Live Lingthusiasm on Backchanneling

The sparkling minds behind Lingthusiasm are doing a virtual live show on April 24, 2021. You get access by being a patron of Lingthusiasm at any level. It’s a monthly Patreon charge, so you can spend as little as $3 for one month. Their topic is backchanneling. The live show gives listeners the chance to talk back to them and each other while they get enthusiastic about how people show that they’re paying attention, such as “uh huh” and nods and 👍 and ASL's Oh I See.

It’s part of LingFest, a fringe-festival-like program of independently organized online linguistics events for the week of April 24 to May 2. See the LingFest website for details on other events.

https://lingcomm.org/lingfest/

Updating from the Void while Squinting

I've often used eyeglasses to explain how society constructs the lines between "disabled" and "nondisabled." There's almost zero stigma for people who need glasses (in the developed world) -- some people wear them just because they look nice, with plain lenses. On the other hand, using mobility support devices is such a spoiled identity that "she's using that as a crutch" conveys scorn and disdain.

My glasses (in icon) -- which were the best looking and most comfortable I've worn in sixty-one years -- broke 17 days ago. Of course they're no longer made, and my eyeglasses guru reached out to all her distributors and nobody had a pair just laying around.

This really bummed me out: I felt almost as powerless as when my wheelchair breaks. The good news is I have a functional backup pair, so it's not as disabling.

Thanks equally to gentle nudges and desperation, I've been exploring the world of online glasses. (My that sounds dignified. More realistically: I've been obsessively browsing for hours.) Wow howdy they are inexpensive! I doubt they could handle my complicated daily-wear prescription, but I might try them for my single-vision computer/beading distance glasses.

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I realized I was extra-vulnerable to failed-AT gloom because I broke my four-year news fast. I'm returning to that boundary. I'm not happy about it. Once I was unhappy about not being able to hike more than 1/4 mile. Now I accept it without thinking.