Willo O'Brien

Viscosity.

A word you quickly learn when you’re squeezing eye drops and ointments into your eyeballs every 10 minutes… the only time blurry is actually a good thing. :)

arcade fire was EPIC the other night. photos coming soon!

yesterday becca & i took a turbo kick box class that kicked my arse! i went back & did some cardio today to keep things movin before i stiffin up like a 2 x 4! tomorrow’s gonna hurt.

lastnight i stayed up way too late working on a project for a client and then had to sleep in to get a semblance of 7 hours and now i’m feeling terribly behind today! but it’s ok – things are getting done at lightening speed around here.

i went & picked up my first rolls of film from the lomo & the holga! And the good news is – they both work! woohoo!! now I just have to start taking more interesting photos – there were a few jems in these though, so i’m stoked!! i can already tell this hobby is going to be an expensive one. :p

umm… i think that’s all. oh – except a big shout out to the whiz actionscripter in new caledonia (of all places!) that has helped me out BIG TIME this week! I’m hoping to refer him to some people here & get him a flash developer job. He’s got da skillz.

Yesterday I had something other than Thanksgiving dinner for the first time in a week. haha

And sadly I’m all out of whip cream. Which might be a good thing. I’m all out of Bailey’s though.. and that’s definitely a bad thing. Now you know what to get me for Christmas :)

Speaking of – I’ll be posting my list for Santa soon, as well as a list of fun goodies I’ve found online you might wanna buy for your loved one(s). Except bummer is I can’t show you all my great finds or I might spoil some surprises.

I’m buying an iSight tomorrow!

OK, back to work.

A lot of people have been asking me about my Lasik. Most people are very, very scared of doing it themselves. Understandable! I was too, but really I wasn’t *as* scared the more people I talked to who had it done.

I felt fortunate because I know, personally, almost 10 people who’ve had the procedure. And since then the list keeps growing. As of today all of these people I know have had it done: My Mom, her good friend Irene, my friend’s: Jeanna, Paula, Julie, Vera (here’s her story) and 2 of Rick’s friends, and even a few clients: Kevin, Paul and Mike. And I’m probably even forgetting a few people.

I just read this girl’s story of her getting lasik, which is pretty interesting. Overall, I’d say if you are wanting to get lasik and you are nervous. The #1 step is to go in and get a consultation. Just see what you are a candidate for and talk it through with the counselors. Don’t be afraid to visit a few doctors in your area so that you go with one you feel comfortable with. The safer you feel about their knowledge, skill and staff – the more safe you’ll feel getting the procedure done.

I won’t candy coat it – for me the procedure was way more intense than I thought it was going to be. Everyone’s always so elated they can SEE after those few scary minutes (and hours of uncomfortableness that go away after only ~ 5 hours) that they forget to tell you the procedure isn’t a total cake walk. But it’s also not THAT bad either.

For me to have gone through 15 intense minutes, and 1 hour of major uncomfortableness (before I drifted off to sleep for 2 hours) and now to just keep my eyes moist with drops all day for a few months… it is ALL sooooo worth it. There is not a day that goes by that I dont think at least once how miraculous it is that I don’t have contacts in my eyes. That I dont have to worry about rubbing my eyebrow in some way that lifts my eyelid up & my contact pops out… or worry about getting a hair under my contact while I’m driving and have to totally stop – and with no solution use my saliva to try to salvage my contact that I *must* have in order to drive. I mean – aaall of those annoyances are gone!

Let alone how fantastic it will be to go traveling, scuba diving and snowboarding without having to worry about my contacts. It’s pretty frickin cool.. :)

How great is it when you can go to a show and actually come away loving the band MORE than before you went?!?! AWESOME!!!

Pedro the Lion was excellent to say the least and way more rockin than I thought it was going to be. I loved his Q&A while he tuned his guitar… he’s very personable and humble.

Total surprise (that I learned just tonite before going to the show) was the opener, Half-Life Souvenir has Rosie Thomas in the band! Neat! She was uber mousy and not very talkative like she is at her own shows. They were just OK to me, kinda boring actually – but cool that she was there none the less :) I might like them more on CD.

I was bummed though because I missed Viva Voce – *unlisted on Slims website or anywhere else that they were playing!!* In tribute, I just bought their album off iTunes.

