Aqua Regia

Well, the weekend race is finally over. The Graduation gauntlet has been run.

My brother graduated this last weekend with his Bachelor's in English from San Jose State University, so we spent the weekend there. On Friday night was a nice English Department program where they called the names of all the departmental graduates (Masters and Bachelors) and gave them the chance to speak for a little bit and thank everyone.

Saturday morning was the main graduation ceremony (with 25,000 people in attendance!) at the Spartan Stadium in San Jose (complete with cool - though possibly historically inaccurate - statues of Greek warriors!). The ceremony started at 9:30, and though we hoped in would stay overcast for the ceremony, the sun burned off all the clouds just in time for the ceremony - and I have the sunburnt lobster arms to prove it! I got incredibly uncomfortable in the bleachers as well. But I'm so proud of my brother! ^_^

We went to an Italian restaurant for lunch with my grandmother, and aunt and uncle who came up from Fresno for the graduation. The food was excellent, but the service was another matter. I was sitting in the aisle (the joy of having an odd number of people in a booth), and when we got out of the restaurant, I found that they had spilled sauce all over the back of my shirt! Not only that, but they took forever to get our order as well (drinks and food). Suffice to say, I probably won't be returning there ever again. No amount of good food can save terrible service.

But that evening, we had the opportunity to attend Play! A Video Game Symphony, which was running in conjunction with the Fanime Convention that was in town for the long weekend. I love symphonic music as it is, so suffice to say, I was having my own little joygasm. Symphony Silicon Valley (and their accompanying chamber chorale) performed under the direction of Maestro Arnie Roth (from Mannheim Steamroller, if I'm not mistaken). What was unique is that during each game's section, they would show clips from the game on a screen above the orchestra. They opened with a suite from Super Mario, and also played suites from Sonic, Shenmue, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Zelda, and lots more. They even premiered the music from some upcoming games like Lair (which was directed by the game's composer). The encore was "One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy 7, which almost made be convulse with joy in my seat. Suffice to say, they got a standing ovation with that one. Also, I think it's the only Symphony I've attended where people were dressed up as anime and game characters, and cheered when the songs for their favorite games were announced. The vibe was nice. ^_^

After having a nice breakfast (best "free" I've ever had at any hotel) at our Embassy Suites (where they lied to us about having queen beds - but still my favorite hotel - which was also full of school groups O_o), we stopped by Fry's Electronics on the way home, where I picked up Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Swan Princess: Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure, and Star Trek: Generations for dirt cheap.

Since it's Memorial Day, I helped my friend put up flags at the cemetery at 6:00 am this morning. I still need to go back later at help take them down, but I'll also get $30 out of the deal, and I got to have breakfast with her family, which was fun. ^_^

But since I only got five hours of sleep last night, I think I'm going to go take a nap now...and then maybe I'll try and finish The End by Lemony Snicket. I've been reading those books all semester!