So much for the classics...

I met my brother for coffee this morning and he told me he sold a bunch of his classical music CDs on amazon.com because they're getting to be hard to come by these days. Stores like Borders and Barnes & Nobles offer slim pickings in the classical music genre. I was surprised to hear this and it made me very sad.

My mother loved classical music and had me take piano lessons at the St. Louis Institute of Music when I was only seven years old, so I became very familiar with Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Chopin, etc., etc. So when I heard that classical music is on its way out, I had to do a post.

I've included a couple of my favorites. They're long, but if you have any appreciation for this type of music, it doesn't last long enough. They still give me chills. The first one of Leonard Slatkin conducting Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings brings some childhood memories because he used to be the conductor for the St. Louis Symphony and I still remember taking field trips in grade school to hear them play. (Do schools even do that anymore??) My advice would be to get a cup of coffee or a glass of wine (depending on the time) and close your eyes and listen to both of them. They are mesmorizing.



In my opinion, classical music was the beginning of all music. Symphonies across the country are suffering because no one wants to hear them anymore. The sad thing is the only time we may hear this music now is in the background of a current movie. Sure, I love popular artists of today, but I would consider it a horrible loss if we forget where they came from. But, then again, just add it to all the losses we've incurred in recent history due to the times and the economy...newspapers, magazines, journalists, artists, writers, etc. Who is John Galt?

The times...they are a-changing...

Mexico

Kind of a serious post today. With all the depressing things going on with the economy in the United States these days, it gives one pause. Everyone says it will be years before we get out of this mess, so it makes you wonder what we have to look forward to. People are being laid off left and right, and businesses are closing. And remember that empty new strip mall just down the road from me?

Well, they just built another mini one right in front of it...with nothing going in. You can see the larger strip mall to the right behind it. It seems like stupidity at its finest.

Here's the huge sign in front of it. Lowe's is the only place that's doing well.

And the sign in front of the larger strip mall is still empty...with a few more holes in it. Looks like it's making good target practice for bored kids.

Everyone has become paranoid and no one really wants to discuss the problem. I am one of the lucky ones being employed by the state. Texas State instituted a "flexible" hiring freeze, but they're not laying anyone off. But while I consider myself temporarily fortunate, I still wonder what's going to happen in the future.

If you are familiar with Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," you'll probably know that experts are saying that her fears of socialism back when she wrote the book in 1957...

...are gradually becoming fact rather than fiction. That is a very scary thought. And I don't think I want to be around when it happens.

So I read people's posts from Mexico on pretty much a daily basis and see a totally different life. Sure, Mexico has its problems, but I think the United States could take a few lessons from them. One thing I've realized more and more about America is how arrogant we are. We've only been around for a little over 200 years and yet we think we have it all over countries who have been here for thousands of years. We want our granite counter tops and pool in the back yard...and feel deprived if we don't have them.

I watch a couple of shows on HGTV called "Househunters" and "Househunters International." The difference is so obvious in Americans looking for homes as opposed to foreigners. American couples will walk into a master bedroom of a home which could be about 20' x 20' and they will say, "This is way too small...we were really hoping for something much bigger." But a European buyer will walk into a bedroom half that size and say, "This room is so big!" I guess it's all relative, but I think when we set our expectations so high, we will inevitably wind up being disappointed...unless we have unlimited funds to buy anything and everything we want.

And it's not only the material aspect, it's the "deep-down" happiness you feel living somewhere. I really don't know of anyone feeling that way these days. I told a friend not too long ago that between all the crap I've dealt with this past year, the only real happiness I felt was during the two weeks I spent on Isla last summer. The needs are simpler there and yet the pleasures are greater...and life seems to mean more. I'll have to say the people in Mexico seem happier than we Americans who supposedly have it all.

The American Bloggers in Mexico seem to be genuinely enjoying life there. I'm envious in many ways. I've taken the liberty to share some photos from some of my favorite blogs capturing the essence of Mexico. The first three live in Mexico, the last two don't, but I love their photos of life on Isla Mujeres. I hope they don't mind.

This is billieblog's blog...and the post that featured this photo is here.

In one of Billie's posts, she wrote:

"If we were living in Houston, or anywhere in the USA, would we have had the same opportunities to be with so many interesting people from so many different countries and experiences? I don't think so. It seems to me that in most places in the USA as people grow older their horizons narrow down. Friends die or move away and it is harder to make new friends and have new experiences. Here in San Miguel, I feel like my horizons continue to expand everyday. Always something new just around the corner."

Sad, but true, about living in the states.

This is Deb Hall's blog, ZOCALO de Mexican Folk Art...and the post that featured that photo is here.

This is IslaGringo's blog...and the post that featured this photo is here.

This is Jamqueen's blog...and the post that featured this photo is here.

This is Life's a Beach! blog...and the post that featured this photo is here.

And here are some of my own...

There is more to life than having granite countertops.

I have a friend who's spending the next month in Belize. I'm betting he will find a way to stay there rather than come back. And I know someone else who's thinking of moving to Mexico...it will probably happen. There are tough times ahead in this country. It might be beneficial to be somewhere else.