Willo O'Brien

Man oh man is our president a little weasel! He’s trying to sneak all these horrible bills through right under our noses, right at the last minute! Just in case he doesn’t get re-elected, he’s trying to make sure he makes as much damage as he can before he’s booted out… making only more clean up work for our presidential hopeful (aka only hope), John Kerry.

One is called the Federal Marriage Amendment, which threatens same sex marriage at a Federal level. What a jerk. California’s Senator Feinstein wrote a great statement to Bush’s ludicrous attempt to get this passed through. Here’s a small snippet that I find particularly keen:



“…So why are we doing this? Why are we doing this when we have only passed one appropriations bill? Why are we doing this when last week we just had a briefing on the impact of terrorism on this Nation and we haven’t passed a Homeland Security bill? Why are we doing this when the Constitution has reserved family law to the States and when States by the dozens have already taken up the issue and passed, either by legislature or by vote of the people, marriage amendments? Why are we doing this?

The only answer I can come up with is because this is political. It is to drive a division into the voters of America , into the people of America, one more wedge issue at a very difficult time to be used politically in elections. Everybody in this body knows they are nowhere close to 67 votes. If there were a motion to proceed, there might not even be enough votes for a motion to proceed.

Why are we doing this? Why are we stirring up the Nation? I probably have 53,000 pieces of mail on this subject alone….”

Read her full statement here.

Other bills and actions he’s trying to sneak through are more on the environmental side of things. Does this man see no value in trying to take care of our Earth? I mean seriously… could he be more ignorant to what is important? It’s sooo clear that we have GOT to get smart about our enviroment, and Bush just thinks it’s no big deal to pollute and kill and ravage it till there’s nothing left. Check out “The Bush Record” on NRDC – or Environment2004.org which is a spotlight on the Anti-Environmental Record of Bush & his allies.

Most importantly, I urge you to get involved. It’s really easy… and if you’re anything like me where you really don’t have time to be super political or research it all, etc – then sign on with the organizations who are working around the clock to make a difference.

Personally, I am signed up & get emails from MoveOn.org, PFAW, Planned Parenthood, NRDC (and probably a few more I can’t recall). But the best thing is when there’s something urgent going down, they’ll email you and you can immediately take action. It just takes a second and I’m able to send faxes & emails to our state and federal leaders, expressing my support or opposition on a matter. Our voices do count and I hope that you’re speaking up in any way you can! :)

I’m having so much fun these last couple days finishing up a logo for my friend’s jewelry design business. I’ve drawn her as a little character, and am doing her logo/business cards and some graphics for her up & coming website. It’s so fun!

Also, I’m not sure if I showed you all but in the last couple months I worked on these 2 Flash sites for professional photographers. Both of them already had most of the site designed, but they needed new sections created and rough design ideas implemented. I consulted on new implementations and animations and created global navigation/menu’s that use actionscripting, etc. Take a look!

• Lorne Resnick Photography
• Robert Houser Photography

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On another note, I have some friends looking for jobs. One in sales, inside or outside and preferrably something in the city. And another in product development/project management for e-commerce/web/software industries. Both are girlfriends of mine who are very down to earth, responsible and most definitely an asset to any team. Should you be in the Bay Area and you know of a position open, let me know and I’ll pass on their resume’s to you.

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Lastnight Rick & I watched Following, which is by the same director who did Momento Memento. It was pretty good – but definitely not as good as Memento. The acting was sorta spotty, but it’s his first film and I’m sure it was low budget. Still it’s cool because of the same non-linear way of telling the story that keeps you wondering what is really going on. Next I want to see Spiderman 2!

UPDATED: We’re going to Vegas soon (woohoo!) Does anyone have any deals at either Paris, MGM or NYNY?

Thanks!

This last weekend there were a lot of great shows. I was stoked to have seen M. Ward, but I actually think I might have enjoyed the A.C. Newman show more. Or even the super cheap Husbands show at the Utah.

And then Saturday night, instead of drinking myself into the unproductive blob of sleepytummyachegirl I became on Sunday, I should have hit either that Ex-Boyfriends show at the Hemlock – or the crazy Rev. Horton Heat show at the Fillmore.

And now this week there’s Deerhoof tomorrow night, that I’m just not going to just because. But I’d like to see them open for someone sometime. If you go, lemme know how it is.

