Saturday, August 09, 2008

Wherein we hang out with a bunch of old people and learn the truth about ourselves.

Last night the seminarian and I hit the trifecta of parental bliss: a babysitter, dinner reservations, and concert tickets. It had been a long time since we'd experienced any of this. At least 8 months, we figure, since yesterday was the babysitter's first encounter with our good dog Max, who came to us in January. He quickly got over his suspicions about her when she offered him a treat.

The dinner was at a nice little BYOB Italian cafe recommended by a friend. Since we brought our own wine from our recent spree, and split salad, entree, and dessert, it was a cheap but excellent meal. The Osso Bucco was incredible.

Then the concert. The performer was a sentimental favorite of mine: Kenny Rankin. I was trying to think of when he hit his peak of popularity but I am not sure he was ever hugely popular. I saw him back in 1980-something as an opening act for George Carlin. I didn't really like Carlin, loved Rankin. I still have a few of his albums - yes, LPs - which I can no longer play. Anyway, we came across the concert information after I listened to a few of his songs via Youtube. Oh, I love that clear, sweet tenor. Since we hadn't had a night out in a very long time, and the tickets were relatively cheap (as such things go)... there we were.

We arrived at the theater just a little early and had some time to watch the crowd coming in. Wow, everyone looked so old! How come all these old people were here at this show? Where were the young people like... us? Oh. This is our demographic now. Man, that hurt.

It was a nice night. The concert was good - that voice was still clear, the scat fluid. His banter seemed a little old at times; his throat was giving him trouble but he pressed on and well. At the end of the show he made a slight political comment that was annoying, but he kept it short. ("Let's take our country back, people.") I had been a little worried he'd flash the new Obama sign, but no. All in all, a refreshing event. Back to reality today!

3 comments:

Sarah at SmallWorld said...

Sounds like a wonderful evening, and I can SO relate to this: "Oh. This is our demographic now." !!!

Sheryl said...

Oh, Yeah...feed those dogs, and they'll follow you to the ends of the earth (they're really just walking alimentary canals, y'know.)

I can sooooo relate to the whole "finding yourself in a whole 'nuther demographic" thing. Do you know I can officially use the track at our city's senior center now?! AND, I'm also eligible for the senior discounts at the KMart pharmacy!

You've gotta be kidding me - when did it all happen...!?

Anyway, glad you had a night out. It sounds like a lot of fun! :-)

Sandy said...

This looks more like cult worship than a presidential campaign. Creepy.