Yesterday I listened to all nine Beethoven Symphonies back to back times 9. That's 36 movements in all, and several hours of music. But I enjoy it. The thing of it is, the symphonies that are cheerier were written during some of the lowest points of his life (the 6th  was written after he was almost completely deaf) while the most somber ones were written during better times. Doesn't make much sense, does it? To think the Ode to Joy was written towards the end of his life at a miserable time of his life. Maybe he wrote that because he wanted to remember what it was like to be joyful. Either way, it is a powerful work of music. Andy thought I was a little crazy to listen to all the symphonies like that with nothing else in between. "You're listening to the same thing over and over again?"
 "It's not the same thing over and over again. They are stylistically similar but they're not the same."
 "I mean the same artist."
 "You mean composer."
 "Same thing."
"Artist and composer are not the same thing. Beethoven himself isn't the one performing the symphonies. The Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra is the one performing the symphonies. Artist and composer are not the same thing. The composer is the one who writes the music, the artist just performs it."
We have some interesting conversations in my house sometimes. Between that and giving our animals their own voices. I never claimed to be the most normal person in the world. Although I don't thing there is such a thing as the most normal person because what is normal? If anyone knows, be sure to let me know!