OK, I know I complained a lot last year about the holiday party. This year I went, and was glad to have gone and reconnected with a couple of dear friends who were out of the loop for a while. I even danced this year—we had some music from this decade and the 90s along with some really great 70’s stuff instead of the usual horrible 80s stuff I hated even at the time. I thought it was gonna be fun and I might even stay late. However, while hugging Posie, I spilled red wine on my chairman’s tux sleeve and hilarity ensued, with us taking over the ladies’ room to wash him off….Soon after that I had to make my exit!
Posie, Heather, and Karen
Sorry Johnson!
The next day, I had six girlfriends over for a facials party, but there are NO incriminating pictures of us, thankfully!
On Dec. 12, Heather hosted a holiday party which doubled as a birthday party for Posie, and at which I told reality stories that scared all the dewy grad students!
Amy Michelle and PosieLeah and Joe
Robert, Amanda, and Tim
Alex Stefania and Leah
Karen and the frightened Laura and Maren
I also enjoyed some time with Heather at the new Si tapas in the old Starr Hill space, and finally went to Continental Divide, where I was impressed with the extensive Tex Mex and punk rock, that night featuring the Ramones. And Mas is always a favorite and I had a fantastic night there recently getting to watch the prep with lots of fire, enjoying drinks, great food, and harassing the waitress about the way the lights are hung in the lower room….
Todd Rundgren’s Arena tour in on now, and being held in supper clubs. Is this intentional irony or bad managment? We saw him in a dinner theatre cum hoe-down hellhole called the Birchmere up in Alexandria. While the Arena record is slyly funny and boasts at least 3 memorable songs, the setting left us thinking….”HUH?”
Chris and I worked on our joint grant project for a few hours then hiked up to NOVA. He has a great pre-show routine and I did my best to stay out of the way until well into the blasting of the required Hot Cappucino song en route. He thought he’d been there before, but no–we walked into this place that looked like bad 80’s Dallas–faux cowboy and rodeo stuff everywhere, different “stations” to get bad food and drink, etc., and a lottery-type system for seating.
Luckily for us, we got there just in time, and got back of the room seats. Lucky because we were clearly the youngest in the house, and there were plenty of decrepit oldsters including “long haired hippie types” and lots of naturally grey haired women who’d clearly gone too many years braless in the 60s. There was no floor, and it was seated like the fake Hawaiian Luau at Disney World—everyone trapped into an 8 or 10 top table, with “dinner” service and bad drinks! So we wisely chose the furthest back table and the 2 seats on the escaping end, so that we could stand up even if nobody else did.
Here’s the sad part for Mr. Rundgren, who gave a solid performance and didn’t seem dismayed at all (probably his wicked humor saved him). NOBODY stood up except for me and Chris. Sigh. At the VERY end of the show, a few other folks way on either side stood up.
At least fewer people left than we feared, just in case they expected “Can We Still Be Friends”……He essentially played Arena straight through, with a few crowd pleaser hits thrown in. Clearly one of the more interesting shows I’ve seen this year…..
The morning was cold and as the boys and I were preparing for our second annual family 5K at the Charlottesville Track Club Turkey Trot held at the beautiful Boar’s Head Inn, the thermometer was reading a hearty 28 degrees. We dressed a little warmly, knowing that while it was cold, the course is extremely challenging due to its big hills and we would quickly warm up. Last year’s race was my first hill run and it cost me about 5 minutes added to my typically slow time for a 5K! Here we are getting ready to go.
Tristan loves his ipod and new cap.
Yes that is a nascent mustache on Jamie. Yikes!
Me with my ski headband on to protect my frozen ears!
It was a beautiful day despite the initial cold. This 5K is a family affair, and we ran into a number of families we knew. Tristan set out to run with his 4th grade buddies, and Jamie was reluctantly going to run with them “to avoid being bored running out front all by myself.” I was hoping to keep them in sight, but last year they’d beat me by 9 minutes (Jamie) and 5 minutes (Tristan). The gun went off, we all took off, and I could see J’s LSU Santa cap way ahead! I trotted up to catch up but didn’t catch Tristan til about a mile. when he’d pulled over with a stomach cramp. I had to pull him, uphill, for about the next mile, so I gave up on beating last year’s time. Still it was fun to be together and when we got to the 2 mile mark, when the rest of the race is downhill or flat, he took off and I could never catch him. Again, I brought up the rear lagging him by about 4 minutes. I beat last year’s time by about 20 seconds. This year the course was reversed, so that after 1/2 mile, the course is uphill until the 2 mile point–wow was that painful!
