Morning Link

Someone woke up at four-thirty, and I didn't get back to my bed till five-twenty... and didn't fall asleep till six-thirty. And then someone woke up again at seven. Did I mention I only got to sleep at one? And that my damn MP3 player was discovered to be dead after only four hours of use so I couldn't use it to fall asleep?

Needless to say, I am not firing on all cylinders this morning.

Here's one of the interesting links I ran across this morning: Cellist and teacher Emily Wright talks about the obsession with performing perfectly, and suggests instead that a public performance is a chance to show people where you are at that moment, not your ultimate level of perfection:

Perfection is important in aircraft engines, prescription doses and shark cages. What makes art great is that perfection can actually detract from our visceral enjoyment of it. Vibrato mars pitch, and we love it. Van Gogh skewed his room, and it speaks to something profound inside of us. Gil Shaham's skittering spiccato bow is thrilling, and he risks everything in each performance, and most of the time, it pays a very precise dividend. But even when a note or two escapes him it is well worth it, because he makes himself so vulnerable to (and is at peace with) the possibility of catastrophe.

(Originally posted in longer form at the main journal Owls' Court.)