What?!

Ever since I read an article in Newsweek about how easy it was to lose one's hearing, I've been paranoid about going deaf--which, if you've been exposed to as much amplified music as I have, isn't that unreasonable a fear. So I've been religious about wearing earplugs to band practice every weekend. The problem is, I made the mistake of buying the cheapest pack of earplugs that still offered maximum protection. Putting them in is like sliding sandpaper into your ear canal. You know how some people talk about having "virgin ears"? I don't have them. In any sense of the word.
Speaking of ear pain, I think I'm about the only person I know who can say their workplace has a problem with cellist infestation. Today marks the start of a weeklong cello workshop, in which children, barely taller than their instruments, are herded into various rooms in the music building and instructed in bowing and articulation technique. Twenty-odd children attempting to perform the same cello exercise at the same time sounds enough like a swarm of bees that I nearly started running the first time I heard them. Luckily, they've stayed out of the music library. And if it ever gets too bad--well, I've got a ton of earplugs.
The lobby has temporarily been converted to a gift shop of sorts, selling cello accessories as well as general music paraphenalia, such as "I'm a fermata--hold me" bumper stickers and "Music Is My Bag" chip clips. I have to admit, I was tempted by a "Chopin-Liszt" 'note'pad, complete with what was advertised as a "Handy Magnet On The 'Bach'!" It takes guts to make that kind of quadruple play. And a real music geek to appreciate it.