A Night at The Empire

Last night I was treated to a delish birthday treat: Thai dinner at Bo Tree and then a fantastic Duke Special show at The Empire. (Duke Special is a local band fronted by a guy named Peter) This week the band is playing a 5 night residency at The Empire where each night's show is a centered around a unique theme. Last night's theme was Symphony of Songs. Not really sure what that means but I was THRILLED when I sat in my seat (earned after an hour's wait before the doors opened) just as the lights dimmed and learned that Aqualung would be opening for the Duke and that Aqualung would be joining the Duke throughout the evening.

DUDE! Double-header! The colorful Duke Special AND the charming tunes of Aqualung who I have wanted to see live since 2002.

This is the way to kick of a birthday week for sure!

A Wee Photo Album

Ireland's oldest mill, Avoca. May I also add that this is Ireland's best mill.


The lovely buildings of Edinburgh.


St. Andrews. Better known as the world's first golf course.


Balmoral Castle. Sadly the Queen wasn't expected for a few weeks. Oh well. There's always next year.


A house in the Highlands of Scotland.

Dewey Decimal and a Cup of Coffee

Ah books. Tonight I went to my first book club. The club has been meeting for a while in a local coffee shop near Queens University called Common Grounds. This month's book was The Book Thief.


I thought the book was quite good and written in a very unusual style - refreshing after reading so many Jodi Picoult books where someone always sees the inside of a jail and someone else always finds a reason to spout off medical jargon. Right. Back to The Book Thief.

I won't give away any of the plot or even the general idea of the book in case you want to read it, and I hope that you do. There are many layers to the book and a few grand themes. I tried very hard to only contribute new angles and ideas to the discussion and refrained from saying things like, "I just didn't like this character." Or "I didn't like the book. OK, I only read a bit of the beginning, but I didn't like it so much I won't finish it. Now let me dominate the conversation with reasons that the book was bad." Both of these things happened but neither of them were my doing.

I hope I was a good ambassador for the public school system in South Carolina, as my comments seemed to attract several "Good point" remarks. Or maybe I just read into things too much.

Now that's a story for another time.