on the verge

Current Mood: pensive

Somehow this wacky work schedule that I have opened up for a bit this month, and I just got back a few days ago from a whole week home, and I have to say it was one of the best visits home I can remember. Some highlights:

Got to hang out with Jared (one of Sis's college friends). Went swimming a lot. Burned myself lighting some rockass fireworks that we bought from a shady guy. Ate me some Gold Star chili. Visited Sis and Bradley's church and got to see what that was like - and hear Sis read one of her poems. Ate some of Dad's grill cookin'. Heard from an old friend that I kinda had fallen out of contact with. Gave some presents, got some presents like Bradley's old TV tuner card and a Carson Palmer jersey for my upcoming trip to Green Bay. Saw my Grandma's new apartment and learned some stuff about my grandparents. Rode a bike into a pool. Watched some great new movies. Went to a waterpark with some of my family courtesy of a family friend- and got my first sunburn. I ate downtown and tried sushi for the first time.

It was kinda like a whole summer break of fun compressed into a whole week. Awesome.

One other thing I got to do, which I'm setting aside as a special mention, was go target shooting with Mom and her fiancee Scott.

I've got "learn basic marksmanship" on my LoTtDBID. Previously, I've gone to the callout of the Purdue Rifle and Pistol Club and fired some handguns, I'd taken potshots at turtles with some small .22 rifles at Ronnie's house (waaaay back in the day), and fired some rifles and pistols with Kamikaze last summer. Still, I've never considered any of those any formal test of my ability, which is why I was excited to get to go target shooting. Up until that day the best I would say was that I'd messed around with some weapons but nothing more.

We went to the Elk Creek Hunt Club, a national target shooting circuit stop in Kentucky. I shot 12 and 20 gauge shotguns at small clay targets that were launched into the air by a mechanical thrower. I've never fired a shotgun before, never at a moving target, never at clay targets, and was using unfamiliar guns at a strange course - and I think I did pretty well.

Scott gave me a quick tutorial, and from there I shot four times at each of the 14 stations (for a total of 56 rounds, instead of the standard 100, to save money). The target shooting reminded me very much of Duck Hunt or similar games (which I suppose is the point) - except that it was much harder, and the targets moved with much more variety. For example, some arced down from over my right shoulder, some pairs criss-crossed, others rolled across the ground (called "rabbits"). I would guess that being good at shooting video games is a crossover skill to target shooting? I also learned the scoring system, the etiquette for being the thrower, and s'more gun safety. I ended up with a 54% accuracy over the entire course, with my best station being 4 of 4, and my worst 1 for 4.

I'm now a bit more confident that I can handle a gun, should the unthinkable happen.



And while I was home I really missed doing improv. It's been a long while since I've felt that...

quarbolous

Current Mood: you are just in time for moviestime

Here's a little tip.

If you watch a foreign film, and the first five minutes seem confusing, one of two things is probably happening:

1) It's a foreign film. Subtitles and SparkNotes help, but you're out of your element here, so just hang on, watch carefully, and try to watch body language and facial expressions to catch what's going on. Cut yourself some slack!

2) You're a dumbass. You put the DVD in upside-down and are watching side 2, which is why the action started without warning, there was no title screen or credits, and you don't know who any of the characters are.

On a related note, I recently watched Das Boot (recommended to me by several people). I'm trying to use my Netflix subscription to watch some classic movies as part of my LoTtdBID. I thought it was a really good (if lengthy) film and recommend it, especially if you like war films, specifically submarine films.



Additionally, Bradley shared a video with me the other day that I found fairly offensive, but also hilarious. Alex told me it was flat out "the worst thing he'd ever seen in his entire life". Curious?

a shot of financial heroin

Current Mood: great!
Current Music: "Somebody To Love" by Brittany Murphy, Happy Feet Soundtrack

A few months back, I wrote an epic post which mentioned a large but unfinished list. A list which chronicled my road to being a polymath. So, as I turn 21, I commit to writing my best attempt to compile the List of Things to do Before I Die:

The Arts
* see a Broadway play (on Broadway)
X get published (the Literary Edition at Purdue University: story 1, story 2)
* take it to the next level (get published in a more prestigious publication)
* take voice lessons
X perform for a large group (improv comedy with the Ship of Fools, Elliott Hall of Music for 1500 people)
* take it to the next level (larger crowd)
X write a novel (finished!)
* improve my improv (classes, perhaps professional workshop)
* be in a rock band
* write a rock song
* dance one amazing dance (this would require some practice)
* learn the Thriller dance

