Back around 2003, I was sitting on my back patio in the early evening with
Richard, who was two years older than I and had no usable vision. We were
drinking cocktails and I said something about how lovely the birdsong was. He
said that he didn't hear any birds singing. I was amazed. By around 2012, I was
missing all sorts of sounds. The fully sighted person who used to help me with
errands, had a congenital hearing loss and she kept urging me to get hearing
aids. But I knew that while I was living independently, it would be too
difficult for me to handle them. I was having other developing physical issues
that were making it more and more difficult for me to move around. If I dropped
a tiny hearing aid on the floor, I could no longer get down on the floor to
search for it because I'd never be able to get up off the floor. So I waited
until after I was living here with someone fully sighted in the house for a
year, before I got those damn hearing aids. I need them, and for many reasons,
I hate them.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
(Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Monday, June 7, 2021 2:10 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Carl, a Led Zeppelin song you might like.
I thought the lyrics in that song were very clear, but my own hearing may be
headed in the same direction as yours. Personally, I have trouble
distinguishing between the letter S and the letter F anymore. If I hear a word
that is very common and in context I have no problem and it seems like I am
hearing the letter correctly. For example, If I hear the sentence, the fox ran
from the hunters, I hear the F and don't even think about not hearing it.
However, if there is a list of words and one of them is fox then I find myself
bewildered about whether I heard fox or socks. If the letter is all by itself
without being in a word I don't know if I am hearing F or S either. Very
frequently when one of those letters comes along on the computer I have to
pause and have JAWS spell it phonetically before I can be sure of what it was.
I think I am also beginning to have difficulty telling the difference between
words like tea and key too. Then there is an acquaintance of mine who keeps
calling me while she is driving. The sound of the motor and the road noise
makes that hard to understand too and she gets mad at me when I don't
understand her. If she calls me from the quiet of her house I don't have that
trouble though. By the way, this discussion started when someone told me that
Dazed and Confused was misogynist. I still don't think it is. But that got
something started. Because it got me thinking about it I am now finding myself
wasting too much time on You Tube nostalgia tripping with Led Zeppelin and
Black Sabbath. That would be okay if I could do other things while I listened,
but since almost everything I do involves listening to something it has to be
one or the other. It is too distracting otherwise.
___
Irvin D. Yalom “Truth," Nietzsche continued, "is arrived at through disbelief
and skepticism, not through a childlike wishing something were so! Your
patient's wish to be in God's hands is not truth. It is simply a child's
wish—and nothing more! It is a wish not to die, a wish for the eveastingly
bloated nipple we have labeled 'God'! Evolutionary theory scientifically
demonstrates God's redundancy—though Darwin himself had not the courage to
follow his evidence to its true conclusion. Surely, you must realize that we
created God, and that all of us together now have killed him.” ― Irvin D.
Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept On 6/7/2021 1:02 PM, Carl Jarvis wrote:
Roger,
I listened to the song twice, and I confirmed what I was afraid has
happened. While I still seem to hear normal conversation, my hearing
has changed to the point that the music garbles the lyrics. The only
clear words I got came at the very end, "And she's buying the stairway
to heaven".
I used to have above average hearing, but in some situations where
multiple sounds mix together, I'm having a difficult time following
one thread. I'll need to find a link that takes me to just the lyrics
before I can comment on them.
Along with living 86 years comes this darned thing called "The Aging
Process", a nice way of saying that our parts are wearing out. When
we first bought our get away cabin out here in the Wilds of the Great
Olympic Peninsula in 1987, I could stand on the deck and hear what
sounded like a sizzling. It was very faint, and in the city it was
not even noticeable. Today, some 34 years later, the sizzle has grown
to the point that it is always noticeable. Many little changes keep
showing up. While we felt that we were forcced to retire a year
earlier than we had planned, I can't imagine that I would be an
encouraging sight to an older, newly blind client watching me hobble
up to their door. Remember, most blind folks have varying degrees of
useful vision. As my dear old neighbor used to tell me when I asked
her how she was doing, "My get up and go has got up and went."
Carl Jarvis
On 6/7/21, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks for the comments and suggestions, Roger.
I do use You Tube for lots of off-beat music. Paul Robeson for
example. One of my personal human rights heroes, as well as the
greatest baritone ever.
