CSS: User testing I've changed the style sheets a tad, but am weary to use 7pt for that left column cuz I know on some monitor/browser configs (mac platforms, especially) that this can be too small to read. Lemme know if it's a problem for you. Eventually I'll give you a choice of styles or something... I need to revamp!! Also - do you think justified text is easier to read? Tell me.
political cartoonists Saturday I went down to Modern Times bookstore for a Political Cartoonists Panel that my friend Brian Gage was speaking on. Mark Fiore, Tom Myers and Trina Robbins were also there. I was psyched to meet Mark Fiore, as I'm familiar with his work and really like his style. Tom Myers I hadn't known of specifically - cuz I don't often seek out political cartoons, but now that I see his work online I see he's a talented artist!
Brian isn't an artist, but a writer and then hires illustrators. His books are like children's books for adults: Snark, Inc: A corporate fable and The Amazing SnoxBox, and actually one out this fall that really is for children, called The Saddest Little Robot. He's doing really well. It's awesome to see a friend have an idea, and then watch his success as he moves to L.A., gets published and then goes on tour for it. Very cool.
On my way to the event I remembered my high school history teacher. I hated history and politics in high school. To me it seemed soo pointless. I was "livin' in the now, man".. too cool for school I guess. Actually, I had a good 3.7 GPA throughout high school, but I'm sure the class that brought me down from a 4.0 was probably History (well, that & Chemistry, I didn't get that at all). SO anyway - I had put that teacher through it. I was sooo *not* into history, that instead I just doodled and passed funny drawings to my friend Pat. I was a "distraction to the class", my teacher had said. But Saturday I remembered that in an effort to extend a helping hand to his student, my teacher came to me and offered that instead of other homework, that I try to do political cartoons. That way I could integrate my cartoons with politics and maybe it would become more interesting.
Well, it's a terrible ending to the story, but it didn't work. hahaa I don't know if it was that dealing with the topic of "politics and history" still seemed so daunting and huge that I couldn't commit to it - or that it was he didn't exactly set up an actual assignment with a due date or something. Hell, I may have even done one and I don't even remember it now - that was about 13 years ago. Either way, because I work with teens now - it made me think of how great it was that that teacher tried to come to my level and help me out.
The panel was great - very thought provoking. And I had a TOTAL small world moment where I finally met Noah's wife, Erin - and turns out she's Brian's ex whom I think I met once years ago. But it was just wild cuz Brian & I had drinks last Wednesday and as we were catching up on relationships & what not, he asked "Did you ever meet Erin?". He just briefly mentioned how she's married now... and then to see Noah there by surprise and ask him what his connection was, and he said Brian & then introduced me to Erin - it was just the 4 degrees of seperation deal:
Willo <> Jane > Noah > Erin > Brian <> Willo What a small town!
And yes, Erin is as beautiful and cute as Jane and Brian had said :) And they're a cute couple, cuz Noah's quite the catch, too... I want a man with his style!
bday photos I posted a small recap about my birthday here and then promised you the photos here... either find them - or email me if you want the link.
Whenever I'm on my computer, Kazoobie jumps up on my desk for some snuggles atleast once an hour or so. However, along with his loving bonks and purrs, he steps on my keyboard & swishes his tail in my face in hopes I'll hold him for awhile. So I thought for today it'd be good if I brought over his kitty condo to sit next to my desk so I can give him what he's trying to achieve in every one of his visits, to be as close to me as possible.
As soon as I moved his condo over - he loved it! He got all hyper and wanted to play, since it was all kinds of new found fun to jump up on his house, now that it was in a different spot. One of his favorite toys is this gold ribbon... I drag it along & he chases it - and eventually grabs it & takes off so I can't have it anymore :) Here's a little animation of that game.
Kazoo is ALL BOY and he likes to wrestle and play. He's a bit of a biter, but it's never too hard (just like most wild animals, if you pull away it gets worse cuz those animal instincts kick in) But when you learn that and you leave your hand there, with Kazoobie it's called love bites. He gives a few nibbles, holding my hand in his mouth to show me he's so tough (tiger! grr) and then while holding it softly in his paws gives me a few licks afterwards, like "just kiddin, mom - you know I love ya". He likes to give me love bites while I give him little paw rubs.
This is buddy boy in his house, now ready to settle down after our playing. Happy as can be he can sit by mama while she works. This is what we call his "drivin the car" pose. He puts his arm over the side (out the window) and a paw up (on the steering wheel)
See?
All this photo taking inspired me to take a self-portait with my buddy Kazoo. Smile, buddy!
cell phone mania!! AWESOME!!! I can switch my cell phone carrier! Check it out!
Too bad I just signed on another year contract w/ Sprint (which they made me do just for switching to a higher priced plan!) UG. I actually haven't minded Sprint that much - but there's been a few things I hate, one being the limitations of their plans. And the fact that really the most reasonable cheap plan you can get w/ them is still $35 ($45/mo with all the damn taxes!) and you're still limited on your daytime hours AND that means nighttime minutes don't start till 9pm!!!
