the soupmenu

Being male, I’ve had to adjust to a forever changing voice. While some may not mind as long as the squeaks and cracks are minimal, I have always not welcomed changes in my voice. My singing range has been dropping for probably the last seven years. This makes it so that I can not sing along with my favorite songs. My voice has now gotten so low that I am barely audible over the phone…in fact voicemail systems have hung up on me simply because my voice didn’t register. Now every time a great song is on I have to make the decision to try to sing the song an octave lower, or to sing the whole song in falsetto (which has also dropped.) I always sound ridiculous when everyone is singing along with a song and I’m pumping out the bass line.

Anyways…to my main point.

I’ve realized that throughout the years, my musical tastes have changed according to my vocal range. I have found it true that my favorite artists are the artists with vocal ranges similar to mine. I will forever continue to listen to other artists, but my favorite artists are the ones that are the easiest for me to sing along to.

I think it’s a highly overlooked trait to music that may have a lot of impact upon people’s tastes. If a vocalist sings within an odd range, it is hard for listeners to sing along and probably will only create moderate interest in that artist.

Think about who your favorite bands are and figure out if most of their songs are in your range.

As for me, I will continue to listen to Wilco until my voice drops so much that I can only sing along with the bass lines in doo-wop and barbershop.

reasons why my brother’s cats are american:

lazy – they sit around all day and only move for food
gluttonous – they eat excessively (25 lbs excessive)
obnoxious – the meow constantly when food is missing
ungrateful – immediately puke up said food
fat – see glutton
resistant to change – only sit at one corner of the house and will immediately run back to the corner if moved
scared – any large noise will send them running
loyal – knock things over and hide together

If you bring anyone different in the house, they just hiss.
If you ask them a question, they just give you a look of wonderment.

and they shit everywhere!

It’s no secret that there are many things that i hate about the real world and having an office job.  I could write a whole book about how almost any aspect of college is far superior to work…but i will not bore (or pout) you guys to death.  A few areas have surprised me though.  Probably the most obscure…..sunday nights.

I really never thought about Sunday nights in college much.  Sunday was always a random day.  One could never tell who would be doing schoolwork, hanging out, or simply watching tv all day.  Basically it was always the utility day for college kids.  That one day which they could use for whatever use seemed apropriate after the alarm went off.  As it got closer to night most kids would simply use the time as the only few hours a week in which they could do absolutely nothing.  (pending a paper) everyone could just shut their minds off and relax.  yes, sometimes sundays were busy for a few…but most of the time they were relaxed and random.   this was great.

We fastforward a year…to the real world.  Now sundays have changed.  Sundays have direct meaning….preparation.  Throughout the week no one has time to do anything.  Weekdays are filled with the normal routine and Saturdays are now reserved as the only day to do something that you actually want to do.  Whatever that activity may be…chances are you have it planned out many Saturdays in advance…because now you only have one day a week for enjoyment.  So Sunday is prep day.  Sunday is the equivalant to the cook who comes in at 4am to make nothing but soup, bread, and carrot sticks.  Sundays are nothing but an exciting strand of doing laundry, buying groceries, and cleaning various rooms.  Along with these activites comes the pressure that if these things are not accomplished, then your week even worse than normal.  What’s perhaps worse than the weekly set of mundane tasks and unnecccessary pressure, is the mental preparation.  One can not stop themselves from thinking to the week ahead to avoid trouble.  Instantly the mind jumps to thoughts about what projects are due, who is coming in on what day, and how you are going to push your new idea to the boss.  It’s all part of the 5-day physical work week and 6.5 day mental work week.  I hate these thoughts.  From Friday night to Monday morning i wish my entire work section of my brain would…..take a weekend off!!

this is the way it used to be….
wake up…shower…eat lunch with family
come back…nap
wake up from nap…play poker/watch tv/hang with friends
eat
read/listen to music
watch tv
sleep

old sundays were bliss…and i miss them.