Finally, Saturdays are fun again! (a photo essay)

I don't exactly have a nine-to-five job, so usually I wind up working on Saturdays. But yesterday I flippantly declared, "To hell with work!" Well, OK, not totally. I cleaned the bathroom and did some laundry, but that doesn't involve grading essays or coming up with lesson plans, so it doesn't really count as "work" right now. But after that was over, I set up the Christmas tree (even though I am technically against putting up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving), ate a large plate of pasta for dinner, and then went to see Death Cab for Cutie and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at the (horrible) Rostraver Ice Garden. Here are some highlights:


The Christmas tree went up early this year because it was stored in our creepy basement that must be avoided at all costs, since zombies live there. Since Mike had to venture down to put some stuff away, he decided to bring the tree up to save himself another life-threatening trip. Here it is, taking up too much space in our teeny living room.

Immediately after the tree was placed in its stand, Alice PhD began investigating. For some reason, she thought the light bulbs smelled delicious and tried to eat them.

Here are Mike and I, shoving our faces full of spaghetti, swilling cheap wine, and being masters of our limited domain.

As I mentioned previously, the Death Cab show was unfortunately held at the Rostraver Ice Garden, which sucks in a number of ways. The acoustics are horrible, and you have to stand on ice covered by a thin carpet the entire time, meaning that numbness travels from your feet up your body as you stand there. A friend pointed out that the numbness wasn't so bad, as this was the first show she'd ever been to where her feet hadn't hurt the entire time. But they hurt twice as much later as they began to thaw. However, one great thing about the Ice Garden was the cheesy Disney movie-esque ambiance, which is represented by the sign in the above photo. Makes you want to rent The Mighty Ducks, doesn't it?

Another seemingly great thing about the Ice Garden was the time-out box and the enviable view it offered to short people like me. I watched Ted Leo's set and a fraction of Death Cab's from this spot, and it was temporarily glorious, as you can see from the picture below.

At this point, a raunchy echo developed that made it sound as if there were a drum-and-bass dance party being held in the back portion of the rink. My ass was asleep by then anyway, so we moved to the floor, which really wasn't that bad. People weren't obnoxious at all, which isn't something I can say about any show I've been to in the last few years, or possibly any show EVER. I'm usually, at some point during the show, stuck behind the tallest, fattest, smelliest guy in the room who dances wildly, beside teenage couples making out, and in the midst of an impromptu path between the stage and the bathroom and/or bar. But that didn't happen this time. Ted Leo was great, and Death Cab played every song I wanted to hear, so my $35 wasn't wasted (although it was DEFINITELY a rip-off).

So that was my Saturday. It wasn't amazing, but it was good, and that's more than I can usually ask for.