When I go to bed in my apartment, I always turn on an oscillating fan at the foot of my bed. The fan serves a few purposes: keep temperature cooler, provide a steady, harmonic ambient noise, and buffer other noises. The harmonic sound of the fan turning side to side slightly lowers the intensity of the fan's noise when it is as far left or right as it will turn. I like that the sound is constant and consistent from night to night. I like to think that it helps me sleep. What is more important is my next point. The hum of the fan provides a steady noise that is not penetrated by distant or soft sounds like traffic, the TV in the other room, or people talking upstairs. It also acts as a buffer against anything louder than that such as loud music or people yelling outside.

Ambient noise is not a typical thing that I pay attention to, though, outside of my fan at night. When I think about it, there's almost always a constant noise whether it be the noise my bike makes when I pedal and the wind, or my teachers' or peers' constant lecture/discussion, respectively, of course, and if I'm home, I play music, talk to people, watch videos or play video games. I try not to listen to the silence. I have a roommate and a girl friend, but sheer silence in their absence gives an environment of lonesomeness (that couldn't have sounded more pathetic). Should I also mention that I'm easily startled by loud, unexpected sounds? F*ck the modern horror genre.