Later we all relaxed, I cooked, and here’s a peaceful moment or two in parenting history as the boys played backyard sports/baseball on the computer and watched a little TV. Check out J’s short haircut. He wanted this, volunteered to get rid of the rock star hair, and is still wildly popular with the girls. T has a beautiful smile but braces are in his future too!
It was a lovely and quiet Holiday….some of my favorite moments were my phone conversations with loved ones, and a nice relaxed talk with my mom while the boys played quietly on the computer.
Crazily, our research group decided very late to go for a large multifaceted grant application, and I had a few of the beleaguered participants over for a little respite November 9th.
Your hostess for the evening
Tim and the lovely Heather
Brad, Posie, and Michelle
I also had Maya one weekend and she and the boys had lots of fun, although she was excluded from fort building for obvious reasons!
Tristan, Mr. Recycle, eating ice cream in November!
Maya and chocolate ice cream bar
Fort building near our house
I also worked quite a bit on two book chapters this month, but not enough…. The month seemed oddly brief and then we slammed into Thanksgiving!
Grant writing essentially took over our lives for about 5 weeks, so everything else I was to have finished before the new year took a backseat and I’m paying for it now in workload overload!
Wow it is different to have little girls than it has been to have little (and now big) boys. This year I had the pleasure of hosting little Maya, newly 4, for Halloween. While the boys were seeking the scariest possible costumes, Maya in contrast wanted to look as “beautiful” as possible. She was horrified at the idea that I would wear a witch hat and a green ugly mask—”but you should look beautiful Karen!” It was a chilly night but initially she insisted on going out sans sweater, and wearing matching HEELS for her Belle costume. So I spent about 45 minutes holding her hand, trekking up and down our street, while she click-click-clicked beside me. It was hilarious. The neighbors probably thought I was a crazed mother letting “my” tiny child waddle around in heels. We came in, changed into slightly warmer gear, and went out for another half hour before she decided she’d gotten enough loot and was ready to hand out candy back at the house. Despite her youth, she saw fit to order a bunch of 12 year olds around about how they should trade their candy. It was a riot of an evening, and I would gladly do it again!
Here’s Maya in her glory (note shoes, scepter, matching princess pumpkin, and TIARA!
The princess braving the “graveyard” and ghouls in front of my house.
Some of her “subjects”: Andy (pirate), Jamie (Skeleton), DinoCow, and Will (Mario)
Post-trick or treating: Maya bossing the 12 year olds.
Tristan had a sleepover at his buddy Michael’s and across a set of 5 boys, they got a haul of 29.5 pounds of candy in a wagon!
It seemed like an odd mix of performers. Norah Jones and Jack Johnson, one can see. They played along with a woman I’d gotten there too late to see, and the wrap of the Norah Jones set was pretty cool and not too soporific. Jack Johnson was lovely as he had been at the Virgin Fest, but he benefited the previous time from a larger venue. He had the same hazy photos of flowers, waves, and other things meditative flashing behind him. Sheryl Crow was the next level act and while she has some really memorable songs (but of course didn’t get anywhere near my favorite), she seemed a little….unexcited. Gasoline Will be Free was a clear highlight, but Everyday is a Winding Road was clearly the most fun….. The headliner was the Beastie Boys, and they played alone, and it was….GOOD. I jumped and danced and enjoyed the hell out of it.
I was in Albuquerque just before the election, for a week at a conference with “my people,” friends and colleagues who hold common beliefs, values, and principles–these are some of the most generous and creative people I know. They are the closest thing I have to an extended family outside of a few very close long term friends. The meeting was more stressful than I expected and I had many more responsibilities than I’d planned, and I got tired early and felt bad for a few days. Then we heard that McCain and Obama were making stops there on Oct. 25. A group of us planned to go to the rally for Obama, and we had to get there early. We took the city bus, rode out to UNM, and stood in a very long line that ran the length of the campus for several hours. We bought buttons, talked politics, and talked about the confusing points of the American system to our UK colleagues who had questions. When the line started moving we were so excited. Would we get in? Yes, although our spot was pretty far back….
