InvasiveThoughts.com

January 2008

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10 Neither Here Nor There

11 Social Injustice

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23 Community

Sounds of a Day

Sound exercise: to send a paragraph-length piece that lists the sounds you hear around you.


Below are some responses from our readers.


 

The gentle drone of the vent hood, the squeaking hinge of the oven door, the pop of the plunger on the dish machine letting you know it is changing cycles. The sounds of plates clanging together at a frantic pace to hurry and gracefully plate the entrees. Call backs of what is on order to chef. The sounds and melodies of the ballet of cooking. 


John Simon



spam allstars

hot austrian (sitting next to me) humming along

upstairs noises of setting up tables, bumps, scratches

annoying cell phone

fingers on keyboards

laughter

bell

rustle of new york times


Victoria S. Garcia



Click of a mouse

Rotation of ceiling fan

Click of the keyboard keys

Blowing of the AC

Bird chirping

Dish washer

Clothes washer

Clothes dryer

Radio playing

Dog snoring

 

Jim Stewart



an electric clicking coming from an air conditioning vent, giggles from the hall, the fan in the computer, the trash bags being collected, my stomach growling, (can feel that more than hear), a coffee cup being put down on a desk, the closing of a drawer, the keys click, a three ring binder being opened the snapped shut, coughing, back popping, loud voices speaking fondly of the end of the day...car keys being shaken as if to say...I'M outta here!!!


edibee



The air conditioner fan

The hum of the ceiling fan's electric motor.

The gentle whirring of my computer's hard drive.

Sound effects of my computer's various programs.

An airplane flying overhead.

My tapping on the keyboard as I type this reply.

Some sparrows chirping outside my window.

My own soul screaming in terror at its existential self-realization.


Sasha Zucker



computer beeping, nails clicking, children arguing, mother lecturing, dogs playing, oxygen hissing, phone ringing, rain dripping, thunder rolling, cars splashing, heels clicking, light flickering, girl sneezing, chair scratching, dryer thumping, washing machine spinning, siren screeching, bones cracking, paper rustling


Regina Chavez y Sanchez



vocal chords vibrating     pool balls clacking     speakers singing

cars and busses rushing   radios repeating    keyboards clicking


anastacio palomo



1.  Whirring of overhead fans

2.  Rats running around in the attic

3.  iPhone beeps when someone texts me

4.  Sound of mail delivery truck

5.  Doves cooing early in the morning

6.  Grackles around the pool and bird feeder

7.  My cat purring

8.  Jet overhead

9.  Chopper overhead

10. Auxiliary CPS power plant discharge roar

11. Dog barking next door and off in the distance

12.  Motorcycle going by

13.  Ambulance siren

14.  Police siren

15.  Fire truck siren


John Moore



the clicking of a clock stuck at 9:42

the hum of the computer below me

the incessant barking of the dog across the fence that is about to die

wind

air passing through my nose

the back hinge of my chair whining

that's all I've got ;)


bryan dempsey


 

window fan,  cars driving by,  wind through the trees,  rain,  door shutting,  creaking chair,  clicking of light switch,  flushing of toilet,  running water,  sound of glasses hitting the desk,  sound of shoes on floor, creeking floor,  sound of toothbrush brushing teeth,  keyboard keys when typing,  sound of hands and arms rubbing against clothes,  feet going in and out of slippers,   quietness of the night,  clock ticking, flicking fingernails together,   cardinals,  crows,  chickadees,  husband's voice,  tv


sandie lynch




The swish of a mop on a tile floor, laughter in another office, unintelligble conversation from another part of the building, the click and slam of the front door as it opens and closes with a squeel of the hinges, someone is walking down the hall with taps on only one shoe. the silent sound of the wrinkles next to your lips stretching into a smile just for me. ....and so much more


