Blather, rinse, repeat

What a loooong day. I ran out to Home Depot first thing this morning to get some paint. I rethought the whole thing, went a totally different route with the colors, said, "This one's nice!" and ran. It was a kind of wine color only it threw more purple than red, but still warm. I figured I'd love it. And even if I didn't, to hell with it. WHatever it was, it was staying, end of story.

As I was putting it up I was thinking, "Humm...this looks a little odd. Looks a little pink." It wasn't until it dried a few hours later (after I came home from dolphin-sitting) that I held the paint chip up to it and realized they had mixed the wrong effing color. *Vunches Home Depot* So yeah, it's a lurid, fleshy, spanked-butt pink. And guess what? I'm so through with it, it's not even true. It's going to stay looking like a spanked butt. I'm going to accent it with bronze dragonflies and cranes and crap like that (hand painted, I don't stencil, yo,) and just live with the effing thing. And do one wall really, really dark, just to say, "Look, folks! DARK! Don't look at the lurid pink!" Whatever. It'll grow on me, I'm sure.

Anyway, that all happened really quickly and then it was off to dolphin-sitting. Lemme just say that it hit about twenty today, and I--who have no blood to begin with--froze all extremities clean off. No really, I have no fingers, toes or anything left. Well, but seriously, that bizzatch was frigid. Anytime I had to take my gloves off (to write notes, take her breathing rate, etc.) it took about five seconds before my hands were turning red. (Which sucks, because it takes about seven minutes all told to take and document her breathing rate.) So maybe it wasn't frostbite, but definitely frost-nip. Okay, or maybe frost-nibble. Frost-lick? It was cold is what I'm trying to say.

Ariel, though, she was thoroughly delightful today. Someone swam with her earlier, so she was all riled up. I had to ask one of the biologists who had given the dolphin crack this morning. Towards the end of the night she was doing all kinds of jumping and leaping and overall frolicking. And for the first time today, I watched her fully breach the water, which was a sight to behold. I told the biologist who was on that she had breached (because a different one had said a few weeks ago that they were waiting for her to finally do it,) and she said that she'd been doing it the last few days. She also did a backflip under the water! Anyway, she was a joy. And as boring (AND COLD!) it is standing out there for hours, I do love feeding her. I love the whole process, actually: measuring out her fish, writing it all down, throwing the nasty things to her, and even cleaning Her Majesty's serving plate afterwards. (Maybe because a lot of that is indoors where it's warm? ;D ) Oddly, I even like the smell of fresh fish. I feel bad that they're dead and all, but they don't smell icky to me. Weirdly enough they don't even feel icky (although we do wear rubber gloves.) And I love watching her swim for them and gulp them down with such obvious pleasure. She loves to eat. A girl after my own heart.

Oh, and then just now I went through ALL my Hula seminar folders and put all the papers in a binder. I'd love to find all the various notebooks with choreography written down, but guess what? I can't find the buggers. Maybe one of them is in my car?

Well, so tomorrow it's off to HD again to get that really dark paint to do the one wall (this one's going to be a BIATCH, just because I have to move so much junk, like the computer desk!) and then it'll be time to run off to Kung Fu. I feel so rushed with this living room thing because it's Kung Fu tomorrow, work Tuesday, Kung Fu Wednesday, work Thursday and Friday, then Tai Chi Saturday (after which I have the whole day free!) and then dolphin-sitting again next Sunday. What wouldn't I do for an entire two days. And what wouldn't I do to not have lurid, pink, spanked-bottom colored walls?*




*The answer is "Repaint." Because eff that.

For starters, why is there a big effing flag on my Weather Pixie? WTH, folks? If I want a flag, I'll put one. Jaysus.

Anyway, I'm not sure how far the news has spread, but the mass-stranding of dolphins in Peconic Bay is still going on. They chased herring into a really shallow inlet, low tide hit, and they are afraid to go back out because I guess they feel like they're beaching themselves when they get to the sandbar. Five of them have already died and were taken to where I do my dolphin-sitting on Sundays, as I mentioned yesterday. Because they obviously hadn't been tested for communicable diseases, Ariel's tank was closed off in plastic to lessen the danger of contamination. So that's where I worked on Sunday.
( Observe: )

So you see, it was a little more claustrophobic than usual, even. Add that to the fact that all you could smell was dead dolphin, and it was one kind of depressing day. Yet on the other hand, the weather was really beautiful. Cold, yeah, but misty and dark. It made me glad to be working outdoors, actually. Also, like I mentioned, I got some really sweet pics of Ariel. She was all up in my grill yesterday for some reason, kind of cam-whoring. ( This one is my favorite: )

That thing you see around her is a hoola hoop with flags. It's one of her favorite toys. She swims through it and then "wears" it. It looks like a weird ballarina skirt on her, and she rolls around with it around her middle. She's too funny.

