Stonetell, the song, Impossible, interpreted by Diego Anthony Sanchez

This was a delightful surprise.

A photo on Ace is a message in typewriter font with some letters fainter than others like mechanical keystrokes. The message reads "my illusion, my mistake."

That sounds like a relationship thing. Maybe I lived the sentiment.

I bet it's a song. Before looking, how would I sign that? What does that even look like? No, no, no, emphatic x. How do you say impossible? Online dictionaries show a Y hand configuration slapped on the opposite palm, twice, like bam, bam. The more impossible, the harder the strike, for total emphasis, one giant whack. Results offered a bunch of videos hosted on YouTube. I didn't even have to go there and search. I thought the videos would demonstrate the word "impossible" but they turned out to be about the song.

I can see why the song is popular. You know, those Korean kids who do the K-Pop dances could nail this. Because the lyrics aren't flowing, they're chopping, a bit staccato. You could make very clear distinct signs in staccato, and match the visual version to the English word.  This song offers the possibility of nailing every single word right on the vocalization, so you see it exactly, it offers great expression. I pretended to do the song as the various videos played and my version is different from the others. I do it like the Korean kids dance. Programmed and militaristically. In my mind. But then, I dislike the sound of my own voice when I hear it. It's nothing like it sounds on the inside. Maybe that's true in sign too. Maybe I would dislike it if I see it.

My version is more emphatic, more a transliteration. What the heck, it's a poem in English. I show the English. For "impossible" Anthony says, "join" + "finish" +"impossible," in each instance he does that redundancy for emphasis, others interpreters don't even smack the palm, they just sort of threaten the palm. The K-Pop kids have affected me in a big way. Just watching them has challenged me to be more precise in timing to match action and rests and emphasis, like they do, and when they repeat a chorus, repeat the phrase the same way without adding any variety when they don't.

I can't believe I'm still learning. It's daunting. Discouraging. Just now on t.v. a woman was interviewing an Egyptologist professor at Yale.  An affable guy. "So, how long does someone have to study this language before you become an expert?" He answered, "for the rest of your life until you die." Then he explained why it's impossible to stop learning more of the language.

I'm sure you can see things in this video if you choose to look. "Remember" is like a thumbprint from your mind onto the back of your other thumb. Another video has "remember" like a thumbprint pressed and twisted into the forehead. I never saw that before but it's better than the textbook version and now I use that similar signal instead, it keeps the impression in the head where it belongs. It's borderline comical. "In the past, ago, before" are shown as two open hands rotating at the shoulder, like events casting back over the shoulder. In reverse it's bringing past generations into the present. When these are not signed distinctly such as, "head tap but not all the way to the head, thumbprint on the other thumbnail, but not actually touching, in the past, but not lifted all the way to the shoulder and not actually backwards,  rather rotating like rubbing two cymbals at chest level, all the motions kept in, held closer, and not fully formed, then they're easy to miss. This is the difference between Anthony and K-Pop dancers.

"Love is your arms crossed over your chest like Dracula.  Anthony's love is hard, two fists forming an x.

"Wrong" is a Y formation hitting the bottom of your chin, like an uppercut. Anthony's "wrong" is a Y swinging past his chin with no Y to chin connection. Each line has its examples. Anthony's signing is constrained. It's a very good translation and a very good video. Notice how some of these kids are very good at editing video with well chosen backgrounds, lighting, framing, and good audio.