mydarkenedeyes:
Helena Nelson-Reed
I’ve been thinking about infinity a lot. For one it is because of what I put on my graduation cap for Saturday, which if you didn’t see the other day said “Some Infinities Are Bigger Than Other Infinities.” I know that the space between things can last for infinity. For example, the space between 0 and 1 inches can go on for infinity because a new digit is added to the end of the decimal and you can never really reach a solid “1” unless you round. In other words it would take you forever to get from 0 to 1 inches before you can travel from 0 to infinite inches.
But what about time? Just in the last sentence I said it would take you forever to get to infinity. And unfortunately as humans we don’t have forever to get to infinity even if we tried. But this contradiction is what plague our existence, really. We claim that “diamonds are forever,” but even diamonds can be destroyed quite easily with a hammer swing.
We claim that the music of the greats, for instance Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, is “timeless.” However in the composer’s own time their pieces might have been performed a couple times before shoved on a shelf, only to be rediscovered decades later (in Bach’s case, revived by Mendelssohn). When does the timeless-ness start in that case? From when it was conceived or when it became regularly performed? And on top of that, would the Bach’s piece still be timeless if there are no humans to care or perform it?
And of course there is the “I love you forever” conundrum. What does that mean exactly? That you will love one person for an entire lifetime until you are under the earth? And what are you doing down there except loving one person for eternity?
The problem is that we all have expiration dates and we could never have the authority to say what is forever. But that’s what makes them beautiful- the most precious moments in our life are ephemeral and often painful. I’ve yet to decide if the beauty is worth the pain, especially for something that I can’t have for long. But perhaps I could have an infinity to figure it out.
And that is my existential ramblings for the morning. Have a nice day.
itsthelittlethingsin-life:
kitty!
(via evermoremyheartwillsing)
I graduated!!!
Well technically this pictures was from when I was still un-graduated, but whatever! I like the way it looks. Look at my swag. Magna cum-laude (maroon), General Education Honors (light and dark blue), and full College honors (dark blue with a medal).
The best part of my outfit was the hat though.
Yeah John Green quotes! I kept getting asked though if I was a Math Major. No way! This Music Major happens to be just really smart and existential and reads stuff written by even smarter and more existential people!!!
Fun day all around. More on it later!
I really have to listen to this advice, I think.
(via etiquetteforalady)
And that frightens me a lot.
(via whynotarose)
I love it when my teachers think of me! My former bassoon teacher (and semi-aunt) heard this Andante for Clarinet and Orchestra by Alice Mary Smith, an English, female Romantic composer. I don’t have too much to say about this work, except that it’s from her Clarinet Sonata.
As for Smith herself, she is a rarity in the musical world. Not only was she a musician/composer who came from a decidedly not musical family and married a lawyer, but she also was able to use her own identity for her creations. Smith was elected as the “Female Professional Associate” to the London Philharmonic Society, inducted as an Honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music, and composed 3 symphonies, several overtures, a clarinet concerto, and numerous sacred choral works. This is very exciting for me to find out- a symphony written by a female composer was performed in 1863, four years before Amy Beach (generally hailed as the first mostly successful female orchestral composer) was even born. Unfortunately, like most amazing female composers, Smith passed away at the age of 45 due to typhoid fever. If only they would live a little longer we’d have so much more wonderful music by women!!!
(Quelle: lilymint21)