risk said
Ive been leaving my violin out with the shoulder rest on it to inspire me to play if not for just 30 seconds. Should I be doing this? Will the rest cause any sort of problem? 

Hey @risk, there's no reason why the shoulder rest could damage your violin, unless it's not properly coated with foam/rubber (i.e. exposed metal parts frictioning agaisnt your instrument). Otherwise, it's ok to leave it there. I do this a lot and leave the violin over my bed so I get inspired to just grab it and play whatever. So no worries!

coolpinkone said
Agree with August Toad. I have had my shoulder rests on my violins for years.  No marks or damage.  I agree also that if I leave it on, I am more apt to play spontaneously.  

Every since I got the Violin holder that has a place to hang my Violin, that has also been great for having the violin where I can play it on a whim.

I know this is off-subject, and I apologize, but I've got to say: no one ever gets my name right! 

Thing is, my name is Augusto Aguieiras Duarte (sounds weird because it's not english), so I compress it to Augusto A. D. I've been called August Oad, Toad and now  August Toad. XD 

No offense taken, though. It's quite funny for me actually, and I've kinda embraced "toad" as an internet nickname anyway.

coolpinkone said
OH gosh.. I am so very sorry...

My auto correct got me... I am so sorry.

I adore the name Augusto... and your full name is beautiful also.

Thanks for pointing that out so I can be more diligent to double check when I am replying.

Hey, don't sweat it! it's ok, I understand I've got sort of a rare name and it's ok if you get it wrong. Besides, "Augusto" is very close to "August", so a lot of native english people just call me August instead. ^^