Yesterday was all noenoe too, which made for a really lovely scene across from the Kung Fu school. It actually looked like a kind of Chinese painting. I tried to capture it on film, but it never comes out the way I see it. Which is what separates me, I suppose, from real photographers. ( But I tried! )

This morning when I got up it was around 45 degrees. By the time I was leaving work, it was about 34. The temperature's dropping like a bizznatch and I'm not complaining. Okay, yes I am, but only for myself. It's good to have winter, you know, in the winter. It's supposed to be cold. I'm supposed to want to cry because my eyeballs have frozen in the sockets and my bones have turned to shards of ice. We've got this coming, you know? It's supposed to snow this weekend, too, and I hope it does. I'll be whining a different tune when it's thirty effing below and I'm digging my car out, of course, but for now I say: bring it.

Also today we got in an injured hawk. Everytime a hawk comes in I ask if I can please be the handler, and usually most of the staff is more than happy to turn it over to me. Hawks are intimidating; I understand that. They can rip you open with their big nasty talons, they want to shove their sharp beaks into your eyes, and occasionally--like the one today--they have lice the size of mayflies. I don't know what those bastages are called, but they flit around from under the feathers and they are so not shy about flying up into your grill, not to mention they are some of the ugliest parasites I've ever seen. So yeah: talons, beak, huge lice and all, I still love hawks and always ask to take care of them. I'm kind of stupid about it because I don't even usually wear gloves, especially if it's a leg injury (which this one was) because I don't want to lose sensation and be squeezing their legs too hard. So I just throw a towel over their little noggins and then grab them. Stupid, yeah, I know. Anyway, I got a few pics of Mr. Hawk today, and this one is my favorite: ( his cute little raptor face. )

Then it seemed to me that Mr. Hawk and I kind of have a similar look, at least in profile. So I got a pic for comparison: ( Me with lovelylovely hawk: )

Doesn't he just look like he wants to rip my lips off! The dear! :D

So let's see, what else? Ah I know. I had a whole big review worked up in my head for Memento, but right now it's down to "That was interesting; he was hot." Also, the stupid DVD was busted and kept skipping around. I missed a few parts of a few chapters, which really threw me off. It's the kind of movie you really have to watch closely at every second. I loved Carrie Ann Moss (I swear I want to be her when I grow up,) and my favorite part of the movie was when the scene changes to Leonard running and he thinks, "What am I doing?" He sees Dodd running and says, "Oh. I'm chasing this guy." He starts to run after Dodd, who fires a gun at him and then he thinks, "Nope. That guy's chasing me." I laughed out loud during that part.

Ahhh, and Twilight Princess. yeah, so like I said, I'm getting way too much mileage out of Link's broken Rod. OMIGOD! Link's waving his rod around. OH NOES! Now his rod is broken! Link, whip that rod out at the little old lady and see what she says! (I swear, when it came time for him to show Impaz his Rod all I could think of was, "'Scuse me while I whip this out!" And then I imagined that she would scream.) Now your rod works again, go and point it at the sky! Oh my god. I really am twelve. Also, in the beginning I had considered the option of maybe fangirling Renado, but then he said he didn't like Telma so I got all, "FINE! Be that way!" I swear if I ever wrote LOZ fanfiction again I'd pair Link up with Telma. ;D That'd be the bizzomb, yo.

One more thing, quick not to Jo-chan: I got the low-down on the concert on the 23rd. ( Here's a bit from the FAQ about the shows: )

WTF with OUR band not closing the show? I ask you. Who is this "Used" of which they speak? Looks like our guys are only playing for an hour, but the good thing is that we won't be leaving the venue at like 3 AM which is what I ended up doing in Philly. I'm curious as to whether or not they really will do a signing, because the coliseum is HUGE and I can't imagine them doing it. If they did, it would obviously be after The Used, and then we'd end up staying late. Either way, we'll try to catch them up by the bus this time. That's going to be a trick with this HUGE coliseum (and the buses might actually be locked up somewhere ... I hope not!) but we'll still try. Also, we can get there about as late as we please, unless you're interested in seeing any of the bands that play before OUR band. Sound good?