And then Thursday and Friday night my beloved Wrens, who I fell in love with seeing them twice at SXSW and having them rock my socks off – are playing at GAMH. AND JYPU are opening (!) and I will miss them as I’ll be in, of all places: INDIANA! Criminy. I can’t even talk about it.

And the night before I leave, I wanted to go see Camera Obscura, but since my flight is at the godawful hour of 6:30am, which means I have to wake up at 4:30 (!) I have to be home to sleep & pack instead.

I’m excited to see my family and all, but *sniff* it’s already making me grumpy missing these good shows.

signed,

big fat crybaby

I’m so glad yesterday is over. Remember how I said I was looking forward to drinking yummy wine? Well, drink wine I did – too much!!

When you drink to much (dare I say, at my age), and then you come home and passout without eating anything or drinking any water.. what happens is that wine slowly burns a hole in your stomach!! arg!!

So yesterday all day long I was wiped out (probably from my stomach working so hard to avoid the burn) and I was horribly nauseous and had a big ol tummy ache all day! uuugg. This is where I’ll just go back to the whole “my age” thing and say that it happened the first time probably a year & 1/2 ago – when I mixed wine with some antibiotic I was taking and I thought I was going to die. This is where I learned that Zantac is my best friend. The prescription dose is 2 of em (not 1 like the over the counter package says) and it will save your life!

Sadly I just thought I was hungover and instead had a double shot latte (coffee/caffiene bad for a hangover!) to try to wake my groggy ass up, and then tried to eat some bread, etc. All day trying to nurse my hurty tummy to no avail… it just seemed to get worse!! Then I remembered the Zantac cure, but I only took one. It helped for a little while and atleast let me put down some broth and more bread since I needed food even though the thought of it made me queasy. Somehow when you’re nauseous, all you can think about are things that make you more nauseous – it’s horrible!!

The worst was that I was going to work yesterday and this left me totally incapacitated to do anything. :( SUCKS!

So then, I have tickets to a show lastnight.. and all day I was just hoping I’d feel better, but I so didn’t. And yet I had already rallied other people to go, and my sweetie was getting back from LA and I wanted to see this opener really bad and I figured I could use to get some fresh air… but all the while picturing myself walking in the door of Bottom of the Hill, having that waft of beer smell hit me, and promptly barfing on the bouncer’s shoes.

Luckily that didn’t happen. Nor did I puke on my friends as they talked about the beers & sausages they’d ate earlier that day. Nor did I when the nasty stink bomb someone let off near me made me sway and close my eyes in fear I’d fall over in one more second. I made it!

The Evening played and I was psyched. I think at one time I knew I’d seen them open for StellaStarr – and then got into them more after that show, so I wanted to see them again. However, due to killing brain cells on weekends somewhere I forgot that, which hilariously led to us standing at BoTH going, “Boy these guys look familiar!” duh!

So ya, they were great – go buy their album. I was so impressed I made it that far that to celebrate, we left right away. Promptly I came home & took 2 Zantac’s and with my sweetie finally by my side, I felt better than I had all day :) yay!

But Saturday night *was* fun. I got to hang with my friend Sandy and her boy, Derek… and got to see David & Jackie who I haven’t seen in years and years and they were a major part of my first moving here 8 years ago, so that was awesome!!!

And Ken’s little girl is precious – and already walking at only 10 mos! awesome!! All their friends were great and we laughed and had a great time. But next time someone please recommend I have a glass of water for Christ’s sake.

over & out,

winowillo

Lastnight I picked up Sarah and we met Lisa at Lucky 13 for a drink before the show: M. Ward w/ For Stars at Cafe Du Nord’s Swedish Hall (the upstairs venue).

At Lucky 13, I ran into Brendan & Ewa who said Michelle was on her way to meet them too… I wanted to run into them again later in the show so I could see Michelle, but I didn’t unfortunately. I am glad she went though, as I thought of her when I saw he was playing – I think she might have been who told me about him initially.

I was going to ask her along, but the last few times I’ve asked her to do anything she has declined (even for my bday!) Sadly her & I don’t talk very much anymore. I’m not sure why, but I feel like I’ve tried to have us keep and touch and she’s not into it or something. I’m trying to not take it personally, but I’m pretty bummed about it. I feel like she doesn’t like me anymore – silly maybe, as the reality very well may be that sometimes people and lives change and you just can’t force it. Who knows, but it’s always sad to see a friendship drift apart.

