Acedia.

Apathy. Boredom. Torpor. Ennui.

Emma Bovary.

One of the most famous heroines of French literature might be considered the poster child for acedia. If you've never read Madame Bovary, you ought to. It's the story of what can happen when a person mistakes life for fiction and therefore has no authentic human relationships.

From Chapter IX, "Idle Dreams":

At the bottom of her heart she was waiting for something to happen. Like shipwrecked sailors, she turned despairing eyes upon the solitude of her life, seeking afar off some white sail in the mists of the horizon. She did not know what this chance would be, what wind would bring it her, toward what shore it would drive her... but each morning as she awoke, she hoped it would come that day; she listened to every sound, sprang up with a start, wondered that it did not come; then at sunset, always more saddened, she longed for the morrow.

From the beginning of July, she counted how many weeks there were to October, thinking that perhaps the Marquis d'Andervilliers would give another ball. But all September passed without letters or visits.

After the ennui of this disappointment, her heart once more remained empty and then the same series of days recommenced. So now they would thus follow one another, always the same, immovable and bringing nothing. Other lives, however flat, at least had the chance of some event... but nothing happened to her; God had willed it so! The future was a dark corridor, with its door at the end shut fast.

So... does anything ever happen to her? Plenty. But you'll have to find out for yourself. (Hint: the last thing that happens to her is really bad and really permanent.) One of the best books ever written in any language, and you can downloand it for free: http://www.online-literature.com/gustave-flaubert/madame-bovary/

Purfle.

Adornment. Embellishment. That "something extra" that makes a thing more beautiful.

In the huge family I came from, music was held in high esteem. We worked hard, studied hard and took music lessons -- flute, in my case. I haven't picked one up in years, but I've never regretted learning to read and appreciate music.

I recently discovered an interesting contribution the French made to the performance of Baroque music -- it's called "French ornamentation." Think of it as musical "purfling." In playing a particular line of music, the performer adds a distinct flourish to certain notes. The flourish isn't needed to carry the melody. It's written into the music simply because it's lovely.

I'm describing this in very general terms, when in fact the terminology of French ornamentation is very broad: appogiatura, trill, mordent, turn, glissando... For an untrained ear, the easiest French ornamentation to hear is the trill -- a rapid vibrating back and forth between two notes.

Would you like to hear an example? "Trumpet Voluntary," a very familiar composition by Baroque composer Jeremiah Clarke. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8jCud-aA3Q&feature=related

My brother John, who played the pipe organ, was the best musician of the family. He was totally blind as a result of cancer of the retina. He died at the age of 36. Hearing this music makes me love and miss him even more.