2008 August | A Deaf Mom Shares Her World

I Want to Live–Captioned Version

Dear Bill Creswell:

Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, again.

Back in June, I wrote a post over at Disaboom about how frustrated I was to navigate through You Tube videos without captions. I shared one of my favorite songs and posted the lyrics in the blog.

Along came Bill Creswell. He left a comment:

“Don’t forget, I take requests at billcreswell.wordpress.com. “My tagline is captioning the internet one video at a time” :) I have this one in my ”queue”.

Time went by and the two of us became busy. Yesterday, I found a wonderful post over at Bill’s blog– news that You Tube was enabling a captioning feature for users to add captions to their videos:

You Tube Adds Captioning Feature

So I left a comment and asked Bill about the John Denver feature and wondered if it was captioned.

Bill delivered.

And so today, I want to share one of my favorite songs with my readers. It is a John Denver song called, “I Want to Live.” Captioned.

http://www.tubecaption.com/watch?v=iuB3_HLcFfk&vcId=473

Thank you, thank you, Bill for all the work you do. It is very much appreciated. May you have a wonderful weekend!

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Dave Freeman–A Man Halfway to His Goal

Dave Freeman.

Does the name ring a bell?

It didn’t for me. But yesterday, while reading the Chicago Tribune before dinner, I saw an article titled “Author of Quirky ‘100 Things’ Guide.”

Dave Freeman co-authored the book, 100 Things to Do Before You Die with Neil Teplica. In the book, the two of them listed exciting travel events; and together, they had done about half of them.

But yesterday, I wasn’t just reading an article– I was reading his obituary. Dave had slipped and hit his head on a glass ledge in his home. He was only 47 years old.

The New York Daily News reported that Freeman “really did live a full life.”

Freeman had run with the bulls in Spain. He’d hung his boots in an ice hotel in Finland. He stood beside the 400 stainless steel poles that make up the Lightning Field in New Mexico. And he made sure not to miss India’s Maha Kumbh Mela in 2001, a Hindu pilgrimage that happens only once every 12 years.

Considering that the book was written in 1999 and that Freeman completed half of the 100 things– I would say that he did indeed, lead a pretty full life.

US Magazine has a quote shared by Freeman’s father:

According to his father, Freeman was famous for saying, “‘We’re going to the future. Do you want to come along?’ It always made everybody laugh.”

How about you? Are you going to the future?

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Tags: Inspirational Stuff by DeafMom
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Vote for the New Southwest Airlines Blogger!

Colleen Wainwright should be Southwest Airline’s official blogger.

First, let me make it clear that Colleen has not handed over money for me to say this. However, when she flies into Chicago after becoming the official Southwest Airlines Blogger, I expect that she’s going to take me out for a nice, thick steak at Morton’s Steakhouse.

So go view the video and vote. Colleen has included a transcript for the deaf and hard of hearing viewers:

COLLEEN: I’m Colleen Wainwright and I’ve got friends all over the country!

JACK LYONS: I’m from Baltimore and I want to meet Colleen!

CHRIS ERENETA: I live in Oakland and I want to meet Colleen!

COLLEEN: That’s right: Internet friends! And they wanna meet me!

ANGIE & FRIENDS: We want to meet Colleen!

COLLEEN: That’s why I should be the new Southwest Airlines Blog-O-Spondent.

(UKULELE MUSIC BEGINS UNDER)

DAVID ECKOFF: Hey, send Colleen to Atlanta!

SCOT DUKE: Send Colleen to Dallas!

JON DEAL: I have been stalking Colleen for years now.

COLLEEN: Think about it: all those nerds, blogging all about
Southwest, to all those potential customers?

PAM SLIM: Fly Colleen to Phoenix.

MIGNON FOGARTY: Send Colleen to Reno!

@EffingBoring: Please send Colleen to New York.

COLLEEN: It’s a PR bonanza!!!!

PETER SHANKMAN: I run HARO, for God’s sake.

COLLEEN: 1200 people on Twitter alone. And I got a boyfriend who plays
the ukelele!

(CUT TO SHOT OF THE BF PLAYING UKULELE)

COLLEEN(VO): (OVER SHOTS OF KAREN PUTZ, LAURA MONCUR, A COFFEE MUG)
Look at all these fine people! Do you want to disappoint them?

COLLEEN: I mean, come on, it’s like I was born to do this job.

PETER: Everyone will be happier. I think you should do it.

CHRIS points to Oakland on his shirt.

COLLEEN: Come on! Give an old broad a job!

As you can see from the video, Colleen is perky, peppy, and talented. Not bad for an old broad. But Colleen isn’t really an old broad, except when you compare her to young, peppy, skydiving people like Peter Shankman. And by the way, the HARO owner is in the video and has put his stamp of approval on Colleen’s vote.

But please, fast forward past the part where you find me asking Southwest Airlines to fly Colleen to Chicago. Because you see, I don’t like to be on camera. But because I like Southwest Airlines (seriously, that is one airline that really rocks!) and I really dig Colleen and her snarky writing style, I agreed to put myself on camera. All because I want all of the Southwest Airline customers to be entertained when Colleen becomes their Official Blogger.

So come on people, go vote for Colleen!

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