I asked Sarah who she’d been hanging out with recently and when she asked me back I realized I really only hang out with Rick for the most part. I mean – I’m a bit of a hermit really… so I work, work, work, and then when I do leave the house it’s usually for a show – which always includes my #1 music buddy, Rick – but then also quite often includes my top tier music buddys: Jem, Tania and Rebecca. And then Rick & I will hang out with his peeps sometimes, or I’ll see my brother or the Jee/Lyne crew here & there. But other than that it’s mostly Ricky G. Which is great, cuz guess what? I’m so head over heals in love that I enjoy every little second I’m with him and can hardly stand being apart!! :) It’s amazing.

Anyway – so I think I’m a little picky when it comes to who I hang out with – and I hardly have time to hang out with people, so when I do, it’s for a show or dinner or a movie – and all of those things I love doing with my sweetie. However, I love getting together with other friends and I probably don’t do it enough. I keep meaning to have a girls brunch at my place, or cocktails on the porch at sunset, but don’t get around to it.

Anyway – I’m just blabbing. I feel like I haven’t used my blog as a total journal entry in awhile so here it all is :) Even though I have a long list of things to do today and it’s already 1pm! aK! I’ll just write a little more…

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Skipping back to Thursday, I had a really fun day. First of all, I stayed at Rick’s because he actually left Thursday night to go to LA for the weekend and party with his friends. He was cute about it cuz he didn’t want me to feel left out by him just wanting a weekend with the boys, but I say go for it & have a great time! I’ll miss him but I’ll just be that much more psyched to see him when he gets back :) And I think it’s WAY important for couples to do things separately like that, so you won’t ever see me be the kind of girlfriend that won’t support it, as I certainly wouldn’t want him to not support me taking a weekend away! See ya!

Ok, so I stayed at Ricks – Oh & the night before, we’d gone for a yummy slice & salad at ZA’s up on Hyde. Good stuff & they even added mushrooms & olives on my pepperoni slice (my favorite combo), even though they don’t do that with their premade slices, so I was stoked. :)

So Thursday, I started the morning sitting in bed working on a few things. Love the laptop for working in bed! Then I headed out to my drum lesson.

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Did you know I’m taking drum lessons? Cool, huh!? Ya, I’m stoked. I think I’ve probably had 4 now, and my teacher is awesome – and I’m already learning and progressing a little – yay!!! We’ve started me out with the total basics, cuz I need them! First just how to hold the sticks so my hands don’t get fatigued, etc – and then we dove into teaching me how to read music and the basic quarter, eighth & sixteenth notes. I’ve never really played any instrument, so I’m starting at serious 101. But I’m getting it! I’m really enjoying trying to teach my hands to work autonomously and hearing the beats and getting the rhythm down.

The best is when Warren lets me loose on the drum kit – and even though I look & sound like a total retard, I’m confident someday I won’t even know HOW to sound retarded I’ll just rock out so hard!!! :) But for now I’m like a 6 year old trying to sound like I’m rockin it & meanwhile it’s pretty tragic sounding. ha! But it’s sooo fun.

I have SUCH a passion for the drums that sitting there practicing and playing around I’m smiling from ear to ear with butterflies in my stomach, stoked! I’m practicing at home with my sticks & practice pad and have lessons every week. I’m stoked to have Warren as my teacher too. I was really wanting to find a teacher who I felt comfortable around and who I could relate to – and he’s awesome. Really sweet and patient and funny. Thanks for connecting us, Robin!

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So after my drum lesson, I went & met Jeff of DCResource at the Casablanca Cafe on Polk St. I’d eaten there a couple times a long time ago, but now it’s gotten a lot more Mediterranean flair with the wood tables and a hooka on every one! I ordered a chicken shwarma and asked for 2 dolmas and surprisingly they put it IN the shwarma! It was DELICIOUS!!!

