A simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission

I have lots of weird band kid problems, like random calluses on my hands and the inability to walk out of step with the person next to me. But the one I had tonight was not my fault...it was the lack of a trumpet player so we didn't get to do a drive-by pep rally for the kids who are camping out tonight for tomorrow's six o'clock game.

So now I'm watching the end of Pride and Prejudice to make up for this disappointment. I rather hope "we all know him to be a proud, unpleasant sort of man" is not the reaction my friends and family have if/when I get engaged. It's one of those things that's funny in a novel but would most definitely not be in real life. Watching this movie also makes me miss playing the piano so much...I can play some of this music myself and reading Austen is what inspired me to make an effort at piano there for a while in high school. (The only song I can play by memory still is a product of that period.)

Also, yesterday I saw that something was being set up outside the art building (there's a nice courtyard there). Today I realized it looked like one of Gatsby's parties on a small scale...white tablecloths and pretty colored lanterns in the trees. Unlike Gatsby's parties, however, it was only for rich donor people. I realize that Gatsby's parties were for similarly rich people who liked to show off their wealth in different ways, but I'm still disappointed that it was impossible for anyone with a dress and a dream to show up for the endless romanticism.

Now I'm going to watch Elizabeth and Darcy dance a few more times...