I think lute music does make a big difference in my own life. Yet at the same time I fear the soul sucking corporate world. A few years ago I quite doing drugs and it was about the same time I began to listen to classical guitar. Slowly I became interested in lute pieces and lo behold many years later I rely on my collection of lute music. My own way of dealing with the world is to remain tranquil or as they say ataraxia or hesuchia.
On the other hand education is a real bitch. I'm about to finish a masters degree in classics and now I'm applying to doctoral programs. The problem is this: am I good enough? These schools care too much about GRE scores and too little about academic transcripts and letters of recommendation. As I see it, the higher education system in America is trying to weed me out. Why? Of course I am qualified to translate and discuss most if not all classical works. Soon I will begin practicing the 10 course lute. I hope to keep my peace, even if graduate programs turn me down. The other day I was outside of a coffee shop with a friend and we kept listening to Renaissance music. His friend a teenager came up and inquired why we listened to such music. I told her that it was the last component between me and massive carnage. :) Oh well. I enjoyed this subject on the list because it made me think about why I listen so much to lute music. Cheers, enthousiazo To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
