A real live wire.

Well. I have no staying power.



(though, after spending the whole damn day inside a library that was filled to the brim with fellow dedicated students, I feel I deserve this much)



It was sunny, blue-skied and beautiful today.



And while studying, I listened to a few things:

1. The sound of typing

2. The frequent sighs of frustrated nerds

3. A few lectures on Embryo (I'm still stuck there)

4. Corinne Bailey Rae (Her new album still blows my mind and I've had it for a while now)

5. 'I need you now' by Lady Antebellum (about 20 times)

6. The guy opposite me shuffling his feet and furiously whispering his notes out loud in an attempt to memorise them



But anyway this cacophony of sound reminded me of an interesting musician I studied in high-school. John Cage. A pioneer in experimental music, he has very different ideas about what constitutes music, and appreciating the musical quality of everyday sounds. He applies Zen Buddhism to music too, especially a piece called 4'33.

The pianist sat down and close the piano lid. He then opened it. Then repeated that twice. And that was it- a piece made up of silence! There have also been performances of the piece with full orchestra- here! It's actually pretty odd to watch all the performers, looking ready to play, and then relaxing/coughing in between movements.

So I know this all sounds crazy, like that guy who painted a canvas white and sold it for some crazy amount (clearly I'm factually sound). But the beauty of his music is in the concept. During that 4 and a half minutes, the audience created sounds. Some coughed, sniffled, shuffled their feet, maybe even leaned over and chuckled in the ear of the person they sat next to. Inadvertent sounds that we make without thinking. And like any other piece of music, everyone heard it differently, yet all were linked, in the sense that they all experienced a performance.

As part of his experimenting, John Cage also threw nuts and bolts into pianos, to change how the keys were struck as the piano was played. He used the sound of water and movement and even breath to create music.

If you think this guy is a complete nutter, I suppose I don't blame you. But if anything, it shows how, by changing the way we think and perceive the world around us, something as commonplace as the sound of a sneeze, can become music to your ears.

I guess Perception is a pretty significant idea in my life. And everyone's heard the whole 'glass half full' thing, but I do believe that to a certain extent, life and the difficulties that come with it, are only as bad as you perceive them to be.

So to everyone, good luck with exams! And, from Corinne Bailey Rae's album, listen to 'Are you Here,' about her late husband Jason Rae. I love the first verse:

He's a real live wire,

He's the best of his kind,

Wait till you see those Eyes

He dresses like this different scene,

He'll kiss you, make you feel sixteen

What's it even mean?

Love, Kavi

P.S. (I learnt how to link vids! Yay! Thanks James :D )