Happy Anniversary

I spent the day at the Beaches Jazz Festival with my parents. I considered it quite an honour, actually, considering today was my parents’ 28^th anniversary and they had every right to spend the day without children. And yet, because my parents live by a general rule of awesomeness, they warmly welcomed me to tag along. And so I did.

We pretty much hung out at the festival from 11am until 8pm, so I’m not going to try to sum up all the music we heard. I will say that it was fantastically diverse, the musicians each had a pretty dynamic stage presence, and that it was a far better day than sitting alone in my tiny apartment watching reruns on TLC :)

Some highlights:

• David “Ziggy” Walcott from Barbados. He rocked that steel drum. I’ve decided that I want his band to play at my wedding. Not that I’m planning a wedding….
• Bonerama. A band of trombones. Who knew trombones could be so cool? When I was in school, trombones were the off-key instruments that existed for the mere purpose of emptying their spit valves on the tenor sax players in front of them. I played tenor sax.
• I was sitting on the grass, listening to one of the bands, when I felt a strange glob on the back of my arm. My arm (and shirt) had been attacked by purple paint. Some kids were painting a mural behind me, and one of them went a little Jackson Pollock and flung the paint behind them. And onto me. I’m just thankful I decided to change my shirt at the last minute this morning into an older one.
• Dinner at Ben & Jerry’s.
• Dr. Draw. My parents have been singing this guy’s praises for quite some time, so I was thrilled to finally hear/see what all the fuss was about. The guy is a mad genius. I was exhausted just watching him. He’s a jazz violinist rock star, that’s who he is. Even his classical stuff was intense, with his band rocking out as if they were on stage with Mick Jagger. I don’t know where he gets his energy, but if he could bottle it, I’d be a customer. Three thumbs up (I borrowed an extra thumb, that’s how great it was).

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for having an anniversary. Your marriage makes me want to get married. To Dr. Draw (kidding).