av8rmike

I'm cross-posting this entry from Dreamwidth for some reason, even though it is all about things LiveJournal. Also, I'm still deciding how much involvement I want to continue to have here (DW).

So, Vegas. I can't do a day-by-day round-up of everything that went on because it's already a little hazy in my memory, but suffice it to say that everything was awesome and we had so much fun. (OK, sitting in traffic for an hour trying to get to Hoover Dam wasn't as fun, but that's life.) Some highlights:

• The house kicked ass, but everyone who was there already knows that.


• Jamie and I trying to make rice pudding in the auxiliary kitchen for 20+ people, then screwing up and subsequently salvaging the recipe.


• Seeing the NV State Museum with gameboyguy13 and teshiron.


• Finding a Lucille's BBQ while hunting for an Original Pancake House.


• Of course, the big Cheesecake Factory group dinner, and meeting up with a friend I hadn't seen since high school (who lives in LV). The long-ass table wasn't the optimal seating arrangement for conversations, unfortunately. If only the people at the opposite end of the table had seen the text messages I was sending them. ;)


• Instead of Melting Pot, Moroccan food at Marrakech (no offense to those who went to MP, but I think we had much better food).


• Collecting "cards" while on the Strip and seeing the Bellagio fountain show.


• The aforementioned driving out to Hoover Dam with more people than I can mention.


• Running into burr86 and hachi while trying to meet up with them at the Atomic Testing Museum.


• Mille Bournes and Monty Python Fluxx (finally!) with ferrell, elyssa, stevieg, and snarkbite.


• MST3k with coffeechica, Glee with danceinacircle, and talking shop with aveleh and the_kitty_kat.

Everyone else I didn't mention, thanks just for being your wonderful selves.

I haven't been in much of a mood to update lately, in case anyone has been concerned. I spent all of my working time last week in a sort of training session for some stuff for work. Fortunately the working days were shorter, so I was getting up and getting home at my usual times. Unfortunately, the training was at a Navy lab that's 45 miles away, on the other side of DC. So, I spent an hour or more driving each way. At least I could file for a local mileage reimbursement.

I left a little early on Friday so Jamie and I could drive up to Pennsylvania. One of my close friends from college was having her "pirate-themed post-wedding parrrrr-ty" on Saturday morning and we were staying at my mother's place. Not only would we have to drive into Pittsburgh early that morning, we'd also be missing Rosh Hashanah services. I know that I had a much better time at the wedding party, bees and all. Since the party was over mid-afternoon, we took a little driving tour of Pittsburgh, then a walking tour of my college and my old house. It's always interesting how much has changed and yet how little has changed.

Watching Wizard of Oz after playing a ballet version.

So.... yeah, Jamie hopped a last-minute flight Saturday night. We went to the Renaissance Festival on Sunday and I cooked her dinner that night.

Today we finally managed to catch up with my friends Katie and Eric and their impossibly cute son, recently settled into their new house. We couldn't play any chamber music becuase they couldn't find the music they'd packed away. It'll have to wait until another time.

Best Labor Day weekend I could have asked for.

Thanks to Inna, Marianna, and Paul, and by extension, the Greenspring Valley Orchestra, that was a pretty good way to celebrate my birthday.

I am the worst friend ever. No wonder I don't have any anymore.

You gotta love these Monday holidays... Three days in a row where I get to sit around at home and do nothing.

Friday night a bunch of us went to the BSO to see Julia Fischer perform Beethoven's violin concerto, although I was more interested in hearing Shostakovich's First symphony and comparing it to Peabody's performance a few months ago. All in all it was pretty good, probably one of the better performances of the concerto I'd seen in a while. After four curtain calls, Fischer played the fugue from the Bach G Minor Sonata for an encore. Afterwards, the group (Paul, Naomi, Zen, Melissa, Sean, and I) tried to go to City Cafe for dinner, but this was now the second time they've closed early on a Friday night that I've been there. We opted for the Owl Bar in the Belvedere Hotel, but the service was pretty terrible. It took forever to get drinks, and they were out of so many things (graduation and prom season cleaned them out, they claimed). We were in there two hours, after which I can say I won't be going back for a while.

