Willo O'Brien

“E-mail could be a kind of intermittent relief from having to think about things that are not really that enjoyable, but when it becomes a habit so you can’t do without it, then it becomes the tail that wags the dog, and it’s a problem.” [read more]

link from 43folders.com

Anyone who knows me well, knows I absolutely despise cigarettes. I feel like making t-shirts that say [front] At first I thought you were hott… [back] but then I saw your nasty cigarette. BLECH! Or something like that. Anyway, that’s how I feel a lot of the time… I’ll see some guy I think is attractive, then I’ll see him next with a cigarette and I gag.

Anyway… let this news story remind all you smokers that it’s not only disgusting, smelly, life threatening, but also dangerous to EVERYONE AROUND YOU! But you knew that & you keep reachin for another one. I think my feelings can best be expressed by quoting Mr. T here when he says, “I Pity the Fool”.

I also hate it how you throw your butt’s on the ground, thinking someone is actually just supposed to go around picking up your trash. The World Is Not Your Trashcan. If you’re a smoker, please think twice about this and stop littering our streets with your bad habit.

It’s not only funded by big evil corporations, but it’s a bad example for our kids and I personally have 2 close friends who have lost their family members to lung cancer. Smoking is so “cool”! (ugg)

Stop making excuses and just quit! :)

/end rant

I have these books on my wishlist, do any of you have one of em on your bookshelf you can share with me? And/or have any of you read any of these & recommend them? Or have another you recommend I pick up?

Lastnight at the studio with the girls was so fun! I got the red kit which was way better than the black one I rented a few weeks ago. The snare sounded great and I even got there before the girls so I was practically all set up by the time they came in! Misty even gave us Valentines.. Chocolates w/ Carmel… YUMM!! And then she laughed at me because when I held up the “treats” I had brought, one of them was Ricolah Honey Herb throat drops. hahaa… can you tell I’ve been sick for a few weeks? :p I love these things though, and for a late night of laughing and talking and bangin on the drums, they actually were a perfect (and long lasting!) treat. :)

So, we worked on Monkey Gone to Heaven by the Pixies over & over lastnight… and we actually got WAY better from the first time we played it to how we sounded by the end of practice! Which is SO cool!!! Keep in mind for all you experienced musicians out there, this now counts the 2nd. time. EVER. I have played with other people in my life and it is rocking my world!!! It’s so amazing to make music with other people… and have all us girls discussing the song, discussing where each of us comes in, trying new things out with their singing, etc. So neat! :)

Misty & Hez had played this song with their friend before, so they were able to help tell me where some parts come in (the beginning and then fill that comes in, in a few parts of the song: tom + floor tom beat for 3, then snare + floor tom, then crash symbol on the 1) and by the end of the night I had it!! Although by the end of the night I was also kinda sore! haha! Playing music is hard work! Not to mention staying focused on all the things to remember within a song.. on the last time through my body practically gave out.. Misty looked at me like “what is happening?!” But I couldn’t control it, I was short circuiting! :p I have mad respect for these musicians who play really really long sets… and I’m sure I’ll strengthen my rock muscles with enough practice! :)

Before going lastnight a few of us were really feeling tired.. and a movie was sounding DAMN good… but I knew as soon as we got in there we would be lovin’ it – and we did. We were all totally pumped by the end, and had a great time. I can’t wait to get back in there & play some more!

p.s. No pics or vids this time, but I will next time!

DCResource just posted a press release about the release of the two new *awesome* Canon Elph’s hittin the shelves! I’m really stoked on the SD500… (but I gotta see how much bulkier it is than the SD400), but it looks amazing, so I’m sure I can handle the extra .2″ and go for it anyway. :)

These cameras have this cool new feature that’s not been seen before:

“New My Color feature gives you “virtual” color filters and also allows you to swap one color for another, without ever touching a computer….. Now even the most casual picture-taker can easily opt for verdant valleys of greener greens, juicy apples of redder red, skies and seas of bluer- blue and even add or reduce a little tan to the skin tone as they are shooting. Whether the desired effect is to make the color “more real” or surreal, these digital dynamos are capable of capturing and saving both the original still image and the enhanced color versions as separate files on the camera’s SD Memory Card.”

SWEET!!

And the “14% better battery life” + “50% better flash range” – AWESOME!!

There are may things I’m excited about on these cameras. Don’t worry – I will post another link here when they’re up for sale. I’m a fan! :)

Release dates & prices are waaay at the bottom of the page, so in case you’re looking for it – here: The PowerShot SD400 Digital ELPH Camera will be available in April and the PowerShot SD500 Digital ELPH will be available in March for estimated street prices of $399.99*, and $499.99* respectively.