Education
* attend the ISDC
* read a dozen great pieces of literature (pick from a list)
* see a dozen great films (pick from list 1, 2)
* finish my college degree (B.S. AET)
* get SCUBA certified
* use my SCUBA skills to go on a big dive
X solo an airplane (Cessna 152, 2003)
* finish pilot's license
* take it to the next level (additional ratings or types)
* have a working knowledge of a foreign language (I've got a decent start in French, and a few Spanish vocab words)
* own a patent
X conquer differential equations (I passed it. Barely, but I passed.)
X learn a real secret handshake (I can't say who or what for, though)

Skills
* basic bartending
* horseback riding
X marksmanship (target shooting day)
* light a match with a rifle shot
X juggling three things
* take it to the next level (4 things)
* learn some yo-yo tricks
* ride a unicycle
* learn unarmed combat (Krav Maga sounds good)
* acquire and utilize a slide rule
X First Aid certified
* learn to parallel park and drive a stick-shift
* learn scoutcraft

My Body
* bench press my own body weight (I came within 10 pounds in high school once)
* grow my hair past my shoulders (I came within a few inches last year)
* shave my head
* grow a beard
* get a hot shave
* donate a gallon of blood plus 2 units
* donate my body to science (this should probably go last)
* fix my eyesight
* pass a swim test (see: failure)

Adventure
X be an experiment subject (voice study)
* visit somewhere where I stick out like a sore thumb
* navigate by the stars
* hike the Appalachian Trail
* go skydiving
* drive the Pan-American Trail
* go dog-mushing
* go cattle ranching
* explore all major biomes
* swim in every ocean
* go white-water rafting
* complete a marathon
* complete the Ironman competition
* ski somewhere gorgeous (like Colorado)
* live off the grid for a month
* break the sound barrier
* call upon my Second
* witness Aurora Borealis
* live on a farm for a year
* base jumping
* go urban exploring in a strange city
* be an experiment
* hunt a deadly animal
* cross the International Date Line
* ride a limousine
* see the Statue of Liberty
X attend an NFL game (2008, Bengals vs. Colts in the new Lucas Oil Stadium)
* ride along with a cop for a shift
* fly a P-51 Mustang fighter
* drive a super dangerous road

Other
* get married
* have a family
* save a life (whether or not I did the one time is debatable, so I'll leave it at no)
X be a mentor (Andrew Blatt)
* get stoned and watch Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin
* get it on to "Let's Get It On"
X go to a strip club
X get a lap dance
* meet a celebrity
* eat a 5-star last meal
* get in a scuffle
* do the dine and dash
X be a model (Purdue brochure)
* make a half court shot
* be on the Jumbotron at a major sporting event
* own and drive a Corvette
* earn more than my father
* work a salary job
* win a unique award
* anonymously pay for somebody's dinner
X participate in a world record (Firefox Download Day 2008)
* buy a round of drinks
* disappear for a lengthy time
* complete my space memorabilia and archive collection (probably an ongoing project)
* tour a nuclear reactor, power plant
* go to a fancy premiere
X light a lighter during a power ballad (Styx/REO Speedwagon concert)
X go to a comic-con (GenCon with Alex and John)
* test drive a car I clearly am not going to buy
X make an enemy (name witheld for security purposes)
X kiss under mistletoe
* ride a taxi
* fly first class
* ride a rickshaw
* get hammered
X host a dinner-mystery party (A Taste For Wine and Murder with the SoF)
* weld something
* tie and wear a bowtie
X have dinner with a stranger


Of course, it should go without saying that I'd also like to go into space. That's my life dream. I'd rather have that than the entire list combined.

Anyway, I will attempt to update the list with completed goals, as well as adding more. I'm 21, and that's supposed to be the peak of my physical state, so I best get busy checkin' things off. Suggestions for the list, anyone?

full circle

Current Mood: debatable
Current Music: "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow" by The Soggy Bottom Boys

To start off, I will admit that one of the things on my "list of things to do before I die" (LoTtdBID) is:

to participate in a research study of some kind

A bit of an odd choice, I know, but I kinda wanted to see what it was like. To be numbered, isolated from the other lab mice and get paid to do something that for the most part has nothing to do with me. It's always been humorous or glamorous in movies and cartoons- perhaps evaluating a new product or even giving your opinion of a new food. Plus, it's almost always easy money- I'm a broke college student with free time. It's right! It fits!

Finally, after last week, I can cross that one off my list. Ashleigh, one of the other Hillenbrand OAs is a graduate reasearch student in the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences department here at Purdue and asked for some volunteers.