George Lopez the comedian opened it up, then Bill Richardson spoke, then some local candidates. Obama came on and gave a mixed speech–a little workmanlike, a little inspiration–not the all-out evocative oratory he can deliver, but a perfectly pitched mix for this point in the election season and for this crowd.
My U.K. friends were “moved” and “surprised” and I was so touched that they wanted to be there, wanted to witness this, and were rooting for important change in our country that could help the whole world to view the U.S. as again an openhearted, generous, thoughtful, and decisive place.
On the bus ride home, I was on a high —-yet my excitement was tempered with fears that too many of our people harbored persistent racist views and just wouldn’t be able to vote for a half black half white man. But sharing this night with some of the people I love most in the world, buffered my fears and kept my hopes flowing—-and the election’s result is still ringing in my happy ears as a song of freedom and possibiiity.
Times are flying on my projects at work, and inevitably, people move on. Tonight we had a hello /farewell party to bid old friends Corey and Leah goodbye, and to welcome Kendall and Erik and Robert and Jenny. The party was probably our best work related one yet, and I had little Maya for the weekend, who LOVED playing with Wendy’s girls. I’m sad to see people go, and happy that these departures are for good reasons. Somehow I neglected to take photos so they are not here!
Here’s a little post-party frivolity the next day while I was cleaning up, with Tristan tickling little Maya who’s obviously loving it!
It started with a short run, which left me suffering with continuing arm pain from the tendonitis I can’t seem to shake. The day then turned happy when I met Heather for lunch, grant reviewing (sigh!) and a pedicure (oh yeah baby!)
Then it was on to Richmond for a little further enhancement. I must have lost all sense of judgment because the ride from the West End to the National seemed to take two delightful hours, but it’s usually a 15 ninute drive! I went with delightful companions Chris and Mark, who had been a bit reluctant but I’d wanted to see Okkervil River again. I saw them open for New Pornographers but they were given short shrift. Somehow though, maybe related to my diminished judgment, or maybe to their brilliance, I was instead blown away by this opening band–Crooked Fingers. I kept thinking they were Magic Fingers–both girls had me entranced.
I bought their album and still like it, but somehow the magic of the night and the performance is not what it was live, on that evening!
Oh yeah the other band! Okkervil River was fantastic, I think. Here are some shots from my phone.
Armed with my new iphone, I was confident that I could meander around D.C. in time to catch that early train after DBTs in September. I had to do a day’s training in Manhattan at the AIDS Clinic at St. Luke’s Roosevelt, working with a very cool project in which peers are used to try to encourage very ill patients to enter outpatient care. The next day, I had to be in D.C. to do a talk at NIH’s conference on FASD and the impact of other substance use on pregnancy.
While the iphone’s maps app is fantastic, I forgot I’d be driving and attempting to look at the same time, and would not get audio turn by turn directions like in a typical GPS system mounted in the car. (I’m sure software is being designed RIGHT NOW that will add that as an app). Anyway, as usual, I had a little misadventure navigating around D.C., but made in there in time to wait for the LUXURY Acela train. There in the waiting area is Mario Batali and his family, including a surprisingly plain wife and 2 sons, all men clad in those ugly orange crocs. Like Mario wouldn’t stand out anyway! He looks EXACTLY like he does on TV–either he was wearing makeup in person or they do very minimalist makeup on TV.
Anyway, they went into the first class section, while I was very comfortably housed in the second. I had fun watching our progress on the iphone maps and comparing it to what I saw. Amazingly accurate.
Once I got to Manhattan, I took an easy cab up to my friend’s place 92nd and Park West–fantastic! and we hit the town. First, we had drinks at the chi chi bar whose name I’m blanking now. Second, to a real party, in a rented suite and all, that was the farewell to their long term psychology training director. Lastly, a late night fusion Chinese dinner in an artful restaurant where diplomats were dining and we had to be frisked!
The training was fantastic, because the peers were really amazing. Their stories bring tears to my eyes. Their commitment to helping others with this illness is pretty amazing. They took naturally to this motivational, helping, guiding style and I’m optimistic about the project.
The train back was good, but then I got badly lost winding my way up through Silver Spring to find my hotel, which was far too far away from the NIH conference building. I gave my talk mid-afternoon, and the audience was quite different than the usual— scientists, policy makers, NIH and CDC administrators, but lots of parents and advocacy workers. I think I made a good case for adding contraception counseling to the menu of prevention options……
I would do Acela again in a heartbeat, but this time with accurate directions or a talking iphone app!
