Blind Person Tanja Milojevic | This Past Weekend #215
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 35 minutes
Words per Minute
193.76782
Summary
Tania Milojevic is a voiceover actress, teacher, and photographer. She was born colorblind at a young age, and her vision has never been the same since she was born. In this episode, she shares her story of growing up colorblind, and how she overcame her blindness.
Transcript
00:00:00.760
Today's guest is a, she's blind man, I'm gonna be honest with you.
00:00:09.440
So today's guest is a woman who's, she's like kind of like the Amelia kind of sight heart kind of.
00:00:24.780
So she is, oh man I don't know what I'm talking about.
00:00:29.340
But she also is a voiceover actress, she is a teacher, she works with people who have suffered from the same thing she suffers from.
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Today's guest is blind and I've always wanted to meet somebody that's blind and sit down with them.
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Ladies and gentlemen, the talented and lovely Tanya Milojevic.
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I'm just sitting over here right now telling you I'm not doing anything.
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Kind of have some notes but I'm not really looking at them.
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And is it fun for you when people like kind of describe to you what they're doing around you?
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So for example, I could hear you opening your water bottle and taking a swig.
00:01:32.720
So, but yeah, especially sometimes if I can't tell by someone's tone, I'll ask, are you this or that?
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Usually people's voices are expressive so I can tell.
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It was just that I was premature two months and had to sit in the incubator for a couple months.
00:02:00.840
And then the oxygen, extra oxygen, detached my retinas.
00:02:07.840
And I was very lucky to be able to come to the U.S. from Serbia, where I was from, and have those reattached somewhat.
00:02:19.680
Like if I had to guess, like do you feel pretty blind?
00:02:24.900
I mean, I have enough vision to get me into trouble.
00:02:27.140
But it's about 22,000 in one eye and 2,700 in the other.
00:02:34.360
So every time I have a laser surgery, because I developed glaucoma due to the scar tissue after my surgeries initially,
00:02:43.860
the laser surgeries that I do or did every couple of years, haven't done one in a while, thankfully,
00:02:52.920
And there is a risk that I can go totally blind in both of my eyes or one of them, depending.
00:03:01.380
I mean like what I can see, how well I can see things.
00:03:08.800
For example, if I say I have 22,000, what you can see at 20 feet or rather what you can see at 2,000 feet, I can see at 20 feet.
00:03:18.780
So, you know, let's say you have better distance vision.
00:03:23.140
The clarity of your vision is a lot more detailed and all-encompassing.
00:03:31.000
Mine is tunnel vision, which means my field is 10 degrees.
00:03:34.900
So a lot of times like I hear about people that are colorblind, and to me that seems like honestly like kind of a bunch of bullshit.
00:03:44.920
I mean I think colorblind is definitely a thing.
00:03:47.400
There are people that are born colorblind where their hues are like gray, black, and white, and that's all they can really see.
00:03:56.240
But to call it colorblind, like I feel like it should be like –
00:04:01.320
Yeah, let's call it like, hey, kind of confused, you know?
00:04:08.340
Like blind seems like almost something that should be a little bit more reserved for people that actually can't really see that well.
00:04:17.340
Do you guys – is there any vibe like that in the blind community where there's like kind of like, you know, like darkness beef with like people that are colorblind or anything like that?
00:04:27.540
In terms of that, not that I've noticed, but people do get upset over the terms visually impaired versus totally blind.
00:04:34.860
Some people like to say that they have a visual impairment or they are low vision depending on what their acuity is and how much – whether or not they can read, print.
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So, for example, someone that can see traffic lights outside in the daytime, they can read signs, they can read print and navigate maybe with minimal use of a cane, they call them high partials.
00:04:54.720
And then there are people who are totally blind or who are lights – who have some light perception.
00:05:01.740
And we do like to categorize ourselves, some of us, in those various categories.
00:05:06.880
But then there are a lot of people for the sake of the public who just say, even if they're not totally blind, I'm blind and just call it a day because the public gets really confused.
00:05:19.620
That sounds like somebody that's trying to be fancy to me.
00:05:29.180
High partial sounds like somebody that's like in one of those – like that movie with Katniss Everdeen, you know?
00:05:41.980
Because there's a lot of high parcels even just in regular – especially in Hollywood.
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It's really – it's a little bit creepy almost out here.
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So do you – like – so if I reach across the table right now and touch your hand, like if you put your hand out, right?
00:06:00.860
Can you tell by like touching my hand like how old you feel like I am or do you get –
00:06:09.860
Because I can imagine your senses are better than mine.
00:06:11.780
This is my perception is that your senses are way better than mine.
00:06:14.500
So I'm thinking like, you know, do you – is your sense of touch like at a level that I couldn't even imagine, you know?
00:06:22.460
So I would say that it's all in how much you use it.
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I think anyone is capable of developing sense of touch more or hearing, vision, et cetera.
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So you focus mainly on what you see around you and maybe don't focus as much on audio cues because you don't need them as much.
00:06:40.660
You can see what's around you and that sense compensates for the others.
00:06:45.940
For me, I would say mainly my hearing is my primary and, of course, I read Braille.
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But what's interesting is I would say my sense of touch in my index fingers is better than my sense of touch in my other fingers because I use that for Braille and I've developed that sensitivity in those fingers.
00:07:05.240
So do you learn something then about like almost do you feel like – so then with that being said, like so your sense of touching your index fingers,
00:07:14.600
is much more acute because you use it for Braille.
00:07:17.120
You use – that's your main fingers you use for Braille, right?
00:07:19.940
Do you – then do you think that this could be possible that if somebody used their shoulder for Braille for long enough that they would be able to develop a sense of how to read even?
00:07:35.980
You're talking about people that are just toeing off, huh?
00:07:42.540
Like a guy – like that sounds like a line a guy would use on a girl, you know, like, hey, I can use my toes to read.
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And it says don't read me or don't touch me or something in Braille.
00:08:05.860
They have a bumper sticker, I know, that says you're driving too close and it's in Braille and it's on like –
00:08:13.760
Yeah, if you're that close, I think you've got to back off.
00:08:18.480
So you feel like for you, your sense of hearing is really acute?
00:08:24.640
I would say I've developed it more so and I pay attention to minute sounds, whereas that kind of goes both ways because in dance music, my boyfriend loves to put up the music really loud because, you know, sometimes, like especially working out or something.
00:08:40.180
So there are in dance music, high-pitched, buzzy noises that almost sound like an electric chair, you know, and it's painful.
00:08:52.000
And I just have this like instinctual, ah, you know, recoil reaction, put my hands over my ears.
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No, and he thinks it's the funniest thing ever.
00:09:00.340
Who makes some of the most painful music out there?
00:09:11.900
I'm just, I sit there, I'm like, no, turn the volume down.
00:09:19.680
I mean, that makes some really, really, you know, just some real junk.
00:09:23.320
Like, I mean, I'm thinking, for me, it's Nicki Minaj.
00:09:30.820
But is there a band or something that kind of you're like, oh.
00:09:35.300
I would say probably some of the death metal bands.
00:09:40.360
Like, and I used to love death metal, so I'm not trying to rag on them here.
00:09:47.840
For example, they got some, it's just painful, high notes in the solos.
00:09:54.420
Well, they don't want you to live through the songs, a lot of it sounds like.
00:09:59.120
Yeah, they have ulterior, it sounds like they have really ulterior motives.
00:10:06.880
So it almost, it seems, so to your sense of hearing, to me, would almost be like, almost
00:10:10.600
like, it would seem like a superpower almost a little bit.
00:10:15.060
I mean, if I were Daredevil and had a weapon in my cane, that'd be awesome.
00:10:19.120
But yeah, no, I wouldn't, I wouldn't say it's, it's that good, but it does certainly
00:10:23.640
help in picking up cues and what's going on in the environment around me.
00:10:29.120
So especially for navigation, I use my sense of hearing.
00:10:32.500
Let's say there's a waterfall that I know I'll have to pass or keep behind me as I'm
00:10:38.640
And then there's an ice cream parlor and they play particular music and there are smells
00:10:45.000
All of that not only triggers memory to help you like sort of map it out in your head,
00:10:50.200
but it gives you a constant that you can rely on as you're, as you're traveling or even
00:10:55.380
when you're watching films without audio description.
00:10:57.700
Do you feel like a detective a little bit then?
00:10:59.960
Like when every day when you wake up, do you feel like almost like inspector?
00:11:03.340
Cause you got to kind of like, that would be cool.
00:11:06.840
Hey, maybe I'll make my mornings a little easier, especially when the week drags on and
00:11:11.500
I just want the weekend to be there so I can enjoy and record and have fun.
00:11:18.800
But do you feel like, like, I'm just trying to think of what it's like to not like, you
00:11:23.020
know, to be, to not have sight, to be blind, to be sight impaired.
