I’m pretty sure you guys can tell why I selected the above lyrics for the opening of this latest gBLOG entry. I’ve been having a blast here in Seattle doing what I’ve been doing every summer as well as trying some new things. As I type away on Father’s Day, I’ve realized so much has happened since I last updated. I guess I’ll refrain from telling you right now and let the pictures and the accompanying texts provide you entertainment. Let’s commence my second summer picture montage! (Uh, a little drumroll here, please…)

For Memorial Day Weekend, my family went on a boat with another family (by the way, a shoutout to Gale and Jamee Parker and Patrick Redmond, thanks for the invite!) sailing from Anacortes, WA to Deer Harbor, a marina in Orcas Island, part of the San Juan Islands (click for a map). I had a blast living on a boat for three days and having friends and family, including one of my two dogs, Fanny, along.

Fanny just being Fanny, ambling along the boat’s deck like there is no tomorrow.

I’m gazing oh so soulfully over the waters. It was fun just to roll over waves and waves, making for a very serene feel.

One of the places that we went to on Orcas Island was the summit of Mt. Constitution (click for a picture) and the view was unbelievable. You could see the entire San Juan Islands as well as the mainland plus the Canadian mountain coast.

Such a place screams for a DeShaw family picture.

Next up on my agenda was to go to the annual Fremont Fair and the Summer Solstice parade (click for more info). The Fremont Fair has always been a highlight at the beginning of the summer for me because it’s always a great opportunity to meet up with friends and go watch the wild parade and have scrumptious food at the fair with various street performers for entertainment, booths for browsing, and music to listen to and feel.

At the parade’s beginning, it’s always tradition for bicyclists in their birthday suits to take a roll down the parade route. Usually, they’re always in bodypaint, all decked out in creative designs. For example I saw a guy in blue and red paint, looking fine in an impeccable Spiderman costume. This tradition is just a way for the participants to feel comfortable in their own skin, and to show there are much more things that occur in the world to worry about than just baring skin.

After the parade was finished, everybody went over to the street fair where it was bustling with booths and food as well as street performers. photo credit: Erik Nordlof

Look at this carefully: this is the aftermath of a solid concrete brick being smashed by a sledgehammer onto a brave guy’s chest while he’s lying on a bed of needles. Ouch. Other feats that I saw included stapling dollar bills onto a man’s torso, knife-juggling, and stepping into a pile of shredded glass, among other shenanigans. photo credit: Erik Nordlof

I couldn’t resist indulging my sweet tooth by digging into an elephant ear, a doughy concoction with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. It was delicious, and I’m sure my friend Mikale agrees. photo credit: Erik Nordlof

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for me. Keep looking for updates, and as always, thanks for reading!

con amistad, tyler

Oh, and I turned eighteen. A long story cut short, I skipped kindergarten and as a result, became the youngest student in my class until college. I went to my high school senior prom at the tender age of sixteen and entered college at seventeen. All I can say is that I’m thrilled that I’m finally eighteen.

May 19th was when it was at, and it was very mellow, eating lunch with my former interpreter who has the same birthday, going to the Seattle Mariner’s game with my mom, and eating scrumptious desserts at a café afterwards with yet other friends. It was fun and I enjoyed my well-deserved turn in becoming an adult.

After that, it’s just back to schooling and having fun with my summer when it lasts. I’ll end up this entry with some pictures, as always.

Just what it looks like, a photo snapped at Safeco Field, the home turf for the Seattle Mariners.

My mom and I at the edge of the seating area. We snagged great tickets up in row 8 for my birthday.

Cynthia and Julie, friends that we were surprised to run across, attending the baseball game on the same night. It was fun to catch up with them, as well as sitting with them in the first row for a while.

The sunset that night was phenomenal, and just had to snap a picture with my trusty camera.

As always, thanks for reading!
con amistad, tyler

If you open to page 34 of the most recent issue of Odyssey, you’ll see the above paragraph beginning my article about my experiences with competing for four years in the Deaf Academic Bowl. It was an incredible opportunity and I’m glad that I got to start it all my freshman year in high school. I got to meet so many awesome people and through Academic Bowl, I found out more about Gallaudet and finally cemented my decision to come here at the beginning of the second semester of my senior year.

With all that jazz done, I’m just puttering along and finishing up all of my final projects as well as studying for final exams. It’s funny how the word ‘final’ sneaks its way into our terminology as the semester nears to an end. I will have my final final exam, I will have my final goodbyes to my beloved friends before summer comes along, and I will go through my final day as a freshman. Just to imagine that four years from now I’ll be saying that I will go through my final day as a Gallaudet student is merely mind-boggling.

