Park Slope and a Theremin

Friday I had a great day at work, and am really happy at the new job. My Art Director took me out to lunch, and we had sushi and chatted a lot.

After work, I headed home and talked to Guevara a bit. "Lucy, you've got some 'splainin to do!"

Natalie and I made plans with Rick the night before when we were waiting for Julie and made plans to meet up. Rick had taken Turner and I to a place called Union Bar (Union and 5th Ave in Park Slope) and we liked it a lot, and now Natalie wanted to see the area, so I thought of that place. It's a really cool bar with a wall of books to the left when you first walk in. It feels like a study in a mansion. The lighting is nice, and they have a bocce ball court upstairs, a little side garden upstairs, and a room downstairs with live music (and a cover). Not to mention the huge unisex bathrooms, where "think airplane" is posted on the door.

Natalie met me at my house, and after I finished getting ready, we caught the F to Brooklyn and got off the 4th Ave stop, then walked East and North. Rick met us while we were walking, and we got there around 9pm. We thought we'd sign up for bocce ball later, but it ended up being too late by the time we thought of it again. The bar filled up quickly around 10:30. We had a couple drinks and talked at the bar. Natalie was hungry, so we took a break and headed to a Mexican restaurant, where we split some quesadillas between the three of us, ate some chips, and headed back.

Rick's friend showed up after we got back, and was telling us about the Idiotarod race from Brooklyn to Manhattan in October. You have four people to a team and a shopping cart. All four people must be connected to the shopping cart at all times, and your team has to have a theme, which means dressing up and building your cart up appropriately. You can even sabotage other teams. Prizes are given out to 4th, 5th, 6th, and last places. I thought it sounded like so much fun, and hope that we can participate!

I was exhausted after a long week, so was glad to get home at a decent hour. I didn't go straight to bed, though.

When I walked in, there was a weird high pitched sound coming from Guevara's room. I walked in, and discovered that he had fixed the Theremin that he built. It's a musical instrument of sorts, and has two metal pieces protruding from either side - one that controls pitch, and one that controls volume - all by moving your hands closer or farther from the poles. It reacts to electromagnetic energy and comes out in sound waves, and was originally designed by a guy named Theremin while trying to create a mind-control device for the KGB. It didn't work, but instead, he got an instrument that made all the "spooky" sounds in movies many years ago. Very cool to actually play with one, especially considering I'd learned about them in New Media Art class, and they're so rare.

I eventually hit the hay, then slept in, which was divine.