hyperacousia

greetings from the heart of it all where i'm simply taking a week off. this means there's time to sit and read up on ghana for an upcoming trip, and listen to the entire two-hour democratic candidate debate with my mom, and meet my friend and her two kiddos at gasoline alley for 4-cheese macaroni, and visit square records and sleep tremendously long hours and...you get the point. there's also time to follow up on links i've been meaning to, like this one. joan schuman's a media /radio/sound artist who's been producing audio work ranging from abstract, deeply personal sound poems to straight-up documentaries ever since i've been listening carefully. joan's a writer, teacher, producer, artist and many other things i'm sure, and her work's been heard all over the place. she has a distinct voice and a light touch, and she's been a tireless champion of artful sound constructions - many of which you can hear through her pleasingly mostly grey website, which i hope you'll check out.

what's up for tomorrow in the buckeye state, you ask? well we're not going to miss the lighting of the chocolate menorah at summit mall, right at sundown. i'm already looking forward to the latkes and free chocolate donuts advertised in my nephew's school's newsletter. AND to hearing his class sing some rousing hanukah tunes. see? the heart of it all. and yes, i'll take pictures.

update: well. that was definitely Something. we didn't stick around for donuts - it was a pretty loud / chaotic / exuberant affair by the time the choir and school band finished up and the rabbis and local politicans (mayor of akron!) had their say. i'd hazard a guess that it was the first time in summit mall's history that klezmer-inspired music filled the air, mingling with the smell of latkes and yes, chocolate. (WDGET*?) turns out the choc-orah suffered some breakage, and so instead of standing tall was laid flat on a table in all of its confectionery glory. and there was plenty of other chocolate to be found, including a very blonde young woman dressed up as a human-sized hershey kiss and handing out tidbits. i'll leave that image to your imagination. (you're welcome.)

*What Did Gap Employees Think?