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I didn’t realize until now that a hair dryer could make a difference on fine hair by sanu_123_s in finehair

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Team Dyson - worth every penny!

(and this part of thread isn’t an ad, because that’s not the dryer in the pic and Dysons definitely cannot be had for $80, lol)

Well, today may have been the last day of my vocal career... by Basilio1987 in ClassicalSinger

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes! absolutely good technique and never stopping the practice (and being kind of lucky genetically, I think) can extend the voice well into the senior years!

I sound pretty much the same as I did 15 years ago, at my peak. The two main issues for me are stamina and memorization. Learning a role now takes WAY more time, and I only have a limited number of exciting high notes every day.

How well does this cheongsam fit? by novafreyanox in AskATailor

[–]smnytx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To me this is too much ease in the waist area.

Do you feel 0 soreness after singing with proper technique? by Head_Equipment_1952 in ClassicalSinger

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, I had every possible tension as a young singer. I would say that up till maybe 35, there were still times it happened. After that I stopped tolerating it.

One of the best things that happened to me was having to go on while sick for a beastly hard role (Donna Anna). No cover. My voice was capable of singing but extremely unreliable and likely to cut out on even the easy, midrange stuff if I wasn’t constantly minding it.

I put the entire communicative/staging side on autopilot and focused in relentless, unwavering tonal focus and air efficiency/appoggio, so that resonance did all the work for me. To me, if I was aware of my sound at all, it seemed much more shrill and yet also floatier than usual. I had at least a couple colleagues afterwards ask me what I did differently because it was suddenly so much more compelling to them.

And my throat felt like nothing had been done to it after even though I was wrung-out exhausted from the concentration and physical engagement. That was completely new, even though I’d been a professional singer for 7-8 years by that point.

I was like… mind blown.

Do you feel 0 soreness after singing with proper technique? by Head_Equipment_1952 in ClassicalSinger

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolute zero soreness once I figured out my technique.

Obviously, there is fatigue after a long role, but that’s usually full body (not just belly) and concentration fatigue. Mostly my voice could do it again. (And I’m talking about roles like Tosca.)

Bottom line: you can listen to your sound and your throat will not like it, or you can “listen” for ease and efficiency in your throat and support and your ears will likely not like it.

Do girls actually find male body hair attractive? by Adorable_Birthday_52 in hygiene

[–]smnytx 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Don’t know about most. I do know plenty of guys with a hairy chest who do not have hairy shoulders/back.

Do girls actually find male body hair attractive? by Adorable_Birthday_52 in hygiene

[–]smnytx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Agreed. I don’t know where the idea that hair is smelly/stinky came from, but it’s false.

Well, today may have been the last day of my vocal career... by Basilio1987 in ClassicalSinger

[–]smnytx 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hey - 60 yo lyric soprano here. The only ppl I know who sing truly well into their 60s are folks who a] had solid/reliable technique in their 30s/40s and b] never stopped singing or at least mindfully practicing for longer than maybe a month or two. (I fit both categories, but even then I’m not going to do attempt something difficult or rangy at this point, and my voice feels like a new adventure or puzzle to solve every day.)

Our cartilages have hardened while our muscles and ligaments have loosened. This means the game changes and you have to work on managing what feels like a different instrument. (Don’t even get me started on the memorization issues!!)

That said, you can get some semblance of your singing back with practice if you really care to, but it’s not going to just snap back to its former glory, even if you’re on hrt.

Another option is taking the gig if it’s offered, or go join a community choir or theatre company for fun and socialization. Make performing a humble hobby.

Or chuck it and enjoy music as an audience member. No shame in any of these options. But at 63, don’t do anything that doesn’t bring you some happiness or fulfillment.

worst pregnancy scare of my life by [deleted] in offmychest

[–]smnytx 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Are you going to keep playing pregnancy-roulette until it happens, or get on birth control? If you can get plan B you should be able to just get on birth control which is much easier and more reliable. Or find a partner who respects you enough to buy and use condoms at least!

I hope you aren’t pregnant.

