It all feels broken
How's that for a feel-good title? I'm no longer confident in my ability (or anyone's ability) to assess our current circumstances. On most days, I feel like it's all going off the rails, and that the divisiveness in America has rapidly increased over the past 20 years. I think that's true, even though I need to tread carefully here. I think a lot of communities would, understandably, argue it's the same shit, different day.
It's late, best to leave that conversation for another day. But I think about it all the time. I've been thinking about it for years.
If you've read this blog, you know I'm not a Trump supporter. He's a narcissistic con man who's not really interested in the relationship between governance and policy and a brighter future. But he's a by-product of previous disappointments, not the cause of our current circumstances. I hope he loses in November, but things won't miraculously improve the next day.
We're in some cartoonish crew boat where the teammates sit back to back, pulling in opposite directions. There are 10 boats nearby with 10 bullhorn-wielding coaches alternating between shouting conflicting instructions and calling the other 9 coaches evil.
Again, best to leave that for another day. It's not at all what I intended to write when I started this post. I'm sitting here in smokey Seattle worried about the people living through a double nightmare of COVID and wildfires and kicking myself for dragging my feet on moving back to the southwest. The move isn't going to plan itself.
Segue.
I'm a budding audiophile, which surprises me a little. I've been fiddling around with audio for a year or so, initially as an afterthought, a necessary component of video work that I wanted to get better at but have kept at arm's length. I bought a few different mics and played around with audio files. Along the way I've become a little proficient with Adobe Audition and realized I liked it. I'm still more interested in stills and writing, but my appreciation for audio has grown.
I have a long way to go. I've accepted that I'll always dislike hearing the sound of my voice. I haven't accepted the uhhms, the smacking of lips, and the annoying filler phrases. I'm at that stage with editing where I take a scalpel to every uhhm and annoying noise I can identify. But that can make for unnatural rhythms. Working smarter means having water on hand, scripting, and allowing for readily identifiable I'm a human pauses. I have a much greater appreciation now for people whose careers involve speaking into mics. Reporters, podcasters, voice over actors, audio book professionals, etc.
It's getting even later, and I'm all over the place with this post. When I clicked new post I intended to briefly talk about the hazy skies, post some Eastlake photos, and include a members only link to some accompanying audio. Scratch that - I can't figure out how to have a public post link to a non public page.
Here are the photos:
