{ uploaded by Vicky TGAW }

Jared and I had a great time at the Gogol show. The Lyric Theatre was awesome. Take the layout of the Naro, shrink it by at least half, clean it up A LOT, and you’ve got the Lyric. (You can see our heads in this photo. 3rd center row, all the way to left.)

Everyone rushed the stage as the show began, which actually ended up working out really well for us. We were able to get to the center of the row, had an awesome view, and avoided any pushing/shoving/moshing due to our seat barricade. Perfect.

I didn’t really expect to ever see Gogol again, especially in such an intimate environment. It was such a treat. They played a lot of the new album, which was good because I hadn’t seen it live, but I was also kind of bummed that the entire show was either Gypsy Punks or Super Taranta. When they came out for the encore, I turned to Jared and said if they didn’t at least play “Baro Foro,” I would cry. Sure enough, it was the last song they played and it made my night.

The drive to and from Blacksburg was interesting. My little car is not a fan of the ups and downs. It would struggle to get up the hill, then it was fast as lightning going down.

On the way up I saw a pick-up truck with a dead rottweiler tied to a pole, laying on a pile of chopped wood. ????? We also saw a huge truck carrying tanks labeled “Radioactive Material.” Scary.

I had been noticing a decline in my car’s gas mileage, so I got an oil and filter change right before the trip. I was excited to test it out. The drive up there I got 35 miles to the gallon, which was an improvement, but not as good as before. I attributed it to the fact that I had driven around here for a few days beforehand, so it was a mixture of city and highway. On the way back I put it to a strictly highway test and managed to get 42 mpg. Yes! That’s a record. I used to get about 38-39.

On our way home, I decided to stop through Richmond to go to Ellwood and River City. Ellwood broke my heart, because they were out of veggie burgers, but I was excited to see that Tom’s of Maine now makes SLS-Free toothpaste. I’m always on the lookout for this for my hygienist.

I went to River City because I’ve been concerned about my nipple piercings. My body is starting to reject them, and I wanted a professional opinion (and I’m not comfortable with any of the shops around here). She said it was odd that after 5 or 6 years they would start to come out, but they definitely are. I went ahead and took them out to avoid any weird(er) scar lines, and I’m going to get them redone in 2 weeks. She recommends re-piercing with PTFE, which is the same stuff pacemakers are made out of. It’s much lighter, and your body doesn’t recognize it as a foreign material. It’s annoying to have to start over, yet oddly exciting.

Tonight I’m going to see Daniel Valentine in ODU’s production of The Rocky Horror Show. I’m so excited to see him. He is playing Frankenfurter.

And also, Whitney will be there and she has a present for me and Jared. I am expecting road kill, LOL.