Last spring, when the brochures came out for the various Los Angeles Philharmonic concert series, a classmate and I agreed to (1) buy tickets together and (2) drag each other there, if necessary, "no matter what studying 'needs' to be done."

All I can say is, excellent plan. Just as we feared, we were both "too busy" but we already had tickets. My knee was acting up, we have a Talmud quiz on Wednesday, we have umpteen things to prepare, and we just went to the concert anyway.

Oh, GOOD plan.

We sat in the new Walt Disney Concert Hall and filled our heads with beautiful music. Sitting in the WDCH is a bit like sitting in the middle of a Cubist painting; if you haven't seen pictures, click this link and take a look. We were sitting high against the wall -- perhaps a little too high to see well, but the sound was wonderful. I think I'd have been happy to swing on a rope from the ceiling, to hear that music.

It was a piano concert by Peter Serkin, and he just seemed to get better and better as the evening wore on. He played a wild variety of music: Josquin, Webern, Bach, Mozart, Bull, Dowland; about the only era he didn't touch was Romantic music.

I have been so deep into the left side of my brain -- doing translations, deciphering Talmud, writing lesson plans -- that I think I was getting a little lopsided, like a weightlifter who only works on the left side of his body. I felt my mind expand and relax, listening to the music: I feel wonderful.