Practically Scottish

oi you...are you still blogging? You're even worse...

2009-06-24T21:43:22.669+01:00

oi you...are you still blogging? You're even worse than me!

I'm watching you, Aiken.

2009-04-06T00:53:00.000+01:00

I'm watching you, Aiken.

It is indeed my picture, it was taken at Balmedie ...

2009-03-16T15:21:00.000Z

It is indeed my picture, it was taken at Balmedie just about Aberdeen. I didn't really want it quite as big as it is but my html skillz are somewhat lacking and I couldn't figure out how to make it any smaller. Ach well.

Sorry about the Post your Comment link, is it fixed? I had a quick fiddle with the colours but I don#t know if I've made it better, I think I'm having a blonde day.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say, that's a nice picture at...

2009-03-16T14:19:00.000Z

Oh yeah, I forgot to say, that's a nice picture at the top of the page. Is it yours?

But are these Hater turning our kids gay? And will...

2009-03-16T09:56:00.000Z

But are these Hater turning our kids gay? And will they affect property prices?

(I realise now why I haven't been able to post here lately... the Post your comment link seems to have been written in that Disaster Area colour scheme, black on black.)

You always have intriguing blogs. Although I usua...

2009-02-19T17:50:00.000Z

You always have intriguing blogs. Although I usually do well about keeping up with them, I don't comment much because I'm fearful of coming off like an ignorant oaf, but this was a fantastic and insightful post.

What do you think of your best friend?Storm in a t...

2009-02-18T21:52:00.000Z

What do you think of your best friend?
Storm in a teacup

Depending who that is, that might be quite accurate.

Oh pish, I must have skipped an answer when I was ...

2009-02-09T16:16:00.000Z

Oh pish, I must have skipped an answer when I was doing it unless we both managed to be playing 'Sing For Submarine' at the exact same time. Which would be a coincidence too far....

If you could go back in time, what would you chang...

2009-02-09T09:36:00.000Z

If you could go back in time, what would you change? Good God

and

If you could go back in time, what would you change? You Don't Know Jesus

LOLing at the religious content of both these answers.

As Larry Lessig says, what will you say to your gr...

2009-02-01T22:26:00.000Z

As Larry Lessig says, what will you say to your grandchildren when they ask why millions were suffering in Africa for the sake of patents on HIV drugs?

The problem with the Level 2 course is there is al...

2009-02-01T13:16:00.000Z

The problem with the Level 2 course is there is always going to be those that are there because work has sent them etc. The biggest issue is not that they are there but rather that the level of teaching is aimed at the lowest common denominator rather than trying to weed out the weaker ones. Which is, you could argue, the entire problem with paying for any form of education, you always feel entitled to some result regardless of whether or not you deserve it academically.

Blah blah blah, cynical Emily. I wouldn't do Level 2 again for the above reason but I it seems a shame to throw it in completely. There must be an answer...... We should make some sort of really high speed video chat room for people who want to maintain their skillz. We'd make a FORTUNE*.

*Probably not.

i know what you're getting at about the difference...

2009-01-29T18:22:00.000Z

i know what you're getting at about the differences between BSL and english. or at least, I can remember feelings that things seemed very black and white to BSL users sometimes. Like the way, when we were discussing families, they insisted that blood ties were more important that marital etc (so no talk of sister in law, instead brother's wife etc).

I wish I could think of a similar example from the other languages I have studied. I don't think there'd be one from french (or if it's there it's far more subtle) but I can imagine on in German, which, unlike french, has several structural differences to english. Like using different forms of 'the' to indicate subject and object, rather than using sentence order.

You've got me a-thinkin!

Also...lucky you. In eight months, despite having a house mate who signs as well as I do/did, I have functionally lost ALL of my frickin BSL skills. I am constantly torn between bucking up my act and maybe even paying to do level two again (but how would I guarantee not to get a class of newbs again?) and throwing the towel in altogether.

James Whyte = culturally straight homosexual

2008-12-23T01:49:00.000Z

James Whyte = culturally straight homosexual

What about bisexuality? I have problems with the O...

2008-12-20T01:49:00.000Z

What about bisexuality? I have problems with the ONE OR THE OTHERness of it all.

We've talked about this a lot so I don't want to be a bore, but it interests me and I'm a wee bittie drunk. Like what Helen said, people tend to assume I'm straight and expect me to have a big COMING OUT story, but I don't remember ever being 'in' even when I had only had relationships with men! And not in a oh-woe-is-me-I-was-the-perennial-outcast way. Blah.

