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Cochbla: September 2005

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Friday, September 30, 2005. Tell me when the sound is loud but comfortable Mr. Jackson had said during the mapping on Tuesday. I tried to oblige him, failing to say what came to mind: how can a sound be loud but comfortable? If it’s loud, it’s not comfortable. If it’s comfortable, it’s not loud. You can’t have both, so, unsure of what to do, I went for loud. Yesterday, at the remapping, I opted to voice my concerns. Tell me when the sound is loud but comfortable, said Mr. Jackson again. I was amazed at h...

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Cochbla: January 2006

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Saturday, January 14, 2006. Monday I had my first speech pathology session in a month. To practice listening skills, speech path and I flipped on NPR and listened to the Alito confirmation hearings. There he goes, said the NPR commentator. Out over the mall. Drifting south by southwest. The second since lunch. Sen FEINSTEIN: Me. Bush. Me. Me. Bush. Me. Me. Oh azure skies, rhetorical flourish! Sen COBURN: Baby killer. Sen BIDEN: Anyone hungry? Anyone got popcorn, no-fat butter? I got Mike and Ikes to trade.

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Cochbla: July 2006

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Monday, July 24, 2006. Hot Day and the AC Don't Work Right. Sometimes, I do get in a groove and enjoy the writing. When I started, my goal was to honor my friends in Zambia, the villagers who gave so freely of everything they had. And the book is still about them but it’s grown to become an exploration of the many aspects of the experience of deafness. Unlike this blog. This is usually just about the cheap laugh. What is real then? When things are different or when they’re the same? Tough one, eh? The pl...

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Cochbla: August 2005

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Thursday, August 25, 2005. More random thoughts, this time while watching the Yankees and waiting, somewhat impatiently, for my first mapping session. 80,000 pieces of information a second sounds impressive, but is nothing compared to what a regular ear can do. In his book Rebuilt (which, as I mentioned, is THE book on Cochlear Implants), Michael Chorost explains this really well. 8-9pm: Three Arias from Don Giovanni mixed with the song of the Southern Pacific blue whale. 10-11pm: Sound of waves receding...

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Cochbla: October 2005

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Sunday, October 30, 2005. Link to the Future. Hey all, happy weenie day! A quick note - this. Posted by Josh at 6:32 AM. Thursday, October 27, 2005. So I emailed Meg other day because I had outgrown the first program on the implant that is, my cochlear nerve was ready for a higher level of electrical stimulation. She gave me a time to come in to the clinic and quickly get a program boost. Michael came in to the room while Meg and I waited (and waited) for the new settings to load off the computer. Why no...

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Cochbla: June 2006

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Wednesday, June 21, 2006. The Deafish, Served with a Pinot Gris. She had one rule: wash your hands. Good to know. I should try it more often. I was put in charge of pouring the white wine, which is a little like having Otis guard a plate of steaks. With hearing aids, I imagine the article would come out like this:. 7:25: pour wine, drink. 7:30: cut piece of bread, eat it. Someone flips a fish. Why is my apron yellow while everyone else’s is white? Someone's talking to me - nod. 7:45: is this fish for me?

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Cochbla: April 2006

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Friday, April 14, 2006. The Miracle of the Bush League Palate, Cleansed. Cochbla had an intense auditory challenge this week, as he journeyed, for the first time with an implant, into the maelstrom of overlapping conversation, heated political argument, and eardrum piercing bilingual chanting known as the Passover seder. It was an auditory orgy, no question about it, and like all orgies it was dangerous, confusing, fueled by excessive amounts of alcohol and littered with matzah crumbs. Eventually, we all...

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Cochbla: November 2005

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Saturday, November 05, 2005. Home on the Range. Aight, another week gone by. Appreciate your patience. All is good with the implant. In an informal test done by my speech pathologist last Monday, I was up to over 90 percent for random word recognition. Random word recognition means I try to figure out what the speech path is saying while she hides her mouth with a shield no lipreading is possible. After the test, I saw my supervisor in the hall. I’m at ninety percent on random words,’ I said. I made it up.

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Cochbla: December 2005

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Thursday, December 29, 2005. Some things to be thankful for. Whole Foods desserts. The sound of a bus accelerating. The predictable complaints of the Daily News front page. The strong wind that arrives ten seconds before the subway. Black olives, not too salty. The man at the Times Square station dancing the tango with a doll. White chocolate macadamia cookies. Posted by Josh at 3:04 AM. Wednesday, December 21, 2005. Oh God, Help us, help us! Josh: This is like a kid trying to speak adult. Ice, he said.