Report from Val's Desk ;-)

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
December 7, 2005

Dear SW List Members!
I imagine that all of you are busy and happy preparing for all the  
festivities in December. What a month! It is wonderful month though,  
to celebrate so many different days...

I have fallen behind in my work on adding symbols to the IMWA. The  
reason I have not started the SignBank lessons, is because it is a  
good idea to have the IMWA symbols as stable as possible, so that  
both SignBank and SignPuddle are consistent and work together well.

Earlier this month, Carmen in German-Switzerland was working on a big  
project. They are using SignWriting on a CD, and they have used  
SignPuddle to create the signs for that CD. So they have a huge  
amount of signs (over 4000), and Carmen added the signs herself, one  
by one. In the process, Carmen found that some of the Movement  
Symbols were missing from the IMWA...I always knew that the Movement  
Symbols needed to be finished, but I never finished adding all of  
them to the IMWA...So thank you, Carmen, for pointing out to me, how  
necessary some of them are!

So I postponed posting a new SignBank until those symbols are added,  
plus the Norwegian mouth movements and the new handshapes from  
Belgium...all those have to be added to the IMWA...and with the  
holidays upon us, I have not finished adding those new symbols  
yet...which means I have not posted the new SignBank yet!

So I have a question for all of you...Would it be ok with you that we  
start the SignBank-SignPuddle lessons in January? That will give me  
the month of December to finish the new version of the IMWA with less  
stress and pressure. And in the long run, it is better for all of  
you, because you do not want to get going with SignBank, only to find  
that you are missing the symbols you need to sort by SSS...

So what are your schedules like? Anyone have deadlines? smile...When  
is a good time for you to learn to use SignBank, with SignPuddle? Is  
January ok with you?

And two side notes...

1. Nana in the Philippines...smile...I will send you a SignBank CD  
when this new version is done, but it is not done yet...Sorry for the  
delay...

2. Mark, regarding the skateboarding notation...I need to place the  
new symbols for the skateboard, in the IMWA (the International  
Movement Writing Alphabet). Once the skateboard symbols are in the  
symbol-set, then we can create the notation diagrams better for your  
work...that is why there is a delay in my finishing your  
notation...because I am placing the symbols we need into a big folder  
of new symbols, and then they have to be officially placed on the web  
in SignPuddle, so we can then create notations quickly...so I need  
the month of December to complete all these symbols, for BOTH Sign  
Language and skateboarding...and then things will be moving faster in  
2006!

Val ;-)


Valerie Sutton
Sutton at SignWriting.org

1. SignWriting
http://www.SignWriting.org
Read & Write Sign Languages

2. SignBank
http://www.SignBank.org
Sign Language Dictionaries