Brief thoughts (I promise!) and your daily vitamin WTF.

1. I practiced today, yay! Maquarre and Sancan (which was way better than usual) and Kokopelli, briefly, for 20th-Century Music Lit. Then, after orchestra, a violinist came up to me to compliment me on how in tune and gorgeous my Shostakovich solos apparently are. Conclusion: PRACTICE BREAKS ARE GOOD! But if you're going to take a practice break, you have to go for it. It needs to be more than simple laziness. It needs to be during a time you have off (like my fall break, which was this past week), so you can just stop stressing out and feeling guilty. Indulge in everything but whatever you "do"...for me it was no writing and no practicing, but lots of listening to music, shopping and snuggling. If done properly, I believe a thorough break can eliminate all the junk that builds up in your brain, making you see the music that much clearer! So you play better and are more energized.

2. It's really, really important to listen to your iPod on shuffle every day, especially if you're on a serious practice break. You can skip the comedians, poems, books, and awkward tracks with Jeanne Baxtresser talking. But if it's music, listen to it all the way through and don't skip it!!! It's lovely and so healthy. You'll listen to things you haven't heard since the very first listen and you'll fall in love again! Or be upset with the money you wasted (groan, Crystal Antlers), but 9 out of 10 times it's love. I promise.

3. I just got in from a concert with Nariaki Sugiura, my kick-ass accompanist and a lovely violinist/violist with a long name I can't remember, but her first name was Stephanie. Anyway, Stephanie did this sonata buy this Belgian composer, Ysaye (I think that's the proper spelling). Apparently, this piece that he wrote was the last piece of music he ever heard, about an hour before he died. What an interesting concept no one ever thinks of! The last piece of music you hear before you die. Now, sometimes I imagine you can plan that, but sometimes you can't. So listen to good music all the time and be thankful that it's good. I think my last music would be Beethoven's 7th (the famous slow movement) or Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde. Et tu, readers?

In WTF news:

P4k mentioned harpist/psych-folk auteur Joanna Newsom's appearance on the red carpet at the Emmys earlier this year. This is a little WTF in and of itself, but it gets better: She went on the arm of The Lonely Island/SNL's Andy Samberg (which I guess makes sense because when the boyfriend saw her perform in Los Angeles, Samberg was there along with BJ Novak and the Indian chick from the Office). AND she sported a J. Lo-esque look with a low-cut emerald dress and a high, sleek ponytail.

Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Ah, never mind her WTFitude. She has good taste in men (cute, funny, bespectacled Jews!!!) . And her music has already proven her super-smart, so I guess a little bit of fun on the mainstream side can be forgiven. Party on, Joanna. Party on.

Currently listening: "Working Man's Blues #2" by Bob Dylan. Aww, sensitive Bob!