Yup! Been here for a few years now. I live up in Columbia Heights and work for AU!

A lot of baroque music is mathematically based. That was sort of the idea behind music at the time; it was seen as an extension of math. I don't remember how it actually works, but he actually had a code that translated to his name in a lot of his music. I should find some articles on that to share.

I once took a philosophy of aesthetics course in college. We all tried to come up with a working definition of art. It's... not really a tangible thing, and the concept is a little too ethereal, but the best I could come up with was the presentation of something with intent. it does not matter what it actually is, if presented as art, nearly anything can be art. That's why every time a new art movement rolls around, the majority scream "THAT'S NOT ART! IT'S JUST _____!!" and then a few years later critics start saying "well, I can see ___ and ___ of merit here" and then later it's praised. Impressionism wasn't viewed as art at one point, photography wasn't viewed as art. (Side note: I, and I know others, think that idea has some value in some cases, but that's another argument.) Art is truly only extant in the realm of the mind, and what we as individuals, and a culture, give status to. It's one of the things that I use as a sign that we always progress and grow, that we have broader definitions of art every decade.