On Valhalla and Nesting Rituals

So I'm slowly getting used to life in Texas. Today I bought a dresser (of sorts, really a cabinet) at Target, and once I get it assembled and I'm unpacked and all moved in, I'll feel a lot better. We still need to find furniture for the common spaces, but that can wait a little while.

Last night I ran into a couple of the other new Graduate trombonists while practicing, and I went with them to Valhalla. Valhalla is the Graduate bar on campus. I was lucky I was with someone, because it seems like a place that you would never find unless you knew where it was already. I'm not entirely sure that it would even be visible if you weren't looking for it. You get to it by going around the back side of one of the buildings on campus (the engineering building?), and entering what was described to me as a "midget door." That's exactly what it looked like. However, there were no midgets inside. We walked through a hallway that was painted with weird scenes depicting Norse Gods and dragons and other mystical things, and into a tiny room that was pretty much a bar and three to six tables. It was a complete hole in the wall dive, and it was great. Beer was 85 cents a cup, or if you wanted the expensive stuff, $1. I got drunk with the studio, as well as another trombonist, Mike, who graduated last year. Then we went to a Mexican place called Ruchi's, which is open 24 hours and had some of the best Mexican food I've ever had (keep in mind, I was drunk). All in all, it was a good night, and an important first bonding experience for the studio.

Then today we had our first Brass Rep class. I played the first piece, and then stayed to listen to some of the second. The brass department sounds pretty damn good, I think. I can't wait to play in the orchestra starting next week.

Now I am going to go home and assemble my cabinet. Maybe, depending on how long it takes, I can finish unpacking afterwards, and tonight can be my first night spent at home in Houston.