Willo O'Brien

Yay, Misty posted the videos in the set now, too & OMG, they’re so awesome! I had no idea it was going to be SOO incredible watching them after the fact. Watching this one (below) completely made me well up with tears! This was the second one I shot, right as we came out of the Phoenix (the big red neon sign you see at the beginning) & we were all so blown away by the pure joy & celebration of everyone on the street!

View the rest in Misty’s photoset on Flickr. These, more than any photo could capture, truly give you all a sense of how amazing it was to be here & a part of the amazing feeling of YES WE DID! in San Francisco! So awesome!

Barack n Roll ladies!, originally uploaded by mistylwhite.

Yay! Misty’s photos & videos are posted now! They’re amazing! All of my vids & pics are coming soon, too.

Looking at these is so fun! Makes me re-live how amazing the entire night was celebrating. YES!

I really tried to hold out yesterday… that magically they’d count the rest of those votes & prop 8 would fail after all… but alas, it passed. And, as most of you know, the nation is pissed. It was hard for me to see so many celebrating Obama, and then curse out California. :'( It definitely sucks.

My friend Kevin’s tweet summed up one of my feelings on it: “YesOn8 voters: your lives are unchanged, but you crushed the hearts of many. If NoOn8 happened, your lives would have still been unchanged.”

I also really loved this post by Andrew Sullivan:

*sigh*

I really don’t have much more to say about it, other than my friends & I are committed to helping see this CHANGE. Obama as president is a HUGE step forward, and one I’m beyond grateful for. So maybe it’s just a matter of two steps forward & one step back. We’ll get there, people! Our country is changing, consciousness is rising… equality will prevail.

If you feel as passionate about this as we do, please sign this petition to re-open Prop 8.

Thank you for reading.

WOW! I might have to apologize in advance for the number of exclamation points that will be in this post, because seriously? OMG!! YES!!!

What an absolutely amazing, glorifying victory!! And for those of you who weren’t with us in San Francisco… it was INCREDIBLE! Everyone honking & cheering, clapping, singing & celebrating in the streets! It was sooo awesome!!

We started the day around 4pm. My friend Misty came & picked me up for a trip to Krispy Kreme in Daly City to claim our “I Voted” free star-sprinkled donut. :)

Then, because Misty had somehow forgotten her FOAM FINGER, I insisted we drive back to her house to get it. haha. For the record, it was TOTALLY worth it!

Then we headed to the Phoenix, and Irish pub on Valencia where I remembered they had annoying TVs. haha. But in this case, we were looking for TVs in our bars, so that was the plan! We were joined by Hez, Corey, Ryan, Hillary, Andy and more… and by the end of the night the bar was packed! We all cheered every time a state was called for Obama & as it got closer & closer and really started sinking in, the tears started flowing! So incredible.

I think the moment that it truly got me was when I saw on the screen “Barack Obama Elected President“. *sigh* that makes me tear up right now just typing it! WE DID IT, PEOPLE!! YES!!!!

When we left the Phoenix, the streets were full of people. Cars were streaming by, honking, waving & cheering out the windows – everyone was SOO happy! WE DID IT! Absolutely incredibly utterly beautiful and amazing (watch a video from this moment). Do you know how exciting it is to feel an entire nation JOYOUS and UNITED? Welcome to TODAY.

We all cruised over to the Kilowatt Club where we heard SFBG was having a celebration party. We were then joined there by too many friends to name… but wow, what an incredible celebration!! At one point we heard that traffic was completely blocked outside on 16th street & I’m so glad we went out to witness it for ourselves. Hundreds of people celebrating in the streets! Fireworks, American Flags, dancing, singing, instruments playing – everyone smiling! *sigh* We are all so in love with our country right now. HECK YES, AMERICA!!

I got a few photos & videos before my battery died, and then continued to take a ton with Misty’s camera – so I’ll be sure to post about it when they’re up – Misty’s photos & videos are posted now! In the meantime, thank you ALL to helped make this happen!! WE ARE AMAZING!

I voted!, originally uploaded by Willo.

Today’s such a big day… I’m so emotional! Luckily soon Misty is going to pick me up & we’re going to get free ‘I voted’ KrispyKreme donuts. haha

I voted early, so I am not down at the polls today, but it’s been really incredible to watch all the twitter updates roll in, talking about all the various lines, signs, people & the excitement in the air.

This morning I sent out the very last donation, from the money we raised at our Barack ‘n Roll Fundraiser, to a great grassroots organization in OH called Vote From Home. They’ve been busting their ass & have helped over 11,000 people do early voting! The video on their site is really inspiring… check it out if you get a chance. Also, if you didn’t see it, I recently added a post to the Barack ‘n Roll website with photos & quotes from all of volunteers that have been emailing us from across the country!

As I was writing my Barack ‘n Roll teammates about the final donation this morning – thanking them for believing in this candidate & having as much passion as I do to see CHANGE in our country – I was literally in tears… we’ve all worked so hard on this election & today I am so excited to celebrate Barack Obama as the next president of the United States of America!

Just think – a president we can actually acknowledge as our president!! :D One that we are inspired by & believe in! Huzzah! SO AMAZING.

I hope that every single one of you reading this got out & voted! Regardless who you have voted for – it’s truly the most important thing you can do as a citizen of this country.

Big election day hugs to all of you! I look forward to tomorrow when we can all officially say YES WE DID!

Thanks for reading & for all of your support.
xoxo

(FYI to those of you reading the RSS feed, this post has two videos, too! Odd that RSS – or at least the reader I use – can’t display vids. Anyway, click here to watch them.)

Hahaa!! OMG, you’ve got to read this awesome blog… it’s written by an 82 year old woman. This post in particular has me absolutely cracking up… there’s so many classic lines in it!

Talking about all the debates & info out there (and how anyone could still be undecided):

“Honey, I trust you can read. Please do because this is important.” 

Talking about Palin:

“Honestly, there are more beavers in Alaska than people. But this is the person who is going to explain the complexities of one of the largest economies on the globe to John McCain. I’m pretty sure they don’t have enough fingers and toes between them to count that high.”

Talking about McCain:

“If I hear that McCain is a Maverick one more time I just might throw myself to the floor and break a hip. A maverick is an independent individual who doesn’t go along with a group or party. If John McCain’s a maverick I am one of those cheerleaders on the sidelines of Harold’s beloved Dallas Cowboys.”

To all of you who are undecided:

“So tell me again why you are undecided?

Oh yes I forgot. The terrorists are going to get us.

Folks, I’m tired of living in fear. Life is too short. How about we try hope and optimism again and see how that works. It created the greatest nation in history and the world is better for it.

Thanks for stopping by everyone. If I find out that you didn’t take the time to vote, I will ask Matthew to ban you from this web page blog. I mean it. Really.”

::::

Seriously, how awesome is she!? I want to hug her! Read more of her hilarious quips on http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com. <3

NICE! If you haven’t carved your pumpkin yet, check out YesWeCarve.com for some inspiration!

 

They have a ton of stencils you can download & everything – so awesome.

Also, watch this video… it actually just made me tear up a little! haha

*sigh* So excited for Obama to be our next pres!!!

This video is based on the recently released book called Generation We: How Millennial Youth Are Taking Over America and Changing Our World Forever (that is completely FREE for digital download). I work with teens on a weekly basis & they constantly inspire me & give me hope for our future. This really sums that feeling up for me:

I highly recommending watching the video, above, but here’s a textual summary, too:

Check out more about the book & the movement at http://www.gen-we.org.