the lives of others

The weather was so great today putting me in an unusually good mood in anticipation for summer which seems just around the corner. Sundays are always such great days -- days of rest, as it should be. I didn't get any studying done but I feel so relaxed and rejuvenated which has (hopefully) put me in good stead for the study week ahead. Slept in, did a bit of Lonely Planet reading in bed (since our trip is now only THREE WEEKS AWAY!!!), went on a walk around the neighbourhood with my mum after breakfast (she's the equivalent of a pet puppy! :)); then church and a family bbq lunch. But the highlight of my day was the Sunday Afternoon Concert at the university Music Department. They usually have student showcases every week but these Sunday Afternoon Concerts happen only maybe once a month and feature professors, lecturers and other 'professionals' and man, it was brilliant! My first time experiencing a quartet featuring the piano, violin, viola and cello and it was incredible. Hearing it 'live' really is different to listening to classical music at home over the stereo. They played three pieces over the two hours, my favourite being Richard Strauss: Piano Quartet in C minor, op. 13. WoW.

Sometimes I forget how people live such different lives. To be a classical musician... I wouldn't even know where to start in my imagination if I tried to picture what that would be like. I can only appreciate what they do from afar as an ignorant fan. And just how did people, way back whenever it was, invent musical instruments like the piano and cello and violin?? How did they come up with the idea that if you hollow out this part and put strings here and here, you'd produce this utterly indescribable sound?? Watching the news and the like you would think if human beings were to leave a legacy it'd be all destruction and pain, but then you hear... you hear something like that and there is no other way to describe it than, transcendent. It's hard to be eloquent -- watch The Lives of Others and you'll get my full meaning.