Next up: Arcade Fire tomorrow night – I’m SOOO STOKED on this show!!!

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Random note: I’ve eaten Thanksgiving dinner (that I just made Saturday night in case you’re just catching up here) every single day for the past 5 days. Sometimes for lunch & dinner! And I often eat punkin pie for breakfast. aaww yaaaa! :) I’d like to think it’s my fantastic cooking… but really, who couldn’t eat green bean cassarole every single day? It’s SOOO GOOD! :)

how’s that for the name of my new band? hahhaa

Actually it’s my new vigorous routine. Ya see.. my left eye has been really blurry. We’re talkin ‘close the right eye & the left eye can’t see the dashboard clearly, or the computer clearly’ blurry. Pretty blurry. The thing was, it would be clear when I woke up in the morning but within 45 min-2 hours it would start to get really blurry and would get increasingly worse throughout the day. Then if the other eye got blurry at all, I was really having to squint to see road signs & stuff!

Needless to say I was worried, so I called the Doctors office (and the Eye Doctor called me back) and basically he said that they get calls all the time and that it’s very normal while you’re healing for one eye to be blurrier than the other & vis versa. That, and that blurriness is a sign of dryness, so to make sure I was putting drops in, etc.

Well, I had been, so I was skeptical that could be the problem, but I was willing to give it a couple more days and go in the following week (tomorrow) if it was still doing that. So 5 days of this goes by, which leads us to yesterday, and I talk to my Mom and tell her what is goin on and she freaks. (My Mom is a tad over-reactive when it comes to her children’s health) She insists I go in right away, making me scared shit-less I have some ‘wrinkle in the flap’ that will never ever go away and I need to go in and make sure my flap is OK (insert more smothering motherly panic here).

Thing is, Dr. Hyver has 3 locations, and yesterday they were in Santa Clara instead of Daly City. Adding a good 30 minutes to my drive down a very busy freeway, not to mention having to drop everything I was doing for 3 clients to take the trip mid-day. ug. But I was concerned (and annoyed with my lack of clear site), too – so I went for it. And really, panic attack aside, I’m thankful for her concern. xoxo

So, long story longer, I have dry eyes! wahoo! Everyone’s different in this procedure.. and the thing is my eyes haven’t been feeling as dry, but the vision blurring is a tell tale sign. Plus – the biggest culprit of all is the fact that I stare at a computer screen all day. It says it right on the eye drop bottles under “what causes dry eyes”. Yup that’s me! No wonder it was only a couple days after going back to work that they got *really* dry.

So I got plugs! Have you ever heard of this? Well, if you knew someone who has had lasik – or maybe more than a couple people, and they’d have to be close enough to you to be telling you the nitty gritty details – you’d have heard they probably had this too. What it is is they plug up 1 of the tear ducts in each eye, so that your eye isn’t draining fluid as fast and you keep more lubrication on the eye. Cool! Apparently you can even get em taken out – but I think it’s actually kinda neat. Man, modern technology these days!!! It’s awesome!

So the GREAT news is my new vigorous lubrication plan is already working!! Normally by this time I couldn’t see my computer screen clearly, let along across the room (with just my left eye that is) – and now I can!! I’m a lubricating MACHINE! hahahaa (double entendre, anyone?!)

OK – so a few general things to note here:

#1 If YOU or someone you know is going to get Lasik, please know that not all people have dry eyes. Some people never have a problem with it! And mine is probably just exacerbated by the computer use. I’m a zombie on this thing for a minimum of 10-12 hours a day. It’s no mystery I have dry(er) eyes. That said, other computer freaks that have lasik might not have the prob at all.

The biggest piece of advice I can offer to any computer user: BLINK OFTEN

#2. This applies to all of you people out there with eyeballs – take note!

“Most over-the-counter tear replacement solutions contain preservatives, which are toxic to the eye if used more than four times a day.” SOURCE LINK

That said, any time you get Lasik they will tell you to use preservative free drops – which come in these twist off cap containers that contain about 4 or 5 drops. Also now I am using gels and ointments which are thicker.. and the ointment specifically can only be used at night since it’s like vaseline on your eye… but the gel drops (TheraTears and Refresh Liquigel) I’ve been putting in the bottom of my eyelid all day and it works to still see.