SO many Sprint customers will switch now, I think. The MetroPCS ads sound good to me, but they don't include long distance in that price, so that won't work. Well, no matter what - I love my phone number, and the good news is this means I can take it with me - yay!!!!
"Even the band is a little unconventional, its genesis having happened after mother Tina stumbled upon some vacation slides at an estate sale. Father Jason viewed the slides of a 1959 Japanese mountain trip and was hit with the inspiration for a song with a very similar title. He composes the music, based on the photo slides of strangers, on keyboard and guitar. He and daughter Rachel then sing humorous lyrics and play instruments while Mom operates the slide machine." +
They were awesome. The dad, Jason, is the lead singer, painist & guitar player and is a character! He's like a mix between Rick Moranis and a little Mike Myers... with a musical sound similar to They Might be Giants. But I really hate to compare anyone this wonderfully unique, because he really is an individual with a talent to befuddle, amuse and play some seriously fun "pop" songs (as he calls them - haha) in a style all their own.
Little 8 year old Rachel is sooooooo cute. She kept the pace going with a few "chop chop" ticks of her drumsticks - and a yawn and rubbing of the eyes every so often... down to the end where she simply exclaimed "We already started, let's just finish it! But hurry up, I'm tired!" Her little voice was so cute sitting behind the big drumset that everyone couldn't help but giggle every time she peeped up. SOOO CUTE!!!! I even got her autograph!
The cooolest thing was that this show had SOLD OUT! We hadn't expected that - but my rockstar friend John got us on the list which was sooo awesome. I am so glad I didn't miss it. They're actually coming back Saturday, July 19th - So buy your tickets now!
Oh! And in line for drinks I ran into Heather... whom I'd met briefly at Min Jung's party a couple months ago. It was nice to see her & chat a bit. I hardly know her at all, besides being well aware of hersites - but have huge respect for who she is in "the community" :)
Speaking to her briefly lastnight, she actually reminded me a lot of my friend Hilary Harrel (my friend in elementary school who loved ed emberley books as much as me) with a hint of a Canadian accent mixed in :p I love Canadians. Anyway - it was nice to run into her and I was flattered (humbled, honored, geeked, surprised) that she remembered me and knew my site. I'm such a nerd. Anyway.... nice seeing you there, Heather - and hope you enjoyed the show as much as we did! :)
just go read my blog. I feel like uber dork sometimes when I'm sitting w/ a friend (knowing that they read my blog every day and not wanting to repeat myself) and find myself referencing to it like, "you know how I wrote about such & such..." for three conversations in a row.
I mean, in a way it's really cool and I actually love it. It gives me geeky happy butterflies cuz it makes me somehow feel like we're all connected and communicating on a slightly higher level.
Ok well - this is where I'll say, "just go read her blog". Because, I just read Sarah's summary of our evening the other night, and clearly my post didn't do it the justice that she did. She's got quite the way with words, that smarty pants!
Ok, going to make breakfast now & then I'll come post about how rockin the ...Slideshow Players were lastnight.
photos from the birthday weekend I hadn't even downloaded these until today! very unlike me. but oh boy, there are some good ones!! totally reminded me of some of the hilarious things that happened at jane & sarah's party last saturday night. oy! so much love this group has :)
I have to edit a few before posting them... so they're coming soon.... stay tuned.
fuzzy = hot my poor kitty has so much fur on him he must be sooo hot!! me being the nice mama that I am though - I pointed the fan on him where he's laying faithfully on the floor near me while I work. whereas, if he really wanted to stay cool he could go into the shaded bathroom and lie on the cool tiles in there, instad he sweats it out to be close to me. what a good boy. so he gets the fan - and mama sits here, dripping sweat as I type and try to think straight through the heat. :)
p.s. I am certifiably CRAZY for not being at the beach right now.
it's sweltering! Holy COW are we ever having a heat wave! It's awesome - but given the fact that my little fan is only blowing hot air on me, it is definitely making me wish I was in a pool or the ocean!! But alas, there is work to do...
Lastnight Michelle, Sarah, Doug & I went to the TRAIN show at the Warfield. Sadly Matt Nathanson wasn't the opener as we hoped (he's only opening for their show tonite), but after attempting to try to switch our tickets to the Friday show and a few of us already making plans for Friday already, etc - it turned out to be too hectic so we just went lastnight.
First we went to E&O Trading Co. for some yummy beers (brewed there!) and great food, too.
Despite my dissapoinment about not being able to evangelize the amazing power of seeing "the Matt's" live to Sarah & Doug - the Train show was still really fun! I was most excited to hear them play their old stuff. I saw TRAIN back when they were playing this teeeny bar in the Marina about 6 years ago and they were just barely on the Aware label at that point. So, anyway - I think it's great they've gotten signed & are out with a new album getting airplay everywhere... but I definitely loved their first album way better. This one, and my friend Michelle agrees, is way too pop-y. When all the songs sound like they're meant for the radio (and more in the pre-teen girls calling to request it on a friday night way) that's not a turn on for me.
Update 7/3/03: Michelle just pointed out that apparently the reviewer at SFgate agreed w/ me.
But hey - they're good live none the less. They jam live - their drummer is awesome and definitely drives a lot of the songs, and you'd think he'd be my favorite because of my love of the drums... but actually, the guitar player, Jimmy is. He is so sexy to me :) Some "bald" (shaved head) men are sooo hot!!!! Plus, I think it helps cuz I've chatted w/ a few times a couple years ago & he's a really nice guy. Pat (the lead singer) is really awesome & nice too. I wasn't too hot on his dancing lastnight - but I like his style and his voice is awesome.
p.s. In this week's Craiglist news & adventures: I'm selling a table. Currently it's outside on my deck. And I actually quite like it there. But $50 sounds better - and I'm sure I can find some little table that'll work better out there - and probably hold up in all our rain & fog better than this IKEA wood (if that's what it really is) will.
lunch with trina! my darling friend Trina just came & took me out to a yummy post-birthday lunch at Chez Maman! Their panini's and lemonade are DELICIOUS and we got to sit outside and enjoy the absolutely amazing weather that we're having here in SF! We literally just get a handful of these days where it's actually almost too hot. The AC in the car almost wasn't cold enough to keep us cool, it's that hot!! :p What a treat!
It was soooo nice to see Trina too. We had so much to catch up on (I hope I didn't just talk the whole time with all I got goin on!) she's a great listener and such a dear friend. Trina was the one who found Kazoo! And she's someone I met years ago through SARK parties... (full story of how we've known eachother is on that "found kazoo" link). So we've become good friends - although we both scoffed at the fact that it's been well over 6 months since we've gotten together!! How does that happen!?
Anyway - Trina and I are going to go life drawing - FINALLY. We've said we were going to do this for years and I'm confident that now it's going to happen. Plus she's started to paint & has invited me over for a painting party! Sounds perfect!! I can't wait.
travel bug. wow!! i have both thursday, july 3rd & july 4th off!!! I should be doing something!! Going somewhere!!! But with who? Or, if by myself - to where?
Someplace on the beach sounds dreamy (the beach always sounds dreamy to me). Even L.A. would be fun, but I'd want someone to go with me. I need more friends in L.A.
But part of me doesn't wanna travel. It sounds nice to be home and relax. I have dinner planned w/ my friends up north. And I'll probably take a hike up in Marin... or maybe I'll spend some time down in Santa Cruz w/ my bro. I'm sure the weekend will fill up just fine... but thinking about having 4 days off and not going anywhere sorta made me sad today. It makes me think of the friends I have in my life. And how traveling for years has meant withMatt. That's all.
Then again - Traveling single is fun. I definitely would be way into doing a Europe trip on my own. And I've been wanting to go meet Christy in Vancouver! And then there's my friend Aimee in New Orleans, Karrie in NYC, Paula in D.C. and Justyn in Nashville. So I do have some options. But they sound expensive... and not too many of those are "beachy" :) Plus, I need to save money not spend money! And, lucky me - a few of those peeps are coming out to see me soon!
Ok, I feel better. A long weekend in the bay area sounds nice. And really - there's no day's off for me lately, since I've got so much freelance work to catch up on! oy!
note to self: read this fray story later. I found it digging through Chris Bishop'sblog. The illustrations he did for that story are AWESOME!!!!!!
Funny thing is, I used to work w/ a Chris Bishop at Spunky. I even saw him here recently - we ran into eachother over lunch & apparently he works close by... But he's working at a lightbulb factory or something... something like that. Anyway - he's a cool cat. He's also an artist (painter?)of some kind, but that's not him above.
I love illustrators. I need to get my ass around to doing more of my illustrations... and painting, too.
I need sleep. I need to be getting my ass to bed earlier... and working out more regularly. Basic functions feel so difficult these days. It's all exhausting in away. But I can feel the glimmer and excitement of a positive outlook coming on. The desire to make lists of my goals, to get on track, to make things happen.
more CL stuff... I decided to keep the cute coffee table and antique dresser. It all actually looks really nice in my place now... it feels cozy. I'm psyched. I also got an AWESOME kitchen island/table/stools thing that is perfect for my kitchen! I love it.
saturday night rockstars Saturday night was rockin. Scott's BBQ was fun... I saw some friendly faces from Jim's BBQ in Tilden Park that Jee & I went to over Memorial Day weekend. Max, Michelle & I grilled up some yummy chicken and chatted over our first couple beers of the evening.
Around 9 we headed over to Jane, Sarah & Helen's for the big housewarming/birthday party, which over the next couple hours got bigger, louder and most excellent. Highlights were making my friend Brendan stay and get drunk(er), groovin' and shakin it something FIERCE with my favorite chattanooga girlfriends (very hot), having michelle come find me and just like a good ol' junior high dance pulling me into the bathroom to spill the news that my brother was mackin on our good friend Eva (oohmy!), meeting Jake's girlfriend Amy FINALLY, saving the carpet from the wine spillage (that I still blame Tantek for, unless that hurts his feelings, cuz then I'll just suck it up and take the blame), and taking photos of Ashley's... well as she puts it, décolletage. Ya, those will be up soon, dontchoo worry.
The next morning after only a couple hours of sleep, we all went out for breakfast & sat soakin up the sun down on Valencia. The rest of my day was amazing and intense, happy and sad... first the happy:
I got home to find Matt had come over and set up my birthday present. OH MY GAWD is he amazingly wonderful. See, after separating, I've been needing to get a stereo and DVD player since all the stuff we had was Matt's. He's HUGE into sound and home theatre. HUGE. The man should work at Magnolia Hi-Fi. So I had told him I had been looking at this super cheap compact system at Best Buy... and needless to say being the hi-fi snob that he is, he wasn't too supportive of that! He kept highly recommending that I get a nice receiver and a DVD player separate instead cuz it'd be better in the long run, etc. And as much as I agreed, a nice system was not only WAY to expensive for me right now, but complicated and way over my head! Left to my own devices and budget, I was sure to buy the compact system - and was very close to doing so.... but, as you may have guessed by now, I won't have to. Matt absolutely spoiled me and (while thoroughly enjoying the process himself) bought me an amazing system. The goods: Denon, Sony, Boston Acoustic. Oh my am I a lucky, lucky girl!!!!! It's AWESOME!!!!
The sad parts of my day were when we went to go over & see our now ex-landlord over on Lundys for the open house and get the last of our things out of there/talk to her about our deposit, etc. That was sad. Couples were coming over oohing and awing at the view and the cute little cobblestone street, just as we had a year earlier. Just when you think it's the final chapter, it gets even more final.
Then after Matt came over & showed me a few things on my new system, set up remotes & such - he left and I watched I am Sam on my new DVD player. I think that is the SADDEST movie I've ever seen (actually this is a close second to Dancer in the Dark, which I couldn't even finish I was crying so hard I couldn't see through my tears). Granted Sunday I no doubt had major tears and sadness due to my overflowing feelings about Matt & I.... and I think a little PMS, too.... but oh my gawd I have never sobbed soooo hard for so long in my LIFE. I couldn't breath... and eventually had to take a break it was just totally sending me over the edge. oy...
After the movie I could do nothing but sleep my emotional exhaustion away. I curled up on my new couch and tested out it's "nappability". The best part was that without a throw blanket I was warm and comfortable enough to sleep for 3 hours there. Very nice. I awoke only to take a relaxing bath, eat a bowl of my favorite ice cream and go back to bed. Happy Birthday weekend to me.
My birthday weekend ... is in full swing! Yesterday Matt & I had a nice birthday brunch at our favorite breakfast place Just for You. And then I spent the rest of the day scrubbing the heck out of the kitchen at our old place on Lundys (that refrigerator has never been cleaner!!) all to come home & organize & clean my place like a tornado before my brother, Max showed up. He lives in Santa Cruz and has come up to party w/ me for the weekend, which is soo cool. He's awesome.
So lastnight Max, a few close friends and I had a yummy dinner at 2223 Market. Very good food and yummy wine (expert wine selection compliments of Stig :) Our super fun party night, however, is just a few hours away... as we're first hitting Scott's BBQ w/ Jee - and then over to Jane's for the big shindig. I better get in the shower!!!
Oh & for the record, Miss Millie's has the WORST service. Max and I went today and waited an HOUR for our breakfast!!!!! AN HOUR!!!! So frusterating. But then I went for my surprise 1pm apt w/ Michelle and it was a massage!!!! Aaawww Yaaaa!!! It was dreamy - and much needed since I've been moving so much, I've been so sore!
FYI - I am having connection issues at home (using my bro's laptop dial up right now) so I hope to be on email tomorrow and to upload some pics, but maybe it won't be until Monday. Warning, geek talk: I'm connected through a router downstairs and as I boasted a few posts ago, I crimped the plugs on myself. But unfortunately it's not working :( So it's either my poor crimp job - or the DHCP settings are messed up. My neighbor can get on just fine - so it's either how she has her DNS set up, the settings - or the ethernet cable coming up here. Something like that = I'm sure real techies are like DUH! So if you read this & you're super smart & have suggestions for me = by all means tell me!!
YAY! Jane re-designed!! Fun! It looks great. And she finally posted a new blog, I've been buggin her to... I keep going there to read something new & she hasn't posted for days. So maybe now she'll be inspired to post more often, missy! Still waiting for "roomate sarah's" new blog to go live too. Aww ya, convertin people left & right we are!
my birthday is aaaaalmost here!!! I'm a big little kid when it comes to my birthday :) I've never been afraid to remind people weeks in advance "My birthday is coming!!" It is such a fun day and no matter what, any day where friends and family are thinking of you & wanting to send you love and gifts, it's a day to bathe in all it's glory. *glow*
Jake, my co-facilitator/editor at BAMboozled, was super sweet enough to bring me a cake lastnight to the meeting!! That was SOOO thoughtful!! Even though, I've been trying to cut down on sugar, I had a sweet lil' piece anyway. It was yummy! The best part is what he wrote on the cake: "Fearless Leader We ♥ Willo" How sweet is THAT?!!! He's awesome. And the kids were glad to partake in the fiesta :)
Everyone's been asking me what I want (which I love cuz I'm such a huge supporter of efficient shopping - if you're going to shop at all - so as to not fill people's closets with horrible gifts they'll never use, that's not very environmentally friendly!) So it's very kind of you to ask, sweet friends and family of mine! Over in my "wants" list there to the left, you find a link to my Amazon Wishlist, and a link to the spendy frivolous thing I'd love to have (but probably won't get) is a Fisheye Lense for my beloved Nikon 5700. This year all my gifts from my family will probably be practical - home stuff & the like - which is great cuz that's what I need! Rugs, curtains, a throw for my couch, etc :). Anyway - I never expect gifts on my bday... I'll take a lovely big bear hug any day!!
Speaking of home things, I bought a red couch!!!! It's not the greatest thing, but it was super inexpensive AND it folds out to a bed - woohoo!! It was originally bought from Cost Plus - it's called the "Red Manhattan Sleeper". The best part is that it's just a foam fold out so it's not super heavy. However, that means that it's foam cushions, which is just sorta cheap (not any super expensive down filled overstuffed couch or anything) but it was cheap & it'll do the trick for now. Oh - and this weekend I'm selling my futon AND my filing cabinet (exchanging it for an office chair maybe). Yaa craigslist!!
Also, I'm still debating whether I should let go of the coffee table I love so dear (cuz it's taking up to much floor space in my little place), thinking maybe I'll use it as an entertainment center instead of the entertainment center I'm using now - OR I could just get a smaller entertainment center (more vertical so it doesn't take up as much floor space) and then maybe I could keep the wonderful cutie coffee table?! Decisions, decisions! Ok - don't wanna bore you with any more of THAT!!!
Alrighty - off to have some lunch & humm around my day as the clock ticks closer & closer to my bday!!!!! wahooo!!
one more step up the geek ladder... My landlords, who lives downstairs, and I are sharing cable & internet. So, for the cable internet service, first we tried to go wireless, but it was just too many walls & floors to go through I guess cuz the signal wasn't strong enough. So no big deal, we gave up on the Wi-Fi (and really no need for me, since I have a desktop) and today we wired the ethernet cable through the house. So I feel all tough cuz I crimped the RJ-45 plugs (the jack looking part) onto the end of the ethernet cables. Aww yaa. I'll be doing that with the cable for the TV too (she says with a confident sniff, pulling up her toolbelt).
letting go. see willo will her hands full. see willo drop one thing. see willo bend down to pick that thing up and drop something else. see willo try to pick that up and drop two more things.
see willo feel like she can't hold onto anything and everything is falling apart no matter how hard she tries to hold it all within her grasp.
leaving lundys lane... I can't believe how hard it has been for me to leave our sweet little home on Lundy's Lane. Granted there were other sad details involved... but I seriously had a near heart attack over the fact that I would no longer drive down that sweet little street, see the amazing view and enjoy our darling little home with the garden out front and excellent deck & views out back. I loved our neighbors, too. It was a great little home.
Well - this is the final step.... it's for rent now.
full moon. the birds outside must think it's daytime with such a bright full moon. they've been out there these last couple full moon evenings, singing up a storm and chattering away to eachother. I almost thought I was going to have to wear earplugs! but then I figured, it's not everynight I get lullabied to sleep by the sounds of birds singing outside my window.. wanna listen?
I ♥ Craigslist. I had two really excellent craigslist transactions this weekend. The first was yesterday - I finally got around to posting my TV - and within minutes I had two emails! The first of which emailed me once & then a second time just seconds later offering $10 more than I posted it for (!). Well nooooo problem I say - and within about an hour of posting the puppy, that TV was outta my house (finally off my floor where it was in my way & collecting dust!) and I had $70 cash in pocket - awww yaaa.
The second awesome craigslist transaction was today:
Matt moved out of our old place this weekend, so I went over to pick up a few of the last little things remaining - some of which were 3 boxes full of our combined 500+ jewel cases we'd stored in the basement since we went all book. So, just before being very close to dumping them in the recycling bin, I thought "Ah ha! Craigslist!" and posted a listing there... thinking maybe, just maybe somebody had a use for these puppies. A wacky installation piece maybe? A burning man statue of jewel cases? This city has seen weirder. So within MINUTES I get a phone call, some guy (who does music stuff) wants them, he comes over within 30 minutes, gets them & poof - Another awesome Craigslist experience. He was a pretty cool guy too. Plays in a band called "Enixia" or something like that. So I gave him my friend John's # (Earrelevant Recording Studios) who does sound engineering. That'd be cool if that all worked out. I love hookin people up like that.
Among the other little things I got from the move today were the entertainment center & the futon. The problem is that it's screwed up my whole living room now. :( I blame it solely on the stupid futon really. I mean, I need a couch, but this damn thing is really meant for a spare bedroom. It's not comfortable & it just makes my cute little living room look like crap now. I like the idea that someone can crash there, though... and I really don't want a super heavy sofa bed couch (nor do I want to spend the money on one right now) - so dammit!
Whats more is over the last month I've hit all these great garage sales & have been "shopping" on craigslist & I've bought a couple great antiquey rustic peices that I was really psyched about - BUT now these two pieces that I looove really don't look good at all! I actually don't even need this dresser, but it's just sooo beautiful that I couldn't resist picking it up. So I think Matt's going to take it for his place, so that atleast it's still "in the family" in case I ever do move into a place where I want it back. Well - that & Matt actually wants it & can use it... so that's a good win/win.
But also now that I have these two more pieces of furniture in the room - it's making it feel much smaller... and I bought this adorable coffee table, but now it's just seeming waaay too big - and I don't really need a coffee table of this size anymore (I spend way more time in front of my computer than I do in front of a tv. That's a good thing, I think :)
I also have no more room for this awesome filing cabinet/office center, so I'm currently in a debate to trade it with a lady for her office chair (I've been sitting on a kitchen chair for a year!! ouch!).
Craigslist is awesome - I go there for EVERYTHING. That's how I found this place I'm living in (which is sooo wonderful I love, love, love it). Actually you don't even want me to list all that I have that's from craigslist, it'd be a reeaally long list.
I will however tell you a fun story - is that my good friend Michelle & I are friends from craigslist! We always joke it was the "women seeking women" section :p but really it's that I bought TRAIN tickets from her about 2 years ago. When I went over to pick them up, it was late and we started talking & realized we had soo much music in common! From loving the Aware label and her knowing who I was talking about when I rattled off Jackopierce (who are back together!!!), Vertical Horizon, Edwin McCain, Tabitha's Secret (pre-Matchbox 20), etc. And she was only selling the Train tickets because she had tickets to the Jack Johnson/Ben Harper show... Well next thing we know, we found ourselves talking for an hour in her apartment lobby, her still standing in the doorway, me with tickets in hand. And with that we were like "hmm, we should hang out some time!" So we did! And ended up talking about way more than just music - and now she's one of my dearest girlfriends in the city! fun huH!?
So, I'll letcha know what I do with the house furniture situation (I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat). It's obviously in flux. I really want a red loveseat or a red sectional (and then I would get rid of my chair & 1/2 that I love so dear). Maybe I'll get the fold out sofa kind (but uugg they're soo heavy) or I'll just get the normal kind & get a blow up matress thing for the floor? (those suck even worse tho' huh?). Either way I can't buy that PB one brand new, and what are the chances of someone selling that exact one?
Oh & while I'm at it - I've just posted a want ad for the table I want in my kitchen. Lemme know if you've got one (and live in the bay area). Oh & I want some kind of velvet drapery to seperate my two rooms. Hmm, my birthday is coming up - I suppose this year it's going to be all practical stuff like this. Darnit! No fish-eye lense for me then, huh?
The more I read through blogs, it reminds me of the impending task I have yet to do which is to change this over to blog.willotoons.com.
The problem is that this will necessitate my doing some work on it and I just - ya know... you know I want to... I do. It's just that... see... I also have my full time job, plus some freelance, I try to workout every once and awhile... and I have to eat.. and there's some pretty great restaurants here. Well, then there's that I want to take a life drawing class. Start painting! And there's always getting into some photography or business idea.. And I've been meaning to do more video projects... cuz I DO have a tripod now. OOh, but I have to get outsome times too, ya know? Hit the town... hang out with friends. Meet New Friends. AND Blog! So it's on the list already! (soon I'll really add a link to a list, I just have to get around to making that page)
{scrunches nose and purses lips} Take your vitamins. Go to bed early. Butter is Bad for you. jeeshk!
poor little nemo's of the world wow, this is a bit harsh... next these people are going to put out a front page story in the newspaper about how santa's not... (well, you know).
[link from eleventwentyseven.com]
friday the 13th. nothing scary about today for me. it's been quite a good day actually. (well except for missing hot, hot heat - if this day is supposed to bring bad luck, that was where it hit me.)
So, I've thought about a few things today. One is just how beautifully cathartic writing has been for me lately. It creates such an awesome inner dialogue. For those of you who aren't blogging, journaling or writing in any capacity... this me telling you I highly recommend it. It's fruitful beyond what you expect and transforms within itself many times over.
Alright. Some other things I've thought of today (these would be good for a thought of the moment section):
· If I were Mary Poppins or Samantha from Bewitched, I'd levitate my bed (& the various sundries under it) so that that I could give it a thorough vacuuming. I just know a lot of little hairs clusters are hiding under there and forming their own little cult of hairiness.
· I want a Catbus and King Totoro plush toy + the magnets too (I just saw them in person at Egg, and they're soooo cute!!!)
· I think there's a dead mouse in my house, cuz I took out the trash lastnight but when I got home today something smelled a little stinky still. hmmmm..
I used to check this out at my elementary school's library every single week over & over & over!! My friend Hilary & I pretty much had full dibs on this book. We would always draw little people. We drew little teeny worlds with little teeny characters (like the 1/2 circle family and the triangle family, too with little feet and all) and we also had these teeny little toys we played with too. Mine was a teeny elephant, I wonder what hers was again... I can't recall. We'd also have contests to see who could write the very teeny tiniest alphabet.
hot for hot, hot heat i'm madly in love. with music in general, but currently i can't seem to take hot, hot heat'smake up the breakdown cd out of my player. it just sounds soooo damn good!!! they're playing tomorrow at BFD at 1:30 and I wish SOOOOO bad I was going to be there to see them rock their asses off. I'd go but I have an apt and wouldn't be able to get down there till about 2:30 or 3 - and I called Live105 to even see if they could tell me what time cuz seriously I was gonna go if they said 3:30. But they said play at 1:30 - gawd, I can't wait till they come play here again!! THEY ROCK!!!!!!
I just made a mix CD for the salon I go to. It has a mix of songs by Hot, Hot Heat (of course), White Stripes, Pete Krebs, FuManchu, Matt Nathanson, Sleater Kinney, Red Hot Valentines, Rainer Maria, New Pornographers and Queens of the Stone Age. niiiiiiiiiice.
Searching Actually this is not another self-indulged ramble here :) This one's about Search Engines!! Hip-hip-hooraaay!
Our company had a great event lastnight (that I am sorry I didn't think to advertise here sooner, but some of you got the invite) chock full of great information on how to use Search Engine Optimization/Marketing for your Website! It was a great turnout - and really fun for us all to go down to the Variety's Preview room and run the event. I was the greeter :) Being an Events Coordinator for several years way back when, I've had mucho experience saying "Hello! Welcome! Are you on our list this evening?" or something to that effect.
So it was fun. That's something I love about Fine Brand is our willingness to share our wealth of expertise. Ya just can't say that about a lot of companies these days.
grocery store blues. I can't believe how sad it is to go to the grocery store now. I'm no longer buying for two, just for one. I have to debate getting the things I like because I know that most likely 1/2 the package is just going to go bad anyway because on my own I won't eat it fast enough. (and I hate wasting)
Everything reminds me of dinners at "our" little home... hot sauce, frozen pizzas, what kind of peanut butter each of us liked. Matt was/is a great cook (better than me) and the true tell-tale sign of that is that I actually don't even own any spices (except for one lonely bottle of red pepper flakes that are a must have on pasta). I mean, I know I am still building up my little home and such - but honestly I don't even really know which ones to buy! Nor, do I really have the interest or the energy to figure out what dish would enjoy having a spice added to it, let alone what kind. But this all exposes my lack of interest in cooking at all. There have been maybe a small handful of times I've gotten a kick out of cooking... besides that & left to my own devices I stick to the basics: grilled chicken, instant rice, mac & cheese, pasta. I need to figure out my wok (not the non-stick kind, but a real chinese wok) and then I'll be woking for sure... but not just yet. I actually have a few pots & pans yet to get, too. I have a lot of things to get still - I don't even have a teapot!
Anyway... the grocery store was sad tonite. I felt very single... not in a liberated way. But in a "wow, I wish I had someone around to eat the rest of these mushrooms before they go bad" kind of way. I actually long to have someone to shop for. I like shopping for "us". I like taking care of those things for "us". It's warm and homey and full of love and teamwork. I like that.
So now I'm home, drinking tea again. This time it's Ginger. I bought it tonite, but I don't really like it. Do you want it? Maybe I can take it back. It's official: I only like ginger on the side w/ my sushi. I'm not a fan of gingersnaps - and now I know - not ginger tea either.
Before I forget - I wanted to tell you I'm going to be moving this blog soon - over to blog.willotoons.com - as I'm going to try to revamp the portfolio/professional feel to this site. I've not been so concerned w/ potential clients till now - and who knows, maybe they don't care whats written here. But I figure it couldn't help to be more professional... so it's going to be a tad less front page - and have it's own little sub domain. I coulda gotten more creative with that name too I suppose. Just boring old blog. Calling a shoe by it's name - what's that saying? ANyway - *sigh* this is going to be moving soon. sooner than later. Sometime soon. Maybe tomorrow night.
Boy I'm getting good at rambling! I think to apologize for that - but hey, I'm enjoying it.
update: hahaa - how bout my guess there about the "shoe by it's name"? ...hilarious. As I'm sure most of you were mouthing in your minds, the saying is of course "call a spade ♠ a spade ♠" :) my friend elizabeth is good at helping me think those word things through. That's my right brain taking over when I can't think of how words come together to form a sensible sentence but I can feel what I'm trying to say and have it on the tip of my tongue! most often I just make up words :) that can be quite entertaining. If you hang around me you've heard me say more than once "but that's not a word, huh?" often I have to double check cuz at the time they sound perfectly right to me! (which also makes me think of sniglets and sarah (whom soon i'll be linking to cuz apparently she's putting together her very own blog) cuz she's way into something similar that new york times(?) does - some word contest that's similar to sniglets)
I'm OK. For anyone who knows me, you must have thought that last post was written by someone else and that the Willo you know had been taken hostage while this psycho depressed person took over my blog. :)
Yes, I'm usually pretty up & positive... I mean look at this site! That post should have had a little cloud with rain over it in the midst of my happy lil' site. In fact, I really can't help but be quite a happy positive person... to me it just feels so good :) I suppose that's a really positive attribute to have. But, it's also one that I've been working on from a stand point of "I don't have to be super up & happy all the time" and "it's perfectly ok to be sad, upset and downright pissed off at times". So there... I guess I can only salute my sadness for allowing it to be. And really all it takes these days is an hour of full out, uncontrollable sobbing and I usually come up to see the sunshine around me again.
Everything will be ok. I know that. Change is hard... but it can also be really good in the long run. In fact, life always seems to get better & better... so I know that all these changes will sooner or later show their true face of why they came to be and I'll find myself in a place, job, relationship, town that is just right and I'll be thankful for the change that led me there.
Change builds character (I know that's an old standby parents used from the days of having to shovel the snow out of the driveway when you were 11 and all you could do was have a temper tantrum cuz you really just wanted to stay indoors and watch tv where it was warm and cozy), but it's true. This whole process of Matt & I separating after 4 and 1/2 years. (gulp) and my moving to a new place - and some other possible changes on the horizon that I won't go into just now... it's all just strengthening my resilience within myself. My confidence, my self-awareness of my emotions through it all... and I know that I am very strong and I will rise up to meet these challenges head on and make it through. Most likely with flying colors... cuz I'd like to think I'm lucky that way. I make magical lists and life is gracious enough to guide me to my next step.
I also want to admit here (in the mire of my negative thoughts, this is one I must spit out so it stops rotting in my brain) that I'm not a writer. I don't claim to be one... so sometimes I feel like these rants are so poorly written. I'm surrounded by such amazing writers - and I read other blogs where I'm so impressed with the way it's written that they're poetic to me. Myself, I just write as I would most likely talk. I think I've gotten better with my writing - but these posts I don't often edit... I'm just spitting out words.
Also if you've read my blog for any time.. you'll know that I don't usually get this personal or deep or revealing with my feelings. Or maybe I have? Who knows. But I do know that I've never been that comfortable exposing my sad or less than happy & perfect feelings. But more and more lately I am getting more comfortable with that... and I think it's a good thing. It's allowing myself to be vulnerable and open and expressive - and to not give a shit what others think. The best part about raw emotion is that you've felt it too. We've all had major sadness - extreme happiness - heartache - illness - death - you name it. In fact I know that my problems are totally minuscule compared to others!!!! I know that sooo well - so much that I insist on calling myself a big fat crybaby at times cuz I know that my problems - me with the beautiful little garden flat all my own, a fuzzy kitty, a nice car and good health - are nothing to be compared to those who have nothing or are against much more threatening odds. But we all understand the struggle of this life... the struggle to have a will that sometimes seems so much greater than we have the strength for. And most of us choose to continue to put one foot in front of the other. And in the end, hopefully for most, it will all be ok.
p.s. Thanks so much to those of you who emailed with your support and concern. that's the best part about getting brave enough to express my sadness, is that there are lovely people out there willing to lend a hand and give a hug. i love that!! it gives me such warm fuzzies... not to mention such great hope in our human race to band together. xooxox
Yesterday, my darling and beautiful friend Robin was just a phone call away and helped me talk through it all. She had a similar situation about 2 years ago, and at the time I had wished more than anything I could make her pain go away. But the cards knew what they were doing, as Robin is now married and in a different town with a different job and a new puppy and happy as ever. so change as hard as it is... it all works out somewhere down the line.
p.s.s. I'll post my review of lastnights show a bit later. :)
life is tough, kid. Sometimes when you're in pain it's hard to believe that anyone else has ever felt a pain this horrible. That life to anyone else looks as grim as life can look through eyes of someone who is down and sad and disheartened that the world can be this unfair and difficult. Life is soo hard! Gawd. It's almost agonizing that it seems so often every corner just brings more to do - more to accomplish and "rise above" ... more and more ... things that you have no control over and no matter how much you don't like it, you just have to just pick up and keep moving. one foot in front of the other... all for the hope you'll find a couple hours or a couple days in between that remind you life isn't all that bad.
some days it sure feels hard. and mean. and tough. and i just want everything to be all better.
