So I checked the building hub, and my connection was good. My jack was good. I swapped out my cable, then I swapped out the NIC card. Then I ended up stripping out all the newer hardware and reverting to factory specifications and starting over.
Apparently as long as I install the sound card *before* the NIC, everything works fine. We shall see.
My personal life was much less frightening than usual yesterday, with the exception of the "outing" of my journal. I'm not quite sure how, but I suddenly have my ex-boyfriend and some people from my real life circle of friends visiting my pages. This doesn't really bother me. I just thought it was uncanny that so many people should find me all at once! I'm used to writing to the vast, nameless void that is the internet. I've described it as "ashes to ashes"... all my overloaded feelings and thoughts go flying out into the ether, and just seem to vanish. It's wonderful.
Last night I had a great time. I played some piano, some percussion, some flute and some clarinet, and Forest played the violin, along with his cousin and his wife. I had forgotten how much I missed making music in a group of people. Then we went for dessert and were generally chilled out together. It's nice to see him when I'm not angst-ridden and stressed. Very relaxing.
In case anyone missed it, last night was an absolutely beautiful night in mid-Michigan. Fall is my favorite season. The air is crisp and dry and cool, and smells faintly of falling leaves. The moon is huge in the sky on nights like these, and shines so brightly that you can see your shadow in the moonlight as clearly as by day. One of my favorite things about living in a small town is that I can enjoy the darkness of night, and therefore I can see the stars and the moon more clearly.
I think I'm going to dig a bonfire pit in my back yard.
