I’m Too Old For This
So this past weekend, a bunch of us travelled back down to Princeton to Catch the Brown vs. Princeton football game. It was my first time down to Princeton since Reunions, and it was a really great weekend. There was band. There was football. There was a whole bunch of hoagies. There were undergrads. There were alums. There was even time for a little bit of napping. So scratch the “really great” part, I’m going to have to describe the weekend as “Glorious”.
So to begin with, Dan, Josh and I took off from Josh’s house around 5:45, and the drive down was actually really fun. Road tripping with Josh and Dan is great because we just totally geek out. And what’s better, we like to geek out about the same stuff and there isn’t anyone to worry about annoying. It’s pretty sweet. We also made good time, so that was nice.
Upon arriving to Princeton, Josh and I met up with Pat and it was off to the Haven (round 1). The three of us then went to the Friend Center and spent the next hour or so talking. After which, Pat and I walked Josh back to Mackenzie’s room and the two of us headed back to where I was staying. Pat and I went into Zoe’s room (I was staying with an undergrad named Zoe) and figured we’d talk for a bit and then head to bed.
Of course, as often happens when I get together with Pat, never happened. As it turned out, Zoe was home and so the three of us began to talk. At which point our buddy Kevin (who’s kind of involved with Zoe…I think) came over. After about 15 minutes of talking, we decided to head to Kevin’s massive room and talk there. (It was bigger and we didn’t have to be as quiet). Sometime around…four (?), Zoe, Pat and I headed back and went to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up and got moving sometime around…10:30. After a quick trip to the campus center to get some body wash (I left mine in Boston), I got dressed and actually got out around 11:30. I had hoped to talk to my advisor, but he was off at Bell Labs for the day, so i grabbed some Haven and met a bunch of people at Charter for lunch. (Round 2) After that, we all headed over toward Dave Ford’s (class of 2008) “lounge” for a few drinks before heading down to the armory. Well, I didn’t have anything besides water, but it was Mackenzie’s birthday so people wanted to do a bit of celebrating before the game.
Around 2:15, we all began to make our way to the armory for field rehearsal and march around. It was fun getting down to the armory and watching everyone get set up. I waited for a while to find out what I was playing, and once I was told, I quickly moved to the field for rehearsal. As field rehearsal went along, I had a serious lapse in judgement, and decided to get suited up for full march around and the game. Previously, I had considered just following the band and taking pictures, and then playing in the stands. But I made a decision that I’d regret not doing the full thing, so I told Stu (the head manager, class of 07) that I’d need a Uniform.
After field rehearsal, we “marched” up to the armory and I picked up a uniform. From there, we began the march around. Now, I think it is important to note that I had not played drums in a full march around in four years. (I was conductor my senior year, so the march arounds weren’t too hard) In fact, it had been two years since I had a marched a snare for any real length of time. (We didn’t do much of one at the Brown game in 2005) So this was a bit of a…shock…to my system. Especially given that the march around went longer and farther than they ever did when I was an undergrad. BUT, I did manage to play the entire thing and that was pretty cool. Once again, the working out paid off.
After the march around, it was dinner and then the game. The game itself was pretty good. Princeton won 17-3. The pre-game and half-time shows were a lot of fun. Oh yeah, Charles (the conductor) let me conduct Green Onions in the stands. That was actually really awesome. As you can see in the pictures, the band is really big, and it was really fun to hear and watch.
After the game, we headed up to the fountain to play with the Brown Band. Now normally, I’m all about this, but Friday night in Princeton, it was cold. The water in the fountain was freezing. How do I know? I made the mistake of getting in with the band. This was the second time that day I made the comment “I’m too old to be doing this.” Still, the fountain gig was fun. It was a bit Chaotic, but it was still a good time.
After the game, it took a while to get my cloths out of the Armory, but once I did, I went back to Zoe’s, got showered and headed to the Brown Band party. After a quick appearance at the party, I headed to “Dr. Ford’s Lounge” where a bunch of the Alumni and undergrads met to chill and have a good time. I arrived around 1 AM and generally we all hung out till about 3. After a quick stop to the Wa, it was back to Zoe’s room to sleep.
As the post game festivities progressed, I began to feel a weee bit of soreness in my back and shoulders. As the hours ticked by, I began to realize just how much the days festivities may have been a bit much for me. Needless to say, it wouldn’t not be the only time I’d be sore during the weekend.
Saturday morning, I woke up and met my friends Melanie, Pat (a different one) and Jon for lunch. We were going to meet Dan, but he didn’t get up in time. We quickly decided to head to the Haven and enjoyed a good hoagie. (Round 3) After that, I met a bunch of people at Charter and we sat and hung out for a while before people left to get changed (there was a semi-formal at charter). I decided to take a nap on the couches at charter and then meet up with everyone for dinner.
After dinner, Dan and I went back to his parents apartment to watch the Mets/Cardinals’ game, as well as the various football games. After catching the OSU highlights, I hit the sack.
Sunday morning, Dan and I woke up and hit up PJ’s Pancake house. After that, dan went back to his parents to watch the Eagle’s game and I went to Charter to see who was around. There I ran into a bunch of people and we just kind of hung out and headed back towards the dorms. I ended up spending the next few hours with Stuart, his girlfriend Laura, his roommate, Charles, and Charle’s girlfriend, Julia.
Around 3:30 I rounded up Josh and we drove over to get my stuff from Dan’s parents place, along with Dan. After that we headed back home.
Wow, that was long, but it was definitely a good weekend. Sorry the post ran long (and got more sparse as it went along).
