Random things while I'm writing my hearing aids paper. I've moved to Greyhouse so that the buzz of being surrounded by people and music can help my brain focus.

My favorite song from Across the Universe is "Something, " which is one of my favorite Beatles songs in general, but even better when it's being sung by a young Jude (Jim Sturgess) watching a sleeping Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) while surrounded by his sketches of her. None of the fancy guitar solos or stage pyrotechnics of other covers, just a simple rock ballad where Jude is honest about both his uncertainty and his feelings.

The coffee shop I'm in was actually started by a local campus church as part of their mission to provide a gathering place for the community -- but they're so subtle about it that I didn't even notice this until tonight (when a tiny placard by the Christmas gift donation window told the story of Greyhouse's founding). I think this is pretty cool. They're not hammering evangelization over anyone's head; they're just trying to make the sort of welcoming space they think the world should be.

I just realized why all the noise reduction, wind block, etc. features might be turned off on my hearing aids: they limit gain. I have such a severe loss that I'm already close to the maximum of how loud my hearing aids (already the super-power version) can churn out sound, so we might actually want to avoid anything that makes the signal quieter. It's amusing to get warning boxes when I turn on the programming computer: "your maximum power output is over 130dB!" Yes, that's louder than a jet plane taking off 100 yards away. Yes, it's louder than a rock concert. But I'm actually that deaf. Sometimes, when my hearing aids are turned all the way up, I can physically feel my eardrums shaking; ears aren't made to be driven that hard, but the alternative for me is silence. (And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I am considering a cochlear implant. Because really. I would like to hear my future students, thank you very much.)

Okay. Focus, focus, focus. I'm trying to write 2 subsections of this paper before Greyhouse closes in about 10 minutes. Then I'll be done with the first major section, and I am practically done with the second, and just need to clean up screenshots for the third, and expand my notes from scribbled shorthand into full sentences for the fourth so those will be quick... then it's all bibliography, bibliography, bibliography from there. Oh, for friends to work with and to work beside!

I miss lounges full of people. I miss chatrooms full of friends. I miss lots of things. I should...

...put my teapot in the bin and hack out these last two paragraphs, that's what I should do. Tonight is a good night for writing. I'm going to keep pacing myself.