I ended my weekend at the Lake Superior Youth Chorus…

It was a fabulous concert, and the “Variations on Fa La La” will be with me for a long time. The children were equal parts adorable and talented; the moments when adults had to stand up and sing, too, were irritating at first (I don’t go to Church for a reason), but in the end, I loved every second of the performance. A real bit of holiday cheer.

I do want to add some advice for next year: the Prelude Choir performed from the Choir Loft — which worked great for about 1/2 the audience in the church, but left the rest of us unable to see. And, given that the Prelude students were inexplicably not profiled in the program, I could not either stare at their photos while they sang. I hope that the Chorus will spend some time rethinking the way they stage and the way they promote the tykes in the future.

Before that, I spent 8 hours at Barnes and Noble supporting Wildwoods. It is always nice to see the volunteers in the relatively quiet season, and it’s nice to see our supporters, including local author Lucie Amundsen and Angie Arden, local artists Trudy Vrieze and Stephanie Johnson.

Last night, I ended the night at the Black Bear Casino because I ran into a friend at P Sher Meats, the butcher in Piedmont. Unlike the butcher on Central entrance (who is really a “destination” shop), this is a neighborhood shop, serving jerky, hamburger, turkey burger, Turducken, and natural casing sausages in small quantities because they are serving the neighborhood. Located inside the Milk House, they are a reminder to me that Piedmont is more than the neighborhood between the Mall and the West Side.

Before that, I was at Dungeon’s End, a game shop on the West Side that seems to always burble with folks. That was after I spent some time at Globe News, the shop in Superior with comics, games, magazines, sports collectibles, DVDs, CDs, cards, gifts, souvenirs — a little of everything.

I guess Saturday was my “small business Saturday” — this weekend, instead of last.