sleeping-awake.net

Less than a week ago I was still a thousand miles away from home, breathing in the cool Shanghainese air, taking in the different sights and sounds of that vibrant city. Now I’m back in the sweltering heat of Manila - back to “real” life, I guess. Beijing and Shanghai were awesome. They were everything I expected and everything I did not expect. And, as promised in my previous entry, here’s a photo of the Great Wall, with me right smack in the middle of it:

A truckload more of pictures and a coupla funny conversations await you after the cut.

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Photo credit: Herbert Ponting

This girl is going on vacation. The next time I post a picture like this, I’ll be right smack in the middle of it. ‘Til then!

The day was September 10, 2007, and Switchfoot had come to town to play. Being a fan of the band, I of course went to the gig, along with two friends whom I’ve known since grade school. While I expected to have a good time and enjoy myself, little did I know that I would be leaving the venue a changed person.

No, I wasn’t overcome with an urge to pick up a new instrument or to start writing songs or anything. Though I must say that Switchfoot’s songs are inspiring and thought-provoking. But it wasn’t like that. You know how being exposed to loud sounds for a while leaves your ears ringing? Well that’s what happened to me after the show. And I expected it too, because I’ve been to other concerts before. But it was nothing to worry about. The ringing always went away the next day.

Except it didn’t this time. Uh-oh. I had developed tinnitus. I went to my ENT and an audio test revealed that I had already lost some of my hearing. I was told to lay off headphones and avoid loud sounds, so I had to miss a couple of other concerts that I would’ve otherwise gone to. Of course I felt bad. I even felt depressed for a while. I can’t imagine losing my hearing completely, I love love love listening to music.

Naturally I pointed the finger at the Switchfoot gig for damaging my hearing. I didn’t listen to their songs for a while because I didn’t want to be reminded of my condition. But no, after some thinking I realized that if I had anything or anyone to blame, it was myself.

For a long time, my headphones had been pretty much glued to my ears. I listened to music all the time - at home, at work, in the car, before going to bed - and I admit, sometimes I had the volume up a little too loud. It was a stupid thing to do, especially since I’d read about the damaging effects of loud music in the newspaper once. But you never really think that something can happen to you until it actually does.

Just for the record, I can still hear. I’m not deaf. Well not yet, anyway, and I’m doing what I can to prevent that from happening. I’ve been taking extra care of my ears ever since the incident - my headphones have been collecting dust, and I have a pair of earplugs that I bring along with me almost everywhere. My tinnitus isn’t so bad anymore, I just hear the ringing when it’s really quiet. I know other tinnitus sufferers have it worse. So no, I’m not sad or bitter or angry anymore. And oh, I’ve started listening to Switchfoot again. How could I not? They make awesome music. Right now I can’t stop playing Burn Out Bright and Awakening - the lyrics of these two songs really speak to me.

If anything, I should be thankful for the experience, because it taught me to not take my hearing for granted. And had this not happened, I’d probably be sporting hearing aids by the time I reach 30.

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Switchfoot Official Site
Switchfoot Official MySpace
Awakening Lyrics
Burn Out Bright Lyrics
Tinnitus Wikipedia Entry
American Tinnitus Association

As much as I love wearing skinny jeans, I am never wearing them to work ever again. (Unless I’m somehow left without a choice, but that’s unlikely.) I just realized that they’re doing baaad things to my circulation. No wonder my legs would feel all tingly and numb. I thought it was just the fact I’m pretty much confined to my desk and PC when at work. But no, it’s the jeans. It’s the skinny jeans!! Talk about being a victim to fashion.

These past few days I’ve been sporting looser, cotton pants. So even if I’m on my butt for hours, ze legs don’t tingle. To my fatal yet beloved skinny jeans, I’ll see you on the weekends.

Since January of this year I have been reading (an average of) one book per week. Here is the list for last month:

• The Reunion by Ljane Smith
• The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis
• The New Becoming Vegetarian* by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
• The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis
• Prince Caspian* by C. S. Lewis

*Not yet done reading.

Yep, I’m currently going through The Chronicles of Narnia. I bought the collector’s edition box set a while ago but have only read the first two books before I left the whole thing to collect dust in a corner of my room. Tsk.

If you’d like to see January’s list, click here.