CROSS YOUR FINGERS!!

On Saturday night, we may go see THIS. I can't tell you how stinkin' excited I am.

I actually became a fan of the violinist, Joshua Bell, on accident. One day I was heading to church and didn't feel that it was appropriate to listen to my favorite rock station on the way. I turned to some classical station (which I never normally liked) and just had the music playing as background noise. I wasn't paying particular attention. A few weeks later I turned it back to the classical station and actually recognized a song and knew I must have heard it from a few weeks before. I paid closer attention and loved it. I immediately found out who the violinist was and went out and bought his CD, Romance of the Violin (<-- click on the link and scroll down to listen to a sample). To my surprise, every song was absolutely fantastic! Could it be that I might actually like classical music, which I had previously just thought of as elevator music? I think so.

This cd has become one of my favorites. It is something I reach for when I'm stressed or overwhelmed, when I'm tired or when I just can't handle anything on the radio. It seriously calms me and makes me feel at peace somehow. I'm not the type to dance or sway, but you almost can't help swaying to Bell's music. "Beautiful" doesn't even seem to do it justice. I HIGHLY recomend you listen to him, even if you think violin music isn't your thing. You may hate it, but who knows, he may become one of your new favorites, like he did for me.

ANYWAY, about a year ago I was looking at the 2007/2008 performance calendar for the Orange County Performing Arts Center and saw that he was playing there this month. I counted down the months before I could buy tickets, but when the time came, I realized that Ryan wasn't really interested in going and I couldn't justify spending 50-100 dollars on something just for me. Well, TODAY one of my professors mentioned Joshua Bell and how amazing he is, and then he mentioned that students can get $10 rush tickets at the OCPMAC!!!! We have to call the day of the show to see if they're available, so I'm crossing my fingers that they will be. And hey, for $10, I don't feel guilty dragging Ryan along. I actually think he'll really enjoy it once he's trapped there and forced to listen. If we can't get tickets, he's playing at the Hollywood Bowl in August, so I'll have to catch him there.