..............Eduardo Garza



the sound a coffee house makes at 10:20 in the morning:


a sigh of phones

verbal importance

a song

shifting everyone in their seats

keyboards, drum corps

the everything

and all around


ben tremillo



Low murmur of the fish tank pump, slight pretty bubbles float on top, car motors in the distance, the ringing in my ears of blood pumping through head veins, music from a song stuck in my head replaying itself over and over again in my brain, the soft internal sound of my teeth grinding as I think about work responsibilities…..


brooke palmer


tweet,toot,burp, bop, boop, ooh, aah. haah,shhhh,swish, swoosh. silence


Velma Reed



the sound of a tambourine marking the beat of a Camera Obscura song

a mouse clicking

keyboards typing

a door closing

the air conditioner running

keys jingling

coworkers talking in the distance

my friend tapping her fingers to the beat and humming

the shredding machine in the other room

 

Cassy



KPAC in the background, as I work.

My own breathing.

People padding in the office hall way.

Soft sound of cars going by me as I drive.

KSTX in the car and gently waking me in the morning.

Occasional auto horns.

In my taquería, the sound of Spanish chatter and of dish clatter.

Obnoxious noise of my daughter's dachshund barking.


Dr. Richard Pressman



Rumble of air through ducts

Click of high-heels on concrete

Jingle of bells on a doorknob

Shuffling of papers

Tic-tic of keyboards

Scratching of pencil on paper

Jangling keys


Leslie Plant



Whir of a ceiling fan; hush of the bull frogs before a storm; hissing of a bicycle pump; echo of disbelief coming from the crowd; gentle sawing of an August fly; slurring of the southern tongue; deep-throated guttural patterns of speech; babble of the auctioneer; racket of the tireless engines; decrescendo of the cicadas; creaking of the floors; cacophony of the children’s voices; wheezing of the old pump organ; whistling of the canary; muffled voices of freedom seekers; jangle of the chains; glimmer of hope; clanging of the pots and pans; rustling of the fallen leaves; chirping of the crickets; slapping of the waves against the boat. Silence of the end!

Judith McNeel



 

At home, alone except for the two cats and two dogs snoozing nearby. Except for the ringing in my ears, which comes now and again, it is very quiet, a quiet that to which I look forward. I think one cat is now up and cruising around, as I hear him sharpening his claws on the carpet, no doubt mid-stretch. Now one dog awakens stretches with an audible yawn, then pants a bit before settling in again. The fan whirs, the wind chimes outside play their ever-changing melody.


We just returned a couple weeks ago from Michigan to the sounds of a heat-beaten neighborhood: There is more silence than usual as everyone tries to stay indoors. Even fewer bird sounds, I think. But the worst is the sound when I walk across my front lawn to get the mail: the grass crunching under my feet....


At the camp where I teach in Michigan where it was cooler than usual this summer: near our cabin in the morning are bird sounds, birds that we don't have in our neighborhood in San Antonio: crows, robin, nuthatch, titmouse, chickadee, downy woodpecker, red headed woodpecker, and, occasionally a Baltimore oriole or scarlet tanager.


When I take the trail over to the camper side, and to the teaching areas, the sounds of the music camp increase as I get closer: First a band in the distance and then a second band with a different tune; then I can hear, as I pass, the various groups of like instruments as they work with individual teachers: the cellos with some lovely lyrical melody except for the one or two who are not quite with the others, or whose tone is less than mature; then as the cello sounds wane I come to a clarinet class running scales up and down; then on the right are horns doing calls or playing slow arpeggios; on the left the flutes practicing the very high notes with some painful results! Following are the saxophones which, I have been hearing for two minutes already, as they are playing painfully loud, with some very bad tone qualities and constantly out of tune; then the rather lovely sound of the bassoons from a distance as I approach my own charges, the oboes, whose rancorous out of tune honking comes filtering through in spite of the saxophones. In all, it is a cacophony of wide-ranging beauty, as each contributor tries to overcome the frustrations inherent in making his or her instrument sound better.


David Herbert



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