Jeff & I met there cuz it’s also an internet cafe, and not only do they have the pay Surf-n-Sip, but there’s free wi-fi networks you can jump on, too. It was good to rap w/ Jeff and see him again. We’re trying to get the last few things ironed out for the DCResource site. Jeff hired me for a full re-design last year, but it hasn’t gone live yet. Jeff has been doing all the production on it in between being very busy, so it’s just been taking awhile. Understandably, because there’s years of database and images to transfer over.. but we’re almost there!! I’m so excited to show it off when it goes live!

Speaking of, I have TONS of stuff to update my portfolio with. It’s crazy but the other day I wrote it out & there’s a good 10 or so Web and Flash sites I’ve worked on that aren’t even in there. oy!

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After lunch w/ Jeff, I headed over to take my lovely friend Bee out to get her nails done. She can’t cut them herself anymore, so they were long and she was glad to have someone take the time to take her to get it done. I hadn’t seen her since before her stroke, which she had only months after her bout with pneumonia. Sadly, just from being in the hospital, she’s gotten really weak and frail, and the stroke has just made it even a little worse. :( It’s wild to see such a dramatic shift in her health, in just 9 months… She was always so spry and got around this city on her own, carrying groceries and keeping busy with no problems up until that first hospitilization.

Her son is helping her a lot which makes me so happy to hear. And I call her here & there to check up on her. I’ve known her for almost 8 years now! We get along great… and I joke with her, things like when we’re walking (which because she’s walking with a cane and is so frail, is a snails pace) that we’re gonna get a speeding ticket if we’re not careful. :)

We went out for ice cream after we got her nails done & I was able to show her photos on my laptop of my house and the ever growing tree plant that she gave me back when I lived with her! Which, by the way, has 3! new sprouts that shot up like FIREWORKS over 4th of July weekend! I was going to cut it so that it started a shoot somewhere lower on the trunk, but I can’t bear to cut off the top of the beautiful new sprouts!

Anyway, Bee’s a wonderful lady and I think she’s doing her best to keep her spirits about her condition. I really enjoy being around her and I’m gonna try to make a monthly date with her, either to get our nails done together – or take her to a movie or something.

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Finally I made it back home and worked all Thursday night and Friday till I took off for the show.

The opener was a guy named Etienne De Rocher. He had a great voice and really pretty songs. For Stars came on next, who Lisa loves and recommended I check out. They were good, but didn’t bowl me over or anything. However I think I’d enjoy their CD. Seeing them live I was more preoccupied with the hilarious hand gestures the lead singer Carlos was doing as he sang. And Sarah, Jem, Tania and I all agreed he reminded us of a gay Will Farrell. His flowered shirt probably wasn’t helping this association.

M. Ward was great! I wished Rick could have been there to watch the man do his magic on the guitar! He was excellent – and I love his voice. I’m glad I went! After that Sarah & I took off for another beer at Lucky 13 and then called it a night. It was good to hang with her and catch up.

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This weekend my friends Sandy & Derek are in town (they moved to Maui!), so I’m stoked to see them. Tonite we’re going to a dinner party at her friend Ken’s house in the East Bay. I’m looking forward to meeting him finally and having some yummy wine & food!

Ok, that’s my blabberific post for ya :) Have a good day!

Hey look!

I’m the featured cover artist for the July/August issue on Empowerment4Women.org!

GRRL PWR! :)

wow, if you ever want to just find a gazillion interesting links (and hech hemm, find yourself lost in link internet land for at least 30 minutes), then check out kottke’s site.

one link i thought was interesting is the best & worst album covers so far this year, among a few others – but you’ll have to go see what catches your eye.

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CRAP!! I just realized my host, Dreamhost (who I LOVE) lets me host 14 other FULL domains! JEESHK! Here I’ve been buying Doteasy hosting* to host these smaller little sites I just need space for. waaah!!!

*Doteasy is great for small sites. It’s only $35 (one time fee, then it’s free) and that can even be waived if you refer 2 others.

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I had a gazillion things go through my mind as I read through about 15 different blogs tonite that I’ve been way behind on, but it’s time to go to bed :)

check out another willo – willo tha wiz

there goes my hip hop career.

photos are uploaded!

NEW: here’s jen’s photos!

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I’m out all day today so who knows if I’ll even post a wrap up about this trip – but I will say we learned some awesome new camping cooking techniques – I even have a video of one of em that I’ll post *someday*, the water was dreamy warm and overall we had a fantastic time!