modemgirl

simon is home! minus a collar but safe and sound, and i am overwhelmed by relief and joy.

after freaking out for a few hours after i got home from work yesterday morning, i had a stroke of genius. i needed to invite some friends over to come hang out in my backyard during afternoon / evening, because if anything would lure a scared simon out of hiding it would be familiar, happy voices. i paged the troops just as i lay down for a couple hours of sleep, and later that afternoon they arrived with smiles, music, and hula hoops. just as i was getting ready to leave for work we spotted a timid little face peeking around the corner!! i squeal and scare him back into the neighbours yard, but some with some patience and cookies i soon had him back in my arms.

and…….. i have to say thank you so much, to EVERYONE. you are all so amazing and i am so, so touched at the amount of support i received over the past couple days. old friends, new friends, far away friends, work friends, neighbours, strangers on the internet, and people i’ve only met a handful of times reaching out to offer their support, volunteering to help me look for him, or just offering a kind word and sympathy. as someone who has always moved around a lot and never really “fit in” to any of the communities i found myself in growing up, it absolutely astounds me to have such an overwhelming response from such a huge network of AMAZING people. words are not enough for me to express the gratitude i feel toward all of you.

i know i was likely overreacting, but the thought of no simon in my life absolutely destroys me. we have been through so much together – he is my best friend. to know that there are people all over the planet who recognized that and took even a moment out of their busy day to offer a few kind words of reassurance means the world to me. the socially awkward little girl from rural manitoba is extremely humbled and grateful for the opportunity to call so many fantastic beings my friends, and i hope that one day i will be able to return the favour.

simon has decided to go on an adventure tonight, and i am a bit upset.  i’m really hoping he is in one of my neighbours apartments (he loves to sneak in when he thinks no one is looking) because he is not an outdoor cat and hasn’t been outside since we moved to mount pleasant. otherwise he’s wandering around the dark, rainy night going MUM. MUM. MUM. I AM OUTSIDE. IT IS DARK. WHERE IS MY TUNNEL? MUM!!

i wandered around outside for an hour or so calling him, but gave up and decided to come to the coffee shop to try and get some work done.

fast forward to sitting in the window facing main street, drinking coffee and typing away on my macbook. totally not productive. worrying about my little boy. then a couple hip looking dudes walked by and gave me great smiles, which i quickly returned before going back to watching enthralling frame relay videos (fyi that video it will change your life, srsly.)

20 minutes later i notice the two dudes have returned. one walks up to the window with a notepad and presses it against the glass, with the words ‘you look wonderful when you smile’ written on it in big letters. HUGE GRIN. then they both smile and wander off into the night.

i’m trying to remember a theory i read once, something about not taking the gifts we have forgranted. there are certain things we could never imagine happening, the worst possible things that we assume will never happen to us, and these things will someday be the greatest challenges we will face. for example, i can’t imagine being blind, so every day i try to be conscious and grateful for the gift of working eyes. the same goes for being able bodied, free from disease, relatively sane, from a family who loves me, living in a country where i am free to do/be/say whatever i want (more or less) without persecution. or even things such as every day when i get home and my house is not a cloud of ash and smoke, i am thankful, because i know that could change in a second.

i just think it’s important to keep these types of things in mind and to be thankful for them, because our lives can change exponentially in the blink of an eye. one truck driver having a bad day could miss one stop sign and kill you, your best friend, your nemesis. a mugger could stab you in the eye, someone could fall asleep with a lit cigarette, or leave a ball of fat full of fish hooks out for your dog to find. or you could meet the love of your life, only to have him die of brain cancer two months later. or someone could carelessly let your cat-son out one rainy night… you just never know.

a life without simon is something i just can’t imagine, but reality is fleeting and we must be ready to face whatever randomness the chaos deals us. fingers crossed he’ll be waiting on the couch on the porch when i get home, and tonight is merely a reminder for me to not take his little face for granted. perhaps it’s also a reminder for him – to appreciate his cushy indoor life!

What should be part of a comprehensive network security plan?

