ODDS AND ENDS

Mercifully Short
I have always liked February because it is mercifully short. January, on the other hand, is the most odious month because it seems interminably long. It seems to me that of all the seasons, Winter should have the shortest months, and Spring and Autumn should have the longest months! Actually, May and October should be the longest of all the months—about 45 days each would be just about right! Of course, the other alternative is to move to San Diego and have Perpetual May. In the event that you ever get tired of Perpetual May, you can always drive up to Big Bear.

Yelling and Screaming, Screaming and Yelling
In one of Maurice Sendak’s books [Really Rosie or The Sign on Rosie’s Door], “Yelling and screaming, screaming and yelling” recurs. (Dara can probably fill you in on the details.) A lot of “yelling and screaming, screaming and yelling” goes on these days on most game shows and at sporting events. TV studio audiences are told to do so. If they aren’t “enthusiastic” enough they are admonished during the commercial break. This mindless and nerve-wracking noise is disturbing to my soul and demeaning to those who do it. To me, “yelling and screaming, screaming and yelling” is something that is appropriate only when the house is on fire (or some other life-or-death event is occurring). Otherwise, it is a sound suitable mainly to the asylum or to nightmares.

Time Management
I have been a student of Time Management techniques since the early 1980s. Thirty years have passed, and I am still struggling (and failing) to organize my time so as to get more done. (Read that as “get EVERYTHING done”!) I am a master at producing forms of all kinds—To Do Lists, Check Lists, etc.—in dozens of formats. And without my lists, I get “lost” in the resulting chaos. To make bad matters worse, I have less energy now, and time is “speeding up.” (Signs of old age.) But, I can’t NOT keep trying to master Time Management.




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... just a few thoughts at the end of February, 2010.


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The Mozart Effect, Sendak, and Dara

In Tammy Grimes’ recording of Maurice Sendak’s children’s books—Kenny’s Window, Higgledy Piggledy Pop, Very Far Away, Where the Wild Things Are, Alligators All Around, etc.— Mozart’s piano sonatas were the background music. So, I cannot hear Mozart’s Piano Sonata 11 without also “hearing” Tammy Grimes’ distinctive voice and expressive renderings of these stories. I also “hear” and “see” Dara reciting these Sendak stories in a remarkable impersonation of Grimes’ inflections and style. Dara essentially unconsciously memorized the books through repeatedly listening to them from her infancy. This turned out to be to her great advantage in a children’s theater class in college, where she performed several of the pieces. She can still, at the drop of a hat, launch into any Sendak story.

Certain studies have suggested that listening to complex classical music—such as found in Mozart’s piano concertos—can produce “the Mozart effect” which entails enhanced mental clarity and mental performance. Classical music stimulates the left and right hemispheres of the brain simultaneously. This effectual double whammy boosts learning and information intake, therefore augmenting cognitive skills. Learning may be increased at least fivefold. The power of the music to do this may, in part, explain Dara’s facility with memorizing Sendak’s stories, because the music and the stories were so intertwined.

I personally found, during the time that I was a BYU student required to write 8- to 10-page essays on a regular basis, that listening to classical music while I was composing my latest paper would put me “in the zone.” My thoughts flowed effortlessly. I was unaware of time passing. And I invariably got an A. I was (and still am) convinced that listening to classical music (of the right sort) is a potent elixir for the brain.

If your sound is on as you read this, Mozart's Piano Sonata 11 is at the top of my music playlist. I am also enjoying listening to it for an additional reason (besides the fact that it is making us all smarter), I have missed the sound of live piano music emanating from my living room for the past year (since Dara and my piano moved away). She liked to play Mozart.