I wonder if kids of gay parents could be described as Gay kids whatever their ultimate sexuality. I mean, society's hetronormative, and it's not like gay people have an independent language or are immediately recognisable as such. I don't know. Interesting.

Oh how happy I am that I felt the need to put my tuppence worth in. Definitely worth it.

If in doubt, take a wander in the rain. It focuses...

2008-12-19T13:42:00.000Z

If in doubt, take a wander in the rain. It focuses the mind. Clearly you're not getting enough driving rain where you are, so I did the decent thing and went out for a walk in our quality Scottish rain here. And this is what I came up with.

Consider the combination of hearing child of deaf parents --- the child is culturally deaf, whether or not they are actually deaf. On the other hand, a deaf child of hearing family is culturally hearing, without further changes in environment.

So to continue the analogy to sexuality: a culturally gay person is one who grew up in a gay family, regardless of their own sexuality. Obviously this puts the actual number of Gay children at a tiny fraction, since gay families are a minority in themselves.

The one interesting offshoot of this setup is that the vast majority of gay children (for want of a better term) are culturally straight, in the same way that deaf children from hearing families are culturally hearing. The Deafness/Gayness must be learned through meeting that culture.

So, to end in the most relevant place possible:

There's a time and a place for everything, and it's called college. -- Chef, South Park

hmm. I like it. Surely culturally heterosexual gay...

2008-12-19T11:37:00.000Z

hmm. I like it. Surely culturally heterosexual gay people are those firmly in the closet, denying anything to the public but feeling dem feelings all the same.

The flip side is rather harder. I have at least one friend whom *everyone* at first assums is gay, from his behaviour, but who is in fact straight. But that ain't quite the same as he wouldn't identify as culturaly Gay! rather closer to the old fashioned meanings of gay, in fact- he's a dandy and an artist, I suppose!

maybe you get culturally homosexual frustrated artists, who are Gay Gay Gay cos that's the cool thing to do, but just don't like to admit to their pals that actually they bat for yon other team.

Closer, but still not quite right as there is a degree of subterfuge implicit in my line of thinking which doesn't really feature in d/Deaf.

True. The goodness of your blogging has been legen...

2008-12-19T10:05:00.000Z

True. The goodness of your blogging has been legendarily ungood.

I'm pretty sure you were going to be a good little...

2008-12-17T21:59:00.000Z

I'm pretty sure you were going to be a good little blogger whilst away... :p

I also go through these periods. I don't write, I...

2008-12-01T17:00:00.000Z

I also go through these periods. I don't write, I don't even think about blogging.

Okay, so the not writing part is not out-of-character for me, but I actually think about blogging all the time. I usually hear some tidbit of life and think about blogging every day. Not lately! Schoolwork has been kicking my ass.

I go through phases of not being bothered or not b...

2008-11-28T14:56:00.000Z

I go through phases of not being bothered or not being sure what to write. But that doesn't mean I can't pester other people to keep me entertained.

It's not easy being popular...Lovely to hear from ...

2008-11-26T22:26:00.000Z

It's not easy being popular...

Lovely to hear from you again :)

Git:P

2008-11-11T11:21:00.000Z

Git

:P

Hope's great, I like it.Let's have more of it :)

2008-11-11T11:20:00.000Z

Hope's great, I like it.

Let's have more of it :)

I've been thinking about this for a while and I'm ...

2008-11-09T17:20:00.000Z

I've been thinking about this for a while and I'm going to side with Molly - with a caveat. I appreciate what Francis is saying, we haven't heard a great deal of concrete ideas so far (mind you that may be skewed international media coverage)and it is important that people realise Obama isn't the messiah but a politician.

That said, I think you underestimate what the concept of hope can do. From an international perspective, the image of America has already started to change and the importance of that cannot be understated. If Obama can simply make people believe that things will get better and give them the motivation to try and make it better then that in itself is a huge achievement.

Hope is not an empty soundbite for Americans like ...

2008-11-09T16:53:00.000Z

Hope is not an empty soundbite for Americans like me who have spent our entire voting lives in a country run by George Bush. At the very least, I now have hope that we will not bomb Iran, hope that we might actually talk to other countries in the world, and hope that people in this country may be able to go to the doctor when they are sick, even if they are poor. Even if Obama ends up living only up to half our our expectations that's still 1000 times better than the last 8 years, or the way the next four would have been had he not won.
McCain offered exactly the same crap we've had for the last 8 years. Don't diminish hope. This is the first time we've had any for a very long time. To quote Margaret Mead, "never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."