symphomaniac

i happened to respond first to a first-email-reply-first-get extra free ticket from sarah to see the san francisco symphony with her on friday night. they were playing chopin's concerto #2 for the first half, then saint-saens' organ symphony #3 for the second half. i have never been to a symphony before, except at indiana university once because my roommate at the time was a clarinet player. unfortunately t'was a sucky experience for me because if i recall correctly, i was extremely hungover from a theta beta phi thigh fee fi fo phum party the night before, therefore making it more like torture than a cultural or enlightening experience.

now i was ready to shine a new light on the whole thing and.. I GET TO HANG WITH SARAH, too?! too awesome. so we meet for a fancy drink at jardiniere before the show & eat fried olives for the first time..mmmm! have you tried fancy fried olives? strange and yummy and fancy beyond fancy.

we then go and get seated in the beautiful auditorium made obviously just for the symphony with all it's high-tech shiny sound reflection gadgets everywhere and dangling microphones and wall o' organ. we had orchestra seats at far right musician feet level & our main view was of the profile of a stand-up bass guy who was kinda sexy & donning some fine shiny lace-up shoe-boots. well, that was more sarah's direct view. mine was of a velvet-clad cello player whom i shan't describe in further detail for i will certainly burn in hell for the thoughts i thought whilst sitting before her.

my ADD goes into overdrive at this point and obviously a little before, triggered as it sometimes is by the white trash gone west got free and exposed still culture challenged self conscious late bloomer complex.

so here's the unavoidable ADDream before me and i better just run with it - i'm old enough now that i know when it's coming on and i can decide whether to beat myself up or embrace the madness. so i'm sitting there and the brain's going nuts and you know, i thoroughly enjoy the ride. these things go something like this:

"hmm, it feels kinda like a jail in here. or a gladiator ring or maybe a gigantic confessional booth. what are all these empty seats? they coulda brought in a bunch of orphans like in "finding neverland". wow, that's a big piano with a real big piano-maker's insignia on the side.. was it donated for advertising? oh, i can't wait for the massive organ to be played. i got a thing for organs. where does the organ player sit? oh, my god, the outfits of these people. fuck, the symphony needs to channel funds.. ALL funds for the next year into getting stylists and hairdressers because this do it yourself shit and old lady hippy afro mayhem is out of control and hurting my eyes for chrissakes! but look at that chic, she's kinda hot, actually, and she has on very sexy high heels. she's the only one with sexy heels up there! i wonder if she's banging any of these stand up bass guys. i hear it's like a soap opera behind the scenes. hmm, she does look very posh all decked out like that and wailing on the violin. rrrrROW! i wonder if a majority of the musicians are foreign? they all look like they're from berkeley or a different country (i know, same thing). oh, my god, the sexy piano diva from argentina.. they may as well call it a "porniano!" holy tori amos i feel like a voyeur at this woman/instrument masturbation session! lordy, this is terribly intimate, her all flipping her frizzy hair and makin' love and stuff with the ivories (i know, rock dudes do that kinda thing all the time with their axes but hey, this is my world at the moment). the first chair violin guy is up there getting the rockstar treatment, as he should, and i notice he has on a red tie and everyone else has little or no color. i ponder that in too many ways to explain, as we're getting into a mix of my two worlds of music and fashion and that's overboard and seeing live music just makes my eyes and ears battle each other like the fucking DICKens already. is that somebody snoring behind me? well, we're at the early show and there are a load of white hairs here. yeah, somebody's snoring. that's kinda sad. ew, i think my pits stink. i didn't wash this sweater, did i? i hate when i do that. dang, i can't see the flutes or any of the wind instruments! rrrrr. i want a french horn. i miss the french horn. awe, the poor trumpet player and tympany players have to wait like 12 minutes between their little parts to play. that must suck ASS! i sure wish they would all rock out more. all of them! more dynamics. get up outchyer seats! oh, how absolutely PRECIOUS all the violin sticks synchronized dancing in the air like that! totally mesmerising. darling italian conductor. i think he's wearing tightie-whities. why do they let the less attractive folks sit on the outside closest to the audience? i hate myself for thinking it and now writing it, but let's face it, i'm cro-magnon like most, right? we need "show" business, people! i wanna see some hotness! oh my god, that guy in the bleachers between the organ pipes and the triangle player is actually rocking out to this music! wow, i wonder about him. a lot. and stare. a lot. ooooo, look, a bassoon?! oh i want one of those. oooooh, and the french horn, that delicious sound, so soft, luscious, and soothing.. i played that in junior high, i forgot! in the all-county band! awe, man i want one now.. i know i could pick it back up after a couple "how to play french horn" google searches. i want every one of those instruments up there. i want a house and to buy every instrument in the world and put them in my house and learn to play all the instruments and make crazy recordings forever and ever and have parties and play with all my friends and instruments. that would be awesome! ew, who let a stinker?"

i think the chopin piece was too light & subtle which led to most of the above head ramblings. the saint saens piece was very dynamic and sucked me in and all over. nice! i hope to visit the symphony again. that combination of head rambling and smart & rich folks' culture was a healthy combo for me. it was invigorating. lively. i think now that i have gone through my new thing routine, i'll be able to concentrate and enjoy it more on a different level. hooray for wonderful fabu uber thought-provoking beautiful and kind friends and double hooray for new experiences. i'm a lucky lucky girl ;-)