Decibel #15
It’s been a while. (Nods and continues without explanation)
Some things from around the internet I consumed this week and found interesting:
- Make it More (twitter thread of images)
- Fasting before chemo (a tweet)
- Vocal Image Improvements (a 40 sec YouTube short)
1. Make it More
I’ve been having a lot of fun with image generation and this method of interacting with DallE3 is quite amusing. Queue Kylo Ren voicelines.
2. Fasting Before Chemo
“fasting before chemo | works the mechanism is basically that chemo kills cells that are splitting; in a fast, healthy cells stop splitting, whereas cancer cells cannot help themselves, and are attacked. this particularly protects the immune system”
(note I’m not vetting the scientific claim here beyond a scientific respect for Danielle Fong)
Add this to the list of ways in which fasting is probably useful. It’s fascinating to me the ways in which states of stress, of lack of resources, allow for the body to adapt advantageously. Better, in fact, than if it had access to all the resources it wanted! In a similar way to “restrictions breed creativity”, this idea of temporary limits making for a better thing is one that has resonated with me lately.
3. Vocal Image Improvements
I have thought about getting a vocal coach. Not because I think I’m particularly bad at speaking, rather I would like to know the possibilities of what I *could* do with my voice. How could I make my emotions come across cleaner? How could I express myself in ways that people are more likely to understand the me behind the words? What techniques might there be for using my voice to help others feel more loved, more attended to, better listened to? There are a few skills in life that touch so many things that even a small improvement could make a big difference. Talking better is one of them.
So along comes the YouTube algorithm, which finds me Vinh Giang, who happens to offer various advice along the lines of what I imagined that vocal coach might be able to teach me. This exercise in particular stuck out to me:
- Record yourself for 5 minutes talking about your day
- Forget about it for 1 day
- Watch yourself with the sound off - take notes
- Listen to yourself with the screen off - take notes
- Watch and listen - take notes
In steps 3-5, he instructs to pay attention to a variety of things: hand movements, head movement, intonation, volume, speed of speech, etc.
I haven’t yet recorded myself yet, but I like this idea for increasing my own awareness for the way I sound.