Oversized t-shirt + tunic = color block dress.

So, it didn't take me all that long to get in holiday mode and start crafting/sewing again. Really, inspiration struck me and so I sort of neglected to do the cleaning I was supposed to do yesterday... Oh well, there's still time :P

So I had this tunic that I thrifted a long time ago, but never used as-is:

So then I chopped it in half.

I then took the top part and laid it flat on a t-shirt I'd also thrifted because I needed an orange strip for my Pride top earlier this year. I cut a rough sleeveless top out of the orange t-shirt:

(...Maybe I should have ironed the orange shirt?)

Then I ripped the sleeves off of the tunic...

...sewed the side seams of the orange top, and inserted the sleeves:

Then, once the top was done I attached it to the bottom half of the tunic:

Ta-dah:

The waist part was a bit loose-fitting, so I also added an elastic band, and since I couldn't match the waist seam exactly it was visible from the outside. Since I am lazy and didn't want to fix that, I simply added a belt:

The dress is still a bit short for me (you know, giant), I'm still thinking about adding a strip of fabric on the hem to make it longer, but I didn't have anything at hand that A) would match the gray and orange fabrics and B) would be suitable material to sew on the hem. So I'm thinking about a trip to the Goodwill store to see if they have any nice fabric lying around.

Now I'm thinking about making a dress for Christmas. We'll see how that goes. :D

love,
scoundrel

PS. If you have snow, send it my way, please. This no-snow December thing is so depressing.

Quick update: "it's alive!" (meaning, I am)

It's been a long while since I've posted anything... November was insane, studying-wise, so I mostly just studied, stressed, wrote essays, stressed some some, slept and repeated. Like that Tom Cruise movie tag line. Study. Stress. Repeat. Or something like that.

So this is just a quick update to let you know I'm not dead. In fact, my holiday break started a few days back, so now I can simply relax until January... and that relaxation was needed, I can tell you. Really, really needed.

So I haven't done much creative stuff lately, since I haven't had time and in my experience nothing kills creativity as quickly as stress. But hopefully I can get back to more sewing and such soon!

Anyways, here's some things I have done (or gotten done!) lately:

1) a new tattoo!

It depicts nerve cells on a sound wave. The two ends of speech process, or my vision of it. Nerve cells synapse in the brain, sending information to the muscles of the larynx, the muscles move the vocal folds closer and air comes out of the lungs, creating differences in air pressure levels which we then perceive as sound.

So, nerve cells and sound - makes sense, doesn't it?

I kind of wanted a tattoo that has something to do with my future occupation, and I think this is pretty good in that aspect. The above picture is taken on day 1, right after I removed the wrap, but I'll post better pics once the damn thing has stopped peeling like mad. :D

***

2) I finally had time to do some sewing again!

Stress + lack of time = me not doing any sewing projects. But the other day I spotted this picture online:

That shirt dress looked so comfortable that I wanted to do something similar. Luckily I had a piece of stretchy knit fabric that was striped. So I simply took an existing shift dress I had and used it to measure and cut out the pieces. I made the sleeves extra long because I never get to enjoy sleeves that are actually long. What with me being a giant and so on...

So here's the result:

It may not be the most flattering dress for my figure, but damn that thing is cozy. It's like a soft nightgown, but you can wear it outside your home! Like, you can actually go out into the society wearing it and it's completely okay. Comfortable and socially acceptable. Now that's a win-win right there.

Seriously. So comfortable.
(And yes, I'm standing on a chest because I was bored with taking pictures in the same places every time...)

***

So yeah, I just wanted to let you know I'm still alive and sort of kicking... although right now I'm mostly just kicking back and relaxing, because for the first time in two months I can actually do that. So once I've managed to get less sleep-deprived I might actually write more blog posts. But right now, I think I'm going to bed. At 10 PM. Yes, I'm that old.

Happy Holidays, people!

love,
(extremely sleepy) scoundrel

Voice Massage - what's that, then?

So, a while ago I posted a rather fierce rant about speech-language pathology (SLP) and how it's a valid field of academic research and so much more than just teaching correct pronunciation to preschoolers. (You can read said rant here.)

