My dictionary is a collection of lessons from my teachers’ instruction in American Sign Language. As a resource for others, I felt it essential to include the two separate ways to sign the numbers 1 to 5 with the context for each use. I have cartoons of Gallaudet and Clerc to title the Alphabet, so I used code-driven robots to handle the numbers. I have the left and right-handed cybernetic men signing my first challenge in learning ASL numbers, the number 3. It took me some time to unlearn and abandon the three middle fingers used in the UK, USA, and Canada for the two fingers and thumb of ASL, France, Spain, and Germany. Learning the hand sign for 3 came from France also explains its use in French sign language (LSL) and the language born from its study, ASL.
STORY IN A STORY
In editing my ASL Dictionary, I updated the hand sign for Story by drawing a new cartoon of Canadian author, Mr. Robert Munsch. I am a big fan of his books and have designed posters for this storyteller’s appearance at the Village of Riverside Glen. This time I drew a cartoon of a younger him, placing my illustrations of some of his famous children’s stories behind him. When drawing cartoons of actual people, I also try to send them a copy of their cartoon image with an explanation of the dictionary I put it in. Two years ago, I printed out the Story hand sign and mailed it to the storyteller who inspired the cartoon, Mr. Robert Munsch. I hope he liked it.
TOSS
ASL Word of the Day, THROW My good friend Stasia Van Buskirk inspired me to learn the ASL sign for Throw when she asked me how to sign Axe throwing. After researching several dictionaries and video lessons, I drew my cartoon hard copy of the word. I would have posted the hand sign sooner if not for my hard drive crashing and taking the finished picture with it. Now that Memofix Data Recovery has retrieved my ASL artwork, I can finally answer her question.
COVERED
With the data on my broken hard drive finally retrieved, I could return to finish the cover art for My ASL Dictionary‘s Facebook page. Keeping the hand signs for Canada, Province, and Ontario, I added ASL hand signs specific to the Canada region, like Pants, Hospital, Candy, Orange, and Money. I also removed Toronto from the cover to slip in the hand sign for my hometown of Guelph behind Province and Hospital.