So another week has ended, thank the dear and fluffy lord. Not that there has been anything exactly with the weeks lately, but I will be glad when January is over, as it is dragging so. You might have caught onto the fact that I’ve been voiceless lately. Well, I went see the specialist on Monday and at least now I know why my voice keeps going AWOL. For the curious it’s because my vocal cords are damaged (we think because of evil laryngitis a year or so back, on top of the old friend Chronic Fatigue) and no longer close properly. This means whenever I talk I am (1) straining them and (2) opening them to more infection. Lovely. The cure is speech therapy which I start whenever the NHS machine lumbers to the point I get the referral. Hopefully before I leave Southampton! So that’s where I stand. It would have been nice if I could have been prescribed a pill or something that would work like that because I am heartily fed up of the pain and the croaking, but c’est la vie. If as a side effect I get to the point where I can sing again, I’ll be pleased 🙂
And pretty much that’s all. It was the EDLO’s birthday the other day which led to a nice late-night baking fest making fairy cakes and then posting the recipe. As Moose pointed out, I’m being about as subtle as a brick through a greenhouse roof, but I’ve given up caring. Plus I sincerely doubt he actually reads the blog 😛
Now it is time to be on with the Roast for this gloriously gray Sunday…
The news came in this week that Oscar Pistorius has been banned from the Olympics. So what? Well, he’s the Paralympic world record holder for 400m and has been campaigning to be able to compete alongside able bodied athletes. Is the IAAF right to ban him as his prosthetic limbs are “mechanical aids” or are they discriminating against him? It could go either way in my head. You’ve got to trust the scientists who have determined that he uses less energy etc than an able bodied athlete, but… My gut says he should be able to compete, but then my gut also says the guide-runners who run with blind athletes deserve the medals as much as their disabled partners.
I am starting to feel a pull in my gut towards looking more deeply at Facebook and how it is impacting on peoples lives. I just re-read this diatribe against it and had that little tickle in the back of my mind which bespeaks of a good idea in the offing. Rhetoric of the article aside – and you’ve got to admit that Tom Hodgkinson doesn’t exactly paint an unbiased picture – there are a few interesting points buried deep within. I found myself going “so what?” to a lot of it. Who cares what the ethics of the creators of a tool are, right? You can use it for what YOU want. A tool is just a tool; it is the user that determines whether it is a force for good or evil? Or should you care and try to lead a morally pure existence which could lead you to boycott Facebook. At what point do the users of a tool take it and make it more/different to what the creators intended?
– as you can see, my brain is still a smoosh of ideas at the moment.
And to address the first point the author makes, about Facebook disconnects people, I disagree totally. I don’t use Facebook to meet new people; rather Facebook is another tool I use along with sms, email, phone, talking down the pub, to connect to my real-world friends. For the chunk of my mates that live in other cities, Facebook is just one more way of keeping touch. For those that live in the same city as me, Facebook lets us and to coordinate our socializing.
Zac Effron has had his appendix out (poor lad). But that’s not why I’m linking to the article, oh no, it’s the news that there’s going to be a High School Musical: 3. Dear lord, am I never to escape those films? (Yes, I have watched both 1 and 2 on DVD and damnit, but I find myself curiously compelled to watch 3 as well… Save me).
Leaving aside the whole censorship of the internet deal (and it’s not a small concern either), why does any talk of terrorism mention the Muslim community and no others?
And again with the Facebook/Privacy stuff.
On xkcd and sibling synchronisity – you could count the things my brother and I have in common on the fingers of a couple of hands so it amuses me that we both read the Redwall xkcd comic, giggled, and emailed each other relevant links.
Much though I love the laptop stand the CCM made me, this one just looks so sexy!
People who say Archaeology is boring are silly. Yes, a lot of it is digging through different sorts of grey clay on the Somerset levels, occasionally unearthing the skeleton of a farmers pet cat, but every now and again you get to unearth cool things like this! (Alternative title for the video could be “how many archaeologists can you fit in a hole?”)
On the use and misuse of prologues. This is one of those articles I read and go “oh…” not just because I’m guilty of it myself (doh! Time for a hurried re-write me thinks) but because now I’m noticing it every where I go. Seriously, I was in the library just yesterday having a quick browse through the SF/Fantasy section (woefully small in the local library) and five of the six books I perused had prologues. Bad prologues at that which now just annoy me. Hey ho, that’s one more guilty little pleasure spoiled for me!
I rarely (never) read Boing Boing comments, using the posts instead as a jumping point to the original material they link to, but this post on muting users in comments stopped me in my tracks and made me read the comments. There’s some good points made. My first reaction was “how rude! Censorship!” then as one of the commenters pointed out, Boing Boing aren’t censoring the comments, you the reader are. It’s the digital equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and humming loudly. Now if only someone would come up with one so I can avoid all the silly Facebook requests I keep getting!
One more ebook reader for the mix.
If they could get away from Windows, perhaps oqo could solve my mobile computing needs?. Or maybe the Axiotron Modbook (seeing as how it’s already Mac…) Then there’s the Cloudbook (though it’s less sexy than the Modbook).
Why youth workers should blog.
I blame Moose entirely for this trailer. As she said “I watched it with a ‘they CAN’T be going there…’ disbelief”.
You Don’t Mess with the Zohan
Leatherheads – George Clooney at his suave and funny 40’s best.
And now I’m off to watch Battlestar Galactica: Razor because that’s always a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon 🙂
“I blame Moose entirely for this trailer. As she said “I watched it with a ‘they CAN’T be going there…’ disbeliefâ€.”
That doesn’t sound like something I’d say. I believe I actually described it as “the corner of oh so wrong”.
I apologise profusely for mis-quoting you Moose!
*smiles the happy smile of BSG*
In regard to laryngitis, I am a firm believer in a natural remedy that cured me of mine back in September 2006. I had laryngitis for about two weeks–literally no voice whatsoever–and was about to go to the doctor. Instead, though, I looked online at some natural remedies.
I ended up finding out that honey is something many professional singers use a lot, because it is very soothing and healing for the vocal chords. Recommended was to drink black/breakfast tea with NO SUGAR, half a squeezed lemon and two tablespoons of honey. I did this for three days, and I had most of my voice back and no more throat pain. I try this remedy whenever I’m sick now, and my throat and voice usually recover faster for it. Mind you, this says something, because I don’t really like honey or tea without sugar, so it must work well for me, or I wouldn’t subject myself to this flavor.
Also worth noting is that staying away from dairy for a while will help you, as while it is a myth that dairy causes more mucus, it does thicken it or make it feel worse.
Get well soon!
illyna – glad to see you’re enjoying season 3 🙂
lelia – that’s a good remedy and I’ll agree with it, because I’ve always found that the only thing which ever even touches my throats and restores some voice is a nice soothing cup of tea (with milk, but normally goat as I’m pretty much dairy-free already), though it does kind of go against what the doctor recommended, which is no/little caffeine! Ah well, whatever works best I suppose! One thing I’ve taken away from the whole thing is that when you DO loose your voice properly, don’t even attempt to talk. Straining and using the ‘false’ vocal cords causes damage. Which is what I did which has landed me in this boat!