Some wonderings

I apologize if this comes across as a rant or controversial. But I just kind of randomly wonder about things. Like, why does anyone think that it’s okay to allow a baby to “cry it out”, just be left alone for hours to cry until it’s exhausted? Why does anyone think that’s okay? Why does anyone think that’s healthy? Or, why does anyone think that formula is as good as or superior to natural breast milk? How could anyone think that? Or separating newborns and their mothers for hours after birth (“for observation”). Why do newborns have to lie alone during their first hours after birth, crying, untouched, obviously hungry for human contact? Why does anyone think that’s a good idea? Why are C-sections so routine? Far more than in any other country? It’s very hard to believe that these are healthy practices. I also wonder why these issues are even considered to be controversial in the first place. I mean, these are really issues that have more to do with science than with religion or politics. Why do people get passionately worked up about these things? I also wonder why someone can’t bring up these issues without getting considered a crackpot, or why you can’t have a reasonable, civil, mature conversation about these issues without the conversation dissolving into a bunch of lame jokes. I wonder why people get worked up or uncomfortable about these matters.

(I actually know the answers to these questions. But you should think about these matters yourself.)

Yeah, watch a cartoon. ☺

Skip Pitts from Loaded Pictures on Vimeo.

Peace,

Dave Roel.

He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.

- Nietzsche

Alto Assistance

I started taking voice lessons recently and it turns out I'm an alto, which-- if I'm not mistaken-- is the lowest female voice range. It also turns out that most of the music I listen to involves a female singer who's way out of my range (i.e. Bjork). Or a male singer. Which, while it's totally still great music, can be a little frustrating to practice with. So I've started looking into female artists with a classifiably "alto" range and my search has yielded some pretty great things:

• I'll start with the more obvious/popular findings-- Amy Winehouse and Adele are both altos. I've never really been into their music, but that's a thing.
• So is Lady Gaga, but personally I lost interest in her beyond The Fame Monster.
• Lorde is an alto. This is probably most evident on "Ribs".
• Haim are, collectively, altos. Which is most evident on "My Song 5".
• Solange, who you may know as Beyonce's sister-- and who has a way more attainable vocal range-- is an alto.
• St. Vincent is probably also an alto, and she has really cool hair.
• Marina & The Diamonds is-- well, based on her first album, I feel like she's an alto with a really strong head voice/falsetto, but I could absolutely be wrong about that.

If anyone's interested in taking voice lessons but can't afford it, in terms of time and/or money, there's a surprising amount of Youtube videos that provide free singing lessons. It's obviously not the same as having someone in the flesh telling you what you, specifically, are doing, but it's a start.

Check out St. Vincent's newish alto-friendly video below.

Stay classy,

Caitlin. 

Beyond the internet

Not everything's on the internet. The research that was done for decades is still largely out in those ink-on-paper journals, untransferred to any searchable electronic format. That means for some assignments or some papers, we'll have to hit those databases to find some of the references. These resources are available to us as students.

EBSCO is available to us with a wide array of databases to be mined for useful references. Academic journals, with resources and references for literature, English, consumer issues, health, business, history, etc., are all available. If your research has anything to do with education, you'll want to hit ERIC, Education Resource Information Center, with 1.3 million records and 323,000 full-text documents, dating back to 1966. LexisNexis is an enormous legal and journalistic resource. All these databases and more are available through the library or through the links on My Gateway, comme ça:

You'll notice that the top link there is ask a librarian. That's always a can't-miss way to get what you need: "This is what I'm looking for, where can I find it?" If you’re stuck, not finding exactly what you need, that’ll clear the logjam.

Books and articles are labeled with subject terms which can be searched. Knowing the right terms is important in searching. Some terms are pretty esoteric and unfamiliar. EBSCO uses the Library of Congress subject terms, of which there are hundreds of thousands. The librarian can direct you to subject terms that might be more efficacious.

The resources we have available reaches far beyond the internet. Be sure to make use of them. ☺

Peace,

Dave Roel.

Change is inevitable; growth is optional.

- John C. Maxwell

Impermanence

Every one of the main players in the current technological scene will vanish within your lifetime, vanish as definitively and totally as MySpace, GeoCities or Bell Telephone. Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft — these giants will not last forever. They will doubtlessly not last another two decades. They will be replaced by others, who will, in their turn, be replaced by others, still. They will be replaced by products and services that we currently don't even have names for or concepts for. Nothing lasts forever, and technology moves at an ever more quickening pace.

Everything you own and use and work with regularly will be destroyed. Devices and software and apps are obsolete the instant they are available. The churn is increasing. There is no longer any stability or security in any area of life. The future is impossible to predict or prepare for. Every field is disrupted, every hot development and technology and phenomenon will eventually be abandoned, often within a decade. For better or for worse, that’s our legacy.

The friends I know who work in technology or communication tell me that basically, it’s all completely new stuff every seven years. Whatever you were doing seven years ago is all completely gone, and everything you’re now dealing with is all stuff that’s been introduced in the last seven years.

As a society, we need a better relationship with our past, with our detritus, with our refuse, even our digital garbage. We need better ways of recycling and composting.

Here’s a cartoon. ☺

Rubix by Chris Kelly from Dezeen on Vimeo.

Peace,

Dave Roel.

The original purpose of government and religion was to create a world where they were no longer needed.

- R. Talmadge Lacy

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