So here it is.

This one is from the show I took pictures at for this band Dream Tiger.



And this one is from last night when Desi cut my hair... so since I have short sides and a "mowhawk" in the middle... so we hawked it.



Oh yes. There I am. See you soon.

After two bathroom floods in one day, Ogre and I decided fuck it, and went and saw Hellboy II. Loved it. It was gorgeous! Love it!!!

So feeling a bit better. Not going out tonight. Have to get up early to take a load of towels to the laundromat so we can form a towel dike between the bathroom and the bedroom while Bitobear and Ogremarco snake the drain tomorrow. I may flee to find somewhere to write.

I have a Ronin camped out next to my thigh. He's very cuddly. I just realized that we're going to have to move the cats upstairs while the floors are being done, when we get to that. They are not going to be happy about that. But they'll get over it.

Jesus. The last four days have just been getting better and better; it's quite possibly been the happiest moment of my life thus far. Four days of nothing but the winningest of wins. First of all, I managed to get tix to all three Yaz shows (and they all happened to be JUST BEFORE I leave on the cruise, yay!), they were all GREAT tickets and I got to be front row for two shows, and 8th row for the final. Then, my bestest best friend in the whole world FINALLY got to meet Vince and take a pic together with me (which means a fuckload of a great deal more to me than getting our pic with Gackt, although that also rocked the world in a seriously hardcore manner). Then, I got to spend a very short but fabulous time out shopping with two friends I've not seen in over a year (newport12 and miya_fangirl). And then, I get to the show, and guess who's sitting three rows RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME:



If you guessed Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, you win one free I-Listen-To-Awesome-Music award.

And furthermore, when I went over (very casually so as not to arouse suspicion and thus get him mobbed) to say hi, HE FUCKING REMEMBERED ME FROM LIKE 10 FUCKING YEARS AGO in college! *SQUIRT* So I said, "Hi, sorry to bother you, I'm sure you don't remember me, but we've met a lot in the past. Vince mentioned that you'd be here at the show so I just wanted to say 'Hi again,' and if possible could we meet up after the show because I don't want to draw attention to you here?" And he said, "I do know you..." and looked puzzled for a bit, then, "No, I really do... Sabrina, right?"

*stoked* "Yeah, back in (place)."

Which he confirmed and then said, "Sure, no problem. I'm going to leave out the stage entrance after the show and duck around the corner before too many people follow me. You can meet me there."

So of course, after another AMAZING show, I did:



Fuck yes. FUCK. YES.

Martin signed a few things for the people who did break away from the Yaz waiting line, but mostly he told them he was in a hurry and wanted to avoid getting chased, although he did let me take a quick pic and have a few words since I'd asked him inside. So, I wished him a happy birthday and a good show on Thursday (he'll be DJ-ing at Hero, and partying all weekend in celebration of his 48th).

Also, from my earlier meeting with the manager about the press pass, I had seen the guest list, so I knew that Dave was there too, though I saw hide nor hair of him. So clearly he wasn't sitting up on "celebrity row" with everyone else. Richard James (of Aphex Twin) and Moby were there, too. WOOT. It was like a who's who of electronic awesomeness. ^_____^

Then it was back to the Yaz waiting line where we discovered that Alison wasn't feeling well, and in light of the show tomorrow in D.C., had already left straight after the last song. But Vince actually waited for like 30 minutes until the crowd had thinned out to about 25-30 people (from the original ~100 or more who were only waiting for Alison anyway, and because crowds freak him out) and then came out and very kindly signed everyone's stuff and took pics (where at first everyone was pretty sure he would just blow on by because there were too many people). I knew he was still in there though, because I could hear the security guards' walkie-talkies, and he kept asking, "How many people are still there?" about every 5 minutes. LOL

So I waited until everyone else had got theirs (joking with him about "Yeah, me again." -- LOL. I've already seen him so many times I didn't want to gank someone else's chance of seeing him in case he did freak and bolt) and then got my last pic with him for who knows how long. (And it's the ONLY time he's ever taken a pic with me -- or quite possibly anyone -- where he wasn't making some kind of face, because he is the Ultimate Smartass. LOL)



And finally, I asked him to please release the different versions of "I Before E", because if God existed were a song, THAT would be it. Also, we had to tease him about the shirt he was wearing:



...like, "Just in case you forget who you are in your old age." ~_^ And he told us that his little boy had made it for him to wear on the tour (but that forgetting who he was was a distinct possibility -- LOL). *SOOOOO CUUUUUUUUTE*

And because CRUISE TIEM IZ NAO, I will be away having more awesome experiences, but will be Net-less for the next week. So I'll be sure to kill everyone's bandwidth with MEGAPOST when I get back. ^__________________________^

What steps would I need to take to clean up this audio in Audacity? (Listen to a 107 KB Vorbis clip.)

I know that normalizing is one of the steps. I suspect that some type of noise reduction or sound filters would also be involved to improve the quality?

Also is there anything I should do in the future to make sure my recordings are of better quality?

Hectoring me, passive aggressive-ing at me, in general bugging me isn't going to get you very far right now. I have enough to deal with without anyone else's bullshit.