Word to the wise re: Getting Lasik – budget approx $100 for eye drops, gels, etc! And be prepared for the healing process which for very few may take a couple weeks, but more realistically it’s about 6 months to a year. Which now that I’ve had it done, I can honestly say it’s a small price to pay for the next 20 years free of contacts & glasses = 20/20 vision!

Oh! And for more natural remedies – I’m drinking more water & I’ll be picking up some Flax Seed Oil supplements.

The Better To See You With My Dear,

xoxo

willo

I had a dream lastnight that we were at some huge outdoor music festival… but instead of sitting in the stands with everyone I wanted to get closer. And as soon as I started moving closer I realized we had been WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY far away from *any* of the action – and that actually the bands were cruising down these slopes, like a ski mountain, but it was summer time so they were on wheels. So I devised some crazy skateboard/cardboard contraption and cruised down after them so I could be right up on the action.

As soon as I got closer I realized it was the Red Hot Chili Peppers… but “their people” also noticed me and tried to advise me I wasn’t supposed to be getting that close. But I of course didn’t listen and kept on with them.

Next thing I know Anthony Kiedis stopped and noticed I had a bottle of whip cream I’d been hittin as I went down the slopes (HA! I told you I’m addicted, I can’t even put it down in my dreams!). So he stopped and asked for a shot of it, so I did (filled his mouth with whip cream). However, since it was a hot day the whip cream wasn’t as solid as it normally is right out of the fridge… but he didn’t care and instead motioned like he then wanted a whip cream kiss from me!! But I wasn’t sure that’s what he meant… and remember feeling like maybe I couldn’t understand what he was saying, since his mouth IS full of whip cream after all. So I got close to his mouth but didn’t actually touch my lips to his. But he seemed dissatisfied with that and kept leaning in for the kiss. And at that point I thought, hell ya! I mean helloooo Anthony Kiedis is trying to kiss me with a mouth full of whip cream, what am I waiting for!!?!? So I planted one on em.

:) mmmm… whip creaaaam.

What a weekend so far!! Lastnight I had a company party to go to (one of my clients), where the drinks were free and shots were being given out like candy. OY!

It was held at Kate O’Brien’s and since I knew it’d be free drinks & I know a lot of the people at this company who are so fun to party with, I took a cab. Smart decision as I was in no shape to drive later on. Needless to say, it was SUCH a blast!!

Later on I’d planned to go see my friend Hai in the mission where he had gathered a few people to celebrate his bday, so I grabbed a few of the guys and we taxi’d down to meet Hai & friends at Doc’s Clocks. Then shortly after left & went to the Makeout Room, but after screaming at the top of my lungs over the music I realized I was getting horse and so we left & hit the LAC. By the time we sat down a few minutes later the lights went on – oh my god, 2am already!? It was a good thing… It was time to go home & crash! It was such a fun night!

Today I had an appt this morning, then came home & watched my TiVo’d episode of ER, ate some soup, and took a nap :) Then I read some of my book (I’m only a few pages away from being done! woohoo!)

And now I’m making Thanksgiving dinner. “WHAT!?”, you say… Yup! Rick & I had bought all the fixings for Turkey day thinking we’d be chillin here w/ me recovering from lasik – but instead I was feeling great so we went over to Brad & Jina’s instead.

So this food’s been staring at me and tonite I’m finally cooking it! I’m excited! I have never made Thanksgiving dinner! :) I’m making the small Butterball turkey, garlic & rosemary mashed potatoes and a green bean casserole. I’ll be surprised if I don’t burn the house down! hahhaa.. I’m not much of a cook. I had to look up a recipe for the mashed potatoes for christ sake! hahaa

Anyway – thought I’d check in while the Turkey’s roasting.

Later tonite I have yet another crazy night in store… My good friend Rebecca’s having a huge birthday party. Her friends have planned something extraordinary and I’m so excited!!

Oh, we also hit The Kills show at Bottom of the Hill the night before… who were AWESOME to finally see live. Why this band is not selling out larger venues yet is beyond me, I love them!!

I have some great pics from that show & the Neko show (thank goodness I snuck 2 in before the Bimbos security dood walked buy & snatched up someone elses camera!) that I’ll post as soon as my battery recharges.