The Drive by Truckers….not exactly your Freebird version of Southern Rock, but certainly the heirs. I saw them only once before, despite having all of the records….at the National in Richmond, which may be my favorite place to see a show right now. I met a bunch of Richmond friends at the Nook for a bite then we walked down to the show. The night was lovely, just getting cool, and the band was on, but I gotta say I liked the National show better….We stood down in Cooleyville and kept getting separated from the group and tried in vain to use phone to touch base….the evening ended with a very unpleasant exchange that started with drunks flirting and ended with a wife crying in the bathroom and several men angry at the interlopers…..apparently it ended ok on the drive home but I was VERY glad I wasnt’ stuck in that van…..the bathroom tears were bad enough….made me glad I’ve gotten over (mostly) my drama period…..
On Sept. 17 my little contribution to the campaign was to assist at a rally with Michelle Obama, Jill Biden, and Lucy Ledbetter, and enroll students as Virginia voters.
The crowd was great although again, I was shocked at the casual organization—I guess a lot can get done with volunteers even who get almost no orientation! The enthusiasm was fantastic. I enrolled several new voters and several who changed their locales from non-swing states to Virginia.
Michelle Obama gave a rousing talk, while Jill Biden, on the right in red, gave a great introduction to Ms. Ledbetter, whose case for fairness in pay equity was denied by the Supreme Court. It was a great day to remember what’s at stake in the election.
Monday night I attended a lovely fundraiser for our Ryan White HIV/AIDS programs in Charlottesville at the well-hidden little gem of a restaurant, Orzo. I knew it was near Main Street market but I just couldn’t find it, despite using my iphone which has a super cool maps feature and which showed I WAS there…..I didn’t realize that it was tucked onto the front of the main building and that the entrance wasn’t visible from any nearby parking….
Anyway, despite all of that, I arrived and found my peeps. I was happy that staffer Robert was there and laughed at the truck he drove there–may be the most masculine vehicle in the area!
I circulated a while, meeting some of Robert’s fun colleagues from his post-bac med school prep course, then moved upstairs. The dinner was lovely, especially the caesar salad and the veggie lasagna; of course, my favorite was the vino rosso that flowed freely and hanging with Tim, Posie, and Laura. I saw Bruce, Adam, and other advocacy friends from a distance but didn’t get to say hi. Later, Adam made my day by complimenting my very curve-fitting red polka dotted dress. I love my gay boyfriends, one and all!
I’m told the fundraiser was a moderate success, but more advocacy and funding is needed for all of our programs……new HIV infection is on the rise among people of color in the U.S. South, and our kinds of rural catchment areas…..
September 11, 2008, 7 years after that horrible day. But this year I avoided the news, did some work at the Richmond clinic, picked up my less-than-enthusiastic friend Chris for night, and headed up to the 9:30 club to see a band I’ve loved for years, but whose time has passed: Stereophonics. You can tell they’re no longer hot when they’ve planned a release of a retrospective album called….wait for it…Decade in the Sun. Ugh……awful.
Anyway, we arrived right on time and I heard several U.K. chicks outside complaining loudly about the venue and how “at home” this Cardiff-based band fills stadiums.
Despite my great love for a few of their songs specifically, and my awe at a TV101 special I saw several years ago in which they rose FAR above their native talent and songwriting to put on a blazing and lengthy castle-stadium set, I was disappointed. They must’ve been too, because they gave a workmanlike performance of only about 8 or 9 songs, and promptly left. They did have a cool lips logo on the screens.
Next day, I’m at the dermatologist’s office to get a scary looking changed bump removed–my uncle died of melanoma, and it was drilled into my head that I was at risk. Earlier in the week I dissolved into tears when I discovered that the source of pain was what looked like an enlarged, bleeding mole. I went through all the bad scenarios in my head, and Stereophonics plus bourbon was my solution to deny my own fears…..and luckily, in the hands of a wonderful and beautiful Derm fellow, my fearsome bump was nipped off. Less than a week later, I had the verdict: completely benign…..
