the whiskey days of summer

Shortly after I wrote yesterday, I had to run over to Santa Monica College for the first meeting of the beginning violin class I enrolled in. This is not an actual college class, it's a community education class, and I'm taking it for fun. I got so much out of the guitar class that I decided if I'm interested in learning something, to just enroll. The first violin I bought was an E-bay disaster. This thing was poorly designed and the varnish was emanating off of this thing. I was ashamed to walk into class with it, so I went over to McCabes Guitar Shop and bought a new one, which is still a beginner violin. The difference is, I didn't feel bad walking into class with it.

The class itself went alright. I think guitar was easier since I had played before. Violin requires a whole set of skills that I have to aquire as I go along. I got a little frustrated when I couldn't get all the way through Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with the rest of the group. I had to remind myself that at least two of the people in the class had already played before, so probably had to spend less time thinking about how to hold the violin and the bow, and could concentrate on the notes and the finger positions. I practiced today and sounded a lot better, because I watched myself in the mirror to make sure my arm positions were doing what she said they should. That helped a lot. A little bit of practice every day this week and I should have the song down.

Later in the afternoon, B and I went over to the newly married couple Pat and Holly's house for a Whiskey Days of Summer party. I brought cupcakes and B brought whiskey. The premise for the party was to bring your favorite recipe for whiskey sours, as several people in the group have regional specific mixes passed on by their families. I've never been a huge fan of whiskey (I much prefer vodka, then rum), but these whiskey sours were good. Hamburgers (and boca burgers for us non-meat eaters) were grilled, people enjoyed the nice patio area
and the plentiful drinks, and later when it got dark, the newly purchased firepit was brought out. This is a part of the lovely patio area:


This is Pat creating the fire:


This is Liz enjoying the small fire:


When everyone seemed nice and toasty, the part was brought indoors. First, a very simple game of "hey, let's electrocute one another. huh huh huh." was played. See below:

Then the Trivial Pursuit, Pop Culture was brought out and I learned that I know nothing about apparently popular culture. Oh well, that's what playing outside instead of watching t.v. all day as a kid gets me.

Listening: Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out