00:11:26.400
Like, I'm trying to think of like, if my brain would wake up every day and the world would
00:11:38.560
Especially if you're looking forward to the day and you're in a, in a great mood, it
00:11:43.320
can definitely seem filled with, with a lot of different things.
00:11:49.380
It can, can get a little overwhelming sometimes.
00:11:56.440
Like being at a bar or a club, even at a convention or.
00:12:10.320
But, so, so places like that, because why there's too much going on.
00:12:15.680
And sometimes what I do, what helps in those situations, because it's hard to navigate
00:12:19.940
if, first of all, if there's flashing lights, like at a carnival, loud music, loud, a
00:12:24.980
lot of people talking, it's hard to orient yourself.
00:12:27.400
So what I'll do is I'll, like, if I'm standing somewhere waiting to navigate, I will put my
00:12:33.020
hand on something that doesn't move, some solid object, like a chair or a table, and
00:12:37.640
just stand there and kind of listen and try to figure out where stuff is.
00:12:41.660
Or, if possible, navigate when the environment is quiet, map it out for myself, and then it's
00:12:55.780
So if I'm in a loud restaurant, which happens a lot, you know, loud music, I'll just say,
00:13:00.420
okay, Naboo, outside, outside, find the door, find the door, come on, come on, come on, come on.
00:13:13.320
And she also, I noticed that she has very beautiful eyes.
00:13:18.840
She has, not real makeup, but she's got markings around her eyes, and it looks like eyeliner.
00:13:25.900
It's so funny, when you, when I met her a few minutes ago, when you introduced me, the
00:13:30.020
first thing I noticed about her, I never noticed about, I mean, I'd seen some animals with pretty
00:13:34.440
They got Smushy the cat has some beautiful eyes.
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It's almost, at first I was like, holy smokes, like, did they, did you guys swap eyes or something?
00:13:48.880
Like, cause she's got some, like, it's just crazy.
00:13:51.080
It's almost like that you were carting around a real set of frickin' peepers right there on
00:13:58.080
Do some animals, do you get a different sense from certain animals than other animals?
00:14:03.100
I'm just wondering, like, if you can get different senses than I can from, from animals.
00:14:08.440
Do you mean, like, a bonding type or their intentions?
00:14:12.300
Yeah, do some animals feel to you, like, like, what does a dog seem like to you?
00:14:19.980
Usually they pick up on our emotions and our body language, as well as facial expressions
00:14:25.800
And the body positioning, like where their tail is low, is positioned, or how, how they're
00:14:32.180
laying sometimes, or even the enthusiasm of how they greet us, those can tell us a lot
00:14:40.100
And I find myself talking to her like she's a real person, you know, all the time, because
00:14:52.820
And I had a very, you know, solid bond with her.
00:14:56.740
She was an outdoor cat, and she would sleep on my, in bed with me sometimes, or I used
00:15:02.500
to carry her by her neck, I guess, as a kid, my mom told me.
00:15:16.180
If you were carrying her by her neck, it could be.
00:15:27.680
Like, can you get a different intuition from, say, like a snake or a frog?
00:15:38.780
But then when they start wrapping around you, the more you know about them and how easy
00:15:42.520
it is for them to just choke you to death, the scarier they are and more intimidating.
00:15:53.860
I just always feel like I could be in danger of getting, I don't know, squeezed to death
00:16:00.640
There's no ability to kind of know what they're thinking or feeling.
00:16:12.360
But a cat also, I feel now that I'm adult, they're okay.
00:16:22.380
I saw two cats the other day sharing a cigarette outside of my building.
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That's to say I knew they were up to no good, you know?
00:16:34.020
I think I've just like, I was thinking about this last night.
00:16:37.320
I was like, when I was young, one of my favorite, one of the first people I ever remember meeting
00:16:42.320
was this kid named Doug Huevall that I went to school with when I was in second grade.
00:16:48.600
And it was the most fascinating thing I had ever heard.
00:16:52.240
Like, because everybody I had heard talked the same.
00:16:58.120
And so when he suddenly had like this voice that was like, he was like an instrument a little more.
00:17:10.840
And then the teacher at school thought that I was making fun of him.
00:17:15.020
I just wanted, I wanted to be like different kind of like he was.
00:17:24.980
And so I think then I've always just had like this, just this affinity for what it would be like to have something unique.
00:17:34.440
Like, like, no vision or, or a unique like, you know, like, they have a guy, someone you see on the internet who doesn't have any arms and legs.
00:17:44.100
And he like does all these stunts and everything, you know?
00:17:47.200
This little, yeah, this kind of little bucket-y kind of bad boy, you know?
00:17:51.060
So I guess, like I was thinking last time, I was like, I wonder if your imagination is different than mine.
00:18:07.080
Music, radio dramas that are involved with horror.
00:18:09.800
For example, like the White Vault, for instance, Fast Horizon.
00:18:16.360
They're, Fool and Scholar Productions actually created.
00:18:21.560
So, I mean, I've got to plug these shows because I'm so excited about them.
00:18:25.360
And we're going to plug them too whenever we bring the, we'll do an intro for the show later.
00:18:32.560
So, so first let's talk about imagination a little.
00:18:43.420
We don't, I'm not sure who it was, but so Naboo lets you know when.
00:18:49.220
Actually, what's funny, I work at Perkins School for the Blind at the Perkins Library.
00:18:53.880
And at work, if somebody comes by my office, she's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
00:19:00.120
She barks maybe five, six times, but quick, just to let me know they're there.
00:19:05.100
Can you tell the tone even down to the smallest level in her bark?
00:19:08.960
Like if she's trying to, if she's trying to be like alert you or if she's trying to let
00:19:16.740
them know that you're there or like you able to different, like notice different levels
00:19:25.720
For example, if she's startled, she'll do a very quick, short, high-pitched bark.
00:19:31.200
And then if somebody comes by that she doesn't like, she'll, she'll get up and walk over
00:19:36.200
to them just to be like, you know, just like growl, get out.
00:19:40.640
That's like my mom, my mom used to do that when I bring this kid Wayne over all the time.
00:19:56.480
But yeah, your imagination, like I was thinking last night, I was like, my imagination is almost
00:20:04.420
You know, I wonder if like my imagination got caged up, you know, because it's, it's like
00:20:10.540
limited a little bit by knowing like what a lot of different colors are and how the world
00:20:15.680
is kind of, or how the society we live in is kind of built, you know?
00:20:19.880
Well, you can, you can definitely expand all that, like noticing smells whenever you're
00:20:25.120
somewhere, let's say out and about walking by shops or something, you can smell all the
00:20:33.160
And sometimes you can even tell where you are based on the smell.
00:20:35.840
So just starting to notice that in your own life too, actually meditation exercises help
00:20:41.900
with that mindfulness where you, you notice, oh, I'm having this thought or I'm thinking
00:20:46.940
about what I need to do, but I'm just going to let it go and think about, you know, let's
00:20:54.880
Like something like a sound of a fan can be soothing, kind of white noise, intermittent
00:20:59.560
can cause your brain to focus harder on an, um, a task that you're working on and that's
00:21:08.180
So doing something like that can help you get to that same level that I'm, that I'm
00:21:12.460
mentioning where you're discussing all the five senses and how they implement, uh, how
00:21:16.960
they work together to create that multi-sensory picture of where you're at.
00:21:21.280
So, but in terms of imagination, actually my friend and I, as teenagers, we used to get
00:21:27.260
on the phone and this is when people actually used to talk on the phone instead of texting
00:21:31.060
and Instagramming and tweet, tweeting to each other.
00:21:37.760
And sometimes we would do online mud games, you know, where you would, that is like a
00:21:44.140
And now that's Dungeons and Dragons you're saying.
00:21:49.480
So, you know how online they have a graphic system and multiplayer, um, verse, et cetera.
00:21:58.560
So you modify it by going in, um, you bring up like a command line box, kind of like we
00:22:09.460
And you, you enter textual text commands, like the old text adventures used to be in the
00:22:16.660
And you would enter commands and then a lot of the, the games now you can insert a sound
00:22:22.480
pack, which would take the place of some of those longer command line, um, prompts.
00:22:28.200
And we can listen to sound effects in 3D space and figure out where we're at environments
00:22:37.120
Spells, all of those have sounds related to them.
00:22:40.840
So by adding in sound packs, um, you're able to get like a more of an experience where you
00:22:50.840
Now, so with virtual reality kind of looming, does that seem very exciting to like the
00:22:59.320
Uh, Deep End Games actually produced one called, uh, Perception.
00:23:05.660
And it's about this main character who's blind and she's got to go to her grandfather's house,
00:23:09.720
go through it and solve the mystery of what happened to him and how he died.
00:23:22.380
They're just like, oh, uh, we, we believe it's accessible.
00:23:26.380
You know, so I've, I've got to get my nephew to help me out here.
