Notes by Farouk Rojas

Michael DeBakey, pioneer of heart procedures, dead at 99

"Man was born to work hard," he said.

His patients ranged from penniless peasants from the Third World to such famous figures as the Duke of Windsor, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, Turkish President Turgut Ozal, Nicaraguan Leader Violetta Chamorro and Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.

But he said celebrities don't get special treatment on the operating table: "Once you incise the skin, you find that they are all very similar."

Read the full article on CNN...

First Recording in Years

I made a little recording for a friend who just turned 40. I sent her the Mexican 'Happy Birthday' song, sung by me and recorded a cappella in my home studio. It was an interesting piece of information for me because I could see where I have made progress with my voice and where there is still a lot of work to do.

Also, it was a good reminder of just how much work it takes to record a song successfully. I spent over an hour trying to get a good take of a very short song, which I have sung many many times in my life. It was, to say the least, humbling.

It was also humbling to see just how much work my diaphragm still needs, but it was exciting to experience the fruits of the 45ish hours I put into my voice last month. No, not nearly enough, but way more than I have ever put into it.

I think I hadn't actually recorded anything and sent it to someone since 1999, at least not in a studio.

Allergy season and my voice

It has been quite a tragic week for my voice work, as I have had all sorts of allergy symptoms, which have made it very difficult if not impossible to practice. I am working on the emotional and dietary aspects that have made this the worst allergy season in many years (actually, I didn't notice allergy season the last 2 years).

I think a big part of the problem is emotional, as after looking at a couple of issues, today I seem much better, although my voice is fried from so much sneezing, coughing and asthma inhaler treatments. I am feeling hopeful that I will be able to return to practice on Sunday, Monday at the latest.

The Highly Interesting Chart about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Internet Users

Through digg.com, I stumbled upon this chart:

From the Create Debate blog. See if this describes you or not...

Comment posting now available

After correcting a problem with the template I was using, comment posting is now available for this blog. If you have something to say about anything I have posted, please feel free to say something!

Back from the allergy hell

The last week has been allergy hell. I've had a hard time breathing and thus a hard time exercising and practicing voice, but I think the end of my allergies is at hand, and I look forward to accumulating hours, which I very much need, and reporting them here.

24 minutes

Been having cold symptoms for a few days, which shows me that I need to practice more when I'm healthy! 24 minutes of voice practice for May 7th.

3 hours and 24 minutes

Voice practice for May 4th was 3 hours and 24 minutes

3 hours and 26 minutes

Voice practice for May 3, 2008 was 3 hours and 26 minutes.

2 hours and 49 minutes

Voice practice for today was 2 hours and 49 minutes. Weight was 258 lbs. Workout time 1 hour 5 mins.