Ring Of Fire: The Johnny Cash Musical Show

Hi All!
Yesterday was another musical adventure for Hubby and me! We went to see "Ring of Fire: The Johnny Cash Musical Show." Now, I must admit that while I know who Johnny Cash is (or was - he is dead now), I really never listened to his music. Sure, I had heard it now and then but never deliberately. I also remember seeing him on CMT several years ago singing some song (which turned out to be "Hurt"). Of course Hubby was certain that I was mistaking him for Roy Orbison (or however that is spelled!). For a while even I wasn't sure!

The crowd was rather light for this show. The production started exactly 6 minutes late (thanks for noting that Hubby!) and was pretty much all music with some short narration thrown in for good measure. The musicians were onstage the entire time and there were ten or so singers/cast members who came on and off the stage in various numbers and manners of dress. The set was pretty neat. It was two pieces made to look sort of like two storied shacks from the front and from the back looked industrial with metal bars and stuff. They turned thanks to the elbow grease of the cast members.

The music was good. I was totally unfamiliar with most of it (I think I figured out I had heard of four of the songs and one was "I've Been Everywhere" which is highlighted in the Comfort Inn commercials.). I could appreciate the talent of the singers and the musicians but I didn't get "into" the show as much as I may have if I was more familiar with the repertoire.

I do need to take a minute to talk about the fiddle player. Yes, I said fiddle. I know that the instrument is properly called a violin but in this kind of music - it is truly a fiddle! Anyhow - this guy was talented! He was sawin' away on that fiddle and he also really got into the music doing his own little dance moves. He even did a back bend at one point in the show. I found myself watching him more than everyone else on stage. He was good! His name was Jens Kramer. Kudos to you Jens!

Over all, this was an entertaining show. I don't know that I would clamor to see it again but, once was enjoyable. If you are a really big Johnny Cash show, maybe you would like to make a point to see it. I did buy the CD - which turned out to be a double CD with a total of 39 songs. Of course they are not sung by Johnny but by listening to them I will become more familiar with his music.

Well, that is about it! I will have to tell you about our visit to a Chinese restaurant and our exciting "shopping spree" tomorrow!

Have a fabulous Sunday!

Trisha

Voice Update: Pretty good. I haven't really talked too much today but when I do talk - it is fine. Still not as strong as I would like it and cutting out on a few words here and there. I just charged my Spokeman back up so it is ready for service again. It is almost like a security blanket for me to use the microphone. I know that I can be heard and can relax about trying to make my voice better than it is. If you don't have a personal amplification system - I would recommend looking for one. The Spokeman is reasonably priced and pretty portable! Oh - I can't forget my massage today!

Camera Carrying Concerns

Hi All!

Okay - I am not too great with the camera but I saw this outside one night and just had to snap a few pictures. Between the clouds and the setting sun - it was pretty nice! Not as nice as Pioneer Woman, of course but . . . I guess it is okay.

Seeing so many bloggers with their fabulous pictures, I have been getting the photography "itch." I dug out the manual for my camera to start finding out some of those darn "extra" features. I was pretty excited when I figured out that I could shoot in black and white. Once upon a time, I think I did know that I could do that but . . . I forgot!

As you may know, I walk every morning and I see some really neat things. This morning I actually considered carrying my camera with me on my walk so I could take pictures of the things I see. Then I started thinking about what that would entail.

I walk for the exercise and if I stopped to snap pictures of the things I see - I wouldn't be walking as fast as I need too. Also - all the stopping would add time onto my walk which would interfere with my IMing with my mother - which we do every morning after my walk.

AND - wouldn't I look sort of weird with a camera around my neck while walking down the road? Would people think I was a tourist?

Besides all those issues - if I started taking more pictures and they turned out horrible - what would that do to my self esteem? Can I handle being one of the only bloggers out there who CAN'T take pictures???

The Camera Carrying Concerns continue . . .

Trisha

Voice Update:
Okay - I am feeling fractious today. I don't feel like talking and doing exercises. I am feeling anti-social. maybe my voice will benefit from the rest. I do have to go grocery shopping though and that is perfect voice exercise time. It freaks out the other shoppers and gives me something to do while trolling for food.

My voice is okay. Not as good as it has been but okay. I used my microphone yesterday while walking and it felt a lot better to not be struggling to talk loud enough for Hubby to hear me. I need to do that more.

Rainy Tuesday Musings

Hi All!

Well, I survived the drive into downtown Dallas yesterday with no problems other than a little rain on the way there (which made my neighbor a bit more anxious than normal).

Today is a wonderful rainy day in Dallas. I am one of those weird people who love rain. I blame my mother! Apparently, she didn't want me to be afraid of storms so she would take me out to our porch to watch storms. I grew to love it - the whipping winds, the smell of the rain, the thunder, the flashes of lightning. There is nothing I like better than watching a storm roll through. Of course I do draw the line at the tornado bearing storms. During those I am watching the news or listening to the radio to see if I need to duck into our closet with the kitties to stay safe!

Anyway - it rained for a nice long time this morning and I got to watch. Now it is over so I am on the computer getting everything updated.