A. Minimize network overhead by deactivating automatic antivirus client updates.
B. Encourage users to use personal information in their passwords to minimize the likelihood of passwords being forgotten.
C. Delay deployment of software patches and updates until their effect on end-user equipment is well known and widely reported.
D. Physically secure network equipment from potential access by unauthorized individuals.
E. Allow users to develop their own approach to network security.
F. Go for burgers

this study break was brought to you by the letters *headdesk* and *epic fail*. now back to work!

exciting news! modemgirl radio is getting ready to launch into the airwaves in real life! my good friend gene eric from sleizure has gone travelling and asked if i wanted to take over his radio slot on CJSF (simon fraser campus radio) and i said yes! right now i’m in the studio up on top of burnaby mountain, waiting to start my first on air training session. it’s funny because i’ve already spent so much time in this studio – i look around and see the the collage of meat products and women’s legs that i made for sleizure, the floor upon which i carved a pumpkin that said ‘worship meat’, the rotunda where we threw not one but TWO all night dance parties, the studio that’s been the epicentre of all sorts of madness and a couch that i’ve curled up on to be lulled to sleep at 4am by the soothing sounds of my partner mixing intergalactic space gabber… sooooo many memories. and now, it’s my turn to step up and take the reins. i’ve got quite the legacy to live up to, but i think i’m up for it!

i’m SUPER excited about the show. initially i was worried because it’s quite a significant commitment, but ever since i agreed to take over the slot i’ve been mixing a ton and realizing that i have soooo much music that needs to be shared, and i can ramble on about why it’s awesome for hours on end. the show is going to give me an amazing outlet because radio is totally my favourite venue, for multiple reasons!

low pressure
without a bunch of people standing on a dancefloor expecting you to “rock the house”, i find there’s a lot more room for creativity. the mixes i “release” (for lack of a better word) are usually somewhat planned ahead of time, with a specific emotion or audience in mind, which is the same way i approach dj-ing a party. the reason i do this, and don’t just go buck wild and play whatever i want, is because if i did that i might end up playing anabolic frolic pitched down to 125 bpm and mixed into funky baseline breaks. or i might just do a search and only play songs with the word ’satan’ in the title for an hour. who knows, stranger things have happened. not so good if you end up clearing a dancefloor and making people cry. but, if you’re hosting a late night college radio show focussing on hard / weird / experimental / random electronic music, these mixes are not only acceptable, but encouraged and awesome!

potential exposure to a wider audience
i am in LOVE with the concept of random people driving around late at night and stumbling across a gabber remix of brooklyn bounce on the radio. i just think about how happy that would make me to find, and to know that i will be giving that experience to random weirdos who happen to be scanning the radio at 4am – awesome! thats about as trolsk as you can get.

creative outlet
i used to get a lot of enjoyment out of throwing and promoting parties, but i find i just don’t have the time / energy / drive / interest to do event planning right now. it takes a lot of money, time and dedication, as well as a solid team that you can rely on to help you out. all of that just requires more energy than i have to give right now. the radio show, i think, is going to give me an outlet to do a lot of the things i love about promoting, but without a lot of the stressful parts. theme shows, promoting, collaborating with other artists, bringing on guests, organizing, planning, and best of all – getting to play dance music REALLY LOUD – without having to worry about impressing because i don’t have to worry about the zillions of dollars i’ve invested in renting a venue / sound / security / lighting / staff etc. ALSO, i kinda like to be in charge! so with the show i will have total creative control, as long as i don’t piss off the CRTC… which is even easier when your show starts at midnight!

not sure when i will be going live, but i’m hoping within the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

hey i have a photoshop challenge for anyone who’s up for it! i’d like a mashup of these two images, however you see fit. i’d do it myself but with work + studying + mixing+ sun = can only handle so many hours in front of a computer before my eyes fall out of my head.  plus i realized i have a lot of designer friends who are far more excellent at photoshop than i, and it will probably take you like four seconds to spit out something that will take me all afternoon.

there’s another image here that might help, and one here that might make your head explode.

also… i am offering like +5453453 awesome points to anyone who understands why this combination of concepts is hilarious. because it is! and so is the mix. crystal distortion, trollybus circus, biroshima, britney spears and REM finally together at last. freetek!!!