I love spam email subject lines… I mean, that’s a good one! Maybe I’ll use that on my next singles profile. What is round & deliciously innocent on me? My face? My arse? My eyeball? eeww, you want to eat my eyeball!?!?

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Today my kitty is STOKED it’s not raining. Today I am making myself a pizza for lunch. Today I slept in because I was up late working on a deadline. Today I talked to my ex, and it was nice to hear his voice. Today I swapped “who’s your therapist?” emails with 4 girlfriends, and as one of them put it “this is so 2005”. Today I’m wearing my Paul Frank pajamas. Tonite I have BAM… and then later tonite I will be going to the rehearsal space to play with my rockstar girlfriends again! woohoo! We’ll be playing “Monkey Gone to Heaven” and “Hey Ya”… and I practiced both with my drum teacher yesterday. I’m also excited to show off that I can play the beat to “George of the Jungle”. That’s right.. rock stardom here I come!!

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Today I also read a beautiful post from a very sweet boy. Eric’s damn close in terms of what I want in a man… and I feel like it is a GREAT sign that I’m attracting these traits in potential suitors:

• Geekily fantastic. Eric blows me away in the fabulously geeky realm.. and that is HOTT. :) I should be sooo lucky!
• Master communicators. Having someone that not only is able to communicate openly and honestly with others, but with themselves is hard to find. I feel like it is absolutely wonderful that I am attracting this in the people around me.
• Eric’s a cat lover! (and not deathly allergic) yay!

There is a lot more I could say about Eric, and how wonderful he is. (Please do not ask me the reasons why, in the face of it seeming so right, I have declined. I trust you all will trust and understand that I know what’s best for me.) No doubt he will make an amazing partner for a very lucky girl. I told him that today… and that I already miss our friendship, as we IM all the time about mac stuff and blogging stuff (you know, geek talk :). But I understand this time he needs to take.

Man, life and emotions can be so tricky! But honestly I feel fortunate to have such clarity within myself to know what feels right in my heart. I wish that for everyone.

Ok pizza’s ready!

OMG!! I just finished ripping the VERY. LAST. CD.!!! I am *so* excited!! Finally after months (8 to be exact), I can officially say I’ve ripped my entire CD collection!! WOOOHOOOO!!!!

I now officially have 69.36GB on FattyGigger!! Of which, I have selected 55GB *worthy* of being on my phatty 60GB iPod! awww yaaaa :)

I chose to rip everything I have, and through it all I ripped a lot of stuff I really don’t care about & don’t think I’ll ever put on my iPod.. but I *love* the idea that everything I own (for the most part, since there were a few CD’s my drive wouldn’t read, or didn’t have the track listings and it wasn’t worth me figuring it out) documented in my iTunes library! So now, not only can I tell you if I own an artist, I can tell you with the click of a button, what albums I own… and listen to them in an instant! SWEEEEEEET. :)

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Speaking of music… I’m hitting a show this Thursday night at Thee Parkside. There are 3 local bands playing that are worth checking out:

HIJACK THE DISCO
I’ve seen Hijack the Disco once before – after having their mp3’s in rotation for awhile and loving their sound, they were really fun to see live. And turns out I know a guy who’s brother & roommate is in the band! (It’s a small world after all!) A few of their songs have been compared to Pinback, but they’ve got a great sound and energy all their own worth checking out!

FASTPASS
I have met most of this band… nice, nice guys… and one of them is even a client of mine (at his day job)! :p But besides all that, their tracks sound good and they’re a band that’s been getting talked about more & more… I’m looking forward to finally seeing them live!!

HUT DWELLERS
I’ve only heard about the Hut Dwellers so far… but all good things: One friend said they remind him of Minutemen, Firehose, Oneida. Another friend said, “they remind me of one of the house bands you’d see in a party scene of a russ meyer film. which is not only a compliment, but awesome.” hahaa. I’ve met one of their members briefly and I’ve heard they’re all really nice guys. On top of all that, their tracks sound good on their site, so I am looking forward to checking them out! (you can download their whole album off their site!)

Downloading note: If you’re a Firefox user, I highly recommend DownThemAll! Set up your own filter and call it music, and only look for .mp3’s on a page… makes it super easy! :)

2/17, 9PM (I’ll probably be there shortly after, as I’m wanting to see all 3 bands play!) and only $5!

Come join me for a beer and Support Local Music!! :)

As much as this might be a Hallmark inspired holiday, I have to say that I think it’s wonderful there is a whole day dedicated to celebrating LOVE!!! Love is such a truly magical and miraculous feeling.. and it doesn’t have to be about having a significant other to make you whole – no way jose! – it’s about loving yourself, loving life, loving the people around you who give to you and make your day brighter in any way shape or form. Celebrating the love that is within a family… both near and far.