So, this semester we've had a couple of interesting classes about voice disorders and phoniatrics. I will post more info about those later, but in a nutshell voice disorders are disorders caused by organic/functional factors which fuck your voice up. Phoniatrics is a field of medicine that is specialized in staring down your throat to see what's going on down there (kind of like an Ear-Nose-Throat doctor but not quite). So, during the voice disorder classes our professor mentioned voice massage several times. I'd heard of it before, but now I really wanted to try it out.

Voice massage is a form of massage therapy that is aimed at the deep muscles that help us breathe, and the muscles that we use when we speak. It was invented in Finland in the 80's and has been a supportive therapy form for (for example) voice disorder patients, singers etc ever since.

Here's a brief explanation (which I stole from a voice massage site because they said it much better than I ever could):

"Voice Massage is a treatment that facilitates all muscle groups related to breathing and voice production by means of classical massage strokes. It is aimed at relieving tension in the muscles so that proper posture, flexibility, especially in the area of the rib cage and diaphragm, and over all relaxation will return. Breathing exercises and stretching may be used in addition. This tension release in body and mind is the prerequisite for balanced voice production.

The muscles that relate to voice production are in the middle and upper part of the body, the chest, the neck, the face and the head. Massage strokes are carefully applied in the area in question. The respiratory muscles and masticators as well as the tongue are treated."
(Source.)

Unfortunately there aren't many scholarly articles published about voice massage, but I managed to find one study in which voice massage had a positive effect on teachers' voices. You can find it here.

I have a normal, healthy voice (otherwise I probably couldn't be studying to become a speech therapist), but I have muscle tension in my upper body. And when I say tension, I mean TENSION. I honestly can't remember when was the last time my shoulders have been completely relaxed. I also have a tendency to hypertension of the voice, which means I do excessive muscle work when I speak. It's a bad habit, but luckily nothing irreversible. So I figured I could use a voice massage to release the tension in my neck area.

Picture from here.

I booked an appointment with a voice massage therapist that my professor recommended, and today I walked into my first voice massage, curious about what I had gotten myself into.

First the therapist asked some basic background info, mostly questions concerning my voice. Since I was there just out of curiosity and a mild case of hypertension, there were only a few questions. I told her I study logopedics and wanted to try voice massage and that I do seem to have some mild hypertension around my neck area.

Then I was asked to strip my clothes from waist up (yes, bra included, for those of you who are prissy about such matters), take off my shoes and lie face down on a massage table.

Even though I know the respiratory muscles and the anatomy and physiology of respiration, it still surprised me how low down on the back the massage goes. She massaged pretty much my entire backside from hips to neck. But it wasn't a regular back massage, like one you can get at any massage place. The pressure level was higher and concentrated mostly around the spine and a bit on the sides. She pressed down hard and I could really feel it in between my ribs.

The area between my spine and my shoulderblades earned me a few 'tsk-tsk' remarks. I was aware that I had some muscles in a knot around that area, but I had no idea they were that badly tensed. At first I started to feel slight pain in the muscles, but only after the spot had been massaged (the massaging itself did not hurt). I think it's because the muscles started functioning properly again. Like, "oh, so this is what it feels like when blood flows properly into the muscles!" :D

Picture from here.

The voice massage therapist made me do deep breathing exercises every now and then while she pressed down between my shoulder blades. It was the most amazing feeling when she lifted her hands - after breathing in and out deeply a few times with her weighing down on my back, I felt like I could float away when the weight was gone. And breathing felt so easy and light, it was amazing.

After she was done with my back and shoulders, I was asked to turn and lie on my back. She then massaged the muscles between my ribs also at the front (and yes, around your boobs if you have those, just a friendly warning if you're squeamish about that kind of stuff). Another set of deep breathing exercises followed while she pressed down on my sternum, and again when the weight was lifted I felt like I could float away as I took a breath in. Such an amazing feeling. I think I'll have to ask someone to sit on my chest every now and then so I can feel like that again when they get up :D

As my respiratory muscles were now mostly functioning, the therapist moved onto my neck. She massaged the superficial muscles and some of the deeper around the hyoid bone (the bone which your tongue is attached to) and around the cartilages of the neck. It was the funniest feeling when she massaged my tongue from the outside, below my jaw - I could feel my tongue moving but I wasn't the one moving it! :D Again I got some disapproving comments about the overall tenseness of the neck area, but the condition of my masseter muscles (the big ones in your cheeks which you use for chewing) really set her off. Apparently it's noticeable that I bite my teeth together when I sleep, and I should consider an occlusal splint (a mouthguard that prevents you from biting your teeth together when you sleep). I'll have to see to that.

