I did take a break at lunch time and walk over to this crafts market which they are running on Fridays (and weekends) in Crystal City, with vendors from Eastern Market. None of the jewelry vendors had pins or brooches, which are my main jewelry obsession, so it was easy to resist temptation. I did buy a couple of small items for gifts. There were some photographs I liked but, given how few of the pictures I already own I have hung, I figured that it was not a good idea to buy more stuff. Overall, it was a nice diversion, especially as the weather is getting into perfect fall mode (clear and cool and crisp) and they had a pleasant jazz band playing.
After work, I headed over to the Library of Congress for the first lecture in their two year series on "Music and the Brain." The lecturer was anthropologist Ellen Dissanayake and her title was "Home Musicus: How Music Began." I can't say that she really answered the question of how music began. Instead, she basically claimed that humans are hard wired to be musical. She talked a lot about how adults talk to babies using what she called "proto-aesthetic" elements and how this enforces bonding. So, essentially, her theory is that music is a bonding mechanism within a community. I was not entirely convinced of the relationship between baby talk and music, but it was worth hearing the talk. I plan to go to as many of the lectures in the series as I can.
