Stephen-

So, another impasse.

I have found that I can make a decent Ultrabeat. But you can only make 32 bars worth of patterns, and then this pattern is stuck there for the whole project (maybe not, but I do not know otherwise at this point).

I have spent four or so hours trying to get the EXS24 to work, and I have gotten to the point where I can put sounds on a track, but it appears (again at least at this point on my learning curve) that you have to enter the sounds LIVE, as the track plays, by hitting digital piano keys. I am thinking that there has to be another way, but I have not found it.

I have two books on Logic Pro, but it is like having a book to learn French, but the book is in Swedish.

How do YOU put drums on a track?

[Daughter] is here through the weekend and I hope to entice her to play guitar, some. When do you go to Baja? (or are you there now?)

d

Here's a picture of the leftover purple sequin stretch trim that I have from doing my veil. I've got more than enough to make the headbands (about 2.5-3 feet worth), so all we need is some velcro (which I might also have) and some big feathers to put in it. :) I also got a good coupon for Joanns yesterday for 15% off total purchase including sale stuff.

Wednesday works for me.

Generally, I have a pretty flexible schedule (except when it's not) and can host a can-cutting party just about any night. Even if it's only one or two other people, we could get a pizza, watch a movie, whatever--the cutting isn't very mentally taxing, so it leaves plenty of room for conversation. But there will be a LOT of cans that need cutting!

I'm about 3 hours from Boston. I go to New York City a lot, so I usually drive to Portland (1 hour) and then take a bus to Boston (2 hours) and then catch a train. Sometimes I also fly out of Boston when I go to Florida, although lately the fares have been just as good from Portland. As you can see, I am a New England Travel Expert. :)

Looking at the tops on AnnTaylor.com- man that stuff is UGLY! Will have to look at the LOFT site, hopefully they have nicer stuff.

Got home OK- I see that the TSA searched my bag and unpacked the dang beach tent! If only they knew how long it took to get it all in the little bag!

[not much 'personal' email for me anymore - the NSA won't get anything from me that isn't in MeFi or MeCha - so the last thing I sent was a contribution to the collaborative mashup comic 'Square Root of Minus Garfield' in which I changed a punchline to make it semi-funnier... note: contains yet unpublished content!]

I know I already have seven (SEVEN) contributions waiting in the queue, but just because Paws Inc. keeps tossing softballs in the daily Garfields:

The Garfield Channel
≡ Click to see image ≡

For non-Americans, HGTV is short for Home & Garden TV, the dominant channel in its programming niche in the US, while SyFy is the phonetically renamed SciFi Channel - its new ID giving it the freedom to include Pro Wrestling and weird Reality Shows in its schedule, so such a merger is not as far-fetched as you may think. (The Garfield Show airs on Cartoon Network, which has expanded its scope to include some non-cartoon shows, further proving my point.)

Original strip: 2013-06-29.
≡ Click to see image ≡

To a friend suggesting dinner:

Oh, it would be wonderful to see you, [friend]! We found a new place called [name of restaurant] we think you'd love. How about next Thursday, August 29? (I have a yoga class on Wednesday night.) We will take care of the reservations and your transportation.

Sent from my iPad

Hey. Thanks for asking. I had mentioned them before. I do want the cookbooks please, especially the vintage one. can you please mail them? Book rate is fine.

First, it looks like there was a mistake with my journals this week in that I was given my normal 200, but someone missed the fact that I had a journal which was actually 2 articles and 57 comments, the latter not being indexed. So I'm about 57ish articles short on my allocation this week. I would have contacted [colleague] about it, but he's on leave this week.

Huh, I just realized that I rarely send emails as it's mainly used for bill payment confirmations.

The most recent:
(First sentence redacted)

I've not heard anything other than standard response that the application was received and it will take 6-8 weeks to process all the applications.

Sunday afternoon I was slammed with a cold: no forewarning in advance. Today I've done nothing but read, take pills, blow my nose and suck on hard candies.

At least I had a good book to read, The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler. Very nicely done.

I'm trying to find motivation to clean the dishes and at the same time avoid comfort foods while I baby this cold. Damn I feel old.

Take care.

Sleepy. Kidlet fell asleep at 5:30p

Someone at work is pissing me off. All these things that didn't get done when they should have must be done now. And it's obviously all my fault that they aren't done yet. Nevermind the fact I'm not doing any of the work. Bastard.

I ate so much crap today, it's not funny. I blame work stress.

[Friend] thinks she's moving towards getting a divorce. Given her husband's lack of respect (which seemed to be the phrase du jour on [forum] today), it's been kind of in the works since I known her honestly. So I need to figure out something supportive to say other than "i'm sorry, that sucks".

