Last night was a long-anticipated one: Clay ‘N Latte Night.
Clay ‘N Latte is a new store in Vista Village, near my house, where customers can buy ceramics and then paint them and add designs. The pieces are fired in a ceramic oven and available for pick-up a few days later. The other component of the store, the lattes part, was unimpressive. I expected an espresso bar; instead I saw a push-button machine, no larger than a microwave, sitting on the counter.
Krystill, beside herself in excitement about our night, planned it a week in advance and reminded me of it in hourly increments. Since she is a sign-language interpreter, she has a lot of deaf friends, so she invited the deafies this time.
By the way, am I allowed to call them deafies? Apparently there is disagreement about this in the Deaf community. I learned last night that some see deafie as akin to nigga, whereby members of the group can use the name for fellow members, but outsiders cannot. Krystill is hearing, and she uses the word lovingly, but she is also an all-around irreverent, bizarre person. As the only person who couldn’t sign at the clay table, I feel least qualified to use it. I think I still will, though.
Anyway, as the only outsider at that clay table, I was overwhelmed in a social environment that I should probably be getting used to. I didn’t speak the language that the four ladies did. To complicate this, I suffered from a growing rash below my waist that all but disabled me by the end of the night. Krystill told me I had to be at 100 percent to handle that kind of situation. She was right.
I did learn a lot of signs, though, as part of my quest to learn the whole language. I even taught Megan, one of the deafies, some Spanish. Imagine the fatigue of using three languages and requiring a third person, the interpreter. Teaching Megan (who can voice roughly) to say “él es cómico” was a feat I am proud of. I had a lot of fun.
Here are the pictures.

The Famous Amber Hertsgaard, shaking her paint

Krystill, signing up a storm

Jennifer, in awe

Megan, painting a polka-dotted mug

Krystill, with something on her finger (I often think she is the disabled one.)