tonight was exactly what i needed.
danelle asked if i wanted to head downtown to do a little shopping or just meander or whatnot, and since it has been an absolutely gorgeous day, i thought that would be cool. tim f-something (fitzpatrick?), colin, danelle and i wound up wandering church street. since jazzfest has been downtown all weekend, tons of people were milling about. at least three or four stages were set up on church street, so the drums made it impossible to not walk in time to the beat. at numerous points, i felt that if i closed my eyes, i could see myself in a smokey club. it was great. the atmosphere was so relaxed--more so than even a typical church street day--that i had a huge grin on my face the entire time. a stop at disc-go-round found buckley's dream brother, but no grace. i deliberated buying it, but i chose to convince colin to commit an "immoral" act and buy the nick drake box set instead (it didn't take much convincing). the next stop, pure pop, was much more successful. i was able to purchase grace for twelve dollars and had to discourage myself from buying david gray's lost songs. another day, another day.
we then walked down to church street to watch the sunset. the mountains over the lake were indigo, while the sky blended from glowing orange over the horizon, into pinks and magentas, then into navy blue. meanwhile, the lake seemed to glow sky blue. so cool. at first we sat on the large rocks that were still warm from baking in the sun all day, but once one became unoccupied, moved to one of the large swings. we sat there, the wood creaking, while someone played a pan flute in the darkness. i had a momentary flashback to the weekend josh came up to visit me freshman year, when we walked down to the waterfront and i gazed at the sky while a pan flute played because in both instances, i thought about how this was what being a college-aged person is like--gazing at water and sky with that sweet, relatively uncommon sound. completely relaxing and peaceful. colin was smoking his cloves, so i was able to hear the happy crackling of the clove and smell it...which i have always loved.
colin and tim were hilarious--i was laughing the entire time. we discovered that i am clairvoyant, and tim and i are going to start our own business. "call me at vickie's..."
we left the waterfront around 10:30 and headed back to church street, where things were still in full swing. people had hung elipsoidals in the trees, so little kids were dancing in the light on the street, trying to figure out where it came from. in front of one tent, an older couple was dancing to the music, oblivious to everyone else. it was great.
so then a blockbuster run was in order, because danelle and i decided to watch a movie. we tried to find waiting for guffman, but both stores were out, so we settled on little nicky. but i found almost famous on sale, so i bought it for $9. i was exceptionally excited.
little nicky wasn't much, but it was funny enough. it was just a great, great evening.