After she'd massaged my face up to my forehead and temples, the massage was done. The session took around 75 minutes, but it didn't feel all that long. I was surprised to see what the time was when I got up from the massage table. The session cost 60 euros, so it's not the cheapest form of massage therapy, but it was so worth it!

See, when I got up I could feel myself breathing differently. The air went all the way down my lungs naturally, and my stomach expanded while my shoulders stayed put. And then I opened my mouth to speak, and it was a different world to me. Gone was the tense voice, gone was the occasional vocal fry at the ends of my sentences. My voice flowed out effortlessly and beautifully. I sounded like me, but a thousand times better. A nice, firm voice and not a hint of tension to be heard.

Picture from here.

I am so going again if need be. I enjoyed the massage thoroughly and I could feel the results immediately afterwards. My voice massage therapist told me not to thank her yet, though - she said that it's possible I'll be very sore tomorrow, especially around those muscles which are rarely stimulated by external forces (like the small respiratory muscles between your ribs). She also told me to drink plenty of fluids and avoid overexerting myself today, because this kind of massage therapy can cause you some weakness and weird feelings afterwards...

...so naturally I promptly disregarded this advice and went to buy some necessities that had been on my shopping list for a while, like contact lens solution, hairspray and Q-tips. I also popped into a grocery store to buy something to eat today, so I was somewhere near the cheese aisle when the nausea and dizziness hit me.

A pro tip / note to self: when your massage therapist gives you advice, you'd better heed to that advice.

I took the bus home and ate and drank something, and then I felt better again. I can't really describe the feeling that hit me while I was shopping groceries, except for it felt a bit like when you've donated blood and feel weak and fatigued afterwards.

So now my plan for the rest of the evening is to sit on the couch and drink hot chocolate.

Picture from here.

In conclusion: voice massage is awesome and hot chocolate rocks my socks. How's your week going?

love,
scoundrel

Logopedics? (Or "the loco-what-now?")

You all know that blank look that one receives when he/she says something that the other participant of the conversation doesn't understand.

You know, that vacated Homer Simpson stare.

I tend to get that look when I say that I study logopedics.

"The loco-what-now?", accompanied with the aforementioned blank stare, is the most common reaction I get.

So then I elaborate, "I'm studying speech-language pathology, to become a speech therapist."

To which the person in question throws this lightbulb answer: "Oh! So you'll be teaching kids how to say 'r' correctly!" (the /r/ sound is the sound which is the most problematic for Finnish kids.)

To which my reaction is:

*brb facepalming*

Okay, I get it. Most people only have heard about speech therapists that correct mispronounced /r/ and /s/ sounds - it's the only experience they have of speech therapists. It's only logical they would assume that's what speech therapists do.

It's true that speech therapists sometimes do articulation therapy. But it's only a tiny, miniscule part of what a speech therapist does. It's like the tiniest fish among all the fish in all the oceans of the entire planet. It's like saying that all a chef does is peel potatoes. Or that all a car mechanic does is change the tires of the car. Or-- Well, you get the idea.

In fact, with the current budget cuts and lack of resources, most speech therapists don't have the time to correct articulation problems that cover one or two sounds. Unless they seriously hinder the person's ability to speak or to be understood, articulation problems are seen as "cosmetic" problems.

So what if your kid's got an /r/ missing?
...There's that other kid with neurological problems who needs AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) methods, such as signs or pictures - as speaking is not an option in this case.
...That other kid who falls within the autism spectrum and is unlikely to ever actually speak at all.
...That kid with specific language impairment who hasn't uttered his first word at two years of age.
...That lady who had a stroke and completely lost her ability to speak.
...That woman whose vocal folds are paralyzed and she needs voice therapy to be able to speak louder than a whisper.
...That man with Parkinson's Disease, who will suffer from hoarseness of voice and possibly dementia and language loss later on.
...That kid with a developmental disorder which not only prevents her from ever being able to communicate with speech, but also prevents her from swallowing properly (so the first milestone would not be communication, but rather teaching the kid to swallow so she can eat.)