<3serra

ok, i’m going to write my CCNA exam in a couple weeks, for serious it’s true this time. so before i started studying yesterday i took a moment and did some mixing, and this is what happened. the back story is that i went to co-lab for some bass the night before, and ran into my friend leon. (yes leon, i’m blaming this on you.) i’ve only met this dude a couple times before, but i’ve decided he’s cool based purely on the fact that he likes spiral tribe and unit mobius. call me techno-prejudice!

i’ve been listening to a lot of fifth era style doom techno lately. i can’t explain it, but for some ungodly reason this is sort of what it sounds like inside my head a lot of the time. perhaps i am just fully embracing the fact that i am soon going to be officially “late night college radio techno lady” and don’t have to pretend to play normal music at all anymore? but really i’ve had an insatiable love for this kind of techno since i was a teenager and it doesn’t appear to be dissipating as i grow up despite the fact i admit it’s almost completely devoid of any technical musical merit.

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M0D3MGIRL-NETWERKKOMANDAH

this is a 40 minute livemix, no edits, far from perfect and and very much NOT for the techno lightweight. recorded in the midst of a circadian transition from day to nightwalker while studying a million hours a day, i’m not going to pretend this is accessible or nice to listen to, but still i will post it for .00000001% of the population who vibrate at the same wavelength as i do….  the first song is one of many ‘relics’ from the aqua zara vaults – a mecca of MP3s downloaded from “napster” in 28.8k glory back in 1999-2000 – and features a sample from “hello my future girlfriend, this is what i sound like” along with an assortment of hard techno, booty house, and “deathno” (but not the nice kind like you want).

this video isn’t new, but it’s adorable, and it’s friday night for me, woo! enjoy your tuesday everyone ^__^

Hey next month I am participating in the Ride to Conquer Cancer! The ride goes from Vancouver to Seattle and is a fund raiser, with all proceeds going to fund cancer research by the  BC Cancer society. This is something that I’ve been interested in doing for a while now, being both a cyclist and someone who’s been profoundly impacted by this disease, so when another girl from my work put out the word that she was looking to put together a PEER 1 team I knew this was the year.

So my Surly Long Haul Trucker is going to finally get a chance to do what it was built to do. 227 km in two days, south across the 49th parallel. Me along side thousands of others riding in memory of those we’ve lost and in hope and support of those still fighting the battle. I imagine it’s going to be quite a challenging ride, both physically and emotionally – as I’m assuming the majority of us are not full time long distance cyclists such as the owner of my bike’s brother, IT guru turned renegade tekno cycling nomad. I think most of us are in for a real challenge – Fingers crossed for sunny skies on June 19 and 20th!

I’m sure everyone involved in the ride has their story. Personally, I’ll be riding in honour of my mom, who we lost to pancreatic cancer in January of 1992, when I was 7, as well as her sister who died of lung cancer in 2007, in support of my uncle who is still fighting, and in celebration of a family friend and a loved mentor who have both emerged triumphant from the disease. I’m sure there are countless others in my life who have been affected by this disease, and I’ll be sending love and light to everyone as I peddle down to Seattle next month.

Hey remember back in 2008 when I raised nearly $1000 for chopping all my hair off with a group of girls from my old job? (That’s me in the yellow in case you can’t recognize me in all my business casual glory!) I was overwhelmed by the support from my family and friends that year, and I’m hoping all you wonderful people are still as amazing and generous, because  I have to raise at least $2500 in order to participate in the ride! I still have a long way to go, and I’m counting on support from viewers like you!  Operators are standing by now to take your call…. or you could click on over to my personal fund raising page. Every little bit helps, and there’s an option that allows you to make multiple smaller donations over time which makes donating even easier.

I hope that you’ll all consider sharing this incredible adventure with me by supporting my fund raising efforts.

In advance, I Thank You all SO much for your generosity.

Love and Light,
Serra