Hella Stella

Some very cool things came out of this weekend's broadcasts:

1. I was invited to play in the Yukon by someone who heard the show! Hey hey! I'll pursue it and see if I can swing it. That would be a pretty cool adventure if it doesn't break the bank.

2. Sold a bunch of music online. I won't have the exact numbers until my next statement update, but I'm excited to see how it went overall. It sure won't make me rich, but maybe it will buy my BH and I a hot dinner date.

3. Was contacted by my old music teacher who heard the show... I've been trying to get back in touch with her for YEARS, to no avail. Now we get to have tea and catch up. I credit this woman for making me into the singer I am today, so it's pretty cool to be chatting with her again. Turns out she's now a registered holistic nutritionist.

4. Saw my music site traffic spike. I got visits from places like LA, Washington, Japan, New York, Seattle, Texas, New Hampshire, Minnesota... As well as all across Canada. Pretty crazy. I was trying not to think about the fact that the show would be playing in the US as well, but the stats reminded me.

5. Got e-mail from family members all over the place, my favourite being a message from my slightly crazy communist aunt. She's slightly crazy, but I like her that way. She said my voice was "waifish" but "dangerous at the same time," which is good, because that means I'm "messing with gender norms." Good to know.

6. My BH made me the World's Greatest Scrambled Eggs (suggested by Julia's hubby, thanks!). He later made me onigiri, which I think he has finally mastered. SO GOOD. We spent a large chunk of the weekend eating and drinking, including a charming dinner at Zen Kitchen with some local bloggers. Cheers to Hannah, Julia, Milan and Real Grouchy!

There were a variety of other highlights, but this would be a very long post if I went into each one.... Basically, it's been a really memorable weekend, and I'm very pleased with how things turned out.

Funny, but a similar thought keeps popping into my head: I'm so glad that I went into debt for this album.

No, really.

I hate debt, yes, but making this album slowly and professionally is the only reason it's still carrying me today. It's been three years! Three years since that CD release party. As much as I would love to be able to record again soon, I'm thankful that I have a quality album under my belt for now. Thank goodness I over-spent, gave countless hours over to the studio, went a year on low sleep and funds, and was such a tight-assed bitch about the details.

Three cheers for throwing caution to the wind!

Well.

Thanks to Megan's generosity, my BH and I (and Andi, and the in-laws) moved our boxes into the apartment a few days early. Suddenly I feel like we've actually gotten something done. Like we're getting somewhere with all this craziness. Like maybe now we can mop the floors.

Tonight, I have to pack up my closet. Then I have to wash the curtains. Maybe I can organize our bedside tables. It's too early to unplug the stereo, I think. I'll need loud music to clean to. The CDs are a disaster, and I still don't know how I'm going to deal with them. I have hundreds and hundreds, most of which are alphabetized, some of which are in piles. How to pack them? I don't know.

I have also lost Megan's gift in the mess, which is predictable and lame.

Morty doesn't understand what's going on. We gave him a bullwinkle to keep him happy, and holy shit, was he ever happy. He chewed it to mush, and apparently just swallowed it whole. I hope it doesn't make him sick. Do you think my crazy puppy can pass a whole bullwinkle? I'm going to find out very soon, I think. Yikes.

Speaking of passing.... Morty finished his puppy kindergarten class yesterday. He even passed the weenie challenge (and proceeded to whip out his own weenie, but whatever dude, that's nothing new). My grandmother, my sister and my parents came to his final class. I don't even want to know what's going to happen when my BH and I have kids, considering that his mother has already been ordering puppy bling for Morty on the internets. Nobody but the Communist Aunt has told us to have babies so far, but the way our families baby Morty is pretty telling. They want some spawn. Now.

We went to Oz Kafe last night for my sister's birthday. I kept ordering her martinis and gifted her all my art supplies and a cute leather clutch. She was thrilled. She likes used stuff so much, I never really have to go wandering through the shops when it's present time. Besides, it was a great way to cut down my clutter without having to feel guilty about chucking my art stash. She took away two whole Rubbermaids and an easel. Jesus, I'm a pack rat in denial.

One more day at the office and then it's time to move it move it.

Morty had a nightmare last night.

I know this because he started whimpering and howling sometime around 3 am. When we looked in his crate, he was passed out, scrunched up all funny because he had been kicking his toys around. My BH brought him onto the bed, and he promptly fell asleep on my face (he later migrated to my neck, chest, head again, pillow, feet, and went back up to my head for good measure). I didn't sleep that well. I had a whimpering dog on my head. Obvs.

As hellish as moving is, I'm starting to get a bit excited. I'm looking forward to living in a new neighbourhood. I'm looking forward to the neighbours I'm going to have. And considering how heavy Morty is getting, I'm looking forward to not having a long staircase to carry him down every time he needs to pee (he isn't supposed to go up and down stairs much yet in an effort to save his hips from dysplasia). Last night, I stopped into Staples and got coloured cue cards to label my moving boxes. Nothing gets me going like a label or two. Or fifteen. Besides, these cue cards are NEON. I'm going to move like it's 1986!

I had my final drum lesson last night. In a few short months, I've learned a crapload about hand foot coordination and latin rhythm. I can play coherently; badly, but coherently. This makes me happy. However, my money does not stretch far enough to cover another block of lessons, so I'm going to quit before I'm broke. My next challenge? Getting me some inexpensive drum sequencing software to make bizarre banjo dance music. YES.

In a few days we'll be at my cousin's open bar wedding in The Tang. This side of my family really knows how to party, and I'm secretly hoping that my communist aunt shows up (partly because I want to see her, and partly because she is insanely offensive entertaining whilst inebriated). It's going to be one hell of a wedding.

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A-Channel reported last night that the Rasputin's fire was an act of arson. Are they fucking serious?