I've been reading a lot lately, which is something I haven't done in a very long time. Apart from occasionally going out with friends, I've been putting aside a few things I'm supposed to do (including a talk I'm supposed to give at my old secondary school next Friday, and my guitar practice), partially out of sheer laziness, and been reading like my life depends on it.

I've just finished Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, which is an excellent book. It's a mystery novel/ history of philosophy rolled into one, and while it started out rather slowly, around the middle it starts to get extremely interesting and hard to put down. It basically starts out with a girl living in a small Norwegian town, Sophie, who starts to get mysterious postcards and a correspondence course in philosophy through the mail. She rapidly learns that reality isn't what she thinks it is, and you start to wonder if reality isn't what you think it is either. A lot of the book is like an introductory course in the history of Western philosophy, but as the book is targeted at teenagers and children, it is presented in fairly simple terms, which is a good thing, as I have forgotten most of what I know on the subject (the Heraclituses and Anaxigorases and Anaximeneses started to get rather jumbled up in one's mind). It's a book I'd heartily recommend to anyone.

As a scientist, I'm glad to note that a lot of the questions and answers that have occupied philosophy for millenia have either been resolved or rendered irrelevant. 'Natural philosophy' no longer belongs in the realms of philosophy, but to science. Still, I found that philosophy has a great role to play in aesthetics (not in the usual sense of the word, but study of man's perception of nature as a whole), ethics, logic and lots more.

I'm curious as to how the term 'romantic' became synonymous with love, when it refers to an entire worldview of an artist partaking in the act of creation, and the idealisation of rusticity and country life (presumably in reaction to the Industrial Revolution). Funny how things get twisted over the years. As musician, I am certainly a Romantic. When I'm absorbed in a piece of music, whether as a performer or listener, I cease to exist as a person, instead living in the universe weaved within the notes. Sadly to say, this experience isn't something that occurs very often, which makes it all the more precious.

Speaking of music, it's official....I'm performing in a recital on the 12th of October, in London. If you're interested in going there, let me know as you need to RSVP for tickets in advance. Tickets are £6 for students.