Yay! I'm not sick anymore! But this doesn't mean that my throat still isn't sore. Why? Oh because I sang of course. I sing in the car and just really go for it. I give it my all. I don't hold back. No regrets, just love. This is despite whatever my face will look like when I hold out a note, because I love music so much. I don't care who looks, I don't care, because I love music in all it's essence. I love the fact that we've taken things of nature and crafted them into instruments that make sounds pleasant to the ears. That strings of sounds come together to tell a story. That words have been applied to music to tell a specific story, to send a message, to have fun, to convey so many things. Music is in the background of many TV shows, commercials, movies have soundtracks, there are now videos that accompany music, radio, and the list could go on; a whole business is created from music. And I want to be a part of it. I may not know how to sing in a specific key, and I never know what Simon, Randy, and Paula are (were) talking about when they say a performance was "pitchy" (when I thought it sounded pretty darn good because it was better than what I could do), but I sure as heck will sing with all my soul in a car. And at times I KNOW I harmonize with the song that's playing. When that happens, I feel totally validated. I was also validated this summer (I work at a summer camp) by a camper who does chorus (in high school) when she overheard me singing and told me that I was good without having to ensure me that I'm not "that bad" which is usually the response I get when I say I suck at singing. But I didn't even have to prompt her or get the pity "You're not that bad!" And it made me so happy because nobody had ever said that to me before. Then she was either just being a good sport after that or truly wanted it, but she would occasionally ask me to sing for her. This built my confidence to want to pursue singing lessons, that I have some potential...Regardless, throughout our journey, I will continue to muse about music and what it means to my life and how big a role it plays and how much I want to play a part in it!
Anyways, my voice feels strained because I was in the car (all by myself, when others are around, I usually hold back), for about an hour and a half, about the time of a concert, and realized, I sang a full concert, and maybe even performed more songs than your typical concert because the songs were back to back to back. Buuut as I was sick, and with the thing that ailed me most, my sore throat, I focused efforts on trying to soothe it. As I had said before, my throat spray had long since been expired, and was only working for short amounts of time, so I was looking to warm/hot food consumption. And I started thinking of the "goes-down-your-throat-real-easy-and-is-warm" food that there is out there in the world and this is the extensive list that I came up with:
1. Soup
2. Oatmeal
3.
4.
5.
6.
(sidebar for any of you Friends fans, this reminds me of when Phoebe fruitless, dare I say vegetableless, efforts to list off all the different types of celery)
I had anticipated an easy and full list of items to consume that would soothe my throat as I ate it and came to the startling conclusion that said list is not very extensive. I mean, yes, there are plenty of different types of soups out there, and you can add many things to your oatmeal, but there really isn't an expansive amount of things to be consumed that goes-down-your-throat-real-easy-and-is-warm-food. I mean you could warm up applesauce, but I feel like it is meant to be served chilled. I tried to think maybe pasta, but most of it you have to spend extra time chewing and wouldn't really go down so easy. And if you tried you could end up like this kid
Or if you suck and live by yourself, you may have to end up like this girl
Either way, you could risk having to be touched by someone else or breaking your own ribs, resulting in a trip to the hospital...but at least you'd be alive, just to prove that pasta could go down easy. So don't try to prove me wrong or this could be you
Ok, then thought about mashed potatoes. Great right? Accompanied with gravy, another goes-down-your-throat-real-easy-and-is-warm food, the perfect combo. But when you're sick, you're not gonna have the energy nor desire to make mashed potatoes. And that instant crap just isn't the same.
Another option is to go the cold way: get milkshakes, ice-cream, pudding, jello, etc. But those aren't meals.
Yet, my problem isn't solved. There should be more quick goes-down-your-throat-real-easy-and-is-warm type foods out there. And they should also come in snack form. I know, your solution is "Be healthier and just never get a sore throat!" DUH! Like I haven't thought of that! I would do that if it was easier, but these were the cards I was dealt. So I dealt with them. And got mad at them because I had to miss a few days of work and class.
If you have any suggestions, please share them (as in goes-down-your-throat-real-easy-and-is-warm food) in the comments section below. I just think our Amurrcan culture should generate more of these goes-down-your-throat-real-easy-and-is-warm types of food for such situations...and also make them easy to make for when you're sick and lazy :)
