Skip to main content

wotd: cacophony

cacophony \kuh-KAH-fuh-nee\, noun:
1. Harsh or discordant sound; dissonance.
2. The use of harsh or discordant sounds in literary composition.

When I was emerging through college into young adulthood and marriage, I couldn't bear more than one noise going on at a time. If I was talking on the phone I couldn't have the radio on; if the radio was on I couldn't have the TV on; if the TV was on I couldn't be talking on the phone; and around it goes. I don't know what switch flipped for me, but I can filter all those sounds now and concentrate on just one. I can listen to an audiobook in the same room with Dave watching FlashForward on hulu and Jack playing Super Mario Bros. on the Wii. Cassie starts barking, adding to the cacophony, and I listen blissfully as Lyra and Will cross the river into the land of the dead in The Amber Spyglass. Multiple discordant noise doesn't bother me anymore.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

wedding gift

On Saturday Dave's cousin Traci is getting married. At the last minute we decided to fly to Ames for the wedding and to see everyone who will be in attendance there. At the last minute, I decided to crochet a throw as a wedding gift. I just finished. The colors in this first picture are true; the other two pictures were taken with flash so the colors look brighter than they really are. I started last Monday night with 7 skeins of Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick in Periwinkle. It's 72 single crochet in the back loop only for as many rows as you want. Then single crochet around in a contrasting color. I chose Wine. I bought the yarn at Big Lots for half the retail price. It's long and skinny but very texturally appealing. Though all skeins were of the same dye lot, you can see that the top and bottom skein are definitely different, not so much in color as in texture. It's pure dumb luck that they ended up at the top and bottom. It's not perfect, but neither is mar...
5 comments
Read more

in which I get knocked down

Sickness saps my energy, both physical and mental. It's surprising, really, how seldom I get sick, since I work in a petri dish. When I do get sick it lays me low and happenings that I might normally take in stride just completely knock me down. Last week I was diagnosed with an embarrassing viral infection, the symptoms of which on their own couldn't possibly have dragged me this deep down: sores in my mouth and throat that blistered and peeled and made every mouthful feel and taste like shredded pennies; an itchy rash around my mouth and nose and on my chest. Compounding that: knees that felt packed in hot wax, the backs of my eyeballs aflame. No fever, so no H1N1. Negative strep. Malaise. But I soldiered (martyred?) through most of the week at work, because I could, and some of the other teachers had to stay at home with their diverticulitis and kidney stones. On Thursday night my laptop died. On Friday night I felt I could deal with my weekend obligations. DH went out of t...
5 comments
Read more

memory

10 comments
Read more