Saturday, March 24, 2007

Its all about making connections!




Jay Krieger shares a brief moment in time that inspired him. He discusses that in life, its often all about making connections.

34 comments:

Oscar Chacon said...

Wait!
Did we just discover a poet here!
Beautiful story, Jay! *smile*

Barb DiGi said...

I hope that we are making connections from this b/vlogophere by sharing our goals and supporting each other.

That's what we need right now to make the world a better place for deaf children and the future generation to come :-)

Karen Mayes said...

Nice vlog...

Now go riding on your HD :-) It is a beautiful day here in Carmel, with grass all of the sudden very green, tulips blossoming, etc....

IamMine said...

Wait... wait... waiiiiiiiittttt!!!

You passed through Michigan, my homestate?!!

Well, well... funny, I've lived here pretty much all my life and I didn't touch as many places as you have!! ;)

Guess what I'll be passing through Indiana this August...

To see you? No!

Pearl Jam, who else?! Hahaha... sorry. ;) :D

Ahem, back to the connection thingy...I agree with barb that with this new media will give us the power to connect with others and that will make the bridge stronger with more supporters!

but anyway...wonderful "poetry" vlog! :D

I guess you better listen to deaf niches - go ride on your HD and come back with more ASL vlogs!

:D

IamMine said...

Oh, never mind...

I always confuse Indiana with Illinois...

Sigh. I'm surprised I even passed my geographical class in high school...

*hangs head in shame*

But seriously, I’d have invited you to see Pearl Jam at a musical festival in Chicago, IL. There are going to be plenty of loud music for 3 straight days!

:P

Karen Mayes said...

Hey iammine, Chicago is not FAR! A good 2 to 3 hour drive from Indianapolis...

:)

IamMine said...

well, well... let's do it, deaf niches!

come to chicago and we all will boogie our deaf butts!

or should I have said heads?

whatever suits you... :D

I already got 3 days pass to lollapalooza festival - should be fun!!!

Fun connections, eh??

Karen Mayes said...

I just checked the website for Lollapaloza Festival and it will be held on the first weekend of August... hmmmm... are there any activites for children? I know my son will be in heaven with all music, but I am not so sure about my daughter...

IamMine said...

Yes, I think there is!!

Free for children under 10!!

We will leave ours behind... hehe.

Four too many... and too expensive!

But bring yours!!

I had early bird tickets but they will sell to the public on April 3rd.

I have already reserved hotel room because I was told they would be all out FAST!

Hey Jay...you don't mind us hacking this?

Who knows, other deafies would love to go and we'll all hang out together - working on getting interpreters, etc...

Perfect thread name!!! :)

Jay said...

deaf niches,

Hey, you could make a good Harley Girl. You know what it takes to have a good ride. Hey, if you want to cruise through the countryside, gimme a holler, I mean a wave.

I went for a ride already, came back for few things, and to check the weather forcast for the rest of the day/evening, then will be riding out again.

Iammine,

Be my guest.

IamMine said...

Wow, they had a great program from last year... everything!

Kiddies activities and ASL interpreters, even Braille books for the blind!! (Ok, I had to laugh because some deafies were offered that!)

Anyway… they said it would be similar this year as last year:

Access/Special Needs
The Grant Park Undergroun d parking garage entrances located at Michigan at Madison and Michigan at Randolph.

Upon Arrival
Our Access Information Center will be located just inside the festival grounds. Please feel free to visit the center to ask any questions specific to the Access program. We will have available:

- A list of ASL interpreted performances for the day.
- A Braille book and a large print book containing all programming information. These are available for reference.
- A map of the grounds which identifies areas of special interest, specifically:
- A special area near each stage, reserved for people who are in wheelchairs and their companion*.
- Location of accessible portable toilets (iammine: I guess that’s good for drunkies)
- Emergency exits for those in wheelchairs.
*Be aware that due to the size of the crowd, access to these areas may be difficult during peak hours. Unobstructed viewing is not guaranteed.

ASL Interpretion
In 2006, we were pleased to announce the addition of ASL interpreted music performances.

If you would like to request any specific performances to be interpreted, please email Access@lollapalooza.com no later than July 25th (this was 2006, by the way). Please report to the Access Booth once on site to make any interpretation requests or to ask more questions.


Ok, I’m getting too excited here obviously…but dang!!! Yes!!!

I am going to have to contact them to whip those ASL terps on practicing PJ songs!!! And deaf niches, you could request an interpreter for your daughter! :D

Ready to rock and roll?!!!

David said...

I like your comment about connection. Yes all of us are connected but we all forgot all about that.

We know we all come from the same ancestors. Now we are not trained how to connect with people no matter who they are.

Your comment about you walking on the beach and a couple with their baby. I love that comment because it is very natural and the connection itself is positive energy that make everyone feel so good.

So why don't you make a new connection with Canadians as you can go across the border! Smile

David Kerr
Deaf Chipmunk

Karen Mayes said...