Enough with the unnecessary blabbering, I’ve got to get back to my Introduction to Education final take-home exam. After that, it’s to get cracking down on my English paper, and then it’s off to a group meeting for a Theatre project. Ultimately, what I’ll finally have to do is to just pack and hightail it out of here and enjoy my time off. I’ll be sure to update y’all about my summer plans soon.

By the way, the answer’s Addis Ababa. Thanks for reading!
con amistad, tyler

Sentimental statements aside, the reason why I’m stating this is because a week ago from today, I wasn’t even expecting to be on a flight to Boston to visit my mom’s family in Cape Cod. On last Friday afternoon, when I was working as a Student Ambassador volunteering at the undergraduate open house fair for prospective students, I received a text message from my aunt asking me what I’ll be doing during the weekend. I replied that I would be doing absolutely nothing, other than sunbathing and homeworking.

I had a blast seeing my family again, running around with the dogs, petting the cat and the bunny, lounging in the hot tub, riding fast with my uncle's jet black Corvette (thanks Mike for that experience!), watching a bunch of movies, drinking Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, eating Easter dinner, and just having a fun, relaxed time away from the hubbub of DC. So I’ve got to give a shout out to my mom and aunt saying a great big thanks. Like I said before, don’t let yourself stop yourself from doing whatever you want to do. You’ll end up regretting it, and I’ve tried to keep that mantra throughout my time at Gallaudet.

Of course, as a general rule for myself, all of my gBLOGs must include pictures, so here goes a striking montage of not-so-artistic portraits of my aunt’s family’s pets, all taken in cyanotype.

Clockwise starting from the top left: Mojo and Fanny, Rocksie, Bella, and Cinder.

Polo, my cousin Skylar's horse.

As always, thanks for reading!
con amistad, tyler

Well, I might have overwhelmed y’all a little bit, but that’s me. Every year for the past decade, Gallaudet and the “other” deaf college up north, National Technical Institute for the Deaf (a college in Rochester School for the Deaf), have met up and competed in goodwill competition ranging from major sports like basketball and flag football to minor sports like bowling and badminton. The location alternate every year between Rochester and Washington, DC, and this year, we were the hosts, welcoming a contingent of roughly a hundred RIT deaf athletes and spectators as well as visitors from out of state.

This year, I was on the water polo team for Gallaudet, which comprised mostly of students on the swim team, which was a bonus since all of us were already comfortable in the water. We began practicing by ourselves about a month ago, and with the presence of a coach two weeks ago. After the tragic resigning of one player due to a fractured ankle, we only had three experienced water polo players with the rest newbies. We started off slowly, learning how to tread water and how to catch and throw the ball.

Saturday finally came, and after catching up with old friends and meeting new faces, the water polo game loomed up. We sized up our enemy and figured it’ll be a close match. The RIT team ended up beating us 12-6 in a rough, exhausting game. I know that the sports world doesn’t accept excuses, but the referee of the game was from RIT and our own referee somehow didn’t show up. Overall, I think we did a great job, seeing the fact that we had more girls than boys than the other team, we were pretty inexperienced, and we played by the rules better than they did. After the game, head throbbing and legs cramping, I went over to the Fieldhouse to watch both men’s and women’s volleyball games, where we easily routed RIT. Afterwards, I knew that I had to rest up to prep for the night's Rockfest dance.

A special thanks goes to Vincent DiMare for snapping both way cool pictures!

True to its theme, Vibe, I could feel everybody’s excitement and exhilaration at the dance, with bright-colored clothes and a passion for dancing. We had a guest band and a DJ as well as a Deaf rapper and a dance-off competition between the dance teams from Gallaudet and RIT. Overall, the whole thing was a whole lot of fun, and I’m glad I went. Now I can’t wait next year to visit RIT and attend their own Brickfest!

Till then,
con amistad, tyler

The metro system in DC is amazingly accessible (well, almost) and can get you pretty much everywhere in the area. I remember expecting about thirty minutes to go to George Washington University last month with two transfers, and it ended up taking only ten. Impressive, I guess. Well, enough about the metro system.

Around this time last week, when I told people that I haven’t been to Dupont Circle, a trendy area in the northwest quadrant of Washington, DC, I got looks of shock. Some were actually taken aback and pity me for not going out into the city enough. I couldn’t say anything else than the fact that I never got the opportunity to go to Dupont Circle. However, I apparently missed plenty of opportunities, because Gallaudet students love to go to Dupont Circle to walk around, eat out, and shop, not to mention it’s right on the red line, which is the same line as the Gallaudet metro station.

Fear no more, for I finally went to Dupont Circle last weekend with two of my fellow freshmen and bookworms, Rachel and Josh. We were headed to Kramerbooks, a well known book store just north of the circle. We met up with another friend of ours, Calvin, and we immediately spread out around the store. I don’t know about you, but I love bookstores. I love the smell of new and used books, the sight of books with colorful spines stacked up the ceiling, and the quiet serene feel it comes with a bookstore. Simply put, I love books and bookstores.

