got enough guilt to start my own religion...

Wow what a weekend. I have to start first by highlighting the fact that we did indeed make it down to the Tori show on Saturday. We launched the boat about 4:30, despite the small craft advisory which expired not long after we went out. We cruised down the river a bit, which I was concerned about, because of the "millions of gallons of raw sewage released into the Cuyahoga River" during the Blackout (according to The Plain Dealer). Luckily, there wasn't really a stench, just very brown water, which is normal.

We cruised by the concert venue just as Tori was finishing her Sound Check. Never heard a Tori Sound Check before. I was in Heaven! I was so excited. I got out the binoculars. Lou coaxed Merlin up on the bow of the boat in the hopes that someone would see him (Tori) and want to come on the boat with us, or invite us up to her trailer, which we could see clearly from the water. We were so close! But I didn't want to be too obvious. Yes, I had on my Tori T-Shirt, and yes, we were playing Tori CD's in the boat, and yes I was watching everything with the binoculars glued to my face. Suddenly I felt like a crazed stalker and got really paranoid that Tori would hate me if she found out I was "spying" on her. So we left and cruised up the River some more, till it was show time.

We came back to the Amphitheater just as Ben Folds was finishing up his opening set. We pulled the boat up as close as possible and slyly dropped anchor. Which you are not supposed to do, anywhere in the River. Then Lou said, "I wonder if she would be pissed that we didn't care enough buy tickets and instead are seeing the show for free...?" I hadn't thought about that before. Immediately I felt guilty. That quickly subsided, however, when Tori bounced out on stage and I had the most perfect view of her throughout the entire show. I couldn't have had better seats if I had purchased a ticket. Go here to see the Set List and Concert Reviews. Even Kevin got excited about this...clapping and whistling. It was his very first Tori show. I'm so proud!