My apologies for being lax on entries the last few days.  I'd love to say I've been an extra studious student this weekend and blame my serious studying for my lack of blogging, but that would totally be a lie.  I've been neglecting my schoolwork, too, I'm afraid, but no worries:  my mom had a wonderful visit to this city we call Providence, despite the foul weather.  She left by train yesterday morning, leaving me with one full day to catch up on work, sleep, and, *cough,cough* girlfriendly duties.

This morning, getting some work done before my classes, I discovered that not one, but two, Providence institutions called it quits this week -- a sad weekend for Providence indeed!

Spike's Junkyard Dogs closed its door at the end of the day of Sunday -- after I just blogged about them, too! -- and while Spikes is a chain and we've got other locations throughout the state, that doesn't exactly help out those of us who are carless does it?  No!  Sure, we could take a bus to the nearest one, possibly Cranston, but Thayer Street just won't be the same without Spike's.  A fond farewell to Spikes and to the sign that says "We barter.  Show us your breasts and we'll give you a free hotdog!"  Boo!

And if losing the best fast food joint in town ain't bad enough, Miko's closed its doors, too.  Those of you outside of Providence might not be familiar with Miko, billing themselves as "Your Friendly Neighborhood Sex Shop," but anyone who's been in Providence longer than five minutes has seen the Wickenden Street location.  The store has offered burlesque, dance, and masturbation classes in the fifteen years that it's called Providence home, but now it's gone.  Sure the website is still up and running, and you can probably still buy the products, but where's the fun on wandering into the store?  It's gone forever, just like the Thayer Street Spike's.

Can the city recover from the loss of its premiere sex shop and hot dog joint?  Is there some sort of beautiful irony in the juxtaposition of the giant wieners of Spikes and the plastic models of Miko's both disappearing in the same weekend?  Whatever happened to this Brown student who said she was going to buy the place?  And where the heck am I going to buy a replacement for Old Faithful now?  Stay tuned for more...