The downstairs toilet keeps flooding when no one's been near it. We're going to have to pack up to re-floor the basement, including our bedroom. AFTER we get it fixed. Lord knows what that's going to take. We haven't even been able to get someone in to look at it yet. Bitobear is doing everything he can, but it doesn't change the fact that it's kind of fucked around here right now.

I'm also coping with the fact that my grandfather is dying.

I also still have a really stress laden job with very little payoff.

And student loan issues.

I'm not a happy camper, and while I'm not depressed, oddly enough (thank you my wonderful husband and beloved therapist), I have a pretty low tolerance for anyone else's bullshit.

I'm trying to look on the bright side. This means that we can get rid of the stupid white carpet down here. It means I can get rid of the stupid turquoise carpet and yellow walls in my bedroom. It means I can make my bedroom feel more like it's mine. It means a chance to clear out and clean up. It means a chance to organize shit and get rid of clutter. It means a chance to get better at budgeting.


But what it mostly means is that I'm not particularly tolerant of anyone else right now.

I'm back in Toronto. If I missed anything important, please let me know. Otherwise I won't be reading the backlog of LJ entries.

Your result for The 3 Variable Funny Test...

the Cutting Edge

Take The 3 Variable Funny Test at HelloQuizzy

I can breath easy again.
I have a site for faire.
I am gonna start packing after I poop.

All is well.

geekmachine and I spent about three and a half hours working on my yard today. We filled both yard waste containers and there are several piles of tree refuse scattered around the yard. We are both sweaty and gross. But the yard is looking better. We started in the front and we're working our way around the house. Next weekend we're going to finish off the blackberries in the front, and then start on the skewer area. We have a plan.

hunnythistle if you and lee_os would like to come help next saturday, that would be awesome! I just wasn't up to that many people around me all at once today. I'm still a little shellshocked from last weekend and the week leading up to it.

Tonight the Boy and I are debating going to see Batman, or Hellboy and going to Club V. I miss everyone. I need some out time. I think I could use some frivolous socialization, instead of all the heavy shit I've been dealing with.

Ok, once the dishwasher is done I'm hopping in the shower, shaving stuff and oiling myself up. Then I have to figure out what to wear.

DARK KNIGHT ALSKDJF;AKJSDF;LKJASDF;LJF;;;;;;

MOAR PLZ.

COHERENT REVIEW LATER. SQUEE NOW.

Just went by my favorite yarn shop today, where sharonopolis works on Saturdays and where we are friends with the other employees. Hung out for a while. It's sad, but not quite so bad yet, since they will be open until the weekend before Labor Day. They will be staying in existence on the internet at http://www.neasesneedlework.com/ I got enough yarn to do the camisole on Peachy which I just translated, and tested my translation by knitting the hipsters. I also got a few other things. I feel ok about breaking my buying limit for this, since it is supporting Susan's ability to transition out of the store.

Well, I was stupid and didn't rest yesterday evening, so I spent the night crying in pain from this stupid ear infection. The pain became so bad that I started vomiting like crazy this morning. I wasn't even able to keep tea down.

The pain started to move into my teeth and jaw. It felt like someone took a sledgehammer to the left side of my head.

So, my mom took me back to the urgent care and I got some Vicodin to help with the pain. The P.A. I saw told me if I couldn't keep food down for the rest of the day, to get admitted at the E.R. so I could be put on an I.V. Not exactly my idea of a fun Saturday.

I came home, managed to get some oatmeal down and took all of my meds. Thanks to the pain killers, I was able to get the best sleep I've had in about three days.

So today I am hunkering down in bed and resting. I really hate being in this state, but I know that taking care of myself is the most important thing I can do right now.

My parents have been taking such good care of me, staying up and fixing me tea and oatmeal, drawing baths for me, and general making sure I don't die. So major shout-outs to them for being awesome parental units.

And than for all the well wishes, guys. I really appreciate it. My friends are awesome...

...I forgot I get really chatty when I take Vicodin, or as I like to call them, "House candy."

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

I fucking hate video games.

So, tomorrow Mom and Dad and John are all going to Grandpa PJ's. He's in the hospital again, this time with heart trouble. Right now, the plan is that they'll leave his place and come here to visit Chris and me on the 14th, but if Grandpa's condition gets worse, I might go meet them up there. That's still a little up in the air; we're waiting to find out what the doctors say is wrong with his heart, right now. Obviously, we're hoping for good news. The fact that he's stable again is probably a good sign (knock on wood).

In other news, I have a bonus private tutoring student now! Possibly two, even, which is kind of a sweet deal. Money isn't nearly as tight this summer as it was last summer but it's always a plus to pick up a little extra. Plus, if I do need to take time off work to go visit Grandpa suddenly, it won't leave me in quite as much of a money bind. I'm going to meet with the first student in about an hour and we're going to meet for at least two hours today, maybe three. The other student I might see for a couple hours tomorrow. It's actually all coming together nicely--this is the first time in a few days I haven't just felt like a slug who wanted nothing more than to sleep on the couch. I'm kind of looking forward to getting out of the apartment for a couple of hours.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-07-17-pittsburgh_N.htm