so close, and yet no cigar

well.

onward it goes.

there's progress. some. not enough. some. and my left pinky finger is numb. [shake, shake, squish.] better.

bah, what a weird day. i woke up late, etc. never ate breakfast till about 1.30, but was up by nineish. i showered, rushed off to Long & McQuade, returned my USB audio thingie, and got a replacement. same make/model. same malfunction. then i noticed my internet was down. [now it obviously works, and i have to cancel my Shaw repair appt.) got grumpy. watched the rest of The Godfather.

took the new malfunctioning unit in. upgraded. got to pay the wrong -$45 price. found three pairs new shoes, including the fanciest i've ever owned (pointed toe & heels, ones actually wide enough yet stable enough for me but with nice purty heels, not clunky ones... not much of a heels wearer am i, she says in her olive drab cargo pants).

hooked up the convoluted new USB audio & MIDI interface thingie i have. dammit, still distorting! my new speakers aren't good enough, but there's too much distortion even on my new headphones (though there's less). however, this is with stuff that i ripped with my shit sound card. i've also taken the liberty of installing a whole schwack of new codecs, including encoding ones. i suspect things might change if i rip new stuff onto this CPU. i did listen to the "all right" test track provided with the new hardware, and the '70's porn song sounds adequate to me. it's the only thing i know isn't fucked by either a lack of codecs, bad hardware, or questionable quality, so if that's what i need to judge by, things might be better.

suddenly inspired, i decided to try recording. i've changed a couple more things, and it sounds like i might have FINALLY FIXED THIS MOTHERFUCKER!

and that's worth the loss of $150 in wages from staying home today! it sounds pretty cool. hey, wait here. i'm gonna try something else. okay, no, but it's definitely about 90% better. and the tonality of my voice sounds better, too. so, good mic and this is clearly a great piece of hardware. well, i'll fix it sooner or later. i think if i unplug my internet, power down all programs and unnecessary processes, and close all my windows (both in reality and on the computer), then i might have good enough quality to run with. i still think i can get this done in the next week or so. it's still going to be a much better quality product than it'd have been last week.

and i know that when i do finally fix it all, i'll have insane quality. i'll now be recording in stereo, for example. so, that's cool beans.

i was frustrated like you wouldn't believe, just before my latest accomplishment -- the installing of about two dozen various codecs on two separate bundles, which negated about 50% of the distortion -- when GayBoy buzzed. i'd been whining in a venting session with him, and he showed up with a little of vancouver's favourite herb and a shoulder to whine against. i opened a bottle of wine and we, of all things, watched Jackass: The Movie. good lord.

tell ya, though: i'm in a far better mood. i'm now of the glass-half-full mentality, and that's awesome.

i've decided that if this thing goes through with these potential folk who want to throw a few bucks in my direction, then i'm spending the money to have my place cleaned (about $65) by a professional. i'll spend that time writing & getting things done elsewhere. then, come back and be able to focus on what needs to happen.

my mojo's back, my head's clearing up, and my voice is about 85% on a damp night like this, but near 100% in the day. i can justify spending 10% of my new income on something that will free up about 6 hours of cleaning time into something more productive. i had my place professionally cleaned one other time and it took nearly 3 weeks for me to mess it up. once it's clean, i keep it clean, but if i'm barely maintaining, it's an art-of-time-wasteage thing. it sucks.

it'd likely be a while before i do it again. but it's needed rather urgently. my place is a shambles. i remember j.k. rowling answering the questiow about how she managed to write while raising a kid as a single mom and then coming up with a brilliant book like Harry Potter, and she looked at the interviewer and said, "my home was a sty. i never, ever cleaned. for two years it was a shambles." yeah. i can see that.

and i fucking hate it. i love my place. i hate this disaster. i long to have the place cleaned up and a bunch of candles lit and me lying solo on my couch in silence. god. do i ever. geez. it's been insane now for two months. moments of cleanliness but they vanish rapidly. and my feet get too dirty, too.

at least i have new shoes. sigh.

ALSO: Steff's Funky Dressing Vol. 1

So, bought some new oils. If you're a regular reader, you know I'm mustard-obsessed. I don't eat it on as much as you would think, though. It's that I love using it for dressings. I have 13 different kinds, or is it 14 now? From cilantro-lemongrass through to chipotle-lime and gin-infused, I got it going on. I'm shaking up the mix, though. Walnut oil, pomegranate-pear vinegar, and champagne vinegar are the start of my new repetoire. I'm also considering making my own. Found the first potential recipe: Beer & thyme. But I'd do black mustard with Guinness and a minute splash of port or aged balsamic and a hint of roasted garlic. Because I throw down like that, yo. Could be cool shit. Stay tuned. The culinary boon that are the wintery months have dawned. Cooking: The other winter sport in Canada. Fuckin' A, eh?

Tonight's dressing:

1 tablespoon walnut oil
1 tablespoon pear-pomegranate vinegar
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence mustard
salt to taste

I put that on a bed of mixed greens with sweet tooth baby bell red & yellow peppers, tomatoes, and green onion. Served with steak and garlic butter-parmesan toasted baguette, well. I'm loving the dressing. Rich. I think blueberry or black cherry vinegar is next. If I have to eat vegetables, they better be interesting. Blood orange vinegar would be good, too. Back to Gourmet Warehouse. I'll check Capers first, though.