Well, hope I kept y’all appeased with this entry. I’m off now to water polo practice for this Saturday’s game against RIT.

Until then,
con amistad, tyler

While the majority of Gallaudet freshmen went to Cancun, Mexico or Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, I went to Jensen Beach to visit my grandparents who’ve lived there for the past five years. My parents flew in from Seattle to meet me, and my aunt from Cape Cod flew in as well. So it was a little family reunion, and I enjoyed immensely seeing my grandparents after a two-year hiatus.

I had a great time in Florida, and I’m able to say that I did pretty much a lot during my 8-day stay. I swam in the community pool, I waved in the ocean, I drove down to Key West with the family for one night, I read five books, I attended a spring training baseball game in Vero Beach, and most importantly, I got some wicked tan.

Playing volleyball at my grandparent’s housing community in Jensen Beach, Florida. Ah, I already miss the sun illuminating the impossibly blue sky.

Driving on the bridge across the keys en route to Key West. The five-hour drive was full of new sights and I eagerly awaited every bridge so I could ogle at the bluish green water.

My parents and I at the southernmost point in the continental United States. Imagine, that’s only ninety miles away from Cuba!

Me posing next to the entrance sign to Dodgertown’s Holman Stadium where their spring training games are played in Vero Beach, Florida. It was St. Patrick’s Day, and the majority of the spectators wore green with the baseball players wearing green hats and the bases were also green. Fun times.

Overall, my first spring break in college was unforgettable, and I’m already planning for next year’s. Maybe somewhere in the Carribbean?

Until then, see y’all around!
con amistad, tyler

Sure, taking a lot of classes can be good for your education and required credits are finished up quickly. However, the majority of Gallaudet students are involved in one activity or other. Some are involved in the Sociology and German clubs, others on the football team and tutoring history and math, and yet others can be working at Campus Activities and participating in a Greek organization. The possibilities are endless. One could interview someone for the Buff and Blue, our student newspaper, while working on a proposal for Student Congress on Wednesday nights.

Once you have this item in front of you, put down everything you can think of, from classes to daily meetings to a coffee date with friends, as well as your class schedule. This way, you can gain a first-hand look at how busy you really are. If you need to attend a study group for psychology, put that in your planner right away, so you can know that specific time of the week is taken. That way, I can know when exactly I am able to meet up with my teacher for one-on-one feedback in Intro to Education class, and I can relate this information to my teacher right away.

This system has worked marvelously for me, from high school, where I was involved in an impossible amount of things, to college, where I still am involved in an impossible amount of things. The reason why I put myself through this torture is because I love being busy, I love being involved, and Gallaudet offers so many opportunities for that to do, from clubs to sports teams to on-campus jobs, and that’s what I like.

Thanks for reading.
con amistad, tyler

Well, hello. I’m Tyler and I’m a 17-year-old freshman here at Gallaudet. As you can see, I’m from the glorious state of Washington in the great Pacific Northwest. I bet you’re probably asking me what am I doing 2,700 miles away from home as a student in a university that I had never heard of until four years ago.

I grew up in Seattle, city of the Space Needle, the Pike Place Market, and the rain. Seattle offers deaf teenagers a culture that is insufficient. With our schools so far apart, we could rarely get together for special events. I got along fine with my hearing peers and enjoyed hanging out with them, but I wanted to look beyond my small group of friends and see what the world offers for young deaf people.

Since I have been here, I have been involved in the community as an Open House Student Ambassador, the Class of 2009, and Hillel. I am also on the Swim and Track & Field team. I am in the Honors Program here at Gallaudet, as well as being on the Honor Council. I am also on the College Bowl Development team, which is the junior varsity team to the actual College Bowl team at Gallaudet for the National Association for the Deaf conferences.

Recently, I went to the Capital Athletic Conference Swim Championships at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Our team of twenty were the smallest, but we made an impact on the competition by getting 7th in one relay and got several swimmers in the finals, held at night with everybody looking on, including myself in the 400 yard Individual Medley. Overall, it was a fun experience and a bittersweet way to end our impossibly long season, starting from practices the first week of September to the champs in the middle of February.

Doing our "BISON" yell before every meet.

Me doing the breaststroke portion of the 400yd I.M.

I’m going to bring my first gBLOG entry to a close by inserting a couple of pictures that signifies the beauty of Gallaudet, and the fact that we need to observe life in order to enjoy the beauty of it all.

The view from the front of my dorm, Ballard West, of Gallaudet shrouded in snow.

Taken from the window of my dorm room a few nights ago.

Thanks for reading.
con amistad, tyler