Allison Unfiltered

Finding art in the commun(ic)al and mundane.
Allison Unfiltered At a dinner party attended by artists up the wazoo last week, I heard for the first time about Joseph Grigely, an internationally-known deaf artist who has created works out of the conversations he's had on cocktail napkins and the like (interview with Grigely here, examples of his work here)....
Thu, Jan 26 2012

What it isn't...
Allison Unfiltered I first met Louise Stern when I was a freshman at the student newspaper. She was the features editor, responsible for being in tune with the scenesters in and outside of Gallaudet. I was a seventeen-year-old dork suffering from serious culture shock. I wore baggy all-purpose T-shirts and jeans because...
Sat, Dec 10 2011

Unleash the way you think about communicating
Allison Unfiltered Saw this ad for the Samsung SII on a friend's Facebook today and I immediately thought of all the research us deafies have been doing on ASL and of Alan Hurwitz's quote in the WaPo story on Gallaudet that called ASL a "value-add." Maybe I'm crazy, but after googling finger...
Tue, Dec 06 2011

Representation of Disability in Hollywood: "Code of the...
Allison Unfiltered I attended a workshop by Kenny Fries this week, "Extraordinary Bodies." It was intended to give attendees an overview of disability representation and get them thinking about writing characters that may fall under the category of disability, whatever that means to you. Kenny showed this extra-long subtitled trailer for "Code...
Wed, Jun 29 2011

An unforeseen consequence of having more than one deaf...
Allison Unfiltered ... is suddenly having people I've seen for the last two years call me by someone else's name. I've said this enough times that I'm seriously considering getting it on a T-shirt: "No, I'm the other one."
Wed, Jun 29 2011

Is the Good Deaf Writer a myth?
Allison Unfiltered In the June 2011 issue of Vanity Fair, there is an essay, "Unspoken Truths," not advertised on the cover, written by Christopher Hitchens. I read it with interest, not just because I know a friend currently reading his memoir, Hitch-22, but also because that friend described the book as essentially...
Sun, Jun 12 2011
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Last Call: Leave a comment, win a book!
Allison Unfiltered I'll be choosing the two winners after midnight tonight. C'mon. You know you want to win. Can't promise you Tiger Blood, but Oatmeal never fails to amuse me. Remember, I'm giving two copies away. One to the elf that makes me the most giddy, and one to someone who gets...
Sun, Mar 27 2011

Kidlogic dictates a playlist...
Allison Unfiltered According to L'il Red, number four -- and ONLY number four -- on any given CD in my car is the best. We are only allowed to listen to number four on loop, which means I'm constantly shuffling through my CDs after I. Just. Can't. Listen. To. This. One. Anymore....
Sat, Mar 26 2011

Link: Raising a bilingual non-serial killer
Allison Unfiltered Well, I happen to think the best line from this post by familydocwonk over at Rice Daddies (a blog by a handful of Asian fathers) is this: Your parents faked their way through it. You fake your way through it. And you just hope you didn’t raise a serial killer....
Thu, Mar 24 2011

Seriously. Cannot. Stop. Watching.
Allison Unfiltered (Captioned if you like seeing the English too.)
Wed, Mar 23 2011

Calling us deafies on being politically incorrect...
Allison Unfiltered Jess tweeted this video today, and I'm still giggling after seeing it three times.
Tue, Mar 22 2011

How Cochlear Implants REALLY should be marketed.
Allison Unfiltered "Want to hear the cardboard box around your body ruffling in the cold breeze after you spend your life's savings on the three batteries a day it takes to power your hearing? CALL US NOW!" "Slurp-swuuuurp pfutt splat pfutt. That's what sex sounds like. Fingernails flicking against each other: FLUCK...
Tue, Mar 22 2011

Three reasons signed songs fail
Allison Unfiltered I've posted this video on my facebook and twitter accounts, but it deserves a second, third, and fourth view. Once upon a time I was a "soloist" in my school's "Sign Language Chorus," which is funny for me to think about, because I was this kid who couldn't sign for...
Wed, Mar 16 2011

A teacher on facebook? GASP.
Allison Unfiltered In response to my Kid on facebook Gets Busted post, internet elf Alicia Lane commented: Okay, 1) what is the TEACHER doing on Facebook during her class, and 2) what's with all the grammatical errors in her comment (good thing she's a math teacher, I guess?) and 3) the reference...
Tue, Mar 15 2011

Hum(ble)... borg
Allison Unfiltered So I spent last weekend officiating a slew of matches for the Academic Bowl at Gally, which was not only a trip down memory lane, potholes and all, but also a marathon event that humbled me because it reminded me how old I was. Sixteen years ago I competed on...
Thu, Mar 10 2011