Life update

[luzula]

I just watched the Eurovision Song Contest with a bunch of friends, and we had a lot of fun mocking the various contributions. Among other things, there were half-naked men in glittery Greek warrior outfits.

On a more serious note, I'm having trouble with my voice again. I held an hour-long seminar on Wednesday, and I'm still feeling the effects of that. (For those new to my journal, I'm a mathematician, and I currently have a post-doctoral position at a university. I got phonasthenia from too much teaching this fall.) The thought struck me that I might actually never be able to teach again, and then I'd have to leave university and do something else entirely. This would be kind of a pity, because I like teaching. But there's also part of me that feels like it's a teeny, tiny bit liberating. I wonder what I'd do.

But anyway, I have one and a half years left of my research-only, no-teaching position, and I'm working with a speech therapist again, so I have some time to figure out if it'll work. (If you're wondering how I can podfic--I never do that more than 10 minutes a day, and I am much more in control of that situation, compared to teaching.)

For now, please comment at the LJ entry.

Comments

[j-s-cavalcante.livejournal.com]

Yikes! Luz, we NEED your voice!

Also, and more to the point, YOU need it. Here's my suggestion: go to a real voice teacher. Not a speech teacher, but a teacher trained in the classical Italian method of singing. Such a one saved my voice after I was hurting it with traditional Bulgarian singing. Also, I dunno if you've seen a documentary on the home for aged singers that Verdi endowed...but there are singers there in their 90s and 100s who still have excellent voices!

The important thing is to always project with AIR, not stiffening your vocal cords.

Talking is far harder on the voice than singing, and shouting even moreso, but you can learn how to project properly so that you don't hurt your voice. And I don't think most speech teachers know that much about it, but I do know that good voice teachers do.

HUGS...*wraps your voice in fluffy, healing vibes* :)

[exeterlinden.livejournal.com]

I just watched the Eurovision Song Contest with a bunch of friends, and we had a lot of fun mocking the various contributions. Among other things, there were half-naked men in glittery Greek warrior outfits.

Heeh! Isn't it funny how - even though Russia was banning the gay pride parade today because of the Eurovision - that the contest itself is the campest, gayest thing around ever?! I actually voted for Ukraine... You have to reward that kind of cheesy behaviour...

[luzula]

Okay, not sure if I got the right word here...*checks Wikipedia*. The person I'm going to is the equivalent of a speech-language pathologist. They have four years of education and work at hospitals. I went to three sessions with a speech-language pathologist before Christmas, and then I moved to a new town and had to wait before I could get a new one. Anyway, I've learned a lot more from them than I have from the song teacher I went to for a while. (Don't know the English word here either--in Swedish it's "sångpedagog"--but she had a degree from a musical college.)

The important thing is to always project with AIR, not stiffening your vocal cords.

See, I get this now, but I went a semester with the song teacher without me getting it. She was forever saying things in metaphors, like "you have to feel centered in your belly", instead of explaining how speech (and song) actually works.

Anyway, I can now use the right technique in simple exercises, like saying nonsense words, or short phrases where I don't have to think about the meaning of the words. I can do fairly well while singing or reading out loud. But I can't yet do normal speech expressing a normal range of emotions while using the right vocal technique, especially not if there are other things I have to think about at the same time (as there are in almost any situation). And being nervous about it makes it worse, of course, and it makes it feel like there's a big lump in my throat. But I will keep working at it.

Anyway, thanks for listening! *hugs*

[luzula]

Yeah, that really is ironic! And if I'd voted for anything, I'd probably have picked the Ukraine, too. *g*

[secretlybronte.livejournal.com]

Little late to the party...

See, I absolutely understand the whole liberating thing of, "What if I got fired?" or "What if I couldn't do this job anymore because I couldn't hold lectures?" The thing is... that's no way to make a choice. Which you know. The best thing is to have every avenue open and then be able to choose. Choosing by having choices eliminated involuntarily is... well, unpleasant.

From a purely selfish perspective, having been a math student, good math teachers are rare birds. It is so hard to find someone in the maths and sciences who explains things well. And I think it's so valuable to women to see another woman who has been successful in such a male-dominated field (perhaps that's not as much of a problem in Sweden?). So, while you should absolutely do what makes you happy, I do think that what you do is important. That you're a good role model.

Also, it just kind of blows to keep losing your voice when you should be able to, you know, speak. I hope the speech therapy helps this time around. Keep us up to date!

[luzula]

Choosing by having choices eliminated involuntarily is... well, unpleasant.

Yeah, I know. And it's not like I was actually wishing my voice won't get better. I think it's more that it let me seriously consider that I could do something else if I wanted to. Not that I'm unhappy in my current job, but there's apparently a part of me that wants to do something else. This is a luxury problem, I know.

And I think it's so valuable to women to see another woman who has been successful in such a male-dominated field (perhaps that's not as much of a problem in Sweden?).

Yeah, that's true. And no, there are not many women in mathematics in Sweden. (In southern Europe, for whatever reason, it's a lot more common.)

And thanks for the good wishes! My voice is a bit better today.