This afternoon is the last part of my ASL final and it will be interesting. Our teacher won't be there - she will be out of town - and the head of the department will be giving us our test. That makes me a little nervous because part of the test is writing down what the teacher signs. As each person signs a bit differently having a new person sign to us might be confusing. We are all used to our teacher! Of well - I guess it will just be a new part of the ASL adventure!

Recently, the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association published a new book - Easier Done Than Said: Living with a Broken Voice by Karen Adler Feeley. I have just started reading the book and the first part explains the mechanics of speaking and how SD affects this. Very interesting. If anyone out there is interested, you can order the book through the NSDA's website - http://dysphonia.org/

Voice Update: Okay - I will admit that yesterday I should have used my microphone when I was out to lunch with my neighbor. The restaurant was pretty loud and I KNOW I was pushing to be heard. Not too smart! Today I am paying the price. My voice is not very strong today and a lot more whispery than normal lately. I will definitely take my microphone to lunch today with my friend! I did actually start the massage again and did it yesterday and this morning (yeah!). I am also still doing the reading out loud - much to the dismay of Hubby when I read while he is watching tv! The inhalation is still something I tend to do in the shower. The kitties like to sit just outside the glass shower and watch as I do my inhalation exercises. I wonder if it is something to do with the weird sound!

Have a fabulous day! And Flea - I like visiting your site! I hope your bovine buddies are home soon!

Trisha

Driving in Dallas

Hi All!

Today I am taking my neighbor to the eye doctor in downtown Dallas. My neighbor is a middle-aged woman who is physically and mentally unimpaired. In fact, she teaches Kindergarten, plays Bunco, and all kinds of things. She does drive - she drives to work and back and to the store, etc. However, she does NOT drive on the highways. Interesting.

Anyway - I can sort of understand her point - and fear - about the highways around here. Dallas is an ever expanding city (Metroplex) and the highway system just never seems to catch up. There are way too many cars and way too few highways so the highways that do exist are always crowded. Even at two in the morning (when Hubby and I sometimes get home from the airport) there is a good deal of traffic on the highways. And the traffic doesn't sedately flow - it races along at what seems like superhuman speeds and then clogs up abruptly to clear out and speed off again.

People don't drive in one lane and then plan ahead about when to edge to the right to make their exit. They dodge in and out of traffic - mostly without turn signals - and usually don't know they are near their exit until they have to swerve through all four lanes of traffic to get off. There are huge rock haulers taking their loads of rock to who knows where while losing about half of their load behind signs which clearly state that they are NOT responsible for windshield damage. Add into that mix the senior citizens who actually do drive the speed limit (or less) and like to think of themselves as speed demons. They drive in the far left lane and generally cause chaos.

It is a bit nerve wracking to make some of the exits - where oncoming and exiting traffic share the same lane which is only about 500 feet long. And did I mention that people in Dallas have a big problem with merging? I won't go into it but - they do.

Add this all together and I understand why my neighbor doesn't do highways. My only question now is . . . why do I??

Trisha

Voice update:
Still holding on. A little more trouble than normal with those darn "h" words (no - not THOSE "h" words!). I am charging up the microphone to use it while Hubby and I walk to conquer the mowing noise and the noise of the hemis in the area. Darn - forgot to massage yesterday!

History - Part Three!

Hi All!

Time for the third installment of my history. After this we can get on to more current stuff! Won't that be fun?

Okay - in the last post I explained about how I learned to speak on the inhale. The doctor who gives me my Botox shots was very impressed with my "talent." He invited all of his interns and other doctors in to witness my inhalation voicing! What fun - to be the "stage show" in a doctor's office!

Oh Well! As I said, my therapist got tough with me and demanded that I only talk on the exhale. After a couple very frustrating weeks where my husband could hardly hear me (it did mean that he had to sit much closer to me while we watched TV though!), things with my voice started to click. Soon I could say entire sentences on the exhale One of my very first complete sentences on the exhale was - "I hate everybody and everything - except for you." The "you" is my husband who was listening to me talk at the time! As you can tell from that lovely comment - it was a rough road!

With MUCH continued practice, I am now able to speak totally on the exhale. Most of the time I sound pretty much normal with the exception of my soft volume - I still can not yell or scream. Once in a while my voice starts "breaking up" and I have problems voicing words beginning with w, h, and p. That is when my therapist tells me to get much softer and slower. I have a problem with the slow part - I mean, I LOVE to talk and after not being able to do it for so long, I have a LOT of time to make up!

If you would like to hear samples of my voice, check out my podcasts. The earlier posts are with me speaking on the inhale and the more current ones are on the exhale. Learning to Live With SD.

When I am speaking one-to-one I am good. When I need to talk in a small group or in a noisy environment I use my Spokeman microphone. It is a personal amplification system which is very small and portable (I wear the amplifier on my arm like a MP3 player even though it is a bit bigger than a player.) and allows me to be heard without "pushing" and stressing my voice. I also have a phone which amplifies the outgoing voice and it really cuts down on my stress about being loud enough to be heard by the other person. I love my Spokeman and my phone! Once I figure out the entire picture thing I will put a picture of my microphone system and my phone on this blog for you to see.

Have a great day!
Trisha