A perfect evening

It was a charmed evening last night. It didn't start out promising. I planned to stop at Barnes and Noble, and then go to a movie. I ran really late leaving and was wondering if I'd make it to Barnes and Noble. When I got there, I had only ten minutes to use the washroom and buy a guitar book. I also had never been to the movie theater before, and didn't know where it was.

I found the perfect introductory guitar book. There is a series of software books called Teach Yourself Visually that uses more illustrations than text to show how to use software programs. Well, apparently, they cover more than software programs because they have a guitar book. It has pictures of how to hold the guitar, how to play a chord, and so forth. It also covers the types of guitar playing, types of guitars, and guitar maintenance and accessories. I also found a book that drills on scales and another on chords.

However, I took fifteen minutes rather than ten minutes. I asked directions to the movie theater (in the same shopping center), and took off. I headed in the right direction, but overshot, and couldn't find the place. I had to backtrack to find a map. (My one complaint about the shopping center, the Pruneyard in Campbell, is that it doesn't have enough maps.) I finally found the place, and it was after the time that the movie was supposed to start. Got some food because I hadn't eaten dinner. When I went into the theater, the coming attractions were just ending. Perfect.

I saw Whale Rider, and it was terrific. It was pretty easy to tell what was going to happen, but I still enjoyed watching it unfold.

When the movie ended, it was only ten after eleven. I decided to run over to Tower Records to see if they had any classical guitar CDs. I found them after some thrashing about, and bought some. So I drove home with the moonroof open, playing classical guitar. (That reminds me of my ex-sister-in-law telling me about how she drives around San Francisco with her windows rolled down, blasting classical music. I really like her -;)) I really like the CD that I played on the way home, Dreams of a World by Sharon Isbin. Parts of it make me think of Renaissance music.

When I got home, I talked to another night-owl friend for a while. Then I mucked around on eBay, and found a small karaoke machine that connects to a TV and DVD player. I didn't know that karaoke machines can remove the vocal track on normal CDs! I sing along to CDs all the time. It also has a microphone with which I can torture my neighbors experiment. And finally, hardly anyone was bidding on it, so I should be able to get it for less than the cost to ship it. I bid on it, and the auction ends this afternoon. The only rub is that I don't have a DVD player, although I keep meaning to get one, so I bought a cheap refurbished one.

Today, I need to do some chores around here, and I want to spend some time experimenting with the guitar. Then I need to go into work for a while.