Mardis Gras and Music

A couple fun events from this weekend:

• Our friend Michelle invited us to her house for a belated Mardi Gras party last night. She held a similar event last year (remember?). She had her house decorated with New Orleans posters and Mardi Gras masks, and she served gumbo and a traditional king cake. Susan made a fruit pizza (giant baked sugar cookie for the crust, sweetened cream cheese frosting for the sauce, and various kinds of fresh fruit sliced and arranged artistically for the toppings) to share, and it was a big hit. Michelle has a knack for inviting family and friends and colleagues to make for a delightful mix of guests, so we never know just whom we will visit with or about what subjects (last night's topics: conspiracy theories about city government during city-wide flooding, wildlife conservation, medicinal marijuana and aging Baby Boomers, and stock car racing).
• This afternoon we attended a concert performance by Ten O'Clock Classics as part of the Dickinson Area Concert Association's current season. It has been several months since the last concert (remember?), but we didn't forget our regular routine: enter, march down to the first or second row, and take our place in a prominent position so that we can see what's going on and the musicians can make eye contact with us. (This is what has gotten some of us up on stage with the performers from time to time, too.) The group consists of a pianist, a violinist, a cellist, and a vocalist, and they perform in various combinations. My favorite number featured the cellist playing a song that had her creating all sorts of unsual sounds on the instrument: plucking the strings, tapping it like a percussion instrument, using the bow in different spots along the neck for various effects, etc.