The study is focusing on testing the effects of humidity on human voice. Over a period of two weeks there are four 2 hour sessions. I was paid a handsome sum of $80.00!

The first session was mostly paperwork and tests. After several unsucessful attempts by the students administering the test, I finally overcame the gag reflex and performed an endoscopy on my own throat (quite an odd feeling). Next was a bit of spirometry measuring my total lung capacity, which is something I remember doing a few years ago prior to some surgery. Ever the competitive one, I learned I can voluntarily expell 96% of my internal lung capacity, when the average is only 80%. Lastly, they did some baseline measurement of my rest breathing with bands around my abdomen and ribcage. I was told that I had a much higher incidence of ribcage breathing (atypical), which I atributed to the feeling I sometimes remember of being stuck in my back brace, which always too tight for me to take a full deep breath in. I restorted to breathing more in my ribs to take in more air without meeting the oppressive resistance of the back brace. I still do it to this day.

The other three days are a series of vocal exercises at high, medium, and low humidities. First was a warm up session, in which I was led through some vocal exercises to "train" my voice to the best data gathering range and sound as possible. Following were periods of 5, 15, and 25 minutes of rest breathing, first nasal and then oral. After each period of rest, I was cued to make the "p" sound at my comfortable speaking pitch, my lowest, and then highest comfortable notes. Breathing, pressure, tone, frequency, pitch, and volume were all measured. The hardest part was making the best "p" for the sensors to record- faster, slower, higher, lower, more "PUH", less "pee", things like that.

My favorite part of the study was the vocal range. I was told to match piano notes as high and as low as I could. The conductors of the study seemed notably impressed with my vocal range*. The lead faculty member was surprised to learn that I had not had professional voice training! Again, in a moment of competitive curiosity I asked what my range was. The average human (boy or girl), I was told had a range of 25-30 semitones, or individual notes on a keyboard. Twelve semitones comprise a complete octave. From my lowest clear note to the highest falsetto note was right around 50 semitones. That's four full octaves, from D2 to D6 (73 to 1174 Hz)! I was reaching pitches the women in the room had trouble clearly sounding.

I've long since learned to stop being embarassed at having a higher pitched voice. I was told that this range means I am a tenor. Some famous tenors include:

David Bowie
Phil Collins (Genesis)
Roger Daltrey (The Who)
Ronnie James Dio (Black Sabbath, Dio)
Peter Gabriel (Genesis)
Ian Gillan (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath)
David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
Sammy Hagar (Van Halen)
Michael Jackson
Brian Johnson
Paul McCartney
Don McLean
Steve Perry (Journey)
Robert Plant (fuckin' Led fuckin' Zeppelin)
Tommy Shaw (Styx)
The Three (Tenors)
Pete Townshend (The Who)
Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)
Weird Al
Neil Young

and of course, my musical idol

Freddie Mercury

Tenors are the highest male singing voice, and in opera and classical pieces typically portray the sympathetic hero, such as Jesus (Jesus Christ Superstar), Fiyero (Wicked), Tony (West Side Story), and Seymour Krelborn (Little Shop of Horrors). Of course, other tenors I'm not so impressed by include Clay Aiken, Antonio Banderas, Bono, Kenny Chesney, lead singer of Coldplay Chris Martin, that no-talent ass clown Michael Bolton.

I'm all about this site, a detailed study of Freddie's voice, including the range and characteristics, such as his overbite. Two of his highest and most famous notes:

E4, in the Flash Gordon theme
and
Eb4, in Somebody to Love

are regular practice for me, and well within my range (and something I show off from time to time, haha). I have no problem with Journey, Styx, all manner of Queen, and other higher pitched classic rock artists.

In short, having the empirical data to quantify it, I am now much more confident in my singing ability. I feel that it has gone from a private hobby to a much more social talent. I practice singing (with my computer/jukebox) for at least an hour every day, usually while doing homework, playing games, or cleaning things. I enjoy singing! It's not girly! This brings me one step closer to my (secondary) dream of being a rock star. Perhaps I should hang out with Eric and Greg more...

And finally, with this discovery (of my range) and crossing an item off my list, I am now adding a new one:

take voice lessons




*A discussion of vocal range is needed to clarify a few points. First, having a large vocal range does not mean one can sing well or sound good. Also, this was not a professional voice measurement, and the last few high notes did not have outstanding vocal quality, though I was able to produce them. Some people do not include falsetto in their vocal range, since it is of limited utility. I consider it crucial in my vocal endeavours, however, imitating my favorite artists, so I will keep it in.