Missing Beauty All Around

Another AMAZING inbox story I have to share with you all:

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 on 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 averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a 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?

I'm taken back.  Are you?

Be sure to click the link to read the article and watch the video.  Thank you so much Washington Post!

Carnival!

The 12th day of Christmas has now come and gone.  Now it's Carnival Season!  In our neck of the woods,  this is the time between Epiphany and Lent.  The season ends with a bang--Mardi Gras!   We don't do the "Girls Gone Wild" type of carnival.  It's all about family, tradition and just plain fun.

The Granny Smith Green Blog was honored to be mentioned on Visual*Vamp.  She covers Carnival quite well with her post that may be viewed here.  

There's no point in reinventing the wheel, so I'll leave it to Visual*Vamp to tell you all about the Twelfth Night celebrations as well as introduce Carnival.  Enjoy her great article!

Think

Found this in my inbox today.  A good reminder for the New Year.  This could serve as a list of  "Resolutions" or goals for bettering ourselves.

What might happen if we all had a good nights sleep, ate a good breakfast and were kind to those who are seemingly undeserving?  Think about it.

Laundry Love

What is it about the new year?  We all want to organize.  I so want everything in order and in it's place--where ever that may be! 

Today I have the laundry room on my mind (humm, must have something to do with how much time I spend there).  So what do you think of these lovelies?  I do think the laundering process would be much more pleasant in an environment like this:  

{thanks to Hampton Design for the photos}

Here are a few more that I thought were quite well done:  

O.K., which one do you want?

Tell Me Everything, Darling!

My sincere apologies for the lack of posts lately.  As you know, we've been celebrating around here.

With the new year here, I am thinking about what 2009 will hold for this little corner of the blogisphere.  I'm truly curious as to what you may find interesting from old Granny Smith Green. 

What shall we discuss, my friends?  We could make a game of this.  Why don't you all send me your ideas, and I'll do my very best to create an interesting post around your topic of interest.    

Thank you all for sharing with me during 2008.  Haven't we had fun!?  

2009 is going to be great!

It's Not Over Yet!

I hope everyone had the most glorious Christmas.  At our house, we continue to celebrate Christmas until 12th Night (traditionally January 5th).  Start counting your nights on Christmas Eve and ending on the eve of Epiphany.  Most all of the decorations stay put until then.  I find it so sad to see what once was the treasured tree now on the curb for fish habitats!  (Do you know what I'm talking about?  The trees are lowered into a wetland/lake/pond/river where fish 'need a home'.)

  

I just hate to see the joy of the season go out with the trash.  I suppose all of this celebrating could be us Southerners looking for another excuse to get together and eat!  12th Night is the first time in the season that we make a King Cake--oh, yum!   You know, it's a 'King Cake' to commemorate the arrival of the Wise Men/3 Kings to see the baby Jesus.  (I know I'm jumping ahead--but, we quit baking King cakes at Mardi Gras--just before Lent begins.)    

What do you do at your house?  Are you somewhat relieved to have your routines back in order or do you want to carry on the celebrating?  

Christ is Born!