Music Hath Charms
It has been a pleasant Friday morning. Robbie and I slept in until sometime after 9, made some gentle whoopee, watched some TV in bed, then had breakfast together. I made french toast and poached eggs and ham.
It was lovely. We both cleaned up the kitchen, Robbie cleaned the kittie litter, then (and only then) he went up to place WOW! LOL! Gotta love that boy.
I am sitting in the office listening to Mahler's First Symphony. I was never a huge fan of Mahler but last night there was a TV show about him and his work, and I found myself quite moved by it. So today I intend on listening to as much of it as I can. He is a late-romantic composer who lived in Vienna at the fin-de-siècle and seemed to anticipate much that would happen to the world soon after his premature death in 1911 at the age of 51.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love the World Wide Web? For a guy with a mind like mine it is a pure pleasure to be able to jump into a chair in front of my faithful Macintosh and Google "Mahler" in order to find out all about him. He lived in a fascinating time, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Johannes Brahms, Alban Berg, Walter Gropius, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, just to name a few. Heady times those!
And the WWW gives me access to it all, whenever I feel the need to learn something. As a kid I was an "encyclopedia browser." I could spend hours reading through the World Book or better yet, the Encyclopedia Britannica, ploughing through one topic after the other, or jumping from one volume to another on a whim. Now it is even easier to do that kind of learning. I am so glad I lived to see these days.
I'll get on my soapbox and lecture the younger crowd now: DON'T EVER TAKE THIS MIRACLE FOR GRANTED! The internet, and especially the Web, is one of the great constructs of the human imagination. I am so happy I lived to see it!
Anyway, the music is grand, very emotional, personal even. I think it requires active listening to really appreciate it. It is not something you can just let run in the background and think you are "getting it." I recommend giving it a shot!
It has turned winter again. As I write this, we are in our third day of snow and cold. If it were December, I would be excited. As it is, I fight disappointment and worry over the crocuses that are trying to survive the cold winds from the northwest. It is -5 C right now, -7 C in St. Paul, and only 3 C in Philly. I think we are all suffering. I have a friend in Atlanta who complained yesterday of having to play baseball in 40 F (4 C) weather there. I think the whole continent has forgotten it is supposed to be warming up!
It was lovely. We both cleaned up the kitchen, Robbie cleaned the kittie litter, then (and only then) he went up to place WOW! LOL! Gotta love that boy.
I am sitting in the office listening to Mahler's First Symphony. I was never a huge fan of Mahler but last night there was a TV show about him and his work, and I found myself quite moved by it. So today I intend on listening to as much of it as I can. He is a late-romantic composer who lived in Vienna at the fin-de-siècle and seemed to anticipate much that would happen to the world soon after his premature death in 1911 at the age of 51.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love the World Wide Web? For a guy with a mind like mine it is a pure pleasure to be able to jump into a chair in front of my faithful Macintosh and Google "Mahler" in order to find out all about him. He lived in a fascinating time, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Johannes Brahms, Alban Berg, Walter Gropius, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, just to name a few. Heady times those!
And the WWW gives me access to it all, whenever I feel the need to learn something. As a kid I was an "encyclopedia browser." I could spend hours reading through the World Book or better yet, the Encyclopedia Britannica, ploughing through one topic after the other, or jumping from one volume to another on a whim. Now it is even easier to do that kind of learning. I am so glad I lived to see these days.
I'll get on my soapbox and lecture the younger crowd now: DON'T EVER TAKE THIS MIRACLE FOR GRANTED! The internet, and especially the Web, is one of the great constructs of the human imagination. I am so happy I lived to see it!
Anyway, the music is grand, very emotional, personal even. I think it requires active listening to really appreciate it. It is not something you can just let run in the background and think you are "getting it." I recommend giving it a shot!
It has turned winter again. As I write this, we are in our third day of snow and cold. If it were December, I would be excited. As it is, I fight disappointment and worry over the crocuses that are trying to survive the cold winds from the northwest. It is -5 C right now, -7 C in St. Paul, and only 3 C in Philly. I think we are all suffering. I have a friend in Atlanta who complained yesterday of having to play baseball in 40 F (4 C) weather there. I think the whole continent has forgotten it is supposed to be warming up!