And me! I need to talk with my husband...see if he'd not mind going to Chicago, during the sweltering month of August (heat waves are common in Chicago...but I see from the photos the festival is close to the late... hmmmm...)

Will keep you posted for sure!

Jay, sure I will give you a wave. My husband will be JEALOUS... he used to own a few dirt bikes, competed, when he lived in Montana (nope he and Dennis Catron never met, even though they lived an hour or two apart!) I have ridden on several motorcycles, and the last one with Alan Roth (a deaf Jewish guy who is studying to become a rabbi) and I LOOOOVOVVVVEEED it... but I said nope to my husband's request to buy a motorcycle... ha.

Soon... the appeal of riding HD sounds tempting to me... hmmmm...

iammine, I will email you.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jay

You are our very Gandhi of the Deaf community!! Your messages are so powerful and so empowering...

That is what we need to do: work together towards what we want for our deaf children of the future. We are all deaf no matter what. We are just Deaf with our individual preferences and with our own life experiences.

I am smiling... Tourists here get thrilled whenever I offer to take a picture for them. Very precious to see everyone posing and smiling in the picture. It is togetherness and connections.

I look forward to every vlog you do.

Just Deaf

Anonymous said...

Making connections is a good thing!

Thanks for sharing.

~ "Ocean"

Anonymous said...

Your gesture with those people on the beach is what I call a "sweet nothing." Sweet nothings are precious to me and I know they make people smile. Thank you for your sweet nothing today.

Oscar Chacon said...

IamMine,
YOU ARE SO PROLIFIC!

You should be blogging along with rest of us because you would be AWESOME! even if you don't vlog that often, your writings in comments blow me AWAY!

*smile innocently*

IamMine said...

Aw, Oscar... but if I had my own v/blog site, then it wouldn't be as much fun sitting by meself.

I'd rather hijack others!! :D

Coming along, Oscar? ;)

Besides, it's going to take me a while to design my own site...that takes time. :P

Until then, I'll rock everyone's blog/vlog! :D

Oscar Chacon said...

*laugh at IamMine*

My goodness! You are so cute!
Still love your comments anyway *grin widely*

Oscar Chacon said...

I live in Lyons, not far from Chicago.
Whenever you feel like inviting along ugly deaf guy for whatever, email me *smile*.

Joseph Pietro Riolo said...

I like your perspective on connection. The topic of connection is always fascinating to me.

It is interesting to note that the words "communication" and "connection" share the same prefix. The former has the prefix "com-". The latter has the prefix "con-" that is a variant of "com-". Both prefixes mean "with", "together" and "in association with". The word "community" is a good example of how it embodies the concept of connection among people within a community.

You really communicated with the family on the beach merely by making a connection. You made them aware that you existed. You were able to convey your willingness to help them by taking a picture of them. Connection and communication are inseparable. You can't form communication without forming connection. You can't form connection without communication.

Some statisticians said that we are separated from each other by up to six degrees. It is amazing how connection alone can bring people closer than what they think. I do not know you personally. But, it is possible that we are separated by few degrees.

Connection is a very important activity in any language. We are able to connect meaning with a sign (or word). Without the ability to connect, language is reduced to a set of vacuous signals that computers use to communicate with each other without knowing that they mean.

Connection is everywhere!

Joseph Pietro Riolo
josephpietrojeungriolo@gmail.com

Public domain notice: I put all of my expressions in this post in the public domain.

IamMine said...

Hi Joseph - long time no comment!!

:D

When you said statisticians...

Didn't you mean Sadistics??

Forgive me but I start that class next week...

Won't be seeing much of me on DeafRead... *sobs*

Anonymous said...

Spending quality time within yourself while surrounded in the nature is beautiful. Nothing beats that and I encourage anyone to make time to do that. Making connections not only with people but the nature and ourselves! :)

Katherine

Lisa C. said...

Nice vlog about connection. My dad, brother and I trade our HD Tshirts when we travel. My dad is very good in making connections with stranges.
We deaf need to make connections and stay with them.


Deaf Niches, I went to a deaf school with one of Dennis Catron's cousins.

Beaux Arts de Boutjean said...

I am glad that you did. The experience is always richly rewarding everytime I do that for tourists here every year in the summer. I merely make the same gesture you see in Michelangelo's
frescoe. Strangers and I do not know what language we speak or know what our hearing status is. The mere gesture and the mere eye contact and the mere smile between myself and strangers make a wonderful connection. It is invariably a joy doing them a favor. If everybody has senso comune, there would be no war!

Anonymous said...

Jay,

I love the tone of your vlogs. I feel so good after reading you. You inspire us by spreading a little heart-shine and making this world a better place.

From my heart, thank you! :)

~ LaRonda
www.earofmyheart.com

Joseph Pietro Riolo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joseph Pietro Riolo said...

Good morning, IamMine!

