Suzy and Nessa's Big Adventure
Saturday night was so very interesting. I saw and heard a lot of things I've never seen or heard before - some of which were completely awe-inspiring and others of which I don't care to ever see or hear again. I guess I should start at the beginning.
Friday, I came into possession of 2 tickets to see Andrew Bird in concert on Saturday at the State Theater in Kalamazoo. Cool! I'm a big fan. Well actually, it might be more appropriate to say I'm a big appreciator, meaning I have a few albums that I listen to from time to time, but I couldn't tell you the names of songs, albums, or even what the lyrics are. All I know is Andrew makes it cool to play the violin. I decided to take my friend Suzy with me because she introduced me to his music Sophomore year I think.
We set out to what actually was a Bright Eyes concert for which Andrew was opening. We were really only going to see Andrew, so it didn't really matter to us that it was indeed a Bright Eyes concert. We approached the theater and made our way through the throbs of sulky Emo college kids inside, where we made a move for the bar. Never missing an opportunity to try another locally brewed beer, we payed 8 bucks for a large plastic cup of beer and headed to our seats in the theater, which by the way, is beautiful. Who knew this little gem existed in Kalamazoo? The interior was decorated to look like the facade of a Spanish style building, with stuccoed walls and red tile roof, niches with statues of various saints, and a ceiling painted midnight blue that had been lit up with constellations. Beautiful! Our seats were glorious. All was shaping up to be a great concert.
Andrew was amazing. He played a one man show with his violin, guitar, xylephone, whistle and voice. He surrounded himself in a circle with foot pedals that would repeat what he was playing at the time, so he'd start a song by plucking out a line on the violin, hit a foot pedal, which would keep that line repeating, then play another line, hit another foot pedal, which would keep that line repeating, then put his violin down, flip his guitar around to the front, play a line, hit a pedal, toss his guitar around to the back, pick up his violin, play a line, hit a pedal, whistle, hit a pedal, and sing, until he had like 20 different things happening at once. It was amazing. I was so impressed. Having finished our beers on empty stomaches by the end of Andrew's set, we decided it was best not to stay for Bright Eyes and thus we left the theater in search of food and Andrew Bird. He had to be staying in the nicest hotel in town, so we headed to the Radisson. Though we never did find him that night, we saw enough interesting things to make up for it. We went to Zazio's, a really nice restaurant (just in case he decided he needed a drink at the hotel bar before bed), got some drinks and split a pizza. Suzy and I bonded over many a philosophical conversation, good martinis, good pizza and good bread (even if my forehead did somehow have a run in with the angular breadbasket in a fit of laughter, which left a bruise on my head).
On our way out, we decided to pop into the hotel lobby restroom. I saw something I never want to see again. Keep in mind, this is a nice hotel. We walked in, and standing near the sinks were two girls, about our age. The one had her back to us, but we could see she had her shirt pulled up, exposing some major stretch marks. This was a little weird on its own, but it wasn't until I came out of the bathroom stall until I realized what was really going on. The girl with her shirt up had two little bottles dangling from her breasts, which were quickly filling with breast milk. This girl was pumping her breast milk in the middle of the bathroom of the Radisson. What the HELL? SO strange. So, we went around to the other side and we overheared a conversation between two ladies in their 40's. The one woman says: I mean, I just feel like I can't leave him because of the kids... Ummmm...WHAT? Where are we? We left the bathroom and Suzy said she didn't see the woman with the breast pumps, so I made her go back in. So WEIRD.
Suzy and I then hitched a ride with her roommate to a party that a friend was having. What another strange experience. Freshman year, we waited to catch word of a party and then we'd all show up in hordes to the home of some Seniors who we didn't know, and who we were sure hadn't a clue who we were. Now, my friends are the ones having the parties, and I'm the one walking around yelling at people to close the doors after themselves, turning off the gas stove after some kid knocks into it, turning it on by accident, and closing the kitchen cupboard doors, trying to protect my friend's food. Life's a funny thing.
Much fun was had, and all in all, a really great night. Thanks for sharing in my adventure, and please, don't pump your breast milk in public restrooms. Oh, and check out Andrew Bird. He's amazing.
