Are you recommending all of this stuff as a throat lubricant? (laugh) You
certainly do enjoy life , dont you! That's good.
bjjocelyn <bjjocelyn@p...> wrote:I have never experienced drastic throat
dryness throughout my singing life,
although:
- I freely drink (apart from water and fresh fruit juice) lots of strong
expresso coffee (the percolator-made one with the nice froth layer, taken
pure, ie unsweetened and without milk or cream), turkish coffee (with the
too coarse coffee grounds sinking down to the bottom of the cup), green tea
(sometimes flavoured with fresh green mint leaves), red and white wine, rum,
scotch, tequila and a couple of slammers now and then.
- I delight myself with pure tobacco Habana cigars whenever I feel like, not
to mention a pure grass pot from time to time.
- Doing all those things, I am generally having a good time in a good
company, so I talk to exhaustion, I laugh, I scream, I yell, I whisper, I
don't save my voice at all.
- I eat tons of very hot chili (jalapenos, habaneros), garlic, onions,
ginger, and all kind of spices.
- I am hopelessly addicted to bitter chocolate (80% cocoa).
- I am a shameless all-meat-and-fish eater (besides pork and mackerel) I
also have eggs and dairy products fairly enough, such as feta, mozarella,
parmesan, skimmed-milk yoghurt, although I feel a disgust for whole milk
(worse still, boiling with the skimming cream), butter (especially cooked),
cream, and fat pungent cheese (camembert, roquefort...)
- On the vegetal side, I go for olive, sunflower and grape seeds oils, fresh
citrus fruit berries, pineapple, mango, guava, papaw, litchi, kiwi, apples
("keeps the doctor away..."), pears, plums peaches and nectarines, all dry
fruit except too much peanuts because it stuffs me, fresh salads and leafy
vegetables, aubergines, courgettes, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas
and chick-peas, cereal-wise thorough bread, oats, pasta, whole rice, sesame,
soy beans...
- My biggest turnoffs are: as said, whole milk, butter, cream, fat pungent
cheese and burned flour in cooking, then stodgy-starchy foods such as
turnips, bananas, carrots, pumpkin, purée, dumplings, white bread, cakes,
crackers, crisps and biscuits, puddings, whipped-cream drenched pastries,
custard, sweets and toffees, then talking of drinks, coke, sodas, fizzy
mineral water and beer, all of which turn me but all burps and farts, black
tea which make me all the thirstier, and processed foods altogether (greasy
Joe's burger, kebab, fish sticks and French fries, minute-made pizzas,
pancakes, bagels, donuts, hotdogs, sandwiches, and all pap of the same
ilk...)
- Finally, vinegar makes me sick, so when I can't have it substituted for
lemon or lime in a dressing, sauce, gravy or any kind of preparation, I
roughly shun the dish. Ketchup, mustard and me, we've never been close
friends.
- I am naturally slim, muscular and healthy and never had to go through a
diet, but unless I were starving or dying for thirst I'd rather skip eating
or drinking and wait a few hours than force something I don't like into my
system. A simple policy that seemingly keeps me going.
- My sleeping pattern is erratic, I don't mind as long as I feel fine. I go
to solariums, public swimming pools and steam baths and do get exposed to
pollution and cigarette smoke daily, as
I live in a urban area and enjoy a busy (and highly rewarding :)) nightlife.
- In the coldest winter days I might get a flu onset now and then, but I
generally manage to hem it with resting, absorbing lots of fluids, boosting
my vitamin C intake and exceptionally homeopathy.
- Yes I do move, indoors and outdoors, exercise, practice martial arts, go
swimming, rock climbing, dancing... but just because I like it. Although
they say it's healthy, you'll never see me biking for hours for instance,
because it says so little to me. I don't care, I go for what appeals to me,
period.
So, unless boffins quite unexpectedly come to discover that my present
lifestyle turned out to be the healthier (gotta be up to everything in this
bizarre world of ours), take my advice : accept your voice as it is, don't
worry, be happy, nobody is perfect, steer away from cure-all remedies and
funny sleeping pills...but mostly listen to yourself, go in peace with
yourself, don't fret, obsess about the buzz around you, just sing. If it
were all that ideal all the time, there wouldn't be much drive in singing.
BJJA
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