I found a poem tonight that I really like. I don't know who the author is, though I'm guessing it's Rumi or another of the mystic poets. I've been wanting to make audio files for this blog so I finally got together all the freeware I needed to do so. Maybe next year I'll start doing video, but I have to be really bold for that, and I'm not really very bold. That, and I think anyone who posts their own audio or video on their blog must have a really big ego. I don't have a big ego, I just like reading poetry. Over time I'll probably read more and more Zen or mystic poetry for this blog. For now, here's the first. I hope you enjoy it. Just click the play button!
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Update, 10/31/07 - Thanks to Mossy for helping me figure out who the author of this poem is. The man's name is Gerald Rhoades, and you can access more of his poetry at: http://onetruename.com/gerald.htm
15 comments:
Hello Sophia,
I listened to your recording. It is a very nice poem and I still like your voice. It seems more mature than in the last recording I heard, some years ago, but there is no sign of cigarette damage.
I do seem to remember that I know these things when I am reminded, but there is also some resistance to the idea. Mind says "How can you know anything without me!"
Thanks for the reading.
btw. Your recording had some echo in it when played on my computer.
Hi Mossy,
Thanks for listening. It's possible that my voice sounds different because of the new headset that I bought. Originally I had made my recordings with an old computer microphone. The old microphone was of poor quality. This new headset is a Logitech that I bought this week.
I'm glad you don't think the cigarettes damaged my voice. I only smoked half of a cigarette today. I'm almost there. This is my third time quitting. I smoked from age 16 to 21, then from age 26 to 28, I quit in January and started again in June. They say that three times is a charm so I am going to end it for real this time!
Tell your mind that it might not be the only thing that does the knowing!
Oh, I purposefully added the echo. Was it too much? If it's too cheesy, I can take it out next time. I just thought my plain ole voice sounded boring without it. I thought I'd spice things up a bit.
Hello Sophia,
I will tell my mind what you said.
Maybe this
http://onetruename.com/index.htm
is where you found the poem since there seems to be no other copy of it found by Google. If you click the little box at the end of the poem you get this link to the author and more of his works.
http://onetruename.com/gerald.htm
The echo is not bad but I guess I wanted to hear your natural voice. Often singers use a very short reverb to bring more presence to their voice.
Perhaps being present while reading could also brings more presence to the voice.
My you do stay up late!
Beautiful voice Sophia, and I like the echo effect, fits you, fits your voice and the reach of it, do you sing?
Love and peace to you, m'lady.
Forget about being egoistic. Just avoid being self-conscious. Or just do it!
Nice reading! I think your recording level is a bit on the low side. You need to normalize it. Try mp3gain. It's freeware.
I find it hard to believe that you don't know who the author of that poem is.
So there's a good chance it's you.
Regardless of size; Egos are ultimately irrelevant.
Hitler had one.
So did Picasso.
Even Martin Luther King.
Nice voice ¦:¬|
Mossy,
Thank you for figuring that out for me. I didn't think enough to click on the almost-microscopic box. Some of Gerald's poems seem like modern-day Rumi. I will probably read more of them in the future. They seem to celebrate the mystical beauty of Oneness.
Next time, I'll make a recording without the echo. Also, I'll try to be more present instead of feeling slightly self-conscious. I think I was suffering a bit from microphone-phobia.
I do stay up late. I'm up sometimes until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, every other Thursday and most Fridays and Saturdays. I'm a night owl. I like the quiet stillness of the night, the lessening of the sensory input. Plus, it just seems like my circadian rhythm gets along better with darkness.
Jim,
Thank you, dear!
I don't sing anymore. I used to, though. Once a month or so I sometimes sing a little tune, like "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" or some other diddy, but just when I'm wandering around the house feeling bored. I don't even sing in the shower. Do you?
Love and hugs for you!
Siegried,
You are right. I, too, worried about the low-volume of the recording. I had my recorder volume set to maximum, and still it was too quiet! I struggled with this for months, and I had almost given up just to succumb to it, when a few days ago I stumbled across something on the Internet that instructed one how to boost their microphone. I don't even know that I could remember how to get back there! But now it sounds much better, and I assure you the next time you listen to one of my new readings, you won't have to turn your speakers all the way up. :)
Thank you for your recommendation.
(And I am a bit self-conscious about reading things into microphone! Someday I'd like to have enough confidence just to talk into it about various subjects, like some people do, but I have to master reading things first. Right now it just doesn't seem natural for me.
Hi Twit,
Thank you. :)
I really would love to take credit for that poem, but I can't. Mossy helped me to figure out who it is. The poet's name is Gerald Rhoades. I've updated this post with a link to more of his works. I would like to find even more or to contact him, but I don't see an email address on the page.
Sophia,
It is there. You just have to look harder.
Hmmmm.... Sounds esoteric doesn't it?
Mossy,
I found his email address earlier today, but when I emailed him it came back to me as undeliverable. According the message I received, there is "no such user". So it seems his address is no longer in existence. For now, I'll just have to hope that someday in the future he googles his own name and finds my blog.
Wow! I have never seen a persons name appear so many times in google.
I do not think that he would notice your posting.
You will just have to call him. :)
I'm not much of a phone person! I'm going to work on that, though. Maybe I'll start calling some of you guys or something. Given that your wives and girlfriends don't mind, though. :)
I did manage to find another of his email addresses, so I wrote earlier this morning. I hope he still checks that address. I also hope he doesn't mind that I read one of his poems and posted it to my blog. I told him I'd take it down if he didn't want it here.
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