00:23:34.940
The trailers are amazing and the voice acting is spot on.
00:23:37.900
And so when you're listening to these types of things, I mean, you get everything from sound,
00:23:44.060
And then you have like some kind of extra, um, I believe it's her or it's like an extra
00:23:51.620
voice that tells you where you're, where you are and how many meters away from something
00:23:56.780
And that's, that would additionally help you navigate.
00:24:00.520
And there are also iOS virtual reality games out there.
00:24:04.940
And are you able, like, so a virtual reality game, like for me, I would take the head, the
00:24:09.940
video, the video, the visual set, like the goggles and put them over my head, my over my eyes.
00:24:16.760
And then, uh, you know, I would have the headphones on.
00:24:19.660
I would listen to the experience, but I'd also be able to see it for you.
00:24:25.300
It's more sound based where you would have the set of headphones on and everything would
00:24:30.360
be in binaural audio, which is a simulated 3d space.
00:24:35.440
So it's a different type of audio specifically for people that are hearing impaired.
00:24:39.200
They actually make it for anyone, um, who, who wants to play the game.
00:24:44.080
A lot of these have graphical interfaces built in so anyone can play them.
00:24:48.300
The goal is just to make it fully accessible for all, which is great because if you have
00:24:53.960
a little bit of vision, you might be able to see the graphic and a graphical interface
00:24:58.700
There's a YouTube video of a guy that has a lot more vision than I, than I do.
00:25:03.080
I would say he plays a star Wars virtual reality game and is able to move the, the lander around
00:25:18.380
And, but your imagination, like, so you have color in your imagination when you're imagining
00:25:26.420
So my ability to tell shades apart, like blue green, for example, if they're close or if
00:25:32.400
purple is close to blue, sometimes it's hard to tell, but I do imagine it for what color
00:25:44.160
So, um, can your dog tell like if someone is lying?
00:25:51.680
Um, she can tell if someone is trustworthy or not.
00:25:54.960
It's sort of like that saying where you believe kids, you, you can't fool a baby or a dog.
00:26:01.040
You know, that saying, I'm probably saying it wrong here, but.
00:26:06.320
But, um, she can certainly tell if someone's not trustworthy.
00:26:12.260
She gets a bad vibe and maybe will bark a little bit more if they show up and doesn't
00:26:18.080
Doesn't really want to go near them, avoids them.
00:26:21.080
We were on the bike path once just walking, um, with a couple of people and there was some
00:26:26.620
guy that was walking down the bike path for some reason she didn't like him.
00:26:30.500
So she pulled us way over into the grass, went around him and just kind of stopped as
00:26:37.740
And so I said, hi, and she just stood there and just didn't want to move until he walked
00:26:43.240
And you were able to just kind of feel that vibe from her and take those cues a hundred
00:26:47.400
Cause she was standing very still and kind of tense.
00:26:51.320
Like there's, there's no, there's no, like, unless it probably comes to a treat, I'm guessing
00:26:56.120
there is no misconception about what her intentions are.
00:27:06.500
My first service dog was like that too, but this one is a lot more protective of me.
00:27:12.820
I do think if I was being mugged or someone was, was trying to attack me in some way, she
00:27:18.420
would step in and try to bite them at that point.
00:27:20.680
Cause she's protective, but she wouldn't just bite somebody.
00:27:25.160
Now, do you feel like you said you like horror films?
00:27:28.780
Cause there were, to me, it feels like you're already like in the dark a lot.
00:27:33.540
Like I would feel, I felt like it would be double scary.
00:27:38.640
Hey, you want to, you want to promote me for in the dark?
00:27:54.980
I know you do voiceover work and I want to, I want to learn more about the, about the
00:28:01.220
But yeah, I'm just curious, I guess, like, you know, what, like, what, why the horror genre?
00:28:09.700
Do you feel like, I'm wondering just, is there any correlation between what your daily kind
00:28:16.500
And if you think it ties into liking that genre?
00:28:22.860
I think it ties into, I love adrenaline rush and just that whole fight or flight response
00:28:30.220
But isn't it every, I feel like everything would be in a adrenaline rush to you, like
00:28:34.340
When you're crossing a street, if a car just comes out of nowhere, you're like, oh my
00:28:41.640
But in this case, you're able to experience it.
00:28:43.560
Every freaking, like every 10 minutes is the X games, I feel like for you.
00:28:47.560
It can be, depending on where you're at, whether or not you're getting, you know, assistance
00:28:52.160
or if you know where you are, like when you're lost, oh my God, that's anxiety provoking.
00:29:02.920
I'd have to figure it out with my cane and it would be a lot slower of a process.
00:29:06.060
I'd have to slowly map out my surroundings and find, let's say, the nearest street crossing
00:29:10.680
and then the nearest building and ask for help.
00:29:16.980
Like Lyft, Uber, drivers, a lot of drivers don't speak the language very well.
00:29:24.020
The language of sight or the language of just English?
00:29:27.560
There's a lot of dudes and they don't speak any language.
00:29:31.740
I've had some guys who don't speak anything, dude.
00:29:34.260
They just, you pick a letter of the alphabet out of a hat.
00:29:42.400
So I went to the Chelmsford Center for the Arts once and they dropped me off.
00:29:50.040
I'm like, sir, I need to go to the Chelmsford Center for the Arts.
00:30:21.260
Do you find that, do you find that, so more about that horror genre.
00:30:29.720
Sorry, let me think, because I'm not that good of a thinker.
00:30:34.020
So is it, because yeah, when you said that, like crossing a street, I can't even imagine
00:30:45.860
Like, you don't know if the guy over to your left is, like, not paying attention or he's
00:30:50.680
And a lot of people are on their phones, so it's more of a risk for anyone crossing.
00:30:54.860
Now, can you feel that vibe if somebody's on their phone?
00:30:57.420
Does that feel like a different vibe than somebody just sitting there?
00:31:03.760
It just looks like they're sitting, waiting to proceed at the next cycle.
00:31:09.820
Can you get a feeling from it, though, is what I'm saying?
00:31:16.040
Unless the person kind of pulls forward and then stops and then pulls forward, then I
00:31:23.000
But I don't really get any intuitive feelings from it.
00:31:25.960
Mainly what my intuition works on for me or works well with me is, let's say a friend
00:31:31.980
wants to go on a job interview and they tell me, oh, I'm going on a job interview at noon.
00:31:37.500
And I'll think, okay, so I'll put what I know about this person's style as well as the
00:31:43.400
person they're going to see and what their history with this person was, what they told
00:31:47.060
me their previous interaction was, and then my gut instinct.
00:31:50.240
And I'll kind of come up with an intuitive, I think you'll do great.
00:31:53.300
Or I'm not really sure this is going to work out, but this will lead to other opportunities
00:32:00.460
Do you feel like more of a computer than a person sometimes?
00:32:06.880
Because social interaction can be nerve wracking.
00:32:10.300
I have a little bit of social anxiety in certain situations.
00:32:13.480
And I like the pre-programmed, like, five questions when you start a conversation.
00:32:25.280
Those five, like, small talk questions that always-
00:32:28.100
Because it helps give you more of a world, a little bit of a world to start with?
00:32:32.220
Like, yeah, it helps give you some information.
00:32:36.720
But it's also, as a person who can't make eye contact, it is very difficult, if you're
00:32:42.480
in a group, to find when is a good time to jump into the conversation and add something
00:32:52.900
Because, yeah, I've been high sometimes, and I'm standing there, and then I don't know
00:32:56.020
when to jump in, and then everybody leaves, you know?
00:33:02.120
We asked you if you wanted a ride, but you didn't say anything.
00:33:08.980
Do you feel like a damsel in distress sometimes?
00:33:13.960
I feel like if I saw, like, if there's a woman walking around who's blind, then I feel like,
00:33:22.420
is she like a sitting, like, not a sitting duck, but is she, is she like a sitting, like,
00:33:29.280
do you feel like a potential victim possibly ever?
00:33:32.180
Uh, so I did more so when I was at, like, I went to school at Simmons for undergrad.
00:33:41.580
Oh, that's a, sorry, that's a school in Boston.
00:33:46.080
But in that area, like the Fenway area of Boston, as you know, the Red Sox play there.
00:33:50.900
It's like a lot of events, a lot of drunk people at night.
00:33:57.380
Like, I've had people just go, you know, when I'm walking by or something.
00:34:02.040
Or like, hey, baby, you want to, like, you want to, you want to come over and talk to
00:34:11.000
And then I took self-defense and I took Campo Karate.
00:34:16.060
I know how to shove my fingers into somebody's eye socket.
00:34:21.120
Or, you know, you shove your fingers up their nostrils.
00:34:25.040
Or into their neck, into their Adam's apple, if they're a guy, if you can reach them.
00:34:28.580
So, you just, you just know the basic defensive strategies.
00:34:33.420
Like, you feel better traveling at night in that area.