Like you, I had to stop my participation in blogs to do my homework for masters course last night. It is so fun and addicting to participate in blogs but the priority must go to homework and masters course. This is one of the reasons for cutting down my participation in blogs.

Oh, I certainly meant statisticians, not sadists, unless you perceive statistics course as a sadistic tool that the sadistic statistics professors sadistically and thirstily execute on their students in ever unbelievably sadistic ways that would sadistically twist neurons in the students’ brain. Smile!

Let’s suppose that you have 100 friends. They form the first circle around you. Consider this as the first degree away from you.

Let’s suppose that each of your 100 friends also has 100 friends. The total is 10,000 friends (100 x 100 = 10,000). These 10,000 friends form the second circle around you just outside of the first circle. Consider this as the second degree away from you.

Let’s also suppose that each of 10,000 friends in the second circle has 100 friends. The total is 1,000,000 friends (10,000 x 100 = 1,000,000). They form the third circle around you just outside of the second circle. This is the third degree away from you.

The process repeats for fourth, fifth and sixth circles. The fourth circle has 100,000,000 friends. The fifth circle has 10,000,000,000 friends. The sixth circle has 1,000,000,000,000 friends or, in other words, 1 trillion friends!

But, there is a problem with the fifth and sixth circles. There are only 6,584,497,457 people on the earth, according to http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html that I checked when I wrote this comment. Where are the other 943,000,000,000 friends? No, imaginary friends do not count.

The problem is that too many friends are counted more than once. For example, some friends in the fourth circle are already included in the second circle. So, the statisticians somehow had to make some guesses on how many unique friends that each friend in each circle would have.

Going through the same process as above, let’s suppose that you have 100 friends and they form the first circle around you. Let’s suppose that each of them has 90 friends and the second circle has 9,000 friends (90 x 100 = 9,500). Let’s suppose that each of them has 70 friends and the third circle has 630,000 friends (70 x 9,500 = 630,000). Each of them has 45 friends and the fourth circle has 28,350,000 friends (45 x 630,000 = 28,350,000). Each of them has 25 friends and the fifth circle has 708,750,000 friends. Finally, each of them has 10 friends and the sixth circle has 7,087,500,000 friends that are enough to cover the world population. This estimate also assumes that the number of circles or degrees is average. Some friends may be more than 6 degrees away from you and some friends may be closer to you.

It is no wonder why statistics can be considered as a sadistic tool by some students. Smile.

This is why connection is a very powerful mechanism because it takes the advantage of the power of multiplication. This is one reason why brain uses the mechanism of connection to recall knowledge from the very vast storehouse very quickly.

Good luck with your next course and we all the readers and viewers appreciate your contributions through blogs and vlogs.

Joseph Pietro Riolo
josephpietrojeungriolo@gmail.com

Public domain notice: I put all of my expressions in this post in the public domain.

[I deleted my previous comment because I misspelled IamMine's name as IamMime in the greeting. Sorry. jpr]

mule4350 said...

Now connection is a lot of way with peole or thngs and try to connection to make future to lead undy about DEAF/HOH and generation would be much better than ever.

Anonymous said...

Jay...well said and powerful message!!

Lammine, I live in Chicago on the lakefront...only 5 mins from the Grant Park/downtown!

lollapalooza festival is really champpps! and too many people!

IamMine said...

JFLMad!!!!!

Can you sign... Deaf Party!!???

Jay could charge people to go for a ride on his bike!! *evil cackling*

Donations earned could go to a cause/charity we decide... like Bi/Bi NOW????

We PJ fans are well-known for holding pre/post parties to earn donations for something we support - usually CCFA (Chron's Disease since the lead guitar has it). But there are others we support as well.

Why not deaf organizations?? Or a Deaf Cause??

It may not be much but perhaps it could cause a domino effect!! :D :D

Hope to bump into you there, JFLMad!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi, Jay and others.

I live just outside of Chicago as well. I can lend a helping hand if you need for this event in August.

By the way, excellent vlog, Jay. Did E.T. touch you recently while you walked outside that caused you to do vlog spree today? Smile!

grantlairdjr said...

Good stuff!

Perhaps I should try and get out all by myself for few days like you did someday.

Thanks for sharing it with us as usual :)

gwlj

IamMine said...

Wacky Taz - awesome!!

We need to organize this if anyone's in it for sure!!

Who wants to be in charge?

A place?

A booth, maybe? (Not sure if this is possible, but could find out more)

What cause do we want to invest in?

Jay... want to eerrmm...advertise this "event"??? *grin*

Yes, I'm making you go... hahaha.

I think your daughters would enjoy themselves!

Ok, ok, ok don't come...that's fine. I mean, I totally understand... we ain't cool enough. No problemo. :P

I'm hoping someone could maybe offer a place to crash or work with a hotel for a group rate discount.

*rubbing hands* EXCELLENT!!

Calling all deaf chicagoians and nearby.....to come!!