Sunday, October 29, 2006

Weekend in review

This was quite a lovely weekend. On Friday night, we went out on a date. We ate dinner outside in the cool air at a nice restaurant and wandered around a bookstore. Then we went to a concert of spooky music at the university. The acoustics at Gammage Auditorium are really good, and I very much enjoyed the selections from John Williams' Harry Potter soundtrack. "Hedwig's Theme" is just a perfect bit of music - magical and melancholy, just like Harry. I hadn't been to a concert of symphonic music in a long time. Brought me to tears... I used to play flute and oboe and, as a teenager, my goals were torn - pursue music or astronomy? I chose astronomy, arguing to myself that I could continue to play music on my own. There are an oboe and a flute, long untouched, sitting in my closet. I really should drag them out. Warn the neighbors!

The rest of the weekend has involved yummy food, some work, and cozy naps. I also finished The Pox Party - The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, vol. 1 by M.T. Anderson. The book is amazing. It's marketed as YA, which is appropriate if you go by age of the protagonist, but this book is rich on so many levels. I hope that it receives wide readership. If you haven't read it, do so. I give it my highest recommendation.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You failed to mention me as guest conductor. Do not fail me again.

Dr. Lisa said...

My favorite costuming was the two bass players who dressed up as Mormon missionaries.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great weekend!

Also, I've been hearing others talk about how great that MT Anderson book is. I'll get myself a copy from the library this weekend. I can't believe he also wrote Whales on Stilts!

Dr. Lisa said...

Whales on Stilts is a fun book. The followup The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen is also fun, but has lines of breathtaking beauty as well. Anderson is always worth a read, and he just seems to be getting better.

Rachel said...

I don't know if I ever formally apologized for dissing the oboe (I believe I said something like "dyspeptic duck'), but I absolutely love the theme to the "Poirot" series and am now acknowledging the error of my ways.

Dr. Lisa said...

Apology accepted. :)

The oboe is a difficult instrument to control. It sounds dreadful in the wrong hands, even I'll admit that.