After receiving numerous search engine referrals lately on stuttering due to an old entry of mine, I feel like I should have been a lot more informative and professional about this topic, instead of being whiny about it (as I usually am!).

This is going to be a Part Two (or perhaps an upgrade) of the original post. And assuming that most of the regular visitors on here do not have a speech problem, I will write couple of tips on how to react when you’re talking to a stutterer.

How to deal with a person who stutters

1. Please be aware that stuttering does not equate to mental retardation. Stuttering is a neurological weakness which affects the words that come out of  their mouths–not their entire mental capacity, so treat them like normal human beings.

2. Maintain normal eye contact and look normal–try not to look embarrassed or startled.

3. Do not make remarks such as, “Calm down,” “Slow down”, or “Pause, and think about what you’re going to say” (My sister use to do this a lot when I was younger and the only thing it did was make me feel very impatient and frustrated).

4. Be patient.

5. If you have a hard time understanding what they’re trying to say, don’t hesitate to ask, “I’m sorry, can you repeat that for me again?” They should know that their stuttering will make it harder for other people to understand, so don’t be afraid to ask.

6. Unless you know this person very well, refrain from finishing/correcting their sentences. This can imply that you are being impatient.

7. Basically, be yourself and be polite just as if you were to interact with any other person.

(reference)

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I know I know, death isn’t really a fun topic to talk about and we sure as hell don’t want to think about ourselves being dead one day, but it’s a part of life and it’s definitely something I want to bring up now after remembering something that happened a long time ago when I use to be an active user on Livejournal.

The story is, one of my Livejournal friends at the time, apparently died by jumping off a building. I knew this because her mom logged into her account one day and left a comment on one of my post on Livejournal, stating that her daughter will no longer be posting because she died and then she linked an online news article about it.

Even though I never knew my former LJ friend in real life, it was still beyond heartbreaking for me. At the time, I would have NEVER imagine that someone whom I’d interact with through blogging could be gone just like that–let alone take their own life away. I also couldn’t help but think, “Wow, this mom must have really cared enough that she actually logged into her daugher’s Livejournal and actually informed all of her online friends about her death–NOT ONLY THAT her mom also knew her account information.”

Now this brings me to my next concern.

99% of the visitors (aka you guys) who generally read TiffsBloggy on a normal basis have never met me in person–nor do they know any of my family members, relatives or real life friends.  They also don’t know my personal contact info except for my email probably. Basically, this blog is where I can get away from “real life” and most of the people that are in it. All of these entries are completely public to strangers on the internet and anyone else who really don’t know me personally–this blog is meant for those kind of people!

So if I died one day, and my online friends and regular visitors were starting to notice that I haven’t been updating my website, twitter and tumblr, what would they assume? Would they think I’ve grown tired of the interwebs? Had internet or computer problems?  Or gone back to playing World of Warcraft as I typically do?

I can’t help but think about these sort of things. Death is unpredictable. Anything can happen to anyone at any given time. Even though I’ve taken long breaks from this site before, I plan to keep this site up as long as I’m alive on this earth. I really enjoy having this blog and the people I interact with here. So, I would definitely want them to be informed if I die.

And Like the total paranoid creep that I am, I just sent the creepiest email to my boyfriend:

You laugh now but at least I will always be prepared!

This may sound gross but for the past 2-3 years, I’ve been dealing with a really bad toenail infection on and off. The first year, it happened on one of my big toe and then it went away. The second year, I got it on my two big toes. I’m pretty sure I got the infection originally by letting my little niece paint my big toenail for fun, and she ended up adding layers and layers to it which left no breathing room for my poor toe. So never let a toddler paint your toenails!

During that time, it sucked for me because as a female who’s totally into the whole “girlie” stuff and fashion, I couldn’t wear my slippers or wedges without losing people’s appetite for the past three years. But after a year of dealing with two fugly toes, it’s finally looking better and now I can FINALLY wear my open toe shoes.

Kensie Girl wedges. I hope my infection doesn't come back 'cause these are cute as hell.

So I bought these hot chunky wedges roughly a year ago and couldn’t really wear them until now. I started wearing them in public last week and I’m really happy about it. So happy my eyes have a hard time opening…so happy that I’m going to post some more photos of chunky & clunky heals that I plan to buy. I’m going to wear them everyday to make up for all the lost times. It’s going to be special!

100% Jeffrey Campbell. Hey, aren't most of these closed-toe anyway?