Okay, well, I guess that's enough babble out of me for tonight. Hmm, now, more writing, or Twilight Princess? Decisions decisions! And, American Idol tonight. Oh, guilty pleasure. :D

I started this post yesterday, then, well, got caught up with Twilight Princess again. So I'm trying again today.

First of all, we're just prettier, better, smarter and healthier than you lot! Heh heh, just kidding. At least about the "prettier" part. ;D This article says that a study done in England suggests that vegetarians are smarter than carnivores.

( Saved for posterity. )

That's neat, but who knows? But I'll tell you what, though: I plan to have a kid, and I plan on raising him/her vegetarian. And I am NOT looking forward to all the trouble I'll get from other people and from doctors when they find this out. That drives me nuts because I hear about it all the time. What's even worse is that I know I'm going to catch a lot of grief from my carnivore friends, and most of them actually smoke around their own kids, which I consider to be a form of child abuse. And no, that's not a stretch. Even if you're smoking outside and then come inside and pick your kid up, the smoke is still on your clothes and in your hair. It's disgusting. A few of them don't even bother sending their kids away when they smoke, just basically blowing it right in their faces. Like I've said countless times, I love my friends, but when they do things like that they are being total twuntburgers. (I stole that word from a friend. I think I'll use it more often because it has a nice ring to it.) I've always felt like, do whatever you want to your own body, but once what you're doing affects someone else, you've crossed a line.

/preach

Yesterday I set the birds up in the sunroom and cleared off the counter in my kitchen. I completely rearranged the plants in the sunroom, swept everything, cleaned like mad, the works. It looked like a Miyazaki film; me with my crooked broom, dust-bunnies scattering everywhere, spiders scrambling around. (As some of you know, I don't kill spiders and I try not to take down their webs, but I did accidentally take one web down yesterday, and the big house spider was very put out. I felt awful so I put her back in the spot where the web was, and she immediately started to rebuild it.) The birds are super-happy. Cassidy has been whistling his little heart out. And the counter looks great, too. It's the perfect place for my little tomb-warriors and one of my orchids. (And is it my imagination, or are at least TWO of my orchids growing flower spikes?! That would be the bomb.)

( Some pics: )

Anyway, last night was the office Xmas party and it was held at a now-closed down privately owned restaurant that the owner re-opened and catered just for us. He's this charismatic, intimidating, food-crazy European guy, kind of a local legend akin to the Soup Nazi. (He has rules about how you can and can't eat his chocolate.) The place was freezing and we didn't actually eat anythig until like 9:30, but when we did, the stuff was great. He made seperate dishes for the two vegetarians, and they were delish. Artichokes boiled in some kind of garlic sauce or something, yum. We did our not-so-secret Santa. I got Kelly S. and Janice got me. Kelly later came over to thank me and we ended up chatting for a while, and I always get such a kick out of talking with Kelly because she's just so freaking weird. And she's a different Kelly from the Kelly at work. Kelly at work has her hair up and wears scrubs and is stressful and worried. Kelly outside of work has her hair down, dresses like a star and smiles at everything and everyone. Pat told her she looked like an angel. Anyway, so we were sitting there I told Kelly that I thought she could model, and she said she thought I could, too. I told her, "My god, no way, my face is all crooked." She said she hadn't noticed. O_o Come on, it's as plain as, well... ;D And Kelly says to me, "You know, you're really getting tiny." (Now, "tiny" is a word that I've heard thrown around in reference to me with great frequency lately, and I'm here to say, it just ain't so. I'm 140 pounds; slim, sure, but not tiny.) She says, "And you look so pretty." I laughed and told her, "thin, yes; pretty, not so much. Thank you, though." (I know; I always have to ruin a nice compliment.) She said, "No, you really are beautiful, and don't let anyone ever tell you you're not, not even yourself. I'm not hitting on you because I'm not like that, but you have to know you're beautiful." It was so weird, because I actually looked terrible last night, worse than I have in a long time. Before dinner we were totally bored and all taking crazy pictures of ourselves and each other, and I was taking all close-ups of various body parts and when I was taking ones of my eyes and face and stuff, just for kicks, and then actually looking at them, I was horrified by what I saw. Really totally horrified; I deleted most of them. It's beyond me how people aren't constantly looking at how crooked everything about me is, because if I was someone else looking at me, I'd just be like, "Wow, she must be a boxer or something." (The sport, not the dog. ;D ) I started to want to go home because I couldn't stand how I looked. But I was really hungry and I knew dinner was going to be good and I didn't want to miss it, also I didn't want to catch grief from everyone and deal with all the questions about why I had left in such a hurry, so I waited it out.