Eat something sweet and remember how loved YOU are, give a stranger a smile, hug someone you care about but for some reason have never hugged! Spread the love today!

Send an e-card!! I made this back when I worked at Care2.com :)

Or send a cute card from a site I’ve fallen in love with today: HipsterCards, thanks to my friend Lucia sending me one! xoxo

Thank you for all of you reading who send me your love & support! Have someone give you a hug and close your eyes and pretend it’s from me! (remember, I give *really* good hugs, so if the first one isn’t good, keep hugging people till it feels right)

I am editing my blog template today – so things might be wacky for a few hours…. sorry! All done & working great!!!

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Updated: My friend Eric & I *geeked out* today and it was SOOO GREAT!! Where do I begin?!?!?

Well, first I left my house first thing this morning and headed down to his place, which in itself is incredible. He lives in this sweet little place in the woods!!!! It was like a breath of fresh air to me to be surrounded by that much green, lush, foresty goodness! And he lives smack dab in the middle of it all the time! Truly gorgeous and rejuvenating.

Eric’s darling friend Chrisann was over when I arrived and joined us for breakfast at the famous Alice’s Restaurant! We all had a very yummy meal in a cozy little cabin type feel of their back dining room.. eating off of what are barely sturdier than paper plates, with Classic Rock playing in the background, and a stream of bikers coming into dine. Awesome. I had the really yummy “Alice’s Omelet” which I highly recommend – but next time, I’m definitely trying the Huevos, as Eric got it & it looks amazing.

I had a great time meeting Chrisann. Talk about no coincidences, turns out she spent several years of her life doing wall painting and murals for individuals and health institutions like the Ronald McDonald House, etc.. so we had a LOT to talk about!!! She gave me some great ideas, advice and some serious food for thought on the more psychological/spiritual side of imagery for children. Really neat.

On the way back to Eric’s we stopped off to look at this amazing old Methuselah redwood tree [info]. How old? Oh, just 1800 YEARS OLD!!! How neat is that? It’s HUGE.

There’s a great story [link] behind the Methuselah trees around San Francisco and how they were used to rebuild the city after the fires long ago. Why this one was never cut down is a mystery, but it’s beautiful and I was so glad Eric took us there today to see it. I took some photos today, but there’s no way to capture how magnificent it is. Plus, today it was really foggy and just made for such a neat experience stepping into the damp woods to see this large, mossy, ancient grandfather of the forest. But I did have fun taking photos of the moss. Moss is so cool.

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So, finally after our relaxing breakfast and trek to see a big huge beautiful tree in the misty woods – we were ready to geek out!

See, Eric works at Blogger… and I, being the long time, loyal user of Blogger :) :) have needed some serious help fixing up my blog since they implemented a bunch of crafty new tags and features. Thanks CW!! I have for a long time had this hacked up php include thing happening on my blog… and really needed to get post pages working (which makes it so that when you want to use a permalink to one of my posts – which is the link on the time stamp fyi – it now goes to it’s VERY OWN PAGE!!!)… and now on those post pages, you can see the titles of my last 10 posts and everything! VERY COOL!!!

And yes, ladies & gentleman…. a redesign is in the works!!! This has gotten me totally pumped and now I can hardly wait to get on the redesign. Of course all of a sudden I’m slammed and the next 2 days I will actually hardly be on IM I have to put my head down & finish something up for a Wednesday deadline…. but maybe I’ll have some time near the end of the week. Anyway – LOTS of great things now work due to Eric helping me fix things up today. Now you can see the little orange beacon RSS thingy on the Firefox window, and the meta data is all goooood. It’s all good!! woohooo!

Oh! And HUGE props to the BAM tech wizard David who was on IM and I knew he’d be able to help me figure out how to make all my old permalink url’s forward to the new /archive/ directory. That kid is still in high school and absolutely SLAYS me with his coding ability. I was soooo grateful for his time today xoxoox Thank you David!!! David has no bio on BAM, or I’d link to it – he’s the tech/coder behind the scenes… but him & Danny also have done a ton of work on a very cool thing called: Gerpok. Check it out.

OK – so to top it all off, I have to spill that Eric gave me a Valentine’s gift!! Holy moly!! I was completely surprised, and totally delighted because it’s the yummiest sweetie treat from this awesome new bakery called Gâteau et Ganache. And if there is a girl in your life (or guy) lucky enough to receive some sweets from you… I have to personally recommend their 2 very first products launched for this Valentine’s Day: The Raspberry Sweethearts and the Strawberry Marshmallows. YUMM!!!! Eric had me blushing… what a total surprise. :) Thank you!!! xoxoxoxox

What a day. Ok… so now I must go to bed… but you can see more photos of the day here. Oh! And please let me know if you see any wierdness on the site… be my eyes, people! :)