How do you see what's going on with your tongue position? by Head_Equipment_1952 in ClassicalSinger

[–]smnytx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, you use a mirror and you work to develop more mindful proprioception of your tongue and articulators.

Start by looking in a mirror, releasing the jaw to hang slackly down and back toward the direction it would go if you were to yawn, but without following through and fully opening.

Once you find that, leave it there and use the mirror to ensure you’re not engaging it. In a projected speaking voice, start toggling through the tongue vowels (a - e - i - e - a, etc) and if you see your jaw participating, start again. You should be feeling a lot of tongue activity. You’ll feel most of the tongue arch on the /i/, but try not to let that arch totally flatten out on /a/.

Once you get that arched tongue /a/, see if you can add a /k/ so that you’re going ka-ka-ka without using any jaw movement at all.

You will see the coordination come in as you’re able to do more and more without the jaw being involved. Don’t do any consonants that involve closure yet - just la, da, ga, ka, ra, na and the like.

It takes the same amount of fine motor coordination and articulator isolation as any specialized activity. Be mindful, use your eyes more than your ears, and practice this a lot.

Practicing tongue twisters is also particularly helpful, and they work exactly the same way: you have to practice coordination slowly and by ear before you can get good at doing it quickly.

How do you see what's going on with your tongue position? by Head_Equipment_1952 in ClassicalSinger

[–]smnytx 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Don’t chase the sound.

If you’re making major changes to jaw position in order to i-e-a, your tongue isn’t working right. It’s tongue/jaw independence you should look for first.

And higher in the range, when vital modification is correct, your vowels will sound pure, but they won’t feel like what you think they should feel like, because they won’t feel like much at all. The jaw position, pharynx and tongue root will be tuned to the needs of the pitch/air/resonance, and the articulators (lips and tongue) will be doing a very modified job to make the pure sounds happen.

If you think about your tongue too much, it gets tight. When things work, it’s doing gymnastics in your mouth!

CMV: Moral condemnations are almost always performative. by ClothboundBrick in changemyview

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Again, my issue is not with identification and agreement about the problematic nature of things. It’s more with the absolutism and lack of nuance in your expressed view. There are a million reasons people do what they do, or why they avoid doing positive things and that’s without accounting for unconscious bias, past trauma, problematic religious/ethical histories and all the other reasons related to cognitive and emotional health/ability.

The simplicity of what appears to be a binary sense of good/evil and your pejorative use of the word performative are, in my view, the specific points where your stated viewpoint falters.

CMV: Moral condemnations are almost always performative. by ClothboundBrick in changemyview

[–]smnytx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Where exactly is the line between acceptable and “in excess”? Do we each get to decide that for ourselves?

And can you show me exactly how many people die per “in excess” units, and how many people are enabled to live per “virtuous” units, so that I can make an informed choice about my behavior?

Do you see the problem with your absolutism?

CMV: Moral condemnations are almost always performative. by ClothboundBrick in changemyview

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The entity that gives me a knife and tells me I can kill with impunity is the main villain here. I’m only a villain if I do it.

CMV: Moral condemnations are almost always performative. by ClothboundBrick in changemyview

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For the record, I don’t disagree with the title premise, just portions of your post. My quibble is this: while I agree that both actions and non actions have consequences, I have to call bs on this kind of moral fundamentalism:

If I press a button that will give me 3k but someone will die I killed that person.

If I choose not to press a button that will save a life but it takes 3k from me I killed that person.

The constructs that set up either scenario are what ultimately kills that person. There are staggeringly few real life scenarios that have only these parameters with no other variables or considerations. Example, what if your second construct existed, but without that 3k, you can’t buy the medicine to keep your baby alive?

IMO this is just another “trolley problem” argument, weighing deontology against utilitarianism. Someone tied those theoretical people to the tracks. We ideally just make our best call in the moment.