00:34:38.980
But do you feel like a potential, like, because you have, you're sight impaired, right?
00:34:42.760
And I'm going to keep using different terms because I don't know what I'm talking about.
00:34:45.640
But do you, do you feel like my intentions are good?
00:34:51.280
I don't, sometimes I get vibes from people where I feel like they may not have great intentions
00:34:55.580
and I'll just cut the conversation short and move on.
00:34:59.480
Yeah, I don't want you to feel like that for me.
00:35:03.420
No, I know that you, you know, like, I know you do voice acting.
00:35:11.080
But, I mean, yeah, I've just, I've never got to spend time with someone that I couldn't
00:35:23.100
I'm happy to try to give you a slice into what it's like.
00:35:27.100
Although, every person who is blind has a different perspective on their life, depending on where
00:35:34.080
Now, when you say where they're at, do you mean where they're at and what?
00:35:36.500
So, in terms of like how long they've been blind, when they lost their vision, whether
00:35:40.560
or not they have some usable vision or if they were born with no vision.
00:35:44.500
People who are born with no vision, their concept development is, depending on who taught
00:35:49.820
them and what school system they were at, they may or may not have concepts of different
00:35:56.420
Like, what certain animals look like, for example.
00:36:05.520
There are some things, like, for example, when I read in books where it says, so-and-so's
00:36:15.940
Does it, like, did they have more tears in their eyes because they were so amused?
00:36:20.020
And so, the light was catching off of the tears and glistening on their eyes.
00:36:24.860
But I have actually, like, one time I was holding my niece when she was a baby, and I was
00:36:29.540
looking at her eyes, and I could see the sparkle.
00:36:36.120
I think, to me, that thing is, like, it's like a light behind somebody's eyes that's,
00:36:47.500
And it's, like, something of, like, peacefulness or comfort.
00:36:55.120
Or, like, excitement can sometimes, like, flare it up in people.
00:36:59.400
In younger people, I think excitement flares it up.
00:37:01.980
In older people, I think sentiment or, like, nostalgia.
00:37:15.140
Things that kind of mold, like, or fluff your emotion.
00:37:19.840
Like, positively, I think those are things that would add, like, a sparkle to somebody's
00:37:29.020
Yeah, just, like, now, what about, like, like, do you close your eyes ever, or are you just,
00:37:37.260
Oh, well, because I have some vision, yeah, I do.
00:37:39.780
Do I close my eyes, like, when I'm going to go to sleep, or let's say, sometimes I'll
00:37:46.480
So, if I don't have my sunglasses, and it's super bright out, I'm on the beach, and the
00:37:51.120
sun is glaring off the sand, throwing up lights.
00:37:58.240
That just feels like an intense, it's just an intense, like, what, whiteness kind of color?
00:38:03.200
It kind of, yeah, kind of like, well, because, I mean, I can see general colors, so let's
00:38:08.720
say I'm looking at the yellow sand, and it's just a lot of light, it kind of washes everything
00:38:13.460
out, and it's, unless I'm squinting really hard, and my eyes start tearing, I'm unable
00:38:18.260
to really make a lot of other things out for long before my eyes start to water.
00:38:24.400
So, at that point, closing them is the best, but it is similar to just this glaring white
00:38:31.400
And then I close them, and it's red, because, you know, that's, when you close your eyes,
00:38:38.700
If you aren't sure, then you are gonna be, because the truth is that this past weekend
00:38:47.960
If you, if you, if you're somebody, and you're walking around, and you're like, dang, wish
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00:40:17.520
And now let's get back to this beautiful blind episode.
00:40:23.020
And now what if I put like a woman like 50 feet away from you, okay?
00:40:28.160
And I put your mother 50 feet away from you, right?
00:40:31.160
Do you think you would know the difference between the two of them?
00:40:41.780
If this makes any sense, can you feel like that your mother is close?
00:40:50.160
Because like, I don't have any extra sort of intuitive sense of who is who,
00:40:58.560
So it would depend on the contrast, the lighting.
00:41:04.500
Or let's say like an overcast day, cloudy day, and somebody was 50 feet, but the background
00:41:10.960
So I wouldn't get confused by trees or houses in the background.
00:41:20.400
So like, let's say they were standing on the beach, right?
00:41:22.380
They were standing on sand, and there was nothing else to clutter the background.
00:41:25.760
I would be able to see them, but then if I could preview whose clothing or outfits looked
00:41:31.080
like what, and if they had very contrasting compared to each other outfits, I'd be able
00:41:36.260
to tell, okay, that's my mom standing on the left, and this is mystery person number one
00:41:43.500
Because they're wearing a white shirt on the right, my mom's wearing a red shirt.
00:41:59.580
Do you find that, or do you get any sense that certain cultures are friendlier than others?
00:42:08.800
Like in the UK and here in the US and Germany, they're very inclusive of people with disabilities
00:42:14.580
in general, and the UK in particular has made a lot of wonderful strides, like audio description
00:42:22.440
They audio describe, like, double the amount that we do and that we're mandated to do.
00:42:33.220
So they have, so you're saying that the UK really is kind of the leader in that sort of
00:42:37.940
I would say the UK, Germany, you know, they've done a lot to include people.
00:42:52.300
And other countries in Europe, like, for example, where I'm from, Serbia, they are not as inclusive.
00:43:02.280
I know Perkins is working with them through Perkins International to try to teach teachers
00:43:07.180
from there how to better instruct their students and include them, get them prepared for mainstream
00:43:14.780
And then in India, for example, they're working hard to get some of the, I guess, poorer families,
00:43:22.540
communities to include people with disabilities in the workforce.
00:43:28.680
It's just our, the first world countries have to help the third world to get there.
00:43:34.480
Well, which, and the problem is also how we can't get half the first world people to fricking
00:43:42.500
It must be, do you, can you tell like when you get a vibe where when you're around someone
00:43:46.580
who can see, who has all the faculties and they're like, oh, they're not even.
00:43:53.040
Uh, yes, definitely have had that experience before where people complain that they can't
00:44:01.800
Like they're just collecting the unemployment, you know?
00:44:07.040
I'm like, you know, I'll take any job here at this point.
00:44:09.660
Like any additional side gig would be welcome, but you're not, what do you want me to do?
00:44:14.720
Um, you mentioned earlier that you have a boyfriend.
00:44:20.200
Is it, is it, I would imagine that it's, let me think about what I think when, um, he's
00:44:34.580
And I'm not trying to, I mean, I'm always trying to hit on everybody a little bit, but
00:44:38.140
at the same time, I'm, I would never be disrespectful to your boyfriend.
00:44:43.980
Um, yeah, I think I'll, I'll say this for myself, especially when I was young, I would
00:44:50.040
probably be scared if someone was blonde, you know, I would be, yeah.
00:44:59.900
I was probably, you know, I didn't know what to do.
00:45:03.640
I would think if I go engage with them, am I going to mess, am I going to mess things
00:45:12.080
up or something like whatever's going on in their world?
00:45:16.680
A lot of people don't know how to approach the blindness community.
00:45:20.320
Um, I think on our end, what we could do better is communicate what, what we're thinking and
00:45:27.800
how we're feeling because our body language is a lot less.
00:45:31.240
Like a lot of us sit still or don't move a lot because we don't have the concept of, you
00:45:37.480
know, like for example, Italians, like they talk with their hands or like this and whatever
00:45:42.380
for us, we don't really have that as a natural part of our lives.
00:45:50.100
And that's off putting to others who, who have that as part of their, or they use, they
00:45:57.080
get cues from others, how they're feeling through the body language.
00:46:02.700
You get clues from just from somebody's activity.
00:46:04.520
If they're, yeah, just there, you can get a lot of, a lot more clues.
00:46:11.180
So it would be good on our part to communicate.
00:46:15.520
I'm just, you know, I'm thinking or like, I know my face probably looks like I'm pissed
00:46:22.200
off right now, but I'm just, I'm spacing out or I'm, I'm not really, I'm thinking about
00:46:28.940
I'm not pissed at you because sometimes our facial expressions don't match how we, how
00:46:38.760
Also, I had to be told this because I used to like sit like this, where my hands were across
00:46:45.560
And that looks like you are closing or that, I guess.
00:46:57.080
But, um, but to you that people would, what clue is that given off to people?
00:47:01.700
That I'm closed off and not welcoming interaction.
00:47:09.340
You know, I've actually read a bunch of stuff on body language just to try to understand
00:47:16.560
And then a lot of people also, when they shake someone's hand, if they're blind, like they're
00:47:22.200
So what I do as a person who's blind is I'll, I'll put my hand out first and I'll be like,
00:47:29.460
Because, you know, you don't want to put it way out to the side.
00:47:33.620
And you're exuding friendliness by taking the cue first and taking the awkwardness out
00:47:41.680
So it's just, we, we have to educate ourselves on body language and make it more comfortable.
