Music

1. I'm in Williamstown, and I'm taking in a concert (violin and piano duo). Nice enough, nothing rapturous or anything. During intermission, I talked briefly with some Bethans who were really enjoying the concert, and talking about the relative merits of concertos and sonatas, and it occurred to me how NOT a music geek I am. Or maybe that my tastes are specific, and don't overlap the typical classical music-lover's tastes. In college, I think I had to hide that and fake it a lot, particularly as a music major (until I dropped it). I feel a bit freer now, without that feeling of what I should appreciate, to listen to what's going on and enjoy the bits I do like or think are clever or beautiful, wihtout feeling obliged towards rapture. :)

(Oh, and yeah, I'm in Williamstown because I just gave a talk for the physics department, which I suppose went pretty well, although I was so behind in putting it together that I was still working on it the hour before. And it still needs improvement--I'm thinking I need to fix it up and give it somewhere else, because it would be a complete waste to have put this much work into a talk and only give it once.)