My outfit was really cool, though! And I did a really neat thing with my hair. My hair was the total BIZZOMB. I admit it: I love my hair.

I came home and my Dad called me to tell me to turn on NBC, because SNL was on and he thought that they were going to do the Barry Gibb Talk Show again. Sure enough they did, but I swear this thing has lost its magic. It was hilariously funny the first time, not as funny the second time, and just plain played-out this time. Although it was so cool to see Jimmy Fallon on SNL again. He is the cutest boy ever and my crush on him is an enduring one. You have to know I never watch SNL anymore (though I willin January, because I think Jake Gyllenhaal is going to be on,) so I don't even know who's in the cast anymore. However, SNL redeemed itself briefly with this gem, which is the funniest SNL skit in a long while. D*ck In A Box! Watch it now before it gets removed!

Last night I had a dream that I was at an office party for some office I don't even work at, and people were giving me spiked drinks, knowing I had to drive home. I went into another room where I was watching a movie of live-action Cloud Strife and animated Nikki Sixx battling on the top of an office building. Cloud kept on falling and Nikki Sixx kept pulling him back up. In order to gain the element of surprise, Cloud started making out with Nikki Sixx, and soon they were done battling. I started rewinding the scene so that I could try to pinpoint exactly when the balance of power shifted. ^_^;;

Today is dolphin team day. BORING! Long hours of watching the dear thing go around in circles. I start to feel claustrophobic after a while of watching that. And have i mentioned how frigging cold it gets? But then when I come home I'll take a long, hot shower, have a light dinner, then sit down on my comfy sofa next to the Xmas tree, with a candy apple for desert and I'll play Twilight Princess into the rest of the evening. I love having something to look forward to. Heaven, right?

Ugh, one of my friends is in the hospital today with e.coli poisoning from Taco Bell. WTF, people? That's just frigging gross! And she was supposed to come to the hair-dye / pizza party tomorrow, too.

And of course, my other best friend stood me up today without a call or an email because of his own issues. Hey, you know, I do understand this. And I feel badly about it. But it has to stop being my issue. So, while waiting to see if we were going to hang out or not (I guessed not anyway,) I cleaned the house thoroughly, scrubbed the bathroom, and filled out all my holiday cards. Hurray, because I hate doing cards and I'm glad it's over. I watched Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back while I was writing them out, so that made it go by a little quicker.

I had Tai Chi this morning again and it was really good. I love the fact that Sifu's dog hangs out on the floor with us. It's funny when you're doing a low stance or a floor stretch, and this huge akita comes over and blows his nose in your hair. The dog is really cute, he rolls around on the mat and makes funny noises.

( Fabuki )

What a cutie!

And yesterday at work, we had a swan come in with a busted leg. He was so mellow. I had to wait with him for just about ever on the X Ray table and I started rubbing his little swan neck, where he can't reach because of his bum leg. He let me do that for about twenty minutes and eventually fell asleep with his little swan head in my crotch lap.

( I look really awful in this pic, but the swan is so cute. )

Tomorrow night's party (after the dolphin team) should still be fun and mellow, though I'm sorry that my Jennel won't make it. And Monday is the Kung Fu Sisters party! Also on Monday, Twilight Princess for GameCube. It's going to have to be that. I think the Wii is a myth. In other words, I fully refuse to pay any more than $250 for it and I outright refuse to get up at 5 AM to wait on line. Until it's readily availaible to the sane public, it can blow me. (And I say that jokingly, because I know people who have waited on line and who have paid loads of money for it. I just can't bring myself to do either.)

So, what, is LJ totally frigged up today or what? And why the hell can't I download stuff right now?