In comparison, that mispronounced /r/ sound is rather small of a problem, don't you think?

Picture from here.

So no, I'm not spending five years on learning how to correct /r/ and /s/ sounds. I'll be getting a master's degree in speech-language pathology (SLP). The five years include studying our own field, as well as phonetics, psychology, medicine and statistics (to name a few). When I get my degree, I'll (hopefully) have sufficient knowledge about neurological problems that cause issues with communication (such as dyspraxia, dysarthria, aphasia, CP, Down Syndrome, autism spectrum etc). I'll know what kind of language development is normal for a child and what is cause for concern. I'll understand the psychological aspects that affect human communication. I'll know about brain hemorrhages and lesions and strokes that can rob a person of their language skills, and I'll know approximately what kind of effect to expect if I know what part of the brain is affected.

Infarct that covers part of Broca's area, so that means difficulties in speech production rather than in reception. (Although I won't be looking at these pictures, the doctors will do that and then write a diagnosis for me. But it's still good to know where the language-associated areas are in the brain.)
Picture from here.

In short, I'm not in the front line with doctors when they are saving the person's life after a brain hemorrage or stroke, but I'll be there to do the aftermath, as part of the rehabilitation team. I'll be the one working with the person long-term, helping them regain their language or coming up with alternative methods of communication if all else fails.

Or I'll be there with the child with CP whose dysarthria, muscle tone and/or spasms prevent them from forming words, or doing signs, or pointing at pictures... so then it's up to me to find a method of communication that is possible for the child to perform - be it a button they can reach with their pinky toe (if that's the only part of their body they can consciously control), or a button they can bump with their left temple, or something like that. It requires knowledge and creativity to fix a communication method for someone to utilize.

That is what I'm studying. Communication. How to help people communicate when they cannot do so with words.

So even though I know I shouldn't be offended by people's ignorance in what I'll be doing when I get my degree, it still makes me grimace every time someone thinks I'll just be that speech therapist lady who helps kids pronounce things correctly. Because I'd like to think that what I do is far more important... wouldn't you say?

Picture from here.

So yeah. I'm thinking about doing some blog entries about SLP and stuff related to it. Let this rant be the first in the series. :D Next time I'll talk about some specific subject, but I felt it necessary to open up the field of SLP a bit before diving into it fully.

Let me know if you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions!

love,
scoundrel

I saw Lindsey Stirling live! /fangirling

Yesterday, Lindsey Stirling begun her European tour from Helsinki. I bought tickets the minute they were available, and yesterday me, my husband and Stormiina headed out to The Circus in Helsinki to see the show.

I found Lindsey Stirling's music sometime in 2012 and she has been with me ever since. The first ever song I heard from her was Crystallize, so I was extremely happy that she played it last night. The show was amazing - energetic, visually stunning, funny and at times a bit sad (or maybe I was just so happy I was almost crying?) - and I loved every second of it.

We managed to get pretty close to the stage and I managed to snap some decent pictures (well decent considering I took them with my phone in poorly lit conditions). Here they are for your viewing pleasure. Spread the Lindsey love!

"Guys, I said Lady Gaga, not Nicki Minaj!"
(To get the reference, go see this video from the gig.)

Oh, and I made this Finland Monster and tossed it out onstage:

Lindsey picked it up and named it Kumquat (Seriously, could she be any more perfect?!)... I was so stunned that she took notice of my gift that I failed to take a picture with her holding it... so if you have a picture or video of her and the Monster named Kumquat, I'd like to see it, please!

I also made matching shirts for me and Stormiina (because of course I did):

So yeah, my feet hurt from standing (first an hour in line to the venue, then two hours in front of the stage, waiting for Lindsey) - and jumping (because when it's Lindsey Stirling, you have to rock out no matter how tired your feet are!), but I wouldn't have missed the concert for the world. I'm so happy she came to Finland and I got the opportunity to see her live. ^_^

So thank you Lindsey and thanks to everyone who was out there with me! Lindsey was amazing and we were amazing!

love,
scoundrel