Weekending it: Friday

Phew!  Where is the weekend for this weekend?  We had a full and fun, absolutely packed to the brim Easter weekend.  I am going to break it up over a couple of posts because it was so stuffed and I want to remember every aspect.  Up first: The Blue Man Group!

Friday was a beautiful nearly summer day.  We didn't even need light coats outside!  After an afternoon of chores we headed into the city to get dinner at a supppppeerrrrr popular authentic ramen noodle restaurant in the Village.  I had been there once before and it was SO good.  Every other time we've tried to go the wait was too long.  Luckily this time we got there before 6 pm (since we took the day off) and only had a 30 minute wait. 

It was as delicious as I remembered and Dan liked it too.  The broth was like liquid gold.   

After dinner we wandered around the area and spent some time in Washington Square Park before going to the show.

Back in January we had "schedule to see a show" on our winter bucket list.  We ended up getting tickets to see Blue Man Group.  We paid $50 a ticket for seats in the very last row.  The theater was small so we were still able to see nearly everything.  That's one tip for seeing shows on the cheap - generally the back row still has a good view. 

The Blue Man Group is a very interactive show so in several of the numbers the Blue Men would walk into the audience and pick people to participate in something or they would just engage with them for a bit.  The Blue Men don't talk and have a sort of alien curiosity and are very intrigued and amused by things.  We were not allowed to take photos but I pulled one from Google.

During one of the numbers a Blue Man climbed up to the upper level of the theater, where we were, and he started walking around.   A woman in the audience handed him a box of Toblerone chocolate and the guy took the chocolate out of the box and broke the pieces apart and then walked over to Dan (he was sitting on the end of the row by the aisle) and handed him the chocolate.  There was a camera on stage that was projecting the interaction to the whole audience.   The Blue Man walked like 30 feet away from Dan and then motioned for him to throw the chocolate into his mouth.  Dan threw the first piece and it missed big time!  Everyone laughed.  Then he threw the other two and the guy caught them in his mouth.  Then he walked back over to Dan and spit the chocolate back into Dan's hand and then walked away.  It was really funny.  The whole thing was on the big screen on stage.  After the interaction a guy from the crew gave Dan a wet wipe.  So we aren't sure if it was a totally improvised moment in the show or if the chocolate was planned.  Either way we had no clue and it was entirely spontaneous for us.  Dan's 5 seconds of fame! Side note: it was white chocolate so not so terrible of an experience for Dan since you know he hates chocolate.

The best part of the show was the finale when it was like a rave dance party.  The band was playing, there were black lights making everything look neon, giant tubes hanging from the ceiling were spinning around and twisting in on each other.   Then the Blue Man came back up to the top level and started walking on the backs of the seats and pulling rolls of toilet paper that were attached to the ceiling.  Then the strobe lights started.  It is so hard to explain but it was a totally awesome experience.  There was toilet paper everywhere, flying around and this crazy music playing, everyone was dancing in their seats, and the strobe lights were totally trippy.  I've never seen strobe lights like that before it was as if everything was moving in slow motion.  So wild and fun.  On stage the Blue Men were directing all these seated dance moves and there was toilet paper everywhere!!!

It was such an exciting and unique show.  At the end I was thinking about how amazing it is that God made man to be creative and how someone could come up with such a fun and interesting show for the sole purpose of entertainment.  This world is full of such terrible darkness, sadness, and pain all caused by the sinfulness of our hearts but at the same time we are capable of creating beauty and love and we can have fun together!  A whole theater filled with complete strangers all connecting and enjoying a tiny piece of life together.  It restored a bit of my hope in humanity.  We left totally elated.

When we got out of the theater Dan told me that when the Blue Man was standing on the back of the seat in front of him pulling down the toilet paper he stepped on his knee and left a mark.

Dan was touched by a Blue Man!!! Well, stepped on really but still!  We decided even if the pants are stained for good it was worth it.

I am so grateful for the spare time we have in our life right now and the city that we live in which offers so much culture and entertainment and experience.  It's super easy to get stuck in a rut and just stay at home and eat Top Ramen and watch movies and convince yourself that everything costs too much.  But every once in awhile it's okay to splurge and go out and eat fancy food and buy tickets for a show and create a new memory.  Do it!  You won't regret it.

Come back tomorrow for our Easter recap.