Talking cat

My cat doesn't speak, she uses sign language:

In this case she was saying "Pappy, what is that dog doing in my bed?"

Which reminds me - I went to YouTube and looked for how to sign "I can't hear you" just because I have to start somewhere. I point to myself, then to my ears then to whomever is trying to speak to me, but people mistake my waving and gesturing as gang signs or rudeness. C'est la vie, right?

Thank goodness I can still hear this!

One for each night, they shed a sweet light

Kids kids kids

Kid Astonished by Seeing His First Train

Shopping Cart Kid

Deaf girl meeting Tinkerbell

Hearing Hands

automatic

I was looking for a way to say "automated by machine." The word for machine is the interlocking gear thing. And using the gear thing implies automation. I can say the same thing by snapping my fingers. Snapping fingers can be a lot of things, I use it for "go" for "fast" for anything snappy, like "automatic." But this is what the dictionaries offer for "automatic" and I do see them all. You just have to pick one depending on what your atomization looks like, I suppose. These are all American.

Most other countries offer their version for this word here , the word must be entered for the flags to appear. Variations show something mechanically automated. 

I'm seeing 75% of them reference two handed meshed gears, also  pistons, pulling a cord, Japan uses our word for "hurry," a stamp puncher, whirling gear instead of meshed gears, back and forth thumbs like locomotion bar that connects wheels, and our word for "hard." 

Where does this leave us? Do whatever you want.

Wizard of Oz by Eyes Alive! Florida School for Deaf and Blind

37 minute play by children in sign.



Honestly, I do not know what is going on here. Some of the children, a few of them sign as if they do not understand what they are saying.  I suspect not all of them are deaf. I could be wrong about that but some children sign as deaf and others do not.A few words stick out specifically, for example:

One boy says the word "help" as if he does not know how or why the sign means help because nothing is being helped, the movement is present but backwards where the helping hand is pounded instead of helping lift the opposing fist-hand. Whereas the other children say the same word "help" as if they do understand the how and why of it.

The trees are not so clear, nor the flying monkeys.

All the children say the word "witch" as if they do not know the hook relates to the nose. I think I saw one or two point to the nose first but not so clearly, then "hook" but the word is really a double hook; hook nose + hook = witch, most of the children are doing hook=witch. None of them were clear about an ugly witchy hooked nose. Much of their signing is not so clear and not so emphatic or dramatic.

Except for the witch. She comes across loud and clear, there is no mistaking her meaning. She is beautifully clear and cogent throughout.

Dorthy: You sign very well. How can you sign without a brain?

Scarecrow: Yeah, strange, huh.

That cracks me up. The little lion falling down at the slightest provocation, wiping his eyes with his tail as in the movie. The kids are a delight to watch.

That reminds me of being a kid and not understanding what the big deal is about adults falling down. I did that every day. A couple times a day. Adults make it sound like some kind of gigantic emergency requiring immediate medical attention and further medical tests to determine what went wrong. But the kid drops to the ground on a dime. He's hilarious he never misses his cue to drop like a brick and he cracks me up each time.

They all spell "wizard" throughout. There are signs for the English word "wizard," one refers to conical hat, others refer to "magic+personification" another, "beard+magic+personification" otherwise "expert as math-wiz" or simply "brilliant"

They compressed the story excellently. They rewrote the witch's death scene by skipping the castle and guards altogether, it is the monkeys that rejoice.