End up going to bed early last night because I was bored and couldn't find anything I wanted to do. Probably do the same tonight.

Did I mention I brought kidlet penguin shoes? Aren't they adorable :o) http://www.target.com/p/momo-baby-infant-girls-penguin-shoe-white/-/A-14264112

[Coworker#1]'s not going bowling tomorrow. I'll still go even if [Co-worker#2] changes her mind about going -- I should make some work friends outside of them.

I didn't mix the salad. Got to my mail too late.

Hey ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT OF FUNDER,
I will absolutely be there, as will COWORKER from MYWORKPLACE. At this time we are trying to determine who else from OTHERAGENCY is coming, but with GRANT MANAGER on vacation, we’re in a holding pattern. GRANTCONSULTANT is working on that. So COWORKER and I do not have travel plans yet. I do know that we’ll need to stay the night before and possibly one night afterwards, because I can’t find a non-redeye flight. Do you have a negotiated rate? Looking at the hotel website, it’s looking like it’s ~$260 a night, which is pretty steep, so if you have a lower rate you were able to get, could you let us know if we can access that?

Thanks, and I’ll be in touch ASAP.

[I am loving reading these]

Hey Molly,
I had a thought that I wanted to share with you. Last night I watched a Daily Show from last week, and the guest was Sarah Vowell, who was on to promote David Rakoff's posthumously released book. (I don't know if you watch the Daily Show or not). And the way that the host and Sarah were talking about David (I love him) was so funny and loving and tinged with grief, even now, nearly a year after his passing - I couldn't help but think of Susan. She was our David Rakoff! That beautiful, talented, generous, kooky, loving and absolutely irreplaceable figure. I bawled like a goddamn baby.
I hope that your summer is going well, I've heard that your heat has been brutal. When it's hot in NYC, I think about what Carrie Fisher said in one of her books about the heat in New York (and I am liberally paraphrasing) - The heat in New York is like a cough - it's like everyone in the whole country came here and coughed.
When I lived in Sampa, I would always think of that line in the summer and laugh (and cry at the same time, because really - who wants to breathe in everyone else's cough?).
Hugs,

To: [my brother]

From Jeff Nichols, the director of "Shotgun Stories," comes "Mud" with Matthew McConaghey, Reese Witherspoon, and a couple of kids... it's really good, a damn strong movie. Also has Michael Shannon in it, always a treat. Everything in it is done right. Seriously worth seeing.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1935179/

The guy who directed and starred in the mind-blowingly weird (and excellent) Japanese art film "Symbol," Matsumoto Hitoshi, also directed and starred in a really crazy documentary style comedy called "Big Man Japan" about a down-and-out giant-monster-fighting hero. I think [my nephew] might enjoy it as well. I don't think there's anything too adult, though some of the family stuff might be a little tiresome. He might really enjoy the fight scenes.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0997147/

Following on from our discussion last week of genealogy indexing of the 1940 Census via Family Search, I thought you might like to see a list of all of the indexing projects that Family Search (aka LDS Church) currently has available. [link]

To: friend from university

Hm. Je kennis van dialektiek schiet duidelijk te kort. Toch jammer van een oud-filosofiestudent.

On a more positive note: cuddly dracula http://mlkshk.com/r/T23E
In lijn met de zwarte-kat-als-vampier troop.
Misschien vind mevr. [achternaam vriend] die foto wel aardig.

Trouwens; we hadden het over expatvrouwen en hun paradoxale kritiek op nederlandsheid en gelijktijdige adoratie voor Audrey Hepburn - van Heemstra.
Dan is het grappig om haar vreemde engelse accent te horen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zorxr3IaksM&feature=youtu.be&t=24s
En dat dan te vergelijken met haar nederlandse accent. http://youtu.be/2-eivVzNDUw?t=2m10s

Ik meen te horen dat ze een typisch nederlands gebrek aan aspiratie heeft in haar engelse uitspraak.
Ik heb trouwens nog niemand ontmoet die die linguistische observatie over het nederlandse accent bij het spreken van engels herkende wanneer ik het voordeed.
Voor non-nederlanders is dat niet gek omdat ze het onderscheid niet kennen. Zoals duitsers het verschil tussen v en w niet horen en aziaten niet het verschil tussen l en r....

Leigh went by herself. I don't understand why that's a big deal. A lot of people were there alone.

Sent from my iPhone

On what grounds does he not believe in trash picking? I'm not saying his views are unfounded - I can see someone having a thing about it, I'm just curious about the whys and wherefores.