Here’s a photo of the thermometer in my house from when I woke up this morning. One word: Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I can’t believe it’s Friday already!!!!

My pretty friend Jem met me at Bimbos, and we watched the Sadies tell stories with their earnest, twangy ditties… between each one, thanking the “Ladies and Gentlemen” in the room. Quite quaint, and overall music you can’t help but move and smile to. Especially considering the guy on the left (guitar and violin) was making some of the awesomest lion raaawwrrr faces while he sang. I told Jem how much he was cracking me up, and she (as I expected since she’s funny like this) proclaimed she was just thinking how she wants to marry him. hehe I love Jemmy.

You know what else I love? Baileys on ice, baby. Yesterday had been “one of those days” – so on the way over I kept thinking how much lastnight was a night I wished I had a flask of Baileys on me something fierce. As luck would have it, while I was waiting for Jem out front I saw that liquor store across the street staring at me, so I just thought I’d go in & take a peek. What kind of lush buys her own Baileys to sneak in & pour over ice? Well, a budget conscious one! I got 2 drinks for LESS than the price of one! aaaaawww yaaaaaa! I did buy one drink there, to be fair. But the show was $20 alone, so it’s good to try to save some $ on drinks :)

Speaking of.. have I told you about how awesome the Haagan Daaz Bailey’s Ice Cream is? It tastes JUST like Baileys! It’s sooooo creamy delish!!

But back to Neko… Her voice is so beautiful, and her long red locks are gorgeous! She’s so down to earth and funny… but mostly I’m absolutely in awe of the incredible instrument that is her voice. I’m sooo glad I finally got to see her (I’ve seen her with New Pornographers, whom I love, but have never seen her w/ her own band).

On an unrelated note: I am addicted to whip cream.

My eyes have been doing good. It’s interesting because as they heal one eye is blurrier than the other, and then vis versa throughout the day… but overall I cannot tell you HOW FRICKIN COOL it is to be walking around and then realize “Wow. I don’t have contacts in my eyes right now… this is MY REAL VISION!!!” It’s seriously trippy!!!

This first week my eyes have been pretty dry here & there, (which is normal and they just recommend eye drops all day long) but that seems to be getting better & better. At the worst it just feels like I have dry contacts in my eyes, so when it hits me that I have no contacts in my eyes and that dryness feeling will go away – it amazes me all over again.

Today is the last day of having to put in the antibiotic/anti-inflammatory drops in… but I still have to wear the goggles for a few more nights. Which are annoying because I like to sleep on my side and these make that a little tricky, but it’s all about protecting your eyes from your hands while you’re sleeping. I don’t think I have a problem as I’ve been so hyper sensitive to touching my eyes – but it’s better to be safe than sorry so I’m doing my best (although a couple times I’ve woken up with them off my eyes which is scary, because I think “oh no! what if I took them off & rubbed my eyes in my sleep!” but I don’t think that’s the case, I think it’s just subconsciously they’re so uncomfortable to my sleeping I move them up so they’re not in my way.)

I’m not supposed to rub my eyes for 2 months. 2 MONTHS! I gotta say with my contacts I used to rub my eyes a lot cuz they bugged me so bad and it felt so good to just rub the shit out of them :) So that’s been a change…. I can deal with not rubbing them like crazy – but it’s amazing how much we rub/touch our eyes w/o realizing it. Having to become super conscious of this has been interesting. Easy in a lot of ways, as like I said I’m really hyper sensitive to them since I am so protective of making sure nothing happens to my new found site! But I’d have to say the hardest is in the shower. I think most people squeeze the water out of their eyes with their fingers- and with this new procedure I’ve had to be careful not to do that, and instead I just have a towel near me so I can gently blot the water away from the edges. I also have kept eye drops in there as I can deal with clean, soothing eye drops going in there a lot better than I can the chlorine water. Then I just close them a little tighter and open them and it’s fine. If any of you are reading this who have had the surgery – I’d love to hear what you remember about all this, too.

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Oh, btw, I’ve been getting back into workout w/ Rebecca and I’m LOVING it. I’m really sore today – which is awesome!! I also ran into Hai lastnight at the gym, which was cool because I was hoping I would see him soon as today is his bday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAI!!! So I got to give him a day-before-his-birthday hug :)