I have a shelf above my computer that holds about 120 CD's. Most of
them have only been played once. Collecting them over several years
seemed like a good idea, but playing them while working became too
distracting. Pulling up You Tube is easier when I take a break and
relax.
I'll let you know any thoughts next time I listen to Led Zeppelin and
the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/6/21, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl, you really ought to listen to the lyrics. It is disdainful of
the woman who thinks all that glitters is gold and her temerity at
trying to buy the stairway to heaven. All of that seems to mesh with
the kind of things you habitually say. As for buying it, frankly, I
haven't been willing to actually pay for music since I was a
teenager. Anyway, even if I did have any lingering lust for paying for
music I don't need to.
Just like I was able to call up this one by typing in a very few
search terms I can call up pretty much any other piece of music I
might want to hear. You can too. Just go to You Tube and enter the
name and band name of your choice and in short order you will be
hearing that big band music you like. There are other choices too.
Even though I knew about it I had not really listened to much death
metal music until I downloaded the Tapin radio software for free. I
did a search there and found several death metal stations that play
around the clock with no commercials. I found out that I rather like
death metal. Now I can find the same stations on my Victor reader.
And, oh, I think I can just about guarantee that you wouldn't like
any examples of death metal. Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath are really tame
in comparison.
___
Irvin D. Yalom “Truth," Nietzsche continued, "is arrived at through
disbelief and skepticism, not through a childlike wishing something
were so! Your patient's wish to be in God's hands is not truth. It
is simply a child's wish—and nothing more! It is a wish not to die,
a wish for the eveastingly bloated nipple we have labeled 'God'!
Evolutionary theory scientifically demonstrates God's
redundancy—though Darwin himself had not the courage to follow his
evidence to its true conclusion. Surely, you must realize that we
created God, and that all of us together now have killed him.” ―
Irvin D. Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept On 6/6/2021 5:23 PM, Carl Jarvis wrote:
You're right, Roger. While I am not a fan of the lead singer, the
overall effect is soothing. And they don't become frantic at the end.
Some groups just can't help themselves. They create a soothing
sound that flows through my Soul...and suddenly they go bananas. I
have to admit, I listened to the total effect, not the lyrics. And
the total effect was fine. So I browsed a number of Led Zeppelin
songs, and found that I would never pay for any Led Zeppelin albums.
The problem is within me. I grew up with the Big Band sound, and
went along with the goosey loosey music of the fifties. I was
moved by much of the creativeness of the sixties and seventies, but
struggled with Hip Hop and Grunge. And as far as Rap goes...it can
go. Write me a short poem telling me your troubles, but please
don't put it to music and snarl out the lyrics over and over and over...
Actually there is not much music that I don't care for. I enjoy
Country, especially the older forties and fifties, and I love
Classical...excluding Chamber Music, and most Jazz except the stuff
that goes piddling around and wanders off in four directions at once.
Did I forget Blue Grass? There's just not much I don't like. But
if it jars my nerves...well that's not music to me.
But thanks for showing me that even a group that I have avoided,
even they have some redeeming grace.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/5/21, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl, okay, you didn't like Dazed and Confused. I am pretty sure
you probably would not like much else that Led Zeppelin ever did either.
However, there is one Led Zeppelin song that I think you just
might like. I said that I had never paid attention to the words in
Dazed and Confused before, but in this one the words are so clear
and so out front that it would be difficult to listen to it
without paying attention to it. Furthermore I think you just might
be in agreement with the sentiments expressed in this one. It is
certainly disdainful of greed and privilege. It is Stairway to
Heaven. Let me know if you do like this one from Led Zeppelin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkF3oxziUI4
--
Irvin D. Yalom “Truth," Nietzsche continued, "is arrived at
through disbelief and skepticism, not through a childlike wishing
something were so! Your patient's wish to be in God's hands is not
truth. It is simply a child's wish—and nothing more! It is a wish
not to die, a wish for the eveastingly bloated nipple we have
labeled 'God'! Evolutionary theory scientifically demonstrates
God's redundancy—though Darwin himself had not the courage to
follow his evidence to its true conclusion. Surely, you must
realize that we created God, and that all of us together now have
killed him.” ― Irvin D. Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept