The Colors of Noise

While my preference is to have a book in hand, I do have some books that I've downloaded from Amazon and read through their cloud reader.  One way to be part of the family while still concentrate on the reading while in the midst of others watching TV is to don some headphones.

Unfortunately, I cannot listen to music and read the stuff that I'm trying to understand--even if I'm trying to only get a glancing blow of understanding.  (Currently I'm reading David Bohm's Wholeness and the Implicate Order; if I get 10% of it, I will feel like I've achieved something).


Data below shamefully co-opted from here: 

Colour                 Range                    Sounds like

Violet               15-30KHz           Gas escaping, angry snake
Blue                   7-15KHz            Light breeze, aerosol, hihats
Green               3kHz-7KHz         Bacon frying, acid on concrete
Yellow              1kHz-3KHz         Rain, distant waterfall
Orange            500Hz-1KHz        River, city ambience
Red                 250Hz-500Hz      Airplane cabin, train/car interior
Brown              50Hz-250Hz       Thunder, distant plane/rocket
Black                   0-50Hz            Explosion rumble, near infrasonic, subbass


If you have a set of headphones and wish to dissolve outside noise, may I recommend a 'deep brown' or smoothed brown noise for your consummption.  Here's one of my favorites



Youtube is replete with several rendition.  Brown noise sounds like riding in an airplane, though I see this description relegated to red noise.

In honor of David Bowie's passing, donning some ear phones and listening to some brown noise and pretending to be Rocket Man and remembering this great talent would be a fitting tribute.

Tao Teh Ching

Eastern 'stuff' has always resonated with me more than western.  I think that so much of it has to do with the broader scope of the philosophy, the centeredness on the seeker, and right action, right mindset over right belief.  I don't believe in a 'right belief'.  Too often I have seen 'right belief' become wrong action.  I believe in the mathematics of the polarization of belief and action, so a right and a wrong cannot possible have a positive consequence.

In my excavation of my office, I came across one of my favorite books, The Complete Works of Lao Tzu; Tao Teh Ching and Hua Hu Ching, translation and elucidation by Hua-Ching Ni.  It is easy to forget that cultural overtones that are captured in the way that we express ourselves in language are not easily translatable.  I've read several different translations of Rumi's works.  While I believe the essence is captured, the nuances are flavored differently.  It is a reminder of our own unique way of representing our understanding.  We read.  Comprehend.  Integrate.  Translate. Write.  Anything after the first written word becomes part of the translator's internal world.

I write this as if I've ever translated anything.  I have not.  But being on the other end...a reader of  translated works, I see that this is so.  Observation, not critique.

One of the lovely things over books v. digital media is that they have a physical presence in our lives.  I've books all over my home--picked up in a fancy to read this or that, or fancied because I spied it.  I spied this translation under the printer stand (1).  I t must have fallen off the shelf underneath.  I have many turned over pages in my books.  This one no exception.

As I thumbed through a few of the passages that I marked, the ideals of harmony, balance, compassion, humility were featured. However this could be said of all passages in the book.  I'm glad the book fell from the shelf.

That there are such books as these written 2500+ years ago, is a reminder that the same ideals are as important today as they were then.  And dismally, that we've not progressed very far in embracing these ideals.

Sigh.









(1)  A nice wooden printer stand with an interior shelf from which the paper wood feed from a box underneath.  The LARGE printer (on which I have my two monitors and keyboard now) would sit on top.  Because of the feeder slot, this works perfectly for my computer set up.

Microwave Fritz and Other Random Thoughts

My Panasonic microwave died.  I will not say an ignominious death.  There were no sparks, smoke or other dramatics.  Rather it was simply a hum-buzz, hum-buzz, hum-buzz and then shut down with no forewarning.  It worked that night.  It kaputzed overnight.  Sigh. 

I use my microwave nearly everyday.  Oatmeal.  Defrosting food for the canine vermin in my household.  Warm up coffee. Soften butter.  Boil water. Heat up leftovers.  Cook canned and frozen vegetables. It's greate to "mostly" cook 'baked" potatoes that are steamed in the microwave and then finished them off in the toaster oven. I think that they turn out better than all baked.

I don't "cook" with the microwave per se.  I don't bake cakes or cook meats or anything else.  It is the front end (defrost) and back end (warm up) except for oatmeal.  I realize that I may have cheated myself out of shortcuts all of these years.  But because I 'cook', I have plenty of leftovers, and nothing is more left-over friendly than the microwave.

I am rather partial to the Inverter (constant power at less than 100%)  technology on Panasonic, as well as their effective turbo defrost (enter weight, and enjoy thoroughly defrosted (not cooked) foods). So, those features make me brand loyal, though I would expect these microwaves to last a wee bit longer.  I get the full wattage (1250), full capacity (2.0 cf).  I ordered one from Amazon, taking advantage of their warehouse deals, which can be (and was) significant in savings.  Better yet, it arrives today after ordering it yesterday. (!@#$@#^#$%^^ WTF is it?)  It helps to have a warehouse just a couple of counties away.

Resolution Front: While I made no formal resolutions, I am re-embracing David Allen's Getting Things Done System. It is simple, elegant, and it works.  However, like most things, to get the results, you have to do the work.  You don't get six-pack abs by watching You Tube videos on how-to-get-six-pack abs.  You simply have to do the heavy lifting.

So it is with organization.  Like the smoker who tries to quit numerous times, I am the organizer who starts numerous times.  Sadly I'm one of those highly receptive people--meaning simply that almost everything interests me--so breadth is wide and I dive deep.  That means that time and energy spent on mundane things suffers.

KANBANFLOW to the rescue.  I have been using this wonderful product for sometime now.  It has a Pomodoro overlay.  It helps me plan and stay organized on specific tasks. Most importantly, for routine tasks, it helps me look at time it takes, and allows for some active thinking on how to make tasks more efficient.

So, I'm Kanbanning my way through 2015's accumulated stuff.  My goal is to have all things in order by the end of the month.  Yeah, that sounds like alot of time.  It is.  But for most of 2015 I had an accumulation of stuff--(and that was an add on to pre 2015).  So, like the overweight person who needs to shed a few pounds, what has accumulated over years, takes a little time to whittle away.

Now time to whittle.


New Year



We were invited to a neighbor's house for festivities.  The challenge is to make it to midnight.  I managed to stay up until 1:30 a.m.  We were with people we have known most of our adult lives; we had plenty of food, drink and great conversation.

I just got off the phone with my sister.  She said to me in no uncertain terms, "It's New Year's day, it's not a big deal."  New Year's is a big deal for me.  It's a time for contemplation and reflection away from the demands of the other holidays.

 However, we should treat each day as holding that promise. So in that respect, it shouldn't be a big deal. I've yet to find a different version of myself in any subsequent year.  Nevertheless, I remain hopeful that in some alternate universe there is a thinner, more fit, smarter version of me.  I'll settle with that I can simply be author of whatever chapters I choose to write in this year's book of life-taking an "I can't" and transforming it into an "I can." For me that is tackling developing some basic drawing skills.

I hope that you have a splendid day and find time for contemplation and reflection--not just for today but each day--and that you write a few pages in your book of life this year that will bring satisfaction.

Tennis Elbow

Geez...I have had a blank post up about.  I guess my elbow hurt too much....

I have developed tennis elbow from something other than tennis.  My only other regular activity is computer stuff--and this year alot of it.  I think that my ergonomics were comprised when my new computer was set up while maintaining my old computer on the printer table (1) behind me which provided the best level. 

At the margin, small increments matter over time. Whether you are producing widgets or typing in a mechanically compromised way (poor leverage of reach and height), the good or the bad builds up fast.  In my case 12-17 hour days over a period of some months is the cause of my tendonitis.

I had a minor pain (prior to realizing what the problem was), and received a cortisone shot which completely eliminated the pain.  Unfortunately, the shot masked the problem entirely, so I did not have a chance to understand that the nascent symptoms were escalating under the veneer of the cortisone.

When the cortisone shot wore off, I realized how much inflammation I was experiencing.  It is bad enough where my regular routine is compromised---cooking, cleaning, working (computer), all contributing to the pain.  And bumping that sore area against a door jam is wince-inducing.

I've tried the arm band.  It felt good at first, but the benefit was either transitory or illusory.  It is possible that I'm just using it incorrectly.  I've avoided anti-inflammatory meds, but I'm simply not winning this battle.  Ice/heat combo provides some of the best relief. I'm not ruling out that I'm doing something strange with my arm during sleep that is exacerbating my symptoms.

I'm unused to having joint pain prevent normal activities.  I have a great empathy for folks with the chronic joint pain (from systemic or injury/use issues).  Husbando says that I just have to rest it completely, and that I should consider a sling.  

Right.

Douglas Van Howd Print

I was at a consignment shop and spied an English Setter flushing quail print.  The artist was Douglas Van Howd. The print is 119/750 and signed by the artist.  I didn't know who the artist was...in fact, I hadn't discerned the artist's signature until yesterday.  Been too busy to look. You can read about him here.

It's a largish 31.5"H x 39.5"W, and features an orange-belton English Setter flushing a covey of quail.  There's a pastoral quality to the print.  There is no title to the print unless it is beneath the matting. I did manage to stumble upon a picture of it after trying many key words. "Douglas van hows fall flush" was the one that finally yielded a hit.  I forget what I paid for it, less than $90 and far less than what it would have cost to frame the print alone.

I really love the way that it captures the point-movement of the Setter.

No I don't hunt, and my English Setters hunt and point whatever is in their periphery--mostly squirrels and biscuits. 

Sofa

My search for a new sofa ended thanks to Craigslist.  I found a beautiful Classic Leather, Keswick, sofa, pictured above, in like-new condition.  I paid $700 for it v ~$3700 that it would cost new.  Still, it was a premium price for a 10 year old sofa; but a difficult thing to find used in the condition that I wanted. Given the price I paid to the price that I would have had to pay, it was a good deal.  I gave my previous furniture to my daughter as it was in need of being reupholstered.  I had already upholstered 2x and slipcovered 1x.  I wanted to get something durable as we will sit on this piece every single day.

 My other furniture, made around 1930, ,had the most beautiful scale to it--smaller, very well made, with exposed carved wood on the base, the arm front face and the wings.  My daughter had the sofa reupholstered with companion fabrics for her chairs.  The sofa turned out beautifully.  It's worth noting that it costs as much to have a sofa reupholstered in a quality fabric as it costs to get a new sofa.  So, it is no wonder that people just toss out the old and get new.

My 'replacement' sofa was simply a sofa I had used to stage houses that I had bought for $150 at Rainbow Thrift and LGBT community thrift store.  It was like new, but it was singularly the most uncomfortable piece of furniture I had ever sat upon.  Out with the old to the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters thrift and in with the new-old from people rehoming furniture.

The dogs, of course, were quite keen to sit on it first.

I have a leather loveseat that I purchased at a good discount from Haverty's 15 years ago. Unfortunately, the leather on the cushions on the seat spots are now completely worn through--that is surely showing the love.  This piece is the most singularly comfortable piece I have ever sat in.  It is perfect for watching TV.  Back is propped up by the comfy arms and the opposite arm makes the greatest foot rest.  I'm not sure if I'm ready to let this one go yet!  Reade suggests that he should get out the gorilla tape. 

It may come to that.