Sept. 7, 2008. I decided to take the plunge. After having displayed a yard sign for over a month, wearing a pin everyday, and throwing myself into supporting Barack Obama for president, I decided that I had to do more. I’d visited the Charlottesville main office, which early on was very disorganized, and decided that the neighborhood walk approach might mean more. I went to the site, downloaded a list of about 45 “undecided” voters, and struck out on a sunny, hot day, trying to look as unintimidating as possible in a pink tshirt, white hat, and sneakers. I rang bells, knocked on doors, and talked to folks for about 3 hours today. Several people who were obviously home just wouldn’t answer the door, some claimed not to be the person they were, some wouldn’t talk politics, and some surprised me. There was an older White woman in a housecoat and curlers who shocked me with her strong statements of support for the dems and Obama specifically. My fears of racist throwbacks seemed unsupported among those I talked to, but I worry about the others……
For about 8 years, I was part of a national effort to develop and test an intervention to prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorders by preventing alcohol exposed pregnancy (AEP). I was part of the investigative team for Project CHOICES, a CDC-funded series of studies in which we tested a Motivational Interviewing-based intervention of 4 sessions. It worked beautifully and we published a couple of splashy papers on it.
Since then, many of us on the original team remain focused on this problem. I have 2 active studies that are follow-ups and adaptations of CHOICES. In the EARLY study I’m asking, How low can we go? Meaning, what’s the minimum necessary intervention that could be practical yet still achieve a big prevention impact? For that study, we’ve developed a single session intervention, a video intervention, and a literature intervention, and are comparing their impact on women who (for many reasons) use no contraception or use it intermittently or incorrectly, and are drinking at levels that would put a fetus at risk if she accidentally got pregnant. In the MOA study, I’m asking what made the intervention work, and we are perusing the processes that happened via coding audiotapes of the sessions. We have a great team on that study and two of us presented its early results this summer in Switzerland (I know; it’s tough to suffer for your calling!). Next up for that team is a meeting in January in Austin…..
In addition to additional studies that are now funded by NIH, there is a push to disseminate the original CHOICES intervention. SAMHSA has already given grants to Texas, New York, and several independent agencies to do this. CDC wants to disseminate the intervention, so has hired a contractor to develop and test materials for training. Several of us on the original team are working as consultants with the contractor on an ad hoc basis and we’ve run a couple of pilot training events already in St. Louis and then Dallas. It’s been a little tough to get a band of independent scientists and experienced MI trainers to develop and test a more structured method of training…..Here’s Linda acting up a bit when she didn’t like some direction we’d been given!
Later this summer we all met at the CDC to refine our approach, to talk about how to get more papers out on CHOICES, and of course, to have a good time. Linda was feeling particularly puckish at dinner and was amusing us all by joining the wrong table at the Atlanta Fish House. The men at that table seemed happy to have her and we could barely contain ourselves, laughing at her inattention. When she returned to our table, she was completely embarassed that she hadn’t noticed that the men she joined were NOT Kirk, or even Mark (her husband!) The rest of the stories are probably too R rated to tell on the internet!
I’d heard about their legendary performances at Festivals. I’d listened to their records and imagined how they were live. This was everything you’ve heard, just a bit shorter. They mixed in old and newer material, minimalist but cool video screens, and just played and played……it was psychedelic without any need of drugs…..
Labor Day Weekend, 2008. Every year at this time I go to the beach. This year the boys and I headed back to Nag’s Head, having picked up Maya and Megan on the way. It was a great trip, no traffic, and only one emergency stop for the 3 year old!
It was super windy, as you can see from our obscured faces below!
The boys had a blast taking care of Maya, being so gentle with her….ha ha ha…..
My 12 year old son and my 40-something sweet friend, sporting braces both! And he is now taller!
My favorite 9 year old and favorite 3 year old getting ready for “pirate putt putt” at Mutiny Bay. And yes, don’t laugh, those ARE LSU crocs on his feet. Ugly ugly ugly shoes. But cool shades.
The weather was FANTASTIC at the OBX but the surf got rough—not that you can tell from this idyllic picture. Perfect water temperature, good beach, blue skies, low humidity….heaven in North Carolina.
These show a little more of the rough water and the kids having fun….
It’s about 20 years and counting for me at the outer banks on labor day weekend…….feels like a necessity of life.
John Fogerty put out his album Centerfield around the time of Born in the USA, and I remember some pretentious critic, no doubt at Rolling Stone, saying that Fogerty was the REAL boss. That pissed me off, because at the time I was way more than a Springsteen devotee’. Also, my brother and I had dueling stereos as teens and we blasted different versions of Bad Moon Rising at each other as loudly as possible before parental intervention occurred.
