marlee matlin on the L word

hmmmm ... scribe grrl on after ellen called last night's ep a 'dry heave'. have to say that i'm not sure how she meant it but it did not sound like a compliment. d & i, however, watched the beginning of the show again the 2nd time showtime ran it just to see bette & jodi together again. i have always had a vague yearning to learn sign language. i know a few words, of course mostly rude ones. i used to lust after the signer in the velvet dress at the indigo girls' concerts at wolf trap :-)

the question is: which version of sign language should i learn?

let me back up a bit ... every 2 years at the wrn biennial, i meet a colleague from california who is profoundly deaf. she lip reads so well that when we first met, she told me that i had an accent, and the second time we met, she was able to mock me by imitating my accent. extremely cool.

anyway, a few years ago the biennial was in london, and while we were there, r was invited to speak with a deaf group there. it turns out that american sign language and english sign language are two completely different languages ... and they needed a translator.

meanwhile, i am afraid i am getting a bit of a crush on marlee matlin's character. time to go to bed :-) here is the official showtime portrait from the screensaver for you. ok, for me!