The There There Letter: Chimes, Chortling, and Cheese Coagulation
Three things from DAH.
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. I write, organize, plan, produce, manage, direct, act, sing, promote, and make change (not the coin kind).
First up this week, Chimes …
Looking out my office window I see a lovely silvery set of wind chimes hanging from a limb of our spreading Southern Live Oak. I don't really need to look to know the chimes are there, because even the slightest air movement rings out a lingering tone. There is always tree music in front of our home. These chimes are tuned to an A scale and are made in Virginia. I find the deep tone from our chimes so soothing and relaxing.
How to use wind chimes to soothe your mood
Second up this week, Chortling …
Chortling: That sort of partly-muffled snorting laugh that's beyond a giggle but falls short of hysteria. I've sometimes felt guilty chortling because I find it my go-to schadenfreude laugh (schadenfreude: taking pleasure in the misfortune of others). I like laughing generally. After all, it's contagious in company and the endorphin release makes one feel good (unless guilt-ridden from schadenfreudish chortling). Then I found this article (link below) that taught me three interesting things:
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. I write, organize, plan, produce, manage, direct, act, sing, promote, and make change (not the coin kind).
First up this week, Chimes …
Looking out my office window I see a lovely silvery set of wind chimes hanging from a limb of our spreading Southern Live Oak. I don't really need to look to know the chimes are there, because even the slightest air movement rings out a lingering tone. There is always tree music in front of our home. These chimes are tuned to an A scale and are made in Virginia. I find the deep tone from our chimes so soothing and relaxing.
How to use wind chimes to soothe your mood
Second up this week, Chortling …
Chortling: That sort of partly-muffled snorting laugh that's beyond a giggle but falls short of hysteria. I've sometimes felt guilty chortling because I find it my go-to schadenfreude laugh (schadenfreude: taking pleasure in the misfortune of others). I like laughing generally. After all, it's contagious in company and the endorphin release makes one feel good (unless guilt-ridden from schadenfreudish chortling). Then I found this article (link below) that taught me three interesting things:
- Laughing is universal. "Laughter is the only positive emotion that’s universally expressed," says Dr. Sophie Scott, professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London.
- Laughing can kill you, literally. Dr. Scott again: "It stops you breathing in, and you’re literally rendered helpless by things you find so funny you can’t stop. When you laugh hard, your blood pressure goes up and you place a lot of pressure on the thorax, which can put people already at risk of cardiac problems at even greater risk."
- Laughing isn't universally appreciated. 13% of Britons are gelotophobes (gelotophobia is the fear of being laughed at).
When laughter is bad for you
Third up this week, Cheese Coagulation …
I've been focused on sourcing local cheese lately. I love cheese, and I love the idea that it's made somewhere nearby. Vella in Sonoma is one of my local favorites. I also prefer cheeses made without animal-sourced coagulant. From Wikipedia: "Cheese is a dairy product, derived from milk and produced in a wide range of flavors, textures and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein." Most cheese is made using animal-sourced rennet (from the stomach lining of slaughtered calves, primarily) to assist with coagulation. But cheese can be made with vegetable-sourced (thistle, nettle and mallow) and microbial rennet, too. Vella makes me happy by stating, "We never use animal rennet."
The Rennet Story: Animal, Vegetable and Microbial
A little bit extra: "Accept what comes from silence" reads one line. Austin Kleon https://austinkleon.com/ drew my attention to a poem by Wendell Berry, a writer I greatly admire. "How to Be a Poet" … you can read this lovely short poem HERE.
That's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's poem "Sometimes" …
Third up this week, Cheese Coagulation …
I've been focused on sourcing local cheese lately. I love cheese, and I love the idea that it's made somewhere nearby. Vella in Sonoma is one of my local favorites. I also prefer cheeses made without animal-sourced coagulant. From Wikipedia: "Cheese is a dairy product, derived from milk and produced in a wide range of flavors, textures and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein." Most cheese is made using animal-sourced rennet (from the stomach lining of slaughtered calves, primarily) to assist with coagulation. But cheese can be made with vegetable-sourced (thistle, nettle and mallow) and microbial rennet, too. Vella makes me happy by stating, "We never use animal rennet."
The Rennet Story: Animal, Vegetable and Microbial
A little bit extra: "Accept what comes from silence" reads one line. Austin Kleon https://austinkleon.com/ drew my attention to a poem by Wendell Berry, a writer I greatly admire. "How to Be a Poet" … you can read this lovely short poem HERE.
That's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's poem "Sometimes" …
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
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