continuing silence

5/31/14

  I have decided that i'm going to attempt to learn, at least some, sign language. Any way of communicating that is silent appeals to me. I (used to) conversationally speak a couple different languages, besides my own, and i look forward to learning the basics of another. I'm sure i will mangle syntax and appear idiotic, but that has almost become a lifestyle for me at this point.
  I can't afford classes, so i will quietly learn through instructional books.
  As mentioned before, this is not an attempt to experience the world like someone with a hearing impairment. I will continue to let people know i can hear them... loud and clear.

continuing silence

5/28/14

  Apparently, the quietest place on earth is an anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minnesota.  
  The loudest, is any Dave and Buster's on the planet.
  Quotes i've read about the Orfield chamber scream, "(It) will drive you insane...!", "No one can last longer than 45 minutes!", etc, etc. The human fear of silence made tangibly real.
  Since artificial lights make noise, it is necessary to be in total darkness while in this sound proof room. In essence, it is a large sense deprivation chamber, so there is a possibility of experiencing panic, hallucinations and imaginings of all kinds while inside it.
  I really want to go there. I wonder how much it costs to rent some time....?

continuing silence

5/27/14

  The loudest person is usually the one that stays at the party the longest.

continuing silence

5/26/14

  My favorite part about going to parties and bars, is leaving them.
  The music is a grinding thrum without pause, the crowds sound like milling geese at a park, and the designer fragrances are overpowering.
  The breezy night on the other side of the exit door is far too inviting to ignore.

continuing silence

5/25/14

  Once a week he pulls up to the row of garages outside my window. The stereo is forever pounding out a steady rhythm inside his always heavily loaded, oversize pickup truck.
  The music plays continuously, as he shuts off the engine and opens the door to his private garage. The space is packed floor to ceiling with the kind of things that are left at a flea market late on a Sunday afternoon. The noisy rhythm continues, as he unloads the well used items from the back of the truck and places them with jigsaw puzzle precision into the nooks and crannies of the great mass. Sometimes he has to remove things and rearrange in order to fit more, but every week he somehow manages it. Nothing is ever discarded.
  Eventually the weekly ritual is complete, and he pulls away in his truck with the stereo ceaselessly beating.

continuing silence

5/24/14

  I have learned that there are many kinds of silence.
  There is the peaceful silence that surrounds you when you ride your bicycle.
  There is the absolute silence in a sister's reaction to your latest body of artwork.
  There is the relative silence to be found in New York City.
  There is the relentless silence of those that are lost.

continuing silence

5/23/14

 I go through life perpetually feeling like i'm at someone else's class reunion. Now that i am silent this feeling is stronger than ever.
  I am an aardvark in the monkey cage. The monkeys are stacking the boxes to get the bananas, noisily playing together, and finding suitable mates.
  ...and i sit here being an aardvark.