00:47:49.180
I mean, it's, and this is just such a neat gift that you see that you probably, I think
00:47:52.680
as a person to seem to have is to recognize your part in things.
00:47:56.900
Like, you know, instead of saying like, oh, everybody needs to do this or people could
00:48:00.840
do this, it's like, oh, the blind community or as a person that's sight impaired, we could
00:48:12.600
Even if we think something else is like really impairing us.
00:48:20.440
If you can, if you're grumpy that day, just don't talk.
00:48:35.040
It must be, I mean, do you could, if you, if you're blind, do you feel like everybody
00:48:43.600
Like there's so much more opportunity for you to think there are people that are killers.
00:48:49.980
But for you, I feel like you could always be like fantasizing there's somebody in the
00:48:53.920
distance with like a bow and arrow or something unique.
00:48:59.500
Like, oh my God, a bunch of zombies are going to break into this car and they're going to
00:49:11.660
Like if I watch a horror film, like for example, I just saw the haunted, um, the, the series
00:49:21.680
And so horror films, I just thought of this because they have so many more sound cues.
00:49:30.320
Cause it's a, yeah, it's, it's trying to build up in emotion.
00:49:33.440
Whereas a lot of other things aren't really doing that.
00:49:35.520
They're just kind of telling a story like point blank.
00:49:39.140
Like Bird Box, for example, with Sandra Bullock.
00:49:42.360
Super amazing sound design with the sound, with the, the minute sounds that you would
00:49:48.120
Only they're exaggerated enough just so that anyone can notice them.
00:49:53.200
And they're not as crazy with the jump scares, which gets old.
00:49:58.700
Horror films kind of, they got, they got lazy really.
00:50:02.540
I missed the old, when I was young, they had Jason Voorhees.
00:50:05.120
They had like Friday the 13th and some of those things.
00:50:10.540
I bet the Michael Myers, the Halloweens were really good.
00:50:15.520
I think they could have done, I mean, this is seventies, but I think they should have
00:50:19.180
made it stereo versus mono where it's like coming out of just one channel in the center
00:50:24.980
It could have been, but you know, for what it was at the time, it was really good.
00:50:30.580
Oh, I'd love to see, I wonder how interesting it would be if you designed the set, like help
00:50:42.560
Cause that's such a unique skill that you, like a sensory ability to connect with sound
00:50:50.780
You know, because your, your senses in that space are more acute.
00:50:54.700
I wouldn't want to make it 5.1 surround, like most movies are anyway, where it surrounds
00:51:03.300
And I would want to make the, so you know how, when people are on camera, the, the actors,
00:51:09.420
unlike audio drama, they are in the center, unless they're coming onto set from another
00:51:15.520
room, that's when you would hear them off to the side.
00:51:20.740
So both channels directly boom in front of you because the camera's focusing on them.
00:51:25.560
What I would want to do is create like a virtual reality horror movie where you walk through
00:51:31.800
like a fly on the wall and you get to hear these things happening.
00:51:34.800
And the people move around you in space, like 5.1 surround sound, because that would make
00:51:40.040
it more real, especially if things were happening to you.
00:51:42.880
And if you can make it like a 4d sensory experience where not only do you have the movie and the
00:51:50.300
headphones around everything's happening around you, but you would smell things like blood,
00:51:56.040
for example, or maybe you'd have props to use along with the movie.
00:52:02.940
Like, like, let's say you have to kill the killer.
00:52:19.300
I mean, maybe you're doing, you need another D.
00:52:23.500
It's just so, yeah, it's like, well, I wonder, do, don't do people, does Hollywood come and
00:52:27.900
tap into the blind community to learn more about sound or are there groups that do that?
00:52:32.140
It seems like it would be almost like a gold mine or they would, that, you know, they would
00:52:44.640
But I do know that they have experts and consultants that they go to.
00:52:48.920
For example, for the movie Bird Box, I know they went to a couple of people who are blind
00:52:53.000
to inquire about how things were being portrayed, like Braille, for example, signage and things.
00:52:58.800
I'm not sure on the sound design, if they went to someone who's blind, but I am aware
00:53:03.740
of a BBC, the BBC does like 3D audio, radio dramas for their, for their programming.
00:53:15.040
And they did employ someone who's totally blind as a sound designer.
00:53:21.780
And I know there are sound designers out there.
00:53:23.900
I just don't know if Hollywood collaborates, but that would be great.
00:53:31.640
Is there an animal you feel like a little bit that you kind of relate to a little bit more?
00:53:34.780
Like, is there an animal you feel in the world and you're like, oh, that animal has a very
00:53:47.080
Besides an AI, I say, I would say maybe, maybe a dog.
00:53:51.280
Like an artificial intelligence, a computer, you know.
00:53:55.600
Cause you feel a lot of times things are more like a machine almost.
00:54:01.220
You get information and then you're able to build more of a world.
00:54:08.280
So for example, like habits you don't like, you can reprogram yourself to not like those
00:54:14.940
Now you must have a much more, cause you're right there at the atomic, I bet you have more
00:54:20.520
of an access to the atomic level of that than I would, cause I'm out here in this comfort
00:54:24.700
zone, you know, just a damn sugar lizard out here.
00:54:27.160
Whereas you're down there working with the building blocks more inside of your senses
00:54:31.880
So is it easy for you to, to do that, to like reprogram yourself?
00:54:36.100
I'm, I'm just fascinated with psychology as a person.
00:54:38.660
And I think that's just more of my, my own interest than, um, my, my ability to work with
00:54:43.780
it, but if you believe something, it's, it's funny how the more you believe something, the
00:54:50.040
So if you put something out there into the universe and say, oh, I want this to be this
00:54:55.040
Or if you have a negative, a sense of something that the self-fulfilling prophecy will happen
00:55:02.880
That's, but it seems like you get what you put out there.
00:55:06.120
So in terms of my ability to improve, uh, my programming and, and adjust it's, I have
00:55:16.360
If I stop believing it's going to work or I give up or I get lazy, it's not going to
00:55:22.980
Is it, it would feel like it would be easier for you to give up because you don't, it just
00:55:31.020
Does it feel like that to you ever, or you don't know what I'm talking about?
00:55:34.800
I think you understand what I'm saying kind of, I do like the, with depression, with
00:55:41.960
Like in my early twenties through my mid twenties, it was a factor in my life as well as high
00:55:48.000
school because I had a lot of challenges with math, getting through math.
00:55:51.500
I was, um, just to quickly mention, I was mainstream.
00:55:54.300
So I went to public school and keeping up with calculus or pre-calc trig, all that.
00:56:01.260
When the teacher was understanding and helpful, it was, it was okay.
00:56:06.860
The later, the more advanced the concepts got, the less time the general ed teachers had to
00:56:12.460
work with me on it after school, before school, et cetera.
00:56:17.000
My grades would drop and I was huge into having good grades.
00:56:20.480
I didn't want to fail out or not pass the MCAS or, you know, even the SATs I needed.
00:56:26.200
It was important to get a good score to get, go to a good school.
00:56:29.520
And so I pushed myself and wasn't always succeeding in math and felt like, okay, what
00:56:38.600
And also the fact that it was harder to make friends was making it worse.
00:56:44.380
But when I got a dog, man, it was so much easier to make friends.
00:56:49.180
And as long as you're putting the attention on the dog and not yourself to begin with,
00:56:54.060
So I use that as my kind of helpful strategy and working through depression, I, I have
00:57:01.340
a couple of really good friends who were going through similar times.
00:57:06.660
We were there for each other and it's important to recognize when you're down, let yourself
00:57:11.740
be down and then find a way to pull yourself out.
00:57:20.760
I mean, it seems like you really go beyond what people would, what an everyday person
00:57:28.340
Like you kind of want to kind of change the norm a little bit.
00:57:35.040
It's interesting because you work and now in voiceover, you are a character actress, right?
00:57:40.240
I do a lot of accents and different characters, put myself into them.
00:57:45.380
One of the best pieces of advice I ever came across with acting is, I don't know if you
00:57:50.360
agree with this since you're, you're an actor yourself and standup comedian.
00:57:53.900
Um, I found that when they say that when you put yourself into whatever character you're
00:58:00.420
playing, whether or not you're dressing it up with an accent or not, if you put your own
00:58:08.580
Just heard that today from Gianni actually, who is, yeah, he's actually our actor on set
00:58:13.640
of, uh, who's here is Gianni and he's, uh, he was just in a film and, um, and yeah, he
00:58:19.540
was just helping me with some lines earlier and he literally said that like a half hour
00:58:25.340
It's a small, uh, so yeah, it's a small circle of truth right here.
00:58:29.980
Um, so is that, um, and how did you get into that?
00:58:39.160
Um, I went to my local library to pick out, I used to get books on tape.
00:58:50.360
Forced my family to watch all these horror films that they hated.
00:58:54.420
Dude, I would be so scared if I had a blind child who brought home horror films all the time.
00:59:01.780
But do you, was your family ever, did they, did your family ever get, cause here's another
00:59:08.380
thing and now you're making me think some people would be scared of blind people.
00:59:17.640
Like in a way where like, like maybe you're actually just pretending and you're working
00:59:29.200
See, they would make really good Russian spies, right?
00:59:37.060
But I could see, especially at young ages, people being very, I guess like it must, some
00:59:45.440
people must, you must be able to just see a clear line in people.
00:59:48.700
Like some people are just so empathetic probably.
00:59:50.540
And so like, did you see a lot of that growing up or do you see a lot of that more of as an
00:59:58.420
So as a kid, I did notice that the teachers around me did try their best to accommodate.
01:00:08.580
So I used large print on a video magnifier and Braille.
01:00:12.680
And so they were always like, uh, so you use print, but, uh, how are we supposed to, what
01:00:22.520
So, so they were like empathetic to a point, but they were also stressed out because they're
01:00:27.420
like, oh God, we have like 30 kids and we have to accommodate this blind kid.
01:00:32.080
Um, but the kids at that age, the younger, the better they were, they were more accepting.
01:00:39.020
But then middle school, high school, they were just like, see you later.
01:00:42.500
You know, but, uh, in college as an adult, I found a mixture of both where people were
01:00:47.880
really mature and cool about it and interested to know.
01:00:51.380
And it helped that I went to a liberal school as well.
01:00:56.300
Now a lot of pervy dudes just trying to bang a blind gal or what?
01:01:00.060
Like, honestly, well, there's a lot of that too.
01:01:03.920
Cause there's a lot of guys, you know, kind of like different types of styles of stuff,
01:01:08.480
And I just wonder if, if that, did you get some of that?
01:01:12.240
I got some of that kind of thing where people were trying to flirt with me, but a lot of
01:01:17.960
Cause I'm like, who would want to flirt with me?
01:01:20.120
Like, you know, I guess my confidence was not as, as, as a solid at that point.
01:01:29.060
Oh man, that must've been such a tough feeling, huh?
01:01:31.800
It was kind of contributed to the depression for a bit there, but that happens.
01:01:36.760
All teenagers sort of go through that whole angsty period in their lives where they're
01:01:47.740
Like friends would tell me, oh, so-and-so is totally hitting on you.
01:01:54.800
Well, the comments and whatever, they were staring at you.
01:02:02.960
And in college, would you get some more pervy type of dudes?
01:02:05.740
I could see a guy that's been like, or even a guy not pervy, just very honest.
01:02:09.460
Like, hey, I've, I've always wanted to make love to a blind woman.
01:02:14.900
Yeah, I, I got, like, when I did the online dating thing for a bit and put on my profile
01:02:20.660
because I was sick of dealing with people that found out that I was blind and then were
01:02:28.420
Like, I'm just going to post right here that I'm visually impaired.
01:02:45.520
Like, not only am I blind, dude, but I'm so fucking blind, you know?
01:02:49.940
It's like John Cena, like, you can't see me, you know?
01:02:58.900
Would you have guys that came in like, so you dated online and so then you just put blind?
01:03:06.280
People just knew and they weren't, like, all weird about it when they found out.
01:03:11.160
I mean, I met up with a couple of them and then was just like, yeah, no, I'm good, you
01:03:15.860
Yeah, that's basically, I think that is online dating for everyone.
01:03:27.660
I met a mathematician one time and he talked about math the entire time.
01:03:31.700
I'm like, dude, you do realize I hate math, right?
01:03:34.940
It's like, let's just talk about random stuff and then go our separate ways because I'm
01:03:42.180
You're like, man, I wish I was blind and deaf right now.
01:03:54.420
I wish, and I guess it's a selfish thing to say to somebody that can't, that has, that's
01:03:59.720
sight impaired, but sometimes I wish I just could shut down some of the sensory overload.
01:04:04.220
Well, see, if you're a computer, you can just go visual or ocular sensors off and just turn
01:04:12.380
But I'm waiting for the days when not only the singularity happens, but we're able to
01:04:24.180
That way we can turn off senses we don't want for the time being.
01:04:29.820
That could be plausible, but it certainly makes sense, huh?
01:04:33.620
So I, I don't see why not with, this could help a lot of people out.
01:04:39.480
Do you feel sometimes like you have more of an intuitiveness to, I don't even know what,
01:04:48.840
Like, are there, are there intuitions that you've, that you just, if you had to just trust your
01:04:53.420
own, trust your own instincts for something, are there things that you, what can you do
01:05:02.100
They could do, they may be able to do it better, but they're not able to recognize it because
01:05:12.420
Um, and not even in a braggadocious way, but what do you feel like you have more of an
01:05:16.980
insight into or more of a ability to do than people that are almost overwhelmed with sight
01:05:24.960
or just that are, that have, that have to see all the time?
01:05:31.140
In our technology-driven ADD age, it's impossible for people to focus on anything longer than
01:05:41.400
So, from Finding Nemo, she's, her memory's like a goldfish.
01:05:49.180
But, um, we, we tend to get distracted very easily to different things and get bored
01:05:56.140
I would say that if I'm interested in something, I can focus on it until I'm done with that.
01:06:00.200
So, whether it is a particular song or a particular movie, I like to, I really enjoy
01:06:05.660
personally art, and I don't know if this is related to me being blind or if this is just
01:06:08.880
a personality thing, but I love admiring people's art, whether it is through something auditory
01:06:15.900
art like tap dancing or going to the Nutcracker and listening to an audio described version
01:06:23.220
I can really enjoy all the nuances of, of the work and the time that went into practicing
01:06:29.480
and practicing and completely solidifying their performance to get to that point.
01:06:54.780
But I, Lion King was the last Broadway musical that I went to.
01:06:59.760
But I could imagine that because there's a lot of.
01:07:04.400
But it's very specific and it's organized to portray something.
01:07:18.120
And in general, just being able to focus on one thing or another or pick up on things
01:07:24.720
I've noticed that we tend to pick up on other sensory cues that folks didn't, maybe someone
01:07:31.480
who's sighted, who's around us, did not because they were focusing on what the person was wearing
01:07:36.540
You know, oh, so-and-so, you know, I love their hairstyle or whatever dress.
01:07:44.840
I'm like, I have no idea what you're talking about.
01:07:46.280
But, you know, their voice expressed this or their footsteps, you know, they sounded
01:07:51.960
kind of less confident because their gait was stumbly or not even or what have you.
01:07:59.880
I feel like you have like such a, I guess just like you have such a, the ability to hear
01:08:09.900
and be able to interpret things so much, it just feels like such a unique skill kind
01:08:17.020
Like if, you know, and, and obviously this is not something I would ever wish upon anyone,
01:08:21.140
but let's say you lost your vision temporarily due to something, some surgery or what have
01:08:33.360
I listened to your last episode where you were discussing, you were thinking about being
01:08:37.500
Um, and then they brought you in and they just kind of dumped you into it all.
01:08:46.400
But yeah, surgery, I mean, watching it is interesting too.
01:08:52.140
I mean, that kind of stuff kind of creeps me out.
01:08:53.860
I mean, I think, you know, if you're in a horror flicks, it might be more your vibe,
01:08:58.180
One of my colleagues had a major abdominal surgery and he was supposed to go to sleep
01:09:03.000
under local, but as you know, it never works like it's supposed to.
01:09:06.060
And he woke up and he was awake during the whole thing.
01:09:13.820
Just kind of moseying around during your own lobotomy.
01:09:24.560
Anyone can develop those skills of recognizing.
01:09:43.700
You don't need the additional, you know, sound cues because you can see it.
01:09:52.020
But it also it makes it makes me almost forget about the other senses that I have sometimes.
01:09:55.560
I get so just used to looking at the picture, you know, but actually for Halloween, one
01:10:01.820
of my favorite games to play with friends was blindfold everybody and then stick their
01:10:06.260
hands in bowls of stuff and tell them, oh, this is worms when it's actually spaghetti.
01:10:18.500
So does everything, does the world feel a little bit haunted since you can't see that
01:10:22.220
Like, does everything feel kind of like, is it spooky or does it feel like kind of like
01:10:28.520
like you're in sound of music or like what does it feel like, I guess?
01:10:34.620
So if I freak myself out in some way by watching something or I don't know, hearing some story
01:10:41.120
that really sticks with me and I'm out and about by myself, I'd be like, oh my God, I'm
01:10:50.960
Sometimes I'll even try to come up with a story or like even if I do get startled, I'm
01:10:59.220
So I'll try to bring it over, bring over those, those natural reactions and keep it
01:11:05.800
And I'll watch movies and I'll pay attention to the actors, how they do it and what makes
01:11:15.860
But sound of music, if I'm really excited about something, like I'll tell you, when I
01:11:23.840
The last couple of days have been like, oh my God, the world is awesome.
01:11:35.260
Honestly, we've been trying to find a blind person for a while.
01:11:41.600
Hey, I can recommend some more people if you need.
01:11:44.500
If we have follow up questions, I think this has been very interesting.
01:11:47.860
We have a couple of video calls that came in as well.
01:12:02.040
My question is, if there's one thing that she comes across every day that sighted people
01:12:11.640
don't understand that they could change to help her, what would that be?
01:12:33.640
So one thing that sighted people could do, in my opinion, that would help is if they could
01:12:40.340
just let us know what specifically makes them uncomfortable in situations and what we could
01:12:47.840
do better to sort of put them at ease, that would be helpful for us because then it wouldn't
01:12:52.440
be all on us to try to figure out how to make people comfortable.
01:12:56.180
But then also, we should get better about asking for help, I think, if we need it.
01:13:02.820
But then I guess sighted people should trust us to know what we need and when we need help
01:13:14.200
That's one of the things a lot of people are uncomfortable with, which I get.
01:13:24.380
So if I were talking to someone with mobility issues, I would feel like, oh, I don't want
01:13:29.980
I don't want to ask anything that's rude or ignorant.
01:13:32.880
And it's hard because you're making yourself vulnerable by asking.
01:13:51.580
And then I just start pointing in every cardinal direction.
01:13:58.940
They're always like, yeah, go a couple blocks till you smell a little bit of skirt steak
01:14:15.160
It's interesting because it just sounds like really communication, you know?
01:14:17.940
Do you feel like in the times that we're in right now or like, not the times, but as the
01:14:22.960
times that like the media likes to make it feel like we're in with like social justice
01:14:27.460
warriors and everybody getting offended, that people I've noticed are less, feel less
01:14:35.840
comfortable asking questions that can actually be helpful.
01:14:40.260
Like people are more worried about offending you than they are about engaging with you?
01:14:44.700
It's just easier not to engage than risk offending someone and getting sued, right?
01:14:50.780
And that must come down tougher even in your community because, or not in that, in this
01:14:56.380
lawsuit way, but just, or maybe so, but also just that, you know, you need more communication.
01:15:02.160
Yes, I think communication for us is key because we may not be able to tell body language or
01:15:07.240
eye contact whether the person is interested in communicating with us or interacting.
01:15:11.720
So just talking and literally talking everything out, which doesn't sound intuitive at all because
01:15:18.180
you guys are used to body language and just kind of, hey, I'm pointing at you, hey, you
01:15:30.280
And if we all just used our words a lot more instead of memes and, and emojis, I think
01:15:40.680
Back when there was some real actually information.
01:15:46.120
And now we have movies with all texting, like the whole movie is texting and Skyping,
01:16:07.180
He said, if you had perfect vision for just one day, what would you do during that time?
01:16:18.260
look at the coral reef or go to, go to all the tourist attractions, like the, the Grand
01:16:25.560
Canyon and, um, maybe climb a mountain, look at the view, all the things that are visual.
01:16:33.540
I would probably want to, want to do like all the traditional and maybe even, oh, I'd probably
01:16:41.120
want to be on set for a day and just act without having to worry about not meeting my mark.
01:16:46.100
I'd want to incorporate that somewhere in that day.
01:16:49.840
So yeah, you take that worry out of your field and then you can just be even more free probably.
01:16:56.460
Do some on camera work with perfect vision would be awesome.
01:17:02.760
Uh, anything else, Nick, that came in that you liked?
01:17:23.020
Anyway, I was wondering real quick, uh, Tanya, you know, do you have dreams?
01:17:33.900
Like, I mean, I guess seeing things, I don't know.
01:17:35.960
It might sound ignorant to say that, but I just, I've often wondered what happens when
01:17:53.720
So first of all, I want to compliment you on the stereo recording you had there.
01:17:58.840
And yeah, I, I do dream and see things in my dreams.
01:18:03.480
Like I have, I wouldn't say my sight is any better.
01:18:06.560
Some of my friends that have had more sight before tell me that their dreams are a lot
01:18:14.680
And the more people you ask, the different responses you're going to get.
01:18:17.780
But for me, it's, I can see things the same as in real life, but the difference is that
01:18:26.940
So it's like, I'll know what everything looks like, even though my vision isn't better.
01:18:31.480
I'll know where everything's placed and it's all already mapped in my head.
01:18:36.540
So it's like intuitively just knowing where stuff is, which is cool.
01:18:40.360
Also, I am able to hear things the same way and I haven't mastered lucid dreaming.
01:18:48.740
If I could just control my dreams, change them up, make, you know, fly.
01:18:53.220
Like I was able to do that once where, um, I dreamed that I was in an airplane and the
01:19:04.160
And we're going up and down some mountains in the top.
01:19:12.780
It was just kind of floating on clouds and the top of it opened.
01:19:15.580
And then I sort of was like, huh, I wonder what, what would happen if I jumped out without
01:19:21.880
And I put my hands out to my sides and I was just floating and flying around the plane
01:19:26.740
and along the clouds, sitting on them and floating on clouds.
01:19:32.000
That was the only time I was able to control it, but I'm working on it.
01:19:41.460
And if you're blind, if you have the, do they have, I don't know, do women even have wet
01:19:50.520
Like when you either don't expect it or if you really like somebody.
01:19:54.400
It just like, it comes up or a lot of the times what used to happen for me as a teenager
01:19:58.780
is like, it would be like some burning building or something crazy, like out of Terminator.
01:20:04.000
And then the random guy would show up and be like, do you want to live or you want
01:20:11.240
And then I'd wake up like just as I was getting into their car.
01:20:22.040
I mean, not with the guy, but with a woman, you know?
01:20:31.960
And honestly, this was probably sent in by 12 different people.
01:20:40.440
This is your boy, Andy, up in Portland, Oregon.
01:20:50.460
It's a question that has kept me up many a night just wondering, how do you know when
01:21:02.560
So I guess that's a, if you're going to the bathroom, if you're, you know, if you're going
01:21:05.680
to the bathroom, how do you know when you're done wiping your body?
01:21:08.280
That's kind of like the question where people ask when you're in the shower, how do you see
01:21:13.380
It's like you keep your eyes closed and you shower anyway.
01:21:16.060
Um, it's, it's one of those things where you can just like, you use a bunch of toilet
01:21:20.800
paper and then if you're still not, you know, if you're still not clean, then you get a
01:21:26.620
And you just use that on your toilet and you're good and it's actually cleaner and you use
01:21:31.520
But, but no, it's like, seriously, yeah, you just, you just wipe everything a couple times
01:21:38.300
and you make sure it's not uncomfortable and if it's not, you're good.
01:21:43.040
Yeah, do a couple extra swabs on deck, you know?
01:21:53.520
You don't want to get stuck on the hair, you know?
01:21:58.200
Um, do you feel like, uh, I'm wondering, was sex very scary since you were sight impaired?
01:22:04.800
Like, was that something that was, it was just kind of regular?
01:22:07.180
No, it was one of those things where it was like, oh, I'm going to try this now.
01:22:11.320
And, you know, it's, it's the, the same again with, with like anything else.
01:22:18.380
And you just be upfront and it can be really awkward for sure when you're like, it's your
01:22:23.980
first time or whatever, and you're trying to learn your own preferences and things.
01:22:28.440
It can be really awkward, but you, you've got to find ways to make things less awkward.
01:22:35.960
But you play games, I don't know, you, like, maybe you do some role playing down the line
01:22:41.600
just to make things fun, you know, keep things fun.
01:22:45.420
And you, you have, if, if you're not into it, you just got to be honest, be like, hey,
01:22:54.660
You know, it's funny, the longer that we sit here, the, I just forgot that you were
01:23:03.660
It just like, yeah, I don't know what, for some reason it was just like, I don't
01:23:06.900
know, just a second ago, I just totally forgot about it.
01:23:11.560
Not that I was thinking the whole time, oh, you know, Tanya can't see or Tanya's sight
01:23:18.140
Well, no, it's like a tiny person or tiny part of who I am.
01:23:22.260
And it doesn't, doesn't obviously make up anyone's identities, just a obstacle or, I
01:23:27.580
mean, you could think of it as an obstacle or just a part of you that you live with and
01:23:31.480
you adapt life to, but it's not really who you are.
01:23:36.140
Like your personality, everyone's personality is blind, is different from the others.
01:23:40.460
And although there are similarities in our experiences, like finding shoppers at stores
01:23:45.200
and getting very vague information on everything or the whole experience where people start
01:23:51.160
helping you and you can tell after five minutes, they're just like, oh, are you going to ask
01:24:02.120
Like you need to know what brand it is, what the size is.
