(no subject)

inspired by rednikki, I swam 1200 yards at the Culver City Plunge this noon. It was lovely. Something about lap swimming is more meditative than any other exercize I've done (and yes that include aikido and other martial arts, though I've never really done Tai Chi). Somehow time works different when I'm in the pool, and the exertion never feels as huge when I'm in the middle of it. Mind, when I get out, I'm all gaspy and achy and stabby, but in the pool it's like everything just shifts and stops mattering quite so much.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that I count laps rather than stare at a clock (which I do even in aerobics classes). Some how ticking off the laps in my head and the breaths in and out make things much less frusterating than watching the seconds and minutes slowly tick by in an exercize class (and no that's not every class, but often enough - I love aerobics, but I do agonize over the passage of time).

(no subject)

Rostropovich has passed on in Moscow. I think I'm grieving him more than many of the musicians and scholars who have passed in the last few years. Although I didn't know him well, I met him once and attended a masterclass that he gave in London, but I admire him greatly and he was such an impressive presence in that class. His musicality is just stunning.

Plus I am a bit of a grandchild student from a couple of directions. My bassoon teacher at Peabody played under him in the National Symphony, and one of my professors from London, Alexander Vasilyevich, studied with him.

The world has lost such a musician today...I'm off to download his recording of the Shostakovich Cello concerto.