Do you remember the part in Star Wars where they're all sitting on the Millennium Falcon and Ben Kinobe has to sit down for a second because of a "great disturbance in the force," which turns out to be the ripple in the universe caused by the destruction of Alderan? (Nerd alert!)
Well call me crazy, and you'd probably be right, but I just haven't felt at all at peace with the world today. Things weren't going right in school, I was increasingly withdrawn and sullen all morning, and I couldn't really put my finger on why. At several moments it's almost like I really did have to pause, and sit down for a second to collect myself.
Then, whilst driving to The Home Depot to buy an old-school weed whacker for the lawn, I heard the terrible news: Cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, Slava to his friends, died in Moscow today at the age of 80. I could go on and on about why this Azerbaijan-born Russian is an icon in the celloing world, but I'll just let you follow the link and read for yourselves, and really, please do, because this is worth reading. Besides, if I attempted to repeat all the facts here, I'd probably get something wrong.
I'll just give you an idea: if you listen to his recordings (downloadable from the link above), one thing that you'll hear is his fierce breathing in the background. Lynn Harrell described the passion of Slava's playing as "a forest fire," and Yo Yo Ma remembers the incredible life force that was behind every performance.
Well, okay, enough weepy-weepy. I'm going to go find a way to be a better human being.

End Transmission.