“I’m speaking”

I had forgotten that this statement was from the 2020 VP debates. Kamala vs. Mike Pence. Actually I had to do a double-take and look this up (again) because, wait, Pence was Trump’s running mate in 2020? Yes, of course he was. It wasn’t until January 6, 2021 that Trump’s insurrectionists (yes, I meant to call those yay-hoos that) set up a noose to hang him that they parted ways. Sorry, I was in a time warp for a minute.

The local NPR station used to be classical music during the week and I miss that to some extent now that it has changed to talk. I don’t miss all of the music. Some of it I like to PLAY more than listen to. Bach flute sonatas, I’m looking at you. Anyway. There are some good talk shows and one today interviewed the author of a new book “I’m speaking”, by a vocal coach and named after Kamala’s statement. In other words, shaddup and let me finish a sentence. The NPR program was scheduled long ago and the events of the last week were coincidental.

I don’t want to go too much into the specifics because I am not an expert in any of this complex stuff and I cannot sort out my thoughts in the time it takes to write a quick blahg entry. The main thing is that many women don’t like what their voice sounds like and this coach helps them with that. She is *not* a speech therapist and disclaims that.

Although I have always been a bit shy about speaking up, my voice has always naturally projected and I don’t mind what it sounds like. I know what it sounds like because I routinely record work meetings when we are talking about complicated functionality. I *always* get permission from the others in the meeting for recording. And they always agree because the main person who listens to the recordings is meeeeee. Probably because my voice projects, my parents were always trying to shush me up a bit. My parents were wonderful in most ways but I think this was a mistake. But all parents make mistakes. I sure have.

This topic is too complex for tonight so we’ll talk about puddles instead. This was our two-track Cabin Road this morning when I was going out for a grock run. On this road, if somebody is coming the other direction, one of you has to dive into a driveway or whatever to let the other vee-hickle go by. We had a LOT of rain yesterday (loverly) and it looks like these puddles might be difficult to navigate but they are not. Cygnus (Subie Crosstrek) had no trouble and even the Ninja (fancy Honda Civic) could do it without trouble. It helps to drive s-l-o-w-l-y but also we have a micro-local Road Commission and that crew frequently “grades” the road (not sure that’s the right word). Many thanks to Mayor Pete and his crew.

Bookending a bit here. Kamala? You go girl! If you aren’t finished speaking, let ’em know. The same applies to all humans who are being talked over or shushed.

2 Responses to ““I’m speaking””

  1. Margaret Says:

    I had forgotten about “I’m speaking” because wasn’t that the debate where the fly stayed on Pence’s head for a long time? I saw a car today covered with MAGA type bumper stickers and one was a Trump-Pence one. I wanted to lower my window to ask why Pence wasn’t running again or endorsing T. But I didn’t feel like getting shot.

  2. Pam J. Says:

    I also heard that very interesting interview on NPR. (Which reminds me that you recently mentioned an NPR piece on lucid dreaming, which I also heard and found fascinating since my husband and I both have noticed in later life that we have lucid dreaming and didn’t know it had a name.) I’m getting dangerously excited about Kamala’s chances of winning. Dangerously because I don’t want a repeat of Nov 2016. I’ll never forget my daughter’s reaction to Hillary losing. It broke my heart in ways that only a mother of daughters can probably appreciate. Rebecca works at Rockefeller Center in NYC and she sent me a picture on her way home from work that day. It was a beautiful shot of her building with red and blue lights projected onto the exterior walls. R was so happy that night! When it all fell through over the next 4-5 brief hours she was crushed as was I. But having a daughter be denied the first legitimately elected woman president was hard, hard, hard.
    BTW, I always admire how you often include caveats in your posts (“I’m not an expert on x, y, and z”–that kind of thing). Very like a woman but also characteristic of someone who understands that she doesn’t know it all. Who does? Rare humility in a world with a lot of over-confident people who think they know everything.
    Final thought (maybe): if trump/vance get elected we might have to say goodbye to NPR. I’ve always wondered why, when the repugs get into power, they don’t pull the plug on PBS–Public Broadcasting Service, which I’m pretty sure gets federal $$.
    Actually this will now send me down into one of the proverbial rabbit holes to figure out (again) the differences among NPR, PBS, and CPB — Corportation for Public Broadcasting. You always make me think!