Well, the whole dolphin thing is kind of boring, actually. We don't get to actually interact with her until we've had a class in wearing the dry suit. (Hello there, new rule as of like YESTERDAY.) So basically we stand outside in the freezing cold and watch her swim and play and take a crap, and write every little detail down every five minutes. I think the reason it goes so slowly is because you're forever looking at the stupid watch because you have to keep track of the time so much. That, and it's like 40 effing below.

On the other hand, she really is delightful to watch when she gets going. She does have fun with her toys, and it's cool to feed her and watch her zip around the tank grabbing her fish and gulping them down. One girl did get in the tank with her, and I saw why they call Ariel the "lap dolphin." She pushes you until your knees come up, then swims into your lap and rolls over to be rubbed. And the best part is that when she gets rubbed, her flippers go all crazy, like a dog's leg when you scratch it behind the ear. She is supercute.

And I will say this: There was a stretch of time after the sun went down when I was alone with Ariel, just watching her and recording what she was doing, and in that stretch of time it wasn't boring, but kind of fulfilling in a way. All of a sudden I remembered what an honor it was to be taking care of this lovely sea creature. I think of dolphins as guardians in some way--like most other people, I romanticize the crap out of them--and I felt like I could return the favor, even for a short while. Malama 'aina and all of that.

I hope I get to swim with her soon. Meantime, here are some pics:

( Ariel swimming around and playing with her favorite toy: )


Bottlenose dolphins have quite possibly the cutest faces on the face of the planet.

And while I'm here, some Christmas-ish photos I took last night.

( Tree ornament, a holiday self portrait, and my obsession with my own living room light. )

That light is actually the one that hung in my Gran and Grampa's house for about twenty years. After Gran moved here (next apt. over,) she didn't have room for it and didn't want it. I dug it out of the shed because I have always been in live with that hanging light. Weird, huh?

Well, off to avoid writing again!

In a few minutes I'll be leaving for Riverhead Foundation to begin my work with Ariel the dolphin! I'm all kinds of excited and nervous. I don't think I get to actually swim with her yet (you have to take a drysuit class, it ends up ... thanks for telling me that, folks! :/ ) but at least I'll be working. The work sounds like it's really complicated and intense. I hope I do all right. Wish me luck!

The good, part one: I got my email tonight from Riverhead Foundation. I start the dolphin program on Sunday. THIS Sunday! O_o I'd love to sit here and say "just being considered is an honor" but that's total crap. I get to actively and hugely help a dolphin in need. I get to swim with her, and I won't deny: I'm in total squee over that.

Part two: Kim came over tonight and she brought me an early Christmas gift. (She's going away to Germany in a week and a half and she figured at first that we wouldn't get to see each other before then. But then I later asked if we could hang out next Thursday, so that does give me one more chance to get her a birthday AND Christmas gift.) Anyway, she made me a beautiful fused glass necklace in three shades of red, with three real silver eternity signs, one bright and big in the center, and two more fading into the background. It's gorgeous and has already become one of those pieces of jewelry that I don't think I'll take off very often. She also gave me another fused glass pendant that was a sort of experiment that she didn't know what to do with. It's a cardinal on a branch on white glass. Also beautiful. There's nothing I can think of that's as meaningful or thoughtful that I can give her in return, though!

Oh, and then we watched Being John Malkovich, which made me laugh out loud. I loved it.

Part three: Tomorrow we start Tai Chi! Sifu decided to teach that on Saturdays, since we get basic and advanced Kung Fu the rest of the week. It's real Tai Chi, taught from the lineage of our jo-si from Toisan, China; not the watered down McDojo crap. I'm in love with this idea because as you know, keeping the culture real, keeping things as really wholesome and true to their culture as humanly possible means a lot to me. That's why I fall in love with the ancient Hulas that haven't been changed for hundreds of years, too. I like things in as pure a form as possible. The other really cool part about this is that it's free. :D

Well, I have to get up early tomorrow so I'd better turn in. I think that maybe after Hula tomorrow I'll get my tree, since I won't have time to do it on Sunday, whatwith the dolphin and everything. :D

Tonight was my first dolphin team training. It went about an hour and a half in a very cold room. We didn't actually do anything; this was just a lecture. The whole thing is a lot different from what I had imagined, but kind of in a more exciting way. Basically our job is going to be to research the dolphin and keep track of her health ahd behavior. The part where we get to swim and play with her is like an added benefit for all of is, dolphin included. (I saw videos of her tonight. She is a LOVE.) We're to keep track of her vocalizations (by recording them,) her gestures (with video cameras,) what toys she likes, what she ignores, her breathing rate, what she eats, when she goes to the bathroom, the pH of the water, dude, even the percentage of cloud coverage! We have to moniter the weather and see if and how it affects her.

