LOKI

So, after much consideration and debating, Damien and I gave up our cat and ended up with a very adorable, very unplanned for, puppy!

Long story short, Kon was a lot older than what we had been looking for in a cat, and because he was so unused to being around people he didn't really like playing or anything, we (and by we I mean mostly Damien) were unhappy with him. Although he was getting a lot better around us for the most part, he still spent a lot of time hiding out in the back room by himself and even if we tried to play with him he just wouldn't have it. He liked to be around me but only in the mornings while I tried to get ready for work, and he was really hairy which Damien didn't like. So we decided against my love for the little jerk, that we would give him back to Damien's sister(she was very happy to have him back).

We somehow ended up with a very cute little puppy instead. One day while Damien's sister was driving me home from work (long story as to why I wasn't driving myself, involving and old guy with a big trailer and my car door) she said she wanted to make a stop along the way home. Damien had come along to pick me up and we stopped at a house that had a sign outside that said 'Free Pups'. Those are the most dangerous words to dangle in fromt of my face EVER!

I still at this point was only planning to look at the puppies. Damien's sister wanted one so we went in with her to look. My eyes feasted upon the cutest little dogs in the world. There were seven little dogs and as Damien's sister pulled them out of thier dog house I ended up with my arms full of cute little furrballs looking at me with big eyes and happy faces. I couldn't take it. Luckily, Damien had the same look in his eyes. He came over to me and whispered 'I think we might be getting a puppy today' and that did it.

There was a REALLY cute little brown and white one that we wanted but the owners said they were going to keep that one so we had to pick a different one. I looked around and saw the smallest one pawing at the gate next to one of the other puppies and it was instant love. She was so cute and I picked her up and said "I think we're getting a puppy." Needless to say we took her home and I'm so glad we picked her instead of getting that other one.

Of course in the impulsive puppy getting, I had no time to plan a vet appointment for her shots, so we ended up with a puppy full of worms about a week after we got her. Tuesday morning I awoke to the sound of a puppy throwing up and thought 'Maybe she ate something nasty when we took her to the park.' So I let her down and she went into the back room (we have puppy pads on the floor in there for times when we can't take her out. And surprisingly, in just under two weeks she's about 99% trained to only go on the pad) I went back to check on her a little while later and there were PILES of round worms all over the pad. I freaked out but we quickly got that settled and Damien's dad brought us a dewormer pill for her. I made a vet appointment as soon as I could haha.

And now to the naming process. We have had our puppy since Tuesday the 10th and have been calling her various generic names like 'puppy' and 'little girl'. She's about 9 and 1/2 weeks old and finally TONIGHT she got her name! Damien and I had been wanting to name her after some god or goddess but we could never come up with one. I went though archived lists and alphabetical websites of gods and even some weird sites about asian muses for names and came up with nothing. So tonight for the first time I thought 'Well maybe she'll just end up with a dog name instead' and looked up 'Puppy names' on google.

And of course what name did we find? Loki, the NORSE GOD of mischief and evil. On a puppy name website! Who would have thought? But we both love the name and she is responding to it already so that is what we have pegged her with. Loki is such a sweet fun little puppy and she's very well behaved. I hope she grows up with us and becomes a perfect pet. (And Damien is much more happy with her because she actually loves to play).

Avenged Sevenfold

M. Shadows, lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold

So at the end of the month, Damien and I treated ourselves to a concert. It was our income tax/ my birthday treat. So we got up early and made the drive to Pittsburgh. It's really only about an hour and a half drive, but we ended up driving in circles trying to find a place to park in the middle of the college campus! That was funny, but terrible. After we finally parked and figured out where we were going we got in line for the show. Luckily the line was indoors, unlike when we went in Philidelphia and had to sit out in the wind and rain all day.

Johnny Christ, 'thinks he's tough' bass player of A7X

We got there at about 10 AM, and of course there were already some people ahead of us in line. But it wasn't so bad and we ended up talking to a few of the people in line while we waited. But i was most excited when we got inside and managed to snag a spot right next to center stage on the rail in the very front. The show started off with an opening act, Burn Halo....and they were just ok. Nothing special.

Zacky Vengance, guitar for A7X

But after that, Papa roach came on and I was really surprised at how AMAZING they are live. I forgot how much I really like Papa Roach and seeing them live has renewed my interest in them. The lead singer, Jacoby, even jumped out into the crowd and pushed the security away so he could get in with the fans for a while. I thought that was awesome. They even said that off all the stops on the tour so far, the Pittsburgh crowd was one of the smallest, but also one of the best crowds so far.

Jacoby shaddix, lead singer of Papa Roach

Synyster Gates, guitar for A7X

After that, Buckcherry came on. They're ok to listen to on the raido sometimes, but I was so ANNOYED by their lead singer! By the end of the first song, he had stripped himself from the waist up. And by the middle of the second song, his buttcrack was hanging out because the pants he had on were GIRLS pants and probably about 2 sizes too small. And he probably only weighed about 130 pounds soaking wet. It was like watching a rat trying to be sexy. Ugh. And he made WAY too many jokes about sex etc...it was just annoying overall.

Syn and Zacky in a classic guitar pose

But then, the moment we had been waiting for came, and Avenged Sevenfold came out playing the song 'Critical Acclaim', the opening track from thier self titled album. After that the show was just crazy good. Everyone was excited and pushing and people were jammed into my rib cage, but it was great. And Avenged Sevenfold also said that the Pittsburgh crowd was one of the best crowds on the tour. I loved the show so much. And at the end of the set, the guitarists were throwing picks out into the crowd, and Damien and I both got one! After the show we got t-shirts and went back to the car exhausted. I fell asleep almost as soon as I laid down, and my ears were ringing for the entire next day.

Our guitar picks from the show