by Laura
Anticipating a few days without visitors, we decided to stay local for fall break and attempt to do absolutely nothing. However, Harold discovered that it was Parent’s Weekend at Duke, and the related events were right about at our current hipness level. Besides, this meant reaping all the benefits of the free dessert reception without having to fork over the price of tuition for Muffy and Trey. (This would be a good time to thank our real Duke parents, who nicely forked over those well-worthwhile costs for Harold and Laura.)
Friday we went to see a jazz concert, and stopped by Pop’s. Years ago, we thought Pop’s was high-end enough to schedule a graduation dinner there, but luckily it’s also priced at a reasonable level for a nice-ish meal out. Since there was a 15 minute wait (gasp!), we opted to sit at the bar instead. The service was friendly and the food was satisfying. Harold’s soup and my risotto were too oily, but maybe that’s just a sign that our new healthy eating mindset is kicking in.
After jazz, we went to a singalong showing of Singing in the Rain (at Harold’s insistence, of course). When we arrived, the projectionist unlocked the theater, since no one else had shown up yet. Luckily about a dozen other folks eventually trickled in, although we had to leave early because the room was unbearably cold. Maybe the usually robust crowd normally creates body heat? Later on in the weekend we returned to the same theater to see Up, and the film reel irreparably caught on fire about 45 minutes in, which does make you wonder if we should have just stayed home and caught up on Project Runway.
We also checked out some performances in the Chapel by the wind symphony, symphony orchestra, and chorale. I think I’ve developed ADD, because although the music was lovely, it also bored the crap out of me. Harold, on the other hand, declared that we should force our future children to play an instrument. I agreed this might be possible if we constricted their choices to piano, guitar, sax, or violin. (I would have added the drums, but my brother was briefly into them, until his set mysteriously “broke”, a.k.a. my parents probably poked a hole in them while he was sleeping to avoid further headaches.) I learned the clarinet, which was clearly a road to nowhere, my lack of musical talent aside.
Now that we’ve spent the weekend doing nothing, I can focus on all my homework. Or put it off to the last minute. Pass/fail systems have their upside!
Laura
Harold