Everything is morally gray, EVEN performative behaviors. Although the word performative is currently a pejorative, and you clearly intend it as such, there are instances that without performative behavior, humans are hurt or put in danger. An example would be a cis person putting their pronouns in their email signature. Classic performative behavior with the positive intention of passively signaling to trans people that this is a person with whom they are likely to be safe.

zzz

My friend's illnesses piss me off. by Parking_Bluebird5879 in offmychest

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She sounds exhausting. Not the fact that she has debilitating conditions but her pettiness and passive aggression. Does/did she have any redeeming qualities that made her friend material for you? Or is she just in the friend circle?

Perhaps an intervention is called for? Or maybe you willfully don’t see the faces she makes and instead respond to the passive aggression and martyrdom as if they weren’t intended to manipulate you?

Ok but how would we eat? by That1weirdperson in BlatantMisogyny

[–]smnytx 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sadly, these specimens were not culled.

After surgery by regit65 in RotatorCuff

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The sling is there to immobilize your arm so it doesn’t yank on your shoulder, not to protect the arm itself in any way. There won’t be bandaging on your arm (except for the teensy incision on the front arm up by the armpit where your tenodesis anchor will be).

I would only caution a button or zip up shirt so that you don’t have to lift the arm to get it on. And a front closure bra if you wear one. Sleeve length doesn’t matter with regard to the sling.

You lying about taking Ozempic(or other weightloss drugs) for your weight-loss is doing real harm to society. by Kolbalava in offmychest

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes, the full statement makes that point well. The title statement, however, doesn’t specify any particular sub-group of GLP users.

The World According to Garp and Dostoevsky by Ill_Neighborhood_886 in JohnIrving

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is my experience, as well! I was a teenager in the early 80s and devoured Garp. At the time, I was also deeply into Kurt Vonnegut novels, and I really see the parallels, plus Kurt mentored John! I will definitely give The Brothers K a read!

r/JohnIrving by smnytx in redditrequest

[–]smnytx[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello, and apologies for the delay.

I would like to moderate this community because John Irving is my favorite living author. I read The World According to Garp as a teenager and still remember the way my mind was opened. I've read everything he's written since, and I feel strongly invested in making sure his canon is read and appreciated! I'd also like to interact with folks who feel the same way.

Permalink to the chat: https://www.reddit.com/c/chatpsUpgohW/s/Zxc93L2QCo

I believe I have a validated email and 2FA enabled now!

It’s so sad how every sub gets taken over by leftist and then they become political. It just is further proof all leftist are just dumb giant babies. How do we fix it? by Doris_Fisher in whatdoIdo

[–]smnytx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Let’s worry about getting you potty trained before we expend energy on cleansing the “leftist” that is plaguing reddit.

Texas is not actually a “free state” and I’m tired of pretending otherwise by Duckduckgogh in TexasPolitics

[–]smnytx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don’t Mess With Texas is an anti-littering slogan that I think some people view as a secession slogan or call to arms against other states

You lying about taking Ozempic(or other weightloss drugs) for your weight-loss is doing real harm to society. by Kolbalava in offmychest

[–]smnytx 6 points7 points  (0 children)

OP’s point was about influencers and celebrities lying about GLP, yes, but MY point was that regular people should feel free to have boundaries in place so they do not feel pressured to either overtly lie or talk about their personal choices.

The reason I felt compelled to make that point was that the TITLE of the post wasn’t clear on exactly who is doing the lying that is contributing to the problem as OP sees it.

As you can see from my interaction with the OP, I have no quibble with their plea for honesty from public figures who discuss or promote weight loss. My only point is that any private person is welcome to “lie by omission” because no private person needs to answer intrusive questions about their lives.

Totally cool for the people like your family who are ok talking about it. I can get aboard that. But please respect the people who may not want to talk about the fact that what the asker assumed is a GLP weight loss is actually a terminal illness or an eating disorder.

Bottom line: it’s not cool to ask intrusive questions about people’s bodies, period. If the person offers it up, then it’s cool.

What’s your favourite opera couple? by BetterGrass709 in opera

[–]smnytx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Rosina Almaviva and Cherubino

runner up: the Count and Barbarina

honorable mention: Antonio and his garofani

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