“I like virtuosity, although not for the sake of virtuosity but because it’s dangerous,” was Mr. Boulez’s description of “Répons” when we sat down to talk for a few hours after the rehearsal. By danger he meant that music, to be worth anything — which is to say to be new — can’t stick to safe ground but must entail some risk and effort.

“If you want to have a more interesting life, you will make some effort,” is how he put it. “It’s about the organization of one’s life. I am still shocked that so many people are not more creative, by which I mean more demanding of themselves.

“The main question we need to ask ourselves is: Do I try to be necessary to the evolution of language? Do I try to be original? And being original means using the tools necessary to be original, not just having the desire to be original.”

From a long profile of Pierre Boulez in the New York Times today. I saw/heard Boulez conduct Stravinsky in Cleveland something like 30 years ago. He impressed me then, and continues to impress me today.

Through literature, she learned how stories are built and told, and translated that to listening to, and better understanding, patients. She could let them tell their own stories without interruptions and see how people described their symptoms as part of the larger story of their life.

Dr. Charon was not the first to connect literature and medicine, but she has become the leading advocate of the emerging discipline known as narrative medicine, which aims to treat the whole person, not just the illness. The British Medical Journal and other professional publications have run articles on the approach, and medical schools have added writing seminars and reading groups.

Compelling reading. Will follow if I can and learn more

It's the day for storytelling. This is not educational in the same sense as the event reported earlier, but there's likely to be some good storytelling here. Click through for the schedule.

1.  I will construct all my speeches to focus on one main point, removing all information that doesn’t support that central point.

2.  I will streamline, condense, and eliminate most of the data from my presentations, replacing numbers with stories and anecdotes to illustrate my idea. 

3.  I will cut down on the number of slides I use in my presentations, averaging about 1 slide for every 3 minutes of talk – or fewer. 

4.  I will eliminate the agenda slide from any talk less than 100 minutes long.

5.  I will never, ever use clip art again in my slides.  Instead, I will use high-quality photographs and images to illuminate my talk. 

6.  I will deliver my presentations with energy and enthusiasm, but I will keep my feet under control and not wander randomly around the stage. 

7.  I will adhere strictly to my allotted time and end before it has run out. 

I know, we should have resolutions done by now, but this list could get appended to a Toastmaster's promise.

Want to see something old? Something really old? Take a gander at this shot, which shows galaxies between 12.9 and 13.1 billion years old. For reference, the universe is estimated to be about 13.5 to 14 billion years old.

The images here were taken during August 2009 over the course of 4 days and 173,000 total seconds of exposure times. Hubble used the newly installed Wide Field Camera 3, which allows it to see near-infrared wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. This allowed the telescope to observe light from the very beginnings of the universe.This is because the expansion of the universe distorts the ultraviolet and visible light from these galaxies over the course of their unimaginably long journey, pushing them into near-infrared wavelengths.

These are some of the final images the Hubble will send back, as it's being replaced by the James Webb Telescope in 2014. Which is both sad an exciting, as the Hubble has shown us so much of the universe but the Webb will show us even more.

Amazing.