Flipping through @Threads this afternoon I heard a brief talk by Dr. Francis Collins of the NIH on research into how music that we really like creates great dumps of endorphins into our brains. He mentioned he's doing this research with Renée Fleming. Forgot his name but knew hers so I was able to find an article. Singer Renée Fleming Shares the Healing Power of Music
The star soprano has helped spearhead a study on the positive impact that music can have on the brain.
However your program committee manages the concert, just know that it will help a lot of people. Keberoxu, are you singing again in any holiday concerts or big name one-off oratorio performances? (And how's the new car?)

This evening I have more CDs playing, Bach and Berlioz. The ones that always give me a thrill, including Passacaglia and Fugue, Toccata and Fugue, etc., and Symphonie Fantastique. After that Chopin Sonata #2, and concluding with Brahms Hungarian Dances.

This evening I'm also making the next batch of granola, and have learned my lesson after the last batch when I was running low on things and didn't want to run to the store. It's one thing to use ground flaxseed to help bulk it up a bit (in lieu of all of the carbs in a bunch of oatmeal) but entirely another to use whole flaxseed if you were short on sesame seeds. Sesame seeds are bad enough in your gums after you eat them, but whole flax seed is like adding razor wire to the recipe.

Packing boxes for beer glasses are in place and now to figure out how many best fit in each and what extra padding to deploy.

Humid as hell after thunderstorms on this first day of Standard Time. Some years we've already had a hard freeze by now. The bedding is all washed and in place, and I have a little lap quilt (4'x6') that a coworker gave me years ago to toss over my feet if it gets cool. It's too soon to get out anything more. (The exchange happened after a holiday party at the library - I had a nice cashmere fluffy sweater from Ross or someplace that I put in the "Chinese gift swap" event - Patty ended up with it and it was odd, I felt like it was always meant to go to her (things change hands frequently in those games). I mentioned that (because she worked in one of the coldest parts of the library) and the next day she brought this quilt. I was astonished, but I love it. I've modeled other lap quilts after it.)