Friday nights may just be my most favorite. It’s the day before Saturday, so you may stay out as late as you like. The weekend has barely started, so you have over 48 hours of freedom ahead of you. This is in theory, of course, and is based on the assumption that you have a free weekend ahead.
All of this is true, in my case, so my Friday night was spectacular.
After work, the roomies and I headed up to Goshen for dinner and a concert. We stopped at the South Side Soda Shop for some good eatin’.
We discovered, upon our arrival, that the diner was featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.”
Too cool! The food was good, authentic diner fare: burgers, fries, milkshakes, and pie (which was to die for). The waitress carried the pie tray to your table to tempt you with the dozen flavors of pie that they made fresh each day. I said no to a slice this time around; I was SO stuffed. Next time I don’t intend make the same mistake. Maybe I’ll just go for dessert, then….
After dinner, we drove up the street to the theatre to take in some Over the Rhine.
The roommates were pumped. When I took this photo, Lindsey had just jumped up in crazy excitement. I missed the moment. Oops!
I feel like I gush about Over the Rhine a lot. It’s for good reason! OtR hails from Cincinnati and is made up of a husband/wife duo and random instrumentalists, who vary by album and tour. Their sound is folk/blues/jazz (can you tell I have a hard time classifying musical genre?) They are poets, musicians, philosophers. Their writing is simultaneously simple and profound. They sing about falling in love, about staying in love. They write about the beauty of life. The pain of life. The comedy, the tragedy. The joy….the sorrow.
Attending one of their concerts feels like being invited into their living room. Being given a peak into their lives, their stories, their hearts. The music that they write is beautifully haunting and inspiring. It speaks to the human condition, to our frailty and our strength. To the joy of human relationships and community, to the bonds that keep us strong.
If you haven’t listened to any OtR, check them out! Their new CD, “The Long Surrender,” is being released in January. In the meantime, I highly recommend starting with any of their other albums. My favorites are “The Trumpet Child” and “Drunkard’s Prayer,” if you’re looking for a place to start. Happy listening, friends!
