Snark. chuh chuh! whoooahwhooo pfffffffffbbbbth.
This is what I sound like today...but at least I have sound--yesterday my voice was completely gone. Madeline summed it up pretty well: "You're like an angry mime." And indeed I was. How frustrating not to be able to say a word. I learned a lot though. I noticed things. Like how much I say that is purely superfluous. We all tend to over-speak simply to hear the sound of our own voice. I noticed other things too: how 80% of the things that other people say are just bits of meaningless chatter. And how the important things aren't said aloud, but the point gets across anyway. I saw an exhibit on chimpanzees at the natural history museum last weekend and was absolutely floored by the complexity of their body language. It was not until yesterday that I realized how humans are just as proficient in using our own bodies to communicate--we just don't notice it. Try going around for one day without making gestures while you speak, not using facial expressions, not using your body to communicate in any way. It's almost impossible. Exasperation (sigh, hands on hips), bordeom (head in hands), interest (leaning forward), superiority (raised eyebrows during conversation)....the list is endless and so ingrained that it takes a constant effort to notice it all.
Needless to say my teachers were pleasantly surprised that I could not talk...
...but after a day of interpreting body language, they had no chance in concealing their dissapointment (audible sigh, shoulders fall in resignation, teeth set) today upon realizing that my voice is back--in full force.