A Weekend to Remember
Last night Dallin and I went to a party at a professor's house. His wife cooked about a dozen delicious Iranian/Middle Eastern dishes, there was an abundance of wine (but true to my normal self I didn't drink), and well over a dozen professors, artists, and otherwise great people.
It started out normally enough. Dallin and I ate, then found a professor of sociology that I know and love, with whom we had a discussion about religion, American hypocrisy, and drugs. It was good times.
The director of EWU's orchestra and the Spokane Youth Symphony was there. He played the guitar for us and sang songs from a variety of South and Central American countries (very well, I might add). Then a young a man from Iran played his tar and sang a couple of Iranian songs, so beautifully that I wanted to cry.
I don't remember most of the guests' names, but they were very fun folks. A lot of South/Central American music was played via Youtube and iPod, with lots of dancing. I tried to stay with Dallin since he doesn't dance, but people kept pulling me back to the dance floor. Can't say I minded, dancing is too much fun. The Colombian maestro taught me to merengue, possibly the highlight of my evening. I played Juanes (apparently also Colombian, much to the maestro's joy) which went over well. Dallin played LMFAO, also surprisingly well received! Then Dallin played Skrillex and glowsticked for everyone...mixed reviews. The maestro thinks it would be great to have someone glowstick with the orchestra. Most everyone else looked fairly horrified.
We eventually got on to the karaoke part of the evening, most definitely its own interesting adventure. A little boy around 7 sang a Christmas song (earlier in the night he'd been doing the worm), a Japanese tuba player did the best rendition of Nat King Cole that I've ever heard (rivaling Nat himself), and the whole group sang "Imagine". My professor's 14 year old daughter and I sang "American Pie" in its 8 minute glory. Then the maestro and another man sang "Con te Partiro" (Andrea Boccelli) and I wound up joining in. I make a fair tenor, if I do say so myself. Something about karaokeing opera just makes a night.
I really wouldn't trade my life for anything. It's absolutely brilliant.
Completely unrelated, we adopted two rats from the Humane Society tonight. Loratta and Clawdia. They're territorial when they're in the cage and aren't super friendly because they haven't been handled for a few months, but they're fixable with some time. Loratta is already a great shoulder rat. I love my little ratty babies :)
It started out normally enough. Dallin and I ate, then found a professor of sociology that I know and love, with whom we had a discussion about religion, American hypocrisy, and drugs. It was good times.
The director of EWU's orchestra and the Spokane Youth Symphony was there. He played the guitar for us and sang songs from a variety of South and Central American countries (very well, I might add). Then a young a man from Iran played his tar and sang a couple of Iranian songs, so beautifully that I wanted to cry.
I don't remember most of the guests' names, but they were very fun folks. A lot of South/Central American music was played via Youtube and iPod, with lots of dancing. I tried to stay with Dallin since he doesn't dance, but people kept pulling me back to the dance floor. Can't say I minded, dancing is too much fun. The Colombian maestro taught me to merengue, possibly the highlight of my evening. I played Juanes (apparently also Colombian, much to the maestro's joy) which went over well. Dallin played LMFAO, also surprisingly well received! Then Dallin played Skrillex and glowsticked for everyone...mixed reviews. The maestro thinks it would be great to have someone glowstick with the orchestra. Most everyone else looked fairly horrified.
We eventually got on to the karaoke part of the evening, most definitely its own interesting adventure. A little boy around 7 sang a Christmas song (earlier in the night he'd been doing the worm), a Japanese tuba player did the best rendition of Nat King Cole that I've ever heard (rivaling Nat himself), and the whole group sang "Imagine". My professor's 14 year old daughter and I sang "American Pie" in its 8 minute glory. Then the maestro and another man sang "Con te Partiro" (Andrea Boccelli) and I wound up joining in. I make a fair tenor, if I do say so myself. Something about karaokeing opera just makes a night.
I really wouldn't trade my life for anything. It's absolutely brilliant.
Completely unrelated, we adopted two rats from the Humane Society tonight. Loratta and Clawdia. They're territorial when they're in the cage and aren't super friendly because they haven't been handled for a few months, but they're fixable with some time. Loratta is already a great shoulder rat. I love my little ratty babies :)