This was my first weekend off from gigging in a few months and the last I’ll have for a couple months, so I thought I’d take advantage and do something different. Friday, I went to the movies and saw Sahara. I don’t think I’ve seen a movie on a Friday or Saturday night in 10 years. But, Saturday was the most interesting.
My friend, Angie, had been invited to the Kabbalah Center in Houston recently and had purchased tickets to return to a gathering they were having Saturday. Being one who is interested in all kinds of spirituality, I gladly accepted her invite.
Kabbalah is the mystical version of Juddiasm and, from what I can tell in my limited readings and exposure, is similar to many of the other mystical religious teachings around the world.
We got there and were immeditely separated (men on one side, women on the other). While I felt out of place since I was dressed in jeans, a button down and a blazer while all the other men were in white pants, white shirts and a yamakas, the people were very nice and helpful.
We did have to sit through a rather long ceremony and lecture that was pretty interesting though some of it was in Hebrew and getting used to reading right to left was odd. We finally bailed out around 8pm as we wanted to make it to an art opening in the Heights. All in all, another interesting religious experience.
After a brief stop for food, we hit Gallery 19 on 19th Street just a few blocks from my house in the Heights. We were going to see the work of a person she had never met in person but had spoken to online – the same way she and I met, in fact.
The place was packed with barely enough room to squeeze through the place. There was some very interesting artwork throughout. I may have been to 2 art exhibit openings in my life, but I enjoyed this one. The people were right up my alley – a little odd and very talkative.
We strolled around and looked at some interesting artwork – mostly paintings, but some photography and mixed media as well. Her friend, Mel, was set up near the back and seemed like a really nice guy. He has some cool mixed media stuff he did, particularly a photograph taken at night from inside his car – driving down Allen Parkway he told me.
After the gallery, we headed to Angie’s friend Enrique’s house to hang out with him and her other two friends, Michelle and her boyfriend, Stephen.
They were really into the finals of the Ultimate Fighter, a reality show featuring ultimate fighers – those guys that do boxing, martial arts and wrestling combined.
We hung there for a while and had nice conversation. I took Angie home and helped her walk her dog, Boo, before heading back to the house to goof off for a while before sleep.
All in all, a really interesting and eventful evening for me. I’m so used to hitting a club and just staying there all night, this was a different experience. The Kabbalah Center was very interesting and marks another forray into the spiritual teachings of different religions. The art gallery was really fun. I’d like to hit more of those in the future. And, Angie’s friends are always a blast.
Special thanks to my good friend for making the suggestions. It made for a great weekend.