More misty mornings.
Spider webs everywhere, leaves turning color, an altogether magical-almost-otherworldly landscape. That is one of the joys of autumn.
I am coaching Ben both today and tomorrow, so this has turned out to be a satisfying week of working almost every day. That hasn’t happened in a long time! It’s wonderful to feel productive and valued and to have the opportunity to do what I do best. Though I am prone to the same doubts as everyone, I am good at what I do and I know it.
One of my former students wrote me the other day. One of the things I taught my students at both Boston University and the University of San Diego, was the International Phonetic Alphabet and its use in transcribing sounds and sound changes. Each symbol represents a sound (and there are far more out there than I had to teach my actors) and they are invaluable for transcribing sound changes for dialect work. Elisa, who I taught at USD, said this:
I was thinking of and channeling you today. After many years of not doing any IPA, I dusted it off today to transcribe Chinese. My son just started taking classes and I am working with him at home. Without IPA, I would not be able to capture the sounds that we need to have to refer to. At any rate, it’s not the original application, but I thought you might like to know that your teaching in phonetics helped me greatly in teaching my dyslexic son to read, and now I am passing my transcription skills to the next generation.
Isn’t that the best? I can’t tell you how much this kind of thing means to me. To see it being used in a new and fresh way that adapts to Elisa’s particular situation is wonderful. I will hold this close to my heart.
I also had a former student reach out to ask me if I could send her the phonetic changes for a German dialect, which I somehow managed to find in my files. I sent them off to her, with the proviso that they were general and if she needed more specific regional sound changes, she’d need to research them.
The coaching and the interaction with former students all happened within the past four days, so I’m beginning to recognize my professional self again.
We stayed up late watching the Red Sox vs Yankees the other night. The Red Sox won, thank goodness (sorry, Yankees fans – I was perfectly willing to accept a Yankees win, if it happened) and tonight they start their 3 game series with the Tampa Bay Rays (my sister’s team.) The Rays are really, really good, so this will be interesting. We don’t often get to watch the Red Sox because we’re not in their broadcast area, so this will be fun.
Okay. Have to get going and put makeup on to zoom coach! After a year and half of no makeup, I’ve been wearing it quite a bit lately.
Stay safe.
Happy Thursday.
A wonderful post today.
The satisfaction, and joy, of using your mastery of your chosen career skills just shines through this post.
The bonus of hearing from former students about how you are still impacting them is priceless.
It has been obvious that you have always been exceptionally regarded in your profession, and here is the manifestation of that career.
👏👏👏👏👏for the arts opening back up, and for the contribution you, and Don, have made.
Thanks for sharing.
Oh, thank you so much for your kind words, Jan! They mean a great deal to me.
Stay safe!
HI,
The former student reaching out to you was music to my ears. Being a former special education ( behavior disordered) teacher it made me cry , good tears, because I know how much it means to have a student reach out and recognize the value of something you taught them. Well done, Claudia…
Take Care,
Kaye
Bless you for all you’ve done in your career, Kaye. That is hard, but tremendously rewarding work!
Thank you for your kind words.
Stay safe!
Glad to hear all of your good news. So nice to be thanked for your hard work!
Thank you Ellen!
Stay safe.
What an affirming contact with two former students.
Just what I needed!
Stay safe, Linda.
The more I read about you, the more I think we have in common. Especially your post about being a worrier! For some reason lately I have had the “dying” thing on my mind. I don’t know why! I think it is because my birthday is this month and I will be 67. Not liking that! Also my sister was a Nurse Practitioner for 30 years at the same university you were at in San Diego.
Small world! Love to see that you are enjoying your experience. Be well!
I think about death a lot and I know it’s because I’m almost 69.
Thanks, Deb.
Stay safe.
Your misty photo is lovely.
Your career has to be the most rewarding thing! Bravo!
You have a great face for makeup. My eyes are tiny slits these days; I’m probably going to have to have my eyebrows/brow lifted so that I can see. It’s plastic surgery for a real medical thing (not cosmetic). Same thing happened to my dad. He could see SO much better after they worked on HIS eyes/brow. With you, you have perfect eyes for mascara and eyeshadow. Your eyes looked like mine when I was age 20-30.
You know the guy in the news, Gen. Mark Milley — he has those tremendous bags under his eyes which makes me want to get a syringe and pull fluid out of them; flatten them for him. I’m sure this makes me sound creepy. When you see something like that, makes you want to just, I dunno, help them!
Trivia, but I was just reading about this by coincidence — what my dad had and what I have (the growing hood hiding our eyes) is likely genetic. Could be the same for General Milley. He could benefit from a lower eyelid lift (blepharoplasty), “an outpatient procedure where the surgeon readjusts the fat in the lower eye area and tightens the muscle and skin to create a smooth appearance; in most cases, a lower eyelid lift gets rid of under-eye bags for life — it’s rare for people to need future touch-ups”; he probably doesn’t have time in his busy life for this easy fix, but it IS a tender part of the face, so you’d sure have to have a good doctor.
I have one eyelid that droops and it drives me nuts.
My friend, who is a stage manager, had that surgery, as well.
Thanks, Vicki!
Stay safe.
Hurray for you ! Thank you for still blogging ! Enjoy your blog so much .
Thank you so much, Sandy!
Stay safe.
this appreciation from people fortunate to cross your path and work with you (even from years ago) doesn’t surprise me a bit and i am glad you get to experience it.
kathy
It fills my heart.
Thanks, Kathy.
Stay safe.
I love how your student used the IPA. When I was in college Used some of the symbols as a shorthand for taking class notes. How nice to get that feedback all these years later.
It is, indeed!
Thank you, Jeanie.
Stay safe.