Turns out that Shakespeare was a psychologist

People prefer choices.  Apparently, if we have many choices and get what we want, we will be happy; if not, we will be unhappy.  But, is happiness out of so called free will or free choice more lasting than what Dan Gilbert called "synthetic happiness"?

"Tis nothing good or bad.  But thinking makes it so" ~ William Shakespeare.

Shakespeare was right, I guess.

Is there sanity in this city?

A round table with 4 men around it and a few empty beer bottles on it.  2 of the men had a wife who was receiving treatment for depression.  The 3rd man had a wife with fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue.  And the 4th man's wife, not on any treatment though, was believed to be the one who needed treatment most.  Sounds like a good beginning for a comical drama.

J.S. Bach and Glenn Gould

Could Bach have imagined, some 200 years after his death, someone would play his music with such passion and devotion?

Concertos of a Troubled Time

A good article from WSJ: Concertos of a troubled time.  Here is a link to one of the works that Gil Shaham is planning to do.

Christian Ferras plays Sibelius Violin Concerto

My favourite version.

First Online Violin Lesson

Had been talking with Vadim for ages about the possibility of online violin lessons.  Finally gave it a try yesterday morning via Skype.  It turned out to be much better than we anticipated.  It was our first try and we were not used to it at the beginning.  But the physical distance and the barrier melted down after 10 mins, thanks to Vadim's extensive experience in teaching.  He made our girl play the C major scale in 3 octaves in different bowings (legato, slurred, at the frog, at the tip, etc.)  After listening to her for a few minutes, he was able to identify the areas that she needed to work on. It was quite something to watch and kind of magical. Vadim had not watched her play for more than 18 months but the lesson was like the continuation of the lesson that they had started the day earlier. They then went through some vibrato exercises and Brahms' Hungarian Dance (No.5).  After about an hour I was called upon.  "I need to give your dad a hard time", Vadim told her.  He then asked me to play the C major scale in 2 octaves (I knew he wouldn't ask me to do 3 octaves) starting in the 2nd position on the A string.  After listening to me, he handed down his prescriptions: bowing exercises, some other bowing exercises, and some more bowing exercises.

Life is good, isn't it?  Thank God (whatever it is) there is internet and there are friends and teachers like Vadim.