You know how, if you overdose on a certain TV show, you start thinking in the voice of the characters? (E.g. When I watch an excessive amount of Friends, I develop an incessantly sarcastic voice in my head that makes side comments to everything, the way Chandler does. If I watch a lot of Family Guy, I start thinking in Stewie's British accent.)
Well, last week I was in a Brahms mood, listening to stuff by Brahms on shuffle every day, practically non-stop. Not only did coherent thoughts with words vanish completely from my mind, to be replaced by occasional bursts of vibrato-infused melodies, but also I developed some unusual urges...
1) To romp about the countryside with my violin, playing devilish gypsy music and emitting occasional high-pitched whoops.
2) To stand in the middle of my backyard with the California sun shining down, hold out my arms, and proclaim, "How lovely is thy dwelling place!" (I declared this to my mom the other day when we were sitting in the living room, but she just gave me a funny look and left the room.)
3) To give big warm hugs to everyone I meet on the street.
4) To continue consuming food at an alarmingly uncontrollable rate until I am a big beefy man with a generous beard and sausage fingers.
5) To walk in hemiola rhythms.
6) To dash Sound-of-Music-style up a lush green hill, heart fluttering with expansive joy, sing a gorgeous tune, and then abruptly lock myself in the privacy of my room and shed quiet tears over unrequited love.
I think it's time for me to listen to a different composer now.
