Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning.
He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.
When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it.
No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

My additional thoughts would only be that so many people do things because they are "fashionable" that they forget to look at things with their own eyes, listen with their own ears, and appreciate anything with their own hearts.

Darwin on Marriage

Thought this was funny. Darwin was trying to decide whether or not to get married and these were his Pros/Cons

Marry

Children — (if it Please God) — Constant companion, (& friend in old age) who will feel interested in one, — object to be beloved & played with. — —better than a dog anyhow. — Home, & someone to take care of house — Charms of music & female chit-chat. — These things good for one’s health. — Forced to visit & receive relations but terrible loss of time. —

Why My God, it is intolerable to think of spending ones whole life, like a neuter bee, working, working, & nothing after all. — No, no won’t do. — Imagine living all one’s day solitarily in smoky dirty London House. — Only picture to yourself a nice soft wife on a sofa with good fire, & books & music perhaps — Compare this vision with the dingy reality of Grt. Marlbro’ St.

Marry — Marry — Marry Q.E.D.

Not Marry

No children, (no second life), no one to care for one in old age.— What is the use of working ‘in‘ without sympathy from near & dear friends—who are near & dear friends to the old, except relatives

Freedom to go where one liked — choice of Society & little of it. — Conversation of clever men at clubs — Not forced to visit relatives, & to bend in every trifle. — to have the expense & anxiety of children — perhaps quarelling — Loss of time. — cannot read in the Evenings — fatness & idleness — Anxiety & responsibility — less money for books &c — if many children forced to gain one’s bread. — (But then it is very bad for ones health to work too much)

Perhaps my wife wont like London; then the sentence is banishment & degradation into indolent, idle fool —

Stampede and Taylor Swift!!!

Tonight was the best stampede experience Ive ever had. #1. Julie and Spence Came down from Edmonton. #2. Taylor Swift.
There was much more that was great about tonight. We got there finally after sitting in traffic forever.. then went into the park and Sarah and I went on the sling shot. I thought I was going to have to pressure her to come on the ride... because she had said NO to me every time I had asked her in the past if she was going on it. She was totally cool about going on it though. It was sweet. I love that ride.. I think the best part is just sitting there, strapped in, realizing that you are going to be hurled into the air in a matter of a few seconds. Its such a sweet rush when they let you go. You just see the sky and then you are soo high up and you realize that your going to be bouncing around for a little bit. i think that that is one thing that everyone should do at least once in their life. I also realized tonight how much I love the fireball ride. It was soo sweet. Tonight I was very proud of myself. I didnt waste a single dime on any of those stupid midway games. Sometimes I get in this rush that I wanna play some games, for a stupid animal or something. Honestly.. I just saved my money and at the end of the day. Thats an accomplishment for me.
The Taylor Swift Concert was amazing! All of the songs were great. I couldn't believe how she was so much better this time when compared to when she came with brad paisley and rascal flatts. Anyways... We were sitting on the floor.. and Taylor came down from the stage and did a couple songs at the back of the stage on another little spinning platform. We were so close! spence grabbed her hand, and I touched her. It was pretty dang sweet. Well Im falling asleep as I type this. Im sure glad Im not Julie or Spence that have to drive home to Edmonton tonight.

Flossing Before or After..

So Ive been trying to find the answer to this one question.. Do I floss before or after I brush? Cause if you floss before, you are removing all of the crap stuck between your teeth before you brush and then it might help your toothbrush work at getting in between your teeth.. But on the other hand, Flossing after you brush gets all of the toothpaste out from in between your teeth that comes while brushing. I would do both before and after, but that just seems like an awful waste of floss. You don’t have to floss all your teeth…..just the ones you want to keep.

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to 10 people you like and include me. Try not to repeat a song title. It's harder than you think.

Pick Your Artist: Jacks Mannequin

Are you male or female: God

Describe yourself: La la lie

How do you feel about yourself: Spinning

Describe where you currently live: Caves

If you could go anywhere you wanted to go: Into the Airwaves

Your favorite form of transportation: At full speed

Your best friend is: Cell Phone

Your favorite color is: Dark Blue

What's the weather like: Sleazy Wednesday

Favorite time of day: Swim

If your life were a tv show, what would it be called: The Resolution

What is life to you: The Mixed Tape

What is the best advice you have to give: Annie use your telescope

If you could change your name, what would it be: Miss Delaney

Thought for the Day: Lonely for her

How I would like to die: Suicide Blonde

My soul's present condition: Bruised

The faults I can bear: Orphans

My motto: Kill the messenger

Stupid Moments

So I have had some pretty funny moments this past week that I thought I would share.. First off.. I have been running lately, and As Im running I come across these puddles in the path.. and I am thinking, I don't want to go through them, and I am definitely not able to jump over them.. So what do I do.. I go around them.. into worse slippery grassy mud.. The thought actually crossed my mind that it was winter and the ground was still frozen. Nope. Got my shoes and feet totally wet and ya... definitely felt stupid.

This next one is more common..... I think, I kinda hope so.. but I think it is one of the only times that I can feel like a complete idiot having no one else around. Its when your listening to music, and the song is about to start and the intro is played..... then you start to sing, even if its singing in your head, and THE SONG DOESNT START.. It seriously is even worse when you are in the car driving and your with someone and you start singing and the song doesn't start. Wow.. Totally makes me feel stupid.