We're to do our best to avoid anthromorphing her, assigning her human emotions or spirituality and things like that. It's a scientific venture, not just floating around like a mer-fart (*~~Mer-Faerie!!! *Giggles!*~~ ;D ) and playing with a spirit guide or anything. And actually, that is so much more of an awesome experience, at least for me. Fantasizing about spirit animals and mindlessly frolicking would do no one any good; least of all this dolphin and the ones that come after her, who will rely on the data we collect. It's struggling into a dry suit, getting into a freezing tank of water in the dead of winter, scrubbing it clean, or standing around for five hours with a camera, underwater microphone, stopwatch and notebook. Stuff I can actually do, and that's what I really love.

There's a chance I could be starting by next week! So wish me luck!

Oh, and in less fuzzy news, check out how fast this thread went to hell as soon as I said I was a feminist. Now I'm one of those evil women who makes other women feel like failures for wanting to stay home with their kids! Riiiight. And you'd think that rampant misogyny would be confined to places like the useless Kung Fu boards and all, right? Uhh, no. This just serves to remind that women still have a long way to go.

( The dolphin. Sorry this is such a crappy picture. )

Anyway, we are all waiting on our emails to tell us when the next meeting is, when they will do scheduling. ^_______^ It looks like I'm in; barring any scheduling conflicts (and I put down every second I'm available,) I should get to go steadily. The class tonight was basically the Riverhead Foundation people trying to scare us off; basically being very honest about the dangers and the discomfort. After all, they expect to have Ariel (I'm sorry to say that is her name) over the winter, and the tank is outside. We can wear what we want underneath the dry suit (like long-johns or sweaters or whatever,) but for those of you out there who don't know what it's like on Long Island in the winter, here's one small example to give you an idea: sometimes you think your eyeballs are freezing and it hurts to move your eye muscles. So, yeah. But, you know, thist kind of stuff builds character. :D

That's the update.

I was talking to Rob today about the dolphin thing (THURSDAY) and he says he thinks there might be a chance for everyone. That's a huge "might" but the chance is there! So in a few weeks, it could be that I will be playing dolphin mommy. I can't even imagine what that will be like. I know it's the in thing to love dolphins and everything and to act like you're all "connected" with them, but I've always been queer for the dolphin since I was a little kid. They are fantastic; so strong, true athletes. And I love their faces. They're not the perfect species and they're not socially perfect (dolphins do rape and murder just like people,) but they are fascinating. I so totally hope that I get to know one. I know I keep saying it, but I can hardly imagine it, just swimming around for hours in a dry-suit with a 200 pound dolphin who just wants to be your company for a while.

Incidentally, I also love sharks. I would not want to run into one outside of a controlled environment, but I do find them fascinating and beautiful. The place where the dolphin program is also might, in the future, host a "swimming with sharks" kind of thing. I think I'd do that, too.

I also made another 30STM video, and this one's just got me in it. I mean, some scenes and stuff, and you catch a glimpse of a few of my training brothers, but mostly it's just me goofing around and acting as if I'm making some kind of important piece of art. ;) (Which I totally am not.) The video is for their song Praying for a Riot, which is a cleverly hidden track that sneaks in before the two other hidden tracks. It's only like 2 minutes long but it's a gorgeous song. (My favorite part is his voice right there at that very last second.)

Anyway, this video is just me having fun with my camera and with various filters and some good ole' fashioned computer animation.

Download. A measly 25 MB.

Or YouTube which is buggy lately. (Is this something to do with Google? Better not be!)

( Or just look at it here: )

It only took me a few hours, actually, once I got MovieMaker to behave a bit.

Well, now it's time to feed the Ninja Wizards and then myself. Tonight I have to re-set iTunes and my iPod all over again (stuffing all of my music back into iTunes! But hey, at least I have my music back.) Then I either work on my Halloween costume, which has to be the coolest thing ever for the concert, or work on my book. Which will it be? WHICH? :)