I love that this is the question.  I love this question right now. 

I have been without a voice for a couple of days - a seeming side affect of having the flu (a mild case in comparison to some around here).  today i could not go to work at my 911 job because of a lack of voice.  as tink said, "I hate it when I call 911 and a mime answers".  that made me laugh (silently). 

so, last night I was kind of lonely when adam was at work and I was at home on the sofa with a fever and no voice.  farland called to say hi and when I answered she couldn't hear me.  I really had to struggle to let her know I was there. 

It looked like another lonely night at home with adam at work and saving my weak voice for work tomorrow, when I remembered that I can still type and I can still chat online and I can still listen to music.  why did it not occur to me last night that music was still an option?  my ears aren't broken?  well --- tonight adam went off to work and I fired up my iTunes and I'm listening to Lhasa de Sela now.  and it's making me feel amazing --- I'm dancing around in my pjs and singing along in my head and hearing things that I haven't heard before in this music even though I've listened many many times.  some of the spanish words mean something to me now, whereas before they were simply gorgeous mysteries.  I love listening to music with complexity in the composition and mystery in the lyrics -- particularly music with lyrics in a language I don't speak.  as I learn to speak and understand spanish each of these songs changes for me.  like solving a puzzle. 

as I danced and listened I decided to try to catch up on the laundry.  so as I'm folding laundry and putting it away I'm taking out certain articles of clothing to send to the thrift store-- the ones that aren't me anymore and I put some of them on to find out if they are still me or maybe not- and I put on the one in the photo above, thinking it's not really me anymore and then, once it's on, and I'm dancing in it, I think, why not??  it feels different now than last time and I think it must be the music I'm listening to.  I decide to keep it, the dress, and to wear it at home when I'm alone and dance and feel beautiful and mysterious.  

lhasa de sela radio on last.fm
lhasa biography on last.fm

I know I posted a lhasa video last time I popped up here, but I think that's okay.  each time I listen to her music I hear something new, inside of something comfortable and familiar, and each time I try to find a link to post here, I learn something new about her. 

it's her album, "the living road" that I am most enamoured of. 

gracias por leer.

xoxo
~d

hmmmm.  I've found several new friends at school this semester and last semester.  the largest smile on my face this month was when I was leaving the library after spending an hour taking turns reading to a new friend in spanish and having her read to me in english.  her first language is spanish and my first language is english so we were able to help each other with pronunciation and comprehension.  I learned a few other things from my new friend too and tomorrow we are going to spend another hour reading to each other and learning from each other before class.  I don't know if I found her or she found me, but we are happy to have found one another.  :-)  I feel like every day is an opportunity to find a new friend or be found by one or to rediscover an old friend or be rediscovered by one.  and of course, everyday is an opportunity to renew and refresh the friendships that I am surrounded by everyday, through appreciation.  :-)

the photograph is from my phone, it's the view from the restaurant where I went to study tonight.  it was incredibly noisy because a football game was playing on the tv in the bar area and people were cheering their heads off.  perhaps it was an unlikely place to get some studying done, but it was the best 1 and half hours of study time I've gotten in all week.  I guess I just needed some deafening white noise to be able to think straight.  ???