Updates and Action Alerts

I guess I really have been neglecting this blog. I'm spending hours on Craigslist trying to find jobs to apply for that I might actually have a shot at. I started on my Nanowrimo project, but it wasn't really going anywhere so I've been focusing on the job hunt, going through the motions with DOR so they'll buy me a new hearing aid and looking for other resources for help finding a job, specifically help for people with a hearing loss.

I can't believe I never wrote about the Walk for Hearing! It was awesome. I met my goal of raising $500! We had a lot of young people show up and a I made a few new friends. The walk itself around the marina was pretty nice, but we didn't have the kind of visibility we would have liked. I mean, sure, it's great if we raised a lot of money for hard of hearing advocacy and support, but the walk was also supposed to be about visibility, especially for us young people. There were a bunch of sorority girls that showed up and I hope that we made an impact on some of them. We sat in a big circle and shared our hearing loss stories. Then we went to BJ's which was fun. It was an exhausting time, and now I've got to figure out something new to volunteer for! I did make some connections at the walk. I talked to someone from GLAD and they told me about the EDD program. It sounds a lot like DOR but better.I would hope they can help me with services faster than DOR, because I'm getting tired of sitting at home with my eyes glazed over Craigslist.

Another update! My friend Rhi, who got the Hear YA Now team together for the walk, has informed me of an important accessibility issue. Apparently the Disney/Pixar movie "Up" has been released to rental stores without captions or English subtitles. She told me that the DVDs bought at the store do have subtitles, though they are not very easy to get to. However, in a "marketing decision" subtitles were left out of rental copies of the DVD under the premise that they are "special features." I happened to see "Up" in theaters with open captions, though there wasn't a lot of options as far as showtimes go. That's always the case with captioned showings in theaters, as if me and my friends have no lives and can just go to the movies any time. Anyway, back to the issue at hand. It's not fair that deaf and hard of hearing people should have to buy the $20 version of the DVD when everyone else can rent it for a couple of bucks. We need to let Disney know that this isn't fair and we're not ok with it. I've been told the number to call and voice your opinion is 1-800-723-4763. Call the number in an outrage and let them know we won't stand for this. Even if you don't make the effort to call, boycott "Up" and don't buy or rent it until it is equally accessible to both the hearing and the deaf/hard of hearing communities.

NaBloPoMo???

Oh my goodness! I just found out about "NaBloPoMo" last night! So not only is November "national novel writing month" but also "national blog posting month" as well. I wonder if I can do both.... Is that an achievable feat?

Ok, I got it. My plan is to write a story from the perspective of a young hard of hearing girl writing in her daily journal. It'll be like Princess Diaries, except it will be a hearing loss journey rather than a royal journey. I'll make a new entry into the "journal" every day, and then I'll post about it here. Ah! I'm so going to do this! I haven't started on the NaNoWriMo project yet but I'm going to..... now!