Last Weekend for November 2-November 9: Martin, Martin, Bleak, Brunch
It rained all of last week, and Friday was no exception. This made driving to Akron after work somewhat exhausting, between the rain and constant misting. Fortunately, the end destination was to see Steve Martin, Martin Short and the Steep Canyon Rangers perform. Steve Martin in particular is one of M's personal favorites and this show was at the top of her bucket list. I myself am not deeply familiar with either performers oeuvre, but was happy to go along.
The show featured musical numbers (both with the Rangers and a pianist), Martin & Short having conversations that led to many jokes, occasional solo bits, video snippets and general hilarity. I'm not big on stand-up, and lacked the historical knowledge to get some of the movie references (ok, most of them), but the music was great. I particularly liked one sketch where Short and a very large individual came out dressed in Scottish attire, and then Short jumped into the big guy's arms and pretended to be a bagpipe. On the whole, I had a good time, but more importantly M had a great time. We drove home and had a late dinner at Buckeye Beer Engine.
I had a arrange for a contractor to come by Saturday morning, so I got up and did a bunch of things around the house while I was waiting for them. This kept it from being a complete waste of time, as they never showed up or responded to any of the texts or calls I sent their way. That was extremely frustrating. Several hours after the slated window I gave up and went out to run my errands.
Upon coming home I finished reading Bleak House. I'd started it in Colorado and read it while giving blood (twice) and on airplanes (also twice). This may imply that I didn't enjoy it, which isn't really true. While I was reading it, I was fully engrossed and enjoyed it greatly. When I put it down, I forgot about it until the next time I picked it up. I'm not sure if this means it was a bad book, or if it's a legacy of its original start as a magazine serial. On the whole, I can't recommend it as highly as some of the other books by Dickens (it's no Great Expectations) but I did enjoy it.
Saturday night I went to gieves's fancy dress up birthday party and consumed many appetizers and cocktails.
Sunday morning M and I met my aunt and cousin for brunch at Fire. I hadn't been there in more than a decade and barely remembered what it was like back then, but I certainly found it enjoyable this time, despite some hiccups in the service. I went straight from there to the station, where my show featured another 40 minutes for my trainee during the freeform portion.
Sunday night I spent a lot of time cooking the Iranian inspired Chicken Stew with Green Herbs & Citrus. Fortunately most of the effort was of the "wait around for things to happen" type, and the end result was excellent. M and I both really liked it.
The show featured musical numbers (both with the Rangers and a pianist), Martin & Short having conversations that led to many jokes, occasional solo bits, video snippets and general hilarity. I'm not big on stand-up, and lacked the historical knowledge to get some of the movie references (ok, most of them), but the music was great. I particularly liked one sketch where Short and a very large individual came out dressed in Scottish attire, and then Short jumped into the big guy's arms and pretended to be a bagpipe. On the whole, I had a good time, but more importantly M had a great time. We drove home and had a late dinner at Buckeye Beer Engine.
I had a arrange for a contractor to come by Saturday morning, so I got up and did a bunch of things around the house while I was waiting for them. This kept it from being a complete waste of time, as they never showed up or responded to any of the texts or calls I sent their way. That was extremely frustrating. Several hours after the slated window I gave up and went out to run my errands.
Upon coming home I finished reading Bleak House. I'd started it in Colorado and read it while giving blood (twice) and on airplanes (also twice). This may imply that I didn't enjoy it, which isn't really true. While I was reading it, I was fully engrossed and enjoyed it greatly. When I put it down, I forgot about it until the next time I picked it up. I'm not sure if this means it was a bad book, or if it's a legacy of its original start as a magazine serial. On the whole, I can't recommend it as highly as some of the other books by Dickens (it's no Great Expectations) but I did enjoy it.
Saturday night I went to gieves's fancy dress up birthday party and consumed many appetizers and cocktails.
Sunday morning M and I met my aunt and cousin for brunch at Fire. I hadn't been there in more than a decade and barely remembered what it was like back then, but I certainly found it enjoyable this time, despite some hiccups in the service. I went straight from there to the station, where my show featured another 40 minutes for my trainee during the freeform portion.
Sunday night I spent a lot of time cooking the Iranian inspired Chicken Stew with Green Herbs & Citrus. Fortunately most of the effort was of the "wait around for things to happen" type, and the end result was excellent. M and I both really liked it.