Friday, I came into possession of 2 tickets to see Andrew Bird in concert on Saturday at the State Theater in Kalamazoo. Cool! I'm a big fan. Well actually, it might be more appropriate to say I'm a big appreciator, meaning I have a few albums that I listen to from time to time, but I couldn't tell you the names of songs, albums, or even what the lyrics are. All I know is Andrew makes it cool to play the violin. I decided to take my friend Suzy with me because she introduced me to his music Sophomore year I think.
We set out to what actually was a Bright Eyes concert for which Andrew was opening. We were really only going to see Andrew, so it didn't really matter to us that it was indeed a Bright Eyes concert. We approached the theater and made our way through the throbs of sulky Emo college kids inside, where we made a move for the bar. Never missing an opportunity to try another locally brewed beer, we payed 8 bucks for a large plastic cup of beer and headed to our seats in the theater, which by the way, is beautiful. Who knew this little gem existed in Kalamazoo? The interior was decorated to look like the facade of a Spanish style building, with stuccoed walls and red tile roof, niches with statues of various saints, and a ceiling painted midnight blue that had been lit up with constellations. Beautiful! Our seats were glorious. All was shaping up to be a great concert.
Andrew was amazing. He played a one man show with his violin, guitar, xylephone, whistle and voice. He surrounded himself in a circle with foot pedals that would repeat what he was playing at the time, so he'd start a song by plucking out a line on the violin, hit a foot pedal, which would keep that line repeating, then play another line, hit another foot pedal, which would keep that line repeating, then put his violin down, flip his guitar around to the front, play a line, hit a pedal, toss his guitar around to the back, pick up his violin, play a line, hit a pedal, whistle, hit a pedal, and sing, until he had like 20 different things happening at once. It was amazing. I was so impressed. Having finished our beers on empty stomaches by the end of Andrew's set, we decided it was best not to stay for Bright Eyes and thus we left the theater in search of food and Andrew Bird. He had to be staying in the nicest hotel in town, so we headed to the Radisson. Though we never did find him that night, we saw enough interesting things to make up for it. We went to Zazio's, a really nice restaurant (just in case he decided he needed a drink at the hotel bar before bed), got some drinks and split a pizza. Suzy and I bonded over many a philosophical conversation, good martinis, good pizza and good bread (even if my forehead did somehow have a run in with the angular breadbasket in a fit of laughter, which left a bruise on my head).
On our way out, we decided to pop into the hotel lobby restroom. I saw something I never want to see again. Keep in mind, this is a nice hotel. We walked in, and standing near the sinks were two girls, about our age. The one had her back to us, but we could see she had her shirt pulled up, exposing some major stretch marks. This was a little weird on its own, but it wasn't until I came out of the bathroom stall until I realized what was really going on. The girl with her shirt up had two little bottles dangling from her breasts, which were quickly filling with breast milk. This girl was pumping her breast milk in the middle of the bathroom of the Radisson. What the HELL? SO strange. So, we went around to the other side and we overheared a conversation between two ladies in their 40's. The one woman says: I mean, I just feel like I can't leave him because of the kids... Ummmm...WHAT? Where are we? We left the bathroom and Suzy said she didn't see the woman with the breast pumps, so I made her go back in. So WEIRD.
Suzy and I then hitched a ride with her roommate to a party that a friend was having. What another strange experience. Freshman year, we waited to catch word of a party and then we'd all show up in hordes to the home of some Seniors who we didn't know, and who we were sure hadn't a clue who we were. Now, my friends are the ones having the parties, and I'm the one walking around yelling at people to close the doors after themselves, turning off the gas stove after some kid knocks into it, turning it on by accident, and closing the kitchen cupboard doors, trying to protect my friend's food. Life's a funny thing.
Much fun was had, and all in all, a really great night. Thanks for sharing in my adventure, and please, don't pump your breast milk in public restrooms. Oh, and check out Andrew Bird. He's amazing.
posted by Seoulcially Akward Nessie at 7:11 PM
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