James Austin Smith, virtuoso oboist and super snazzy dresser, has to avoid computers. The cyclical motion of typing can mess with his fingering ability, and an oboist who can’t use his fingers properly isn’t much of an oboist.

Oboists have to take a lot of seemingly silly measures nutrition-wise and exercise-wise; they can’t eat heavy meals or drink the night before a performance — “You just feel bleh,” Smith says, making a face suggestive of encroaching illness — and they have to keep their fingers fit and their facial muscles strong.

I don’t avoid computers. I eat before I play … okay, maybe not a heavy meal. I drink too. But I am guessing he meant alcohol which I don’t drink if I have a rehearsal or concert.

Yeah, we do have to be careful. I get the feeling, though, that Mr. Smith is more cautious than I am.

I think he’s also a better dresser. You can see that here. He’s younger than I am, too.

But who isn’t?!