01:24:05.320
You know, if you're looking at shoes, for example, um, what other styles they carry and
01:24:11.820
You want to feel everything in the store, which people just get.
01:24:17.920
That's like a pervert at a, uh, that's like Gianni when he goes to one of those bunny ranches.
01:24:23.840
You know, he's just wants to feel everything in the store.
01:24:28.140
Nick was all the things you and Nick at Nick was also a premature baby.
01:24:46.360
They called him big Nick around the incubators.
01:24:51.620
So that's, um, a last question I have for you is, is your sight impairment, is it in your
01:25:00.640
Cause cortical visual impairment is now the leading cause of blindness in the U S.
01:25:07.080
I have no, I have no idea what you're talking about there.
01:25:10.560
Oh, it's a processing issue where that is, that would be classified as a brain issue where
01:25:16.160
your brain is just unable to make sense of the images it gets from your eyes.
01:25:19.880
So, so there is that, that's a leading cause now, but no, mine has nothing to do with the
01:25:26.560
It's, it is related to my optic nerve, which connects my eyes to my brain.
01:25:31.180
And a lot of the strands on those have deteriorated.
01:25:35.520
The more they deteriorate due to glaucoma, the less I'm able to perceive, which is why
01:25:42.840
It's, it's like looking through a, a TP tube, you know, you just see directly what's in
01:25:49.460
The funny thing about that is though, when people run across my path, like in front of
01:25:53.880
me, or they step in front of me, to me, it looks like they just appeared out of thin
01:25:58.360
Like they're not there and then they're there and I'm like, whoa.
01:26:02.300
Dang, so every one of your neighbors is like David Blaine kind of.
01:26:08.620
Do you feel like you have a different insider relationship with like a higher power because
01:26:14.880
No, I wouldn't say, I'm not really religious, so.
01:26:17.940
But even like spiritual, like, do you feel like even in your spirit, like, do you feel
01:26:23.080
I would say because I'm so fascinated with the supernatural in general, I feel like I can
01:26:27.640
pick up if there is residual energy or spirit activity or something.
01:26:32.560
I used to do as a hobby, like, in paranormal investigation.
01:26:42.940
And this will take us into, you want to tell it now?
01:26:47.160
Yeah, just before we get out of here, we'd like to hear about your two shows.
01:26:54.120
So I'll mention Vast Horizon, which is done by Fool and Scholar Productions.
01:26:59.220
Caitlin and Travis are super talented as a team, and they also created the White Vault,
01:27:09.120
Like, this starts out where it sets up the story and the characters, and it's this agronomist
01:27:23.400
So she wakes up on a colony ship, and she wakes up alone.
01:27:28.460
Like, she's got a tube down her throat, and she's like, oh my God, I'm dying.
01:27:31.660
Wakes up, the medical computer gives her some basic info, and then she realizes that there
01:27:38.140
She's the only one alive on the ship that she knows of.
01:27:42.160
And gets out of the med bay, tries to figure it out.
01:27:45.820
No lights, only emergency auxiliary lights are on.
01:27:49.900
And she starts making contact with the ship's AI.
01:27:54.900
I love it because I'm so obsessed with artificial intelligence.
01:27:58.340
And I have, like, an Alexa at home and everything.
01:28:00.860
Oops, sorry, guys, if I set off your devices here.
01:28:08.180
Oh, I used to go on the radio and blow a dog whistle all the time.
01:28:18.920
Somebody wakes up on a ship and nobody else is there.
01:28:27.360
You find out how she ended up there and what her mission is.
01:28:31.160
And there are many critical things on the ship that she needs to take care of, including
01:28:35.240
the incubators, you know, the babies and the nursery.
01:28:45.880
This is on vasthorizon.libson.com and thewhitevault.libson.com.
01:28:51.800
You can also find it on Himalaya, which is an app which allows you to stream podcasts.
01:28:58.460
And we'll put the links in the information so people can check them out.
01:29:02.860
Um, can you feel when like people are looking at you?
01:29:07.000
Sometimes it feels kind of like the hair on the back of my neck stands up, you know?
01:29:11.820
Does that tell you that we have like a unique energy that is like used through our eyes?
01:29:15.220
Like, is there something like, um, I, yeah, you think of your eyes just as intakers, but
01:29:19.920
they're really, I think it's that, that like your energy is focused on me so I can tell
01:29:24.140
that you're like directly engaged or looking at me directly.
01:29:29.960
Um, I don't know how to put it except you feel watched.
01:29:35.360
So it's, yeah, it's kind of like when you watch any ghost, uh, paranormal investigation
01:29:42.140
show, like paranormal state, you know, ghost, uh, yeah, I'm blanking on the, the taps team
01:29:53.780
So you kind of, you feel like that sense of someone is there or they're, they're watching
01:29:58.720
Man, it sounds, now it just seems so interesting to be blind because now you get to live in
01:30:04.120
like this constant, like horror novel where anything could happen.
01:30:09.280
It's just such a, I'm out here with all this color and all, you know, it's just, just kind
01:30:14.980
of milling around with all this fricking, you know, uh, just information that's not really
01:30:23.980
I mean, it is, but I think what it is, and I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean it in
01:30:27.380
the sense that it's like, I forget about my other senses as much.
01:30:31.920
Like I think, yeah, just being sense lazy, like I forget about like if I had to close
01:30:36.120
my eyes and sit somewhere for a while and just smell or just hear, like what would I even
01:30:44.400
They have actually a five senses museum exhibit in, um, one of the museums in Denver, actually
01:30:51.840
You know, what'd be really neat is if you went and sat somewhere and like in a specific
01:30:56.980
And you did a thing where you just like, you told people like as an audio tape, you told
01:31:05.140
And so then someone could go sit in the same place and just notice them.
01:31:11.860
Like I wouldn't even probably notice until someone said, Hey, do you hear like, Oh wow,
01:31:17.740
I didn't even know what that, you know, I think it could just, you might be able to
01:31:21.820
be like a liaison kind of into like a, like a sound Sherpa kind of, you know, where you
01:31:25.640
could take us up in like a, you know, just kind of in a, just recognizing that, that sounds
01:31:35.580
Um, you can do that with any kind of like, there are apps that will help you identify
01:31:55.420
I guess I'm, I mean, I don't like them that much, but I do like them though, but.
01:32:00.580
But, um, but there, there are so many ways to do that.
01:32:03.240
I mean, there's an app called vision sim, which will simulate different visual conditions
01:32:07.200
like retinopathy, prematurity, diabetic retinopathy, et cetera.
01:32:10.320
And the camera will, you, you look through your camera at objects and you'll see them
01:32:16.200
to the degree you want to imply, to apply that visual impairment.
01:32:21.580
So you can adjust the slider to a hundred percent, which is total to zero percent.
01:32:27.880
It's made by the Braille Institute and it's on, um, the, I, I are the Apple store.
01:32:39.380
Uh, Tanya, we just want to thank you so much for being here and joining us today.
01:32:43.040
And, um, and yeah, I'm curious to check out some of your, uh, your voiceover work.
01:32:50.020
And, uh, and just, I don't know, continue to have your voice in my ears sometimes.
01:32:55.720
I really appreciate this opportunity and thank you so much for having me on the show.
01:32:59.840
Thank you just for being so candid and just, um, I really feel like I'll just, I kind of
01:33:04.000
learned a lot, I feel like, and, uh, and I'm grateful for you for being willing
01:33:06.900
to, uh, let me learn, you know, and not being judgmental, you know?
01:33:10.340
No, and you, and you were super, you had some wonderful questions.
01:33:12.960
So I appreciate your, your ability to ask some thought provoking things that I hadn't
01:33:25.580
Now I'm just floating on the breeze, and I feel I'm falling like these leaves.
01:33:36.580
Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this peace of mind I found.
01:33:42.020
I can feel it in my bones, but it's gonna take a little time for me to set that parking
01:33:54.320
brake and let myself unwind shine that light on me.
01:34:12.480
And I will find a song I will sing it just for you
01:34:20.440
And now I've been moving way too fast On a runaway train with a heavy load of my
01:34:30.760
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Jonathan Kite, and welcome to Kite Club, a podcast where I'll
01:34:39.540
be sharing thoughts on things like current events, stand-up stories, and seven ways to
01:34:51.260
And as always, I'll be joined by the voices in my head.
01:35:08.780
Anyone who doesn't listen to Kite Club is a dodgy bloody wanker.
01:35:13.680
Ho ho, I'll take a quarter pounder with cheese and a McFlurry.
01:35:17.780
Sorry, sir, but our ice cream machine is broken.
01:35:24.420
Anyway, first rule of Kite Club is, tell everyone about Kite Club.
01:35:28.740
Second rule of Kite Club is, tell everyone about Kite Club.
01:35:32.960
Third rule, like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, or watch us on YouTube,
01:35:38.760
And yes, don't worry, my Brad Pitt impression will get better.