Archives
7:17:00 PM EDT
Feeling Mischievous
Hearing Tori Amos "Happy Phantom"
The WWW Turns "15"
"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true." Robert Wilensky
I half joked with a few friends I may or may not write something in honor of celebrating 15 years of www... It was something I couldn't stop thinking about - how it related to me. I've always been around computers to one extent or another. Everything I've learned has been pretty much self taught. It wasn't something I couldn't live without and pretty much did for quite a few years. My world to me was broader and far more consuming outside this little box....
My story is a little deeper than the normal I do this and this with my computer and use www for...Doc gave me the newest of the new for my 40th Birthday, flat screen monitor all the bells and whistles to go with it. He even made arrangements to have it hooked up wireless so I could use it however long I wished without worry about phone access (not that I was using the phone at the time - I had been deaf for over a year). Yet...I couldn't tell him I didn't want anything to do with it at that point in my life. Why? I knew he was hoping it would broaden my world , give me another means of communicating. So it sat with my daughter making use of it..I would venture on once in awhile and check it out but for the most part left it sitting there with a blank screen.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King, Jr.
Desperation makes you do things you normally don't do. At this time I had pretty much shut myself up in my home and didn't want to venture outside, I was closing the world off every way I knew how. The thing is, I was trying to knock down the same walls I was building around me. So we're back to the desperate need to communicate and be a part of something beyond my confinement. I had recalled my daughter showing me how to look up things via the World Wide Web and tried looking up anything to do with Native or Cherokee. Seriously at the time it was a royal joke...I already knew what I wanted about my heritage and thought it was amusing to see what someone would of listed online about it. I ended up joining a couple groups on MSN with a great bunch of people who knew exactly who and what I was.
Even then I held back...the Native groups were still a novelty to me but a great jumping off point. I then started to try to find different sites and other people with my condition "Late deafness" (someone who once heard before losing all their hearing)...this frustrated me even more. Most of what I came across would be individuals who are born deaf and never heard...In most cases they are (trying to find a polite interjection here) not exactly welcoming to someone who used to hear. By now you get an idea of where I'm coming from, I'm ready to turn the computer off and give up. I wanted somewhere I still fit in. In my world, I was shunned by those who heard and yet not exactly wanted amongst the deaf either...it was a conundrum to say the least.
The www helped me continue researching groups and I came across AOL journals. After visiting a couple of these journals I began to realize I had a chance to open a door and break out of the box I felt everyone was trying to stuff me into. Online I'm just like you or anyone else, you don't realize until I've told you that I'm even deaf. I think I can speak for quite a few handicapped individuals out there, when I say the computer puts us on the same level playing field as everyone else. Here I still have a voice and I've learned to use it to try to make a difference, not just in helping people understand deafness but speaking out against a few other things I'm passionate about.
With www I can look up songs I used to hear and find the lyrics. To me this is just like hearing the words all over again. I've found what to date is my favorite artist - Henri Peters (All the images in this entry are his) through a search, actually most of the artwork used in my journal came from researching certain images. Most importantly I've found some pretty amazing people and friends online. So yes, today is worth a celebration of sorts. Www connects all of us in one form or another. Most importantly for me it's given me the middle ground I was in desperate search for. From my spirit to yours stay safe and loved Always!
Written by rdautumnsage Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
-
I've always been a late bloomer when it comes to learning new things. Maybe I just wait for all the bugs to be worked out. Whatever the case, it is the great equalizer, we're all here on the same footing, the same levels. Happy "Anniversary' to www.
Smiles, Leigh
http://journals.aol.com/mleighin21st/iwasthinking.../ -
I can't believe it's only been 15 years with www in our lives. I really enjoyed your entry and what a blessing this medium has been in your life. I'm so glad you found AOL journals and that I found yours. You've made such a positive impact in my life. I stand in awe of your honest journey. Thank you for sharing it.
Hugs, Kathy
http://journals.aol.com/kaydeejay5449/a-little-left-of-cent er-ii/ -
This is a wonderful entry and the computer is a wonderful piece of technology because through it I have met wonderful people like you.
Blessings!~
Susan
http://journals.aol.com/Rjet33/CountryLivingSouthernStyle/
P.S. I have Cherokee heritage too. I hope to get my scanner hooked back up real soon and scan some pics of my Cherokee relatives. :-) -
Thank you for sharing your internet story. I didn't realize it was an anniversery. I will never forget the first time I sat infront of a computer on the WWW. I mean I will NEVER forget it!!! It was Feb 6, 1994! I didn't realize it was a brand new thing at the time. I didn't realize till I read your entry that it is only 15! Wow.
But like you, it has opened such wonderful doors. The thing I love about it, is the same thing you do. It takes away the "predjudice" if you will.
Hugs Rosemary
5/12/08 7:59 AM
The images you choose for your Journal are beautiful and reflect who you are...in more than just your heritage. I'm thrilled you landed in the pool of the WWW and became friends with the hearing and non-hearing world. {{{HUGS}}}
Blessings,
Cindy