The only thing important I can remember about Saturday was going to the running club in the morning and seeing "DaVinci Code" at the Charles in the evening. I still haven't finished the book, but I'm relieved that the movie was dumbed down so much, I could figure out where it was going after about half an hour. In the associated board thread, I made the comment that the movie was just "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" meets "Dogma", but both movies handled the subjects better and were more enjoyable.

Yesterday I went to the farmer's market for breakfast and ran into my friend Rachel, whom I hadn't seen in forever, but she was her usual aloof self. Again, I must not have done anything interesting for the rest of the day, besides practicing and going to Whole Foods in the evening. I got a nice (and expensive!) swordfish steak for dinner, so it wasn't a total loss. On the other hand, I did almost nothing today. Well, not completely nothing, I did vacuum and dust some stuff. Unfortunately, no mooching a grilled dinner off my dad this week, as I'd forgotten he was away on travel most of the weekend.

So, I'm sure if I've forgotten something important, I'll update again. In the meantime, one of the best WWII movies ever made is on.

No one is in the office today, it seems. Must be a holiday today.

Where the hell are the laptops we're supposed to be taking on our trip??

Finally, Happy birthday to anitavacation!

I didn't have much time all weekend to make an entry, so I'm doing it now. OK, so I had a little bit of time last night, but I didn't feel up to a lot of typing. Saturday was this month's orchestra concert, this time a George Gershwin review/retrospective brought to you by major media sponsor Comcast. There was a trio of soprano, pianist, and bassist; multimedia presentation, marching band, student soloist, the works. More importantly to me, I had a visit from the lovely and talented mmytacism, whom regular participants in #straightdope might know better as agroof.

The concert seemed to go off very well. We all got a mostly-standing ovation (mostly the lower level, but I saw mmytacism standing in the balcony), and it was a nearly sell-out crowd. What was disappointing was the reception Comcast had planned for us. They told us Comcast had spent $3,000 getting it catered by the Elkridge Furnace Inn, but they'd clearly not ordered enough. By the time most of the orchestra members got out there, most of the food was gone. We hung out for a bit and talked to people, then drove back to Baltimore for some late-night eats at the Mount Vernon Stable instead.

Sunday her and I mostly puttered about town, first checking out the smoked salmon at Greg's Bagels, then exploring some shops in Hampden, including almost crashing a bridal shower at Finnertea's. I couldn't believe how cold & windy it was, because that put a damper on most of the fun stuff I could think to do. Unfortunately, she had to head back, and I had to cook dinner for myself rather than my usual Sunday activity of mooching off Dad. Also unfortunately, no photographic evidence taken. =(

No rehearsal tonight, fortunately, but lots of practicing required.

I could spend hours and hours typing up everything that was going on this weekend. I posted a schedule last Sunday, so everyone should know there were two concerts going on, Friday and Saturday nights. Friday night's was with the Greenspring Valley Orchestra at Villa Julie College, but they haven't posted any news about it. I think it went pretty well, since the audience was appreciative, if small. I was just glad to be done with the music, having been playing it for nearly four months. One of my friends from the other orchestra came with a few of his friends, and we all went out for dinner afterwards.

Saturday was the concert with the Columbia Orchestra, featuring Rimsky-Korsakoff's Scheherezade and Tan Dun's Concerto for Paper Percussion. Mom was driving down just to see this concert, but had to leave early Sunday to get back for the Steelers game (speaking of which, YEAH! GO STILLERZ!). I took a bunch of pictures, both at the concert and Thursday's dress rehearsal. With a little post-processing, they didn't come out half bad. gingy and her son came out to hear the show as well, and apart from Matthew falling asleep, it seems like he had a good time. The muffins are delicious, BTW. Thanks!

( Now, on to the pictures... )

Thankfully, this will be an easy week coming up, although I will be returning to my violin lessons.