the last seven years, my time is finally coming to an end. I woke up the other day realizing that I had just about two months left before I pack up Charlie and head back to Texas. That reminds me, yesterday while walking to campus a name finally came to me for my new car and so I decided to name him “Charlie.” There is a long story behind the name and I will have to post another time on that.

This week I started the first of my two summer courses that I need to take to complete requirements for graduation. The current course is Educational Research and Foundation and sadly its a retake because obviously I didn’t pass it the first time and that frustrates me. However taking it now will allow me to focus all of my attention on this one class.

This Saturday, I will take the second part of my two part PRAXIS II exam needed for my teaching license for the District of Columbia. I need that license before I can start applying for jobs in Texas. This entire moving ordeal and finishing up school, applying for my teaching license as well as job and apartment searching has weighed heavily on my mind and I am trying to just take it one day at a time.

Its amazing to me that I am heading back home. I love DC and all of the friends I have made over the years but it has never been “home” to me and I am excited to be returning to Texas.

So over the next two months, I will be preparing for my leave, saying my good-byes and remembering all the good times. I will miss Gallaudet but as an alumni my heart will never be far away nor will my continued involvement in the deaf community.

Im not sure how I feel about the checkpoints that have sprouted up in my neighborhood. Yes, thats correct, I am a white man living in the North East neighborhood of Trinidad, in Washington, DC. The neighborhood has long had a reputation for crime.

As a student of Gallaudet, we are constantly warned to be weary of the neighborhood, to walk in pairs or groups and never alone. Avoid the area at night and be extra vigilant when out and about. When I moved into the area a little over seven months ago, my primary concern was not the safety of the community but the affordability as well as location to campus.

I grew up in neighborhoods with worst reputations than Trinidad, so for me it wasn’t so much an issue of safety as one of convenience, now with a military style roadblock and check point set up right on the corner of my quiet residential street (one of many fencing in the entire Trinidad area), the convenience has been taken from me. Perhaps my neighborhood isn’t as quiet as I once thought, but being deaf, who knew!

While I agree that the crime ridden neighborhood needs some type of help to curb the problems, I am not sure a military lock down of the neighborhood at random for 5 consecutive days is going to resolve the issue.

Poverty is the cause of the crime we see here in Trinidad, until America can address the issue of poverty and especially racism that breeds such poverty, no amount of military lock down will resolve these issues.

My heart goes out to my neighbors who have lost their lives this year. No! Not war torn Baghdad, not even in the malnourished Horn of Africa, or the flooded cities of China but right here in America, but not just any city in America, my neighbors right here in Washington, DC the capital of these United States.

I was wondering when you were going to quit the race. I like many felt you were dragging this out for no clear purpose other than your own. Today’s speech was uplifting and courageous.

Now we can move forward and perhaps make real changes, imagine a Black President, in our lifetime.

Obama ‘08

After months of mental debating and weeks of actual researching, I finally decided to purchase a car. There was so many reasons for this but the bottom line is the fact that my time here in DC is coming to an end and I am in the process of preparing for my move back to Texas. Not having a car while living in DC was never an issue but living in Texas without a car is not as easy option.

So in my search, I wanted something that essentially screamed “Bobby,” but at the same time the car had to be from an American Automaker and reasonably decent on gas with plenty of cargo room and something I could afford.

My friend Kelly went with me to the dealer today, we took the Metro then the Bus out to Maryland, needless to say we got lost, ended up walking on the shoulder of the highway trying to avoid getting hit. We finally found the dealer and 4 hours later, I was a new car owner.

It was not as bad as I thought it would be although I was extremely stressed the whole time. This was the first time I have ever purchased a new car right off the showroom floor. Well actually they did not have what I wanted so they had to do some searching to locate one with everything I requested.

So without further ado, my new Chevrolet HHR 2008 in Sunburst Orange!

It is beyond me that Clinton is still in this race. I understand that the numbers are close but she needs to realize that the support just is not there and if she strongly believes in the Democrat Party taking office, she needs to step out. Her campaign is $20 million in debt and she is prepared to loan her self more. Unlike some multi-millionaire presidential contenders of the past who have paid for their campaigns out of pocket, she is LOANING herself the funds. Basically she is saying well I know the money will come in and my supporters will come through and when they do, I will just take the money owed me off the top and use the rest to continue running (if there’s any left).

With the recent win she is now claiming she has the vote of the poor, uneducated white folks, yes you know those hillbillies out in W. Virginia and Kentucky and elsewhere. I dont know about you but having the support of uneducated folks dont say alot. Actually it does say ALOT but I dont think I would be going around sharing that story. So what we have here is another term for the “average American,” well the sad news folks is that the “average American,” does not vote. Approximately only 70% of eligible voters in the United States are registered to do so, that means out of everyone in this country who is old enough to do so, only 7 out of every 10 people actually register.

So now we have 7 out of 10 people who are registered to vote, of those 7, guess how many actually show up to vote, the average is 50%, so here we have 3.5 actually voting and since im a nice guy and don’t like cutting people in half, I will round it up to 4 Americans actually hitting the polls out of 10. So of those 4 people, I wonder just how uneducated they really are because if they make the effort to vote then regardless of college degree they are way ahead of the rest of the country.

I have voted Republican ever since I was old enough to vote, this will be the first time I actually vote Democrat and I feel strongly that I finally have a reason to do so.

In other political news, California is now only the 2nd state in the United States that will allow gay marriages, yesterday California’s Supreme Court made a historical decision when they struck down the states ban on same-sex marriages. Congratulations California, now let the other 48 states follow…