Anyway, happily, my best friend was going to the show, and I popped down there and nabbed a ticket at the door, and got to see this old man rock it good. I loved his new material, and was shocked at the depth of his back catalog. I also got to learn all about the long and bad history with his brothers and the Creedence experience and his new wife and his saved life. All in all, a good evening in Charlottesville marred only by a bit of communication breakdown hangover from yesterday.
Monday night, August 16, 2008. I am in the parking lot with friends having beer, while I’m chugging water, and sweating despite my breezy sundress. I was eagerly anticipating my first Springsteen show since the Rising and so excited to be going, although my companions were bummed not to get into the front pit. When Ashby’s husband pulled out the Jim Beam, I was a happy but hotter girl.
I have such mixed feelings about the Boss—the early 4 records were so pivotal in my teen years when I felt so acutely lonely and lost and there was this sound calling to me…..then those first few shows I saw showed me how rock can create a community that seems transformed, at least in that place in that night, and that we aren’t all so alone.
But I shared this love of the early E Street sound with several loved ones who have come and gone from my life, and Springsteen seemed ruined for me—-too complicated by past nights, past feelings, and the misery of loss. Back to that early loneliness, but now, in some ways, it was worse. Also, the music changed, and he stayed a classic–but of a time. I didn’t relate to the later albums the same way even though I appreciated the craftsmanship. But the big reason that I thought I was done with Bruce is that I couldn’t revel innocently the way I did before, and often I’d try to listen to an old CD only to collapse in tears. That’s not usually why I put on a record.
But my bestest friend Chris had never seen Bruce live, and I was up for going to a show with my best friend, especially after he tried for so long to get tickets and surprised me with them! And once that decision to go to the show was made, I let some of the past go and relax without any relationship-related pressures or sorrows.
The group we were with was betting on the first song, and my guess was right: Tenth Avenue Freeze-out, a classic opener. It turned out that the boss has some old deep ties to Richmond, and we were in for a rockin treat rather than a gloom fest or preacherman evening. This was the least commentary I’ve ever heard from Bruce–he kept his comments to focusing on the songs, even disparaging some that are admittedly, throwaways!
He mixed in just a few songs from Magic with others from the River, Darkness, Rising, the Wild and the Innocent, and even his first record. Highlights for me were Prove It All Night, Spirit in the Night, and even Stand on It to which I apparently danced like a maniac.
Sadly, the Richmond Coliseum must be the WORST ACOUSTIC VENUE on the East Coast. I would give it less than zero for sound quality. You could barely hear the iconic start to Cadillac Ranch or Backstreets but I was so glad to hear the latter, even though that song has been very bitterweet for me with all kinds of sadness about my first love. it was a great version too, so check it out:
After a few others, he rolled into She’s the One and there I was, like a fool, with tears rollling down my face. But this time, they were happy tears and I was relieved to feel the weight of things lifting off me, and instead, feeling those old transcendant vibes….
The band seemed tight, and moving around on the floor gave a little audio relief but not much. I think they played Badlands just before the Encore, for which they took a tiny break, not at all like encores of old with the fake leaving and returning and leaving and returning. Badlands always reminded me of my beloved dad who was from South Dakota and viewed his life as one of escape, similar to the story in the song.
The band was on the stage for most of nearly 3 hours by my rough calculations, and I was shocked and laughed when they rolled into Bruce’s worst song (argue with me if you want, but he admitted it!), Crush on You. But they treated it like a pure party song and it was BIG fun. A few last high notes for me were a great, old style version of Born to Run, followed by the most iconic song of my teen years, when I was longing to be rescued, Rosalita. Like on several other nights, I thought to myself that I could die right then and there without regret. But then they, topped off with a wistful ode to the one who got away, Bobby Jean, and it was the best version of that song I’ve heard since the beginning of the River tour. I personally could have done without Dancing in the Dark but at least no girls were pulled up on stage. The night was capped by an awesome version of Twist and Shout with a local guy whose name I didn’t catch.
The energy and enthusiasm of the crowd and the band, despite the terrible audio quality, was transformative. Thank you my friend for rescuing Bruce for me. Of course, he did his part too, as this band usually does.
Robert, Amanda, and Tim
Your hostess for the evening 
Tim and the lovely Heather 
Brad, Posie, and Michelle
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