Easter weekend

Scott is risen - risen from the darkness of finals week! Hooray! It was a really tough quarter for everyone, so there was much rejoicing on Saturday evening when their last exam was finally over. We sat outside at Delta of Venus, enjoying the warm evening and DST light as much as the beer. Scott and I left relatively early, got a Mediterranean bite to eat and then went to the Mondavi Center for a show - our second this week!

We saw the Regina Carter Jazz Quintet, and they were phenomenal. Regina Carter is a jazz violinist whose music I first heard in Rome - my modern dance teacher used her in class, and I burned a copy of the CD, Rhythms of the Heart. It's been one of my favorite albums ever since, so I was excited to get to see her live. My favorite piece was the third one, where Carter worked a simple childhood melody in to a beautiful, playful, emotional, rich composition. Her solos moved from classical arpeggios to fiddle riffs to throaty jazz moans... and somehow it was seamless. Those genres are not so separate as I thought they were. And I loved how she could blend her violin's voice into the clarinet's - surprising and beautiful.

We had a relaxed, very low-key Easter. Scott and I went for a walk in the morning. He went to school (to meet with the professor he's TA-ing for to talk about grading the exam - technically, he's not completely done with finals yet), and I baked a rhubarb crunch, from my mom's tried-and-true Cooking in Minnesota recipe. I found rhubarb at the produce stand on Saturday morning and was thrilled. Rhubarb crunch is tied with (Roman) pizza for being my favorite food in the world. Scott and I rendezvoused at Kelly's for a 2 pm brunch, rhubarb in hand. We had a great afternoon there, with a fun mix of people and lots of excellent buttery, sugary food.


Other fun stuff this weekend...
On Friday, I went climbing with Lisa - my first time since February! It felt great, and I'm excited to go with Scott sometime this week.

Saturday morning, I played some ultimate and then went to Yoko's house to play the Bach Double with her! (Watch the video below to hear how it sounds when 20 world-class violinists play it at Carnegie Hall.) I haven't played with another person for years, so this felt wonderful. And the Bach Double is *such* a great piece. I'd forgotten how wonderful it is.

Saturday afternoon, I got coffee (and mango mousse cake!) at Ciocolat with Aslahan, who gave me some advice on what to see and eat when I'm in Turkey. (She's from Ankara and attended the same university that Margaret's studying at this year.) I'm definitely excited to go.

And now, without further ado, the first movement of Bach's Concerto for Two Violins: