Thursday, March 30, 2006
i can't believe i actually got everyone in this photo!
Originally uploaded by spangley.
Ali posted her photos from the Monday night Noisepop Kickoff Party.
This one's funny... I love how scrunched down I am to fit in the photo. ha! I'm shorter than Ali even! :p But it worked out cuz then Ted's in the background - yay!
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Monday was fun! Here's photos to prove it:
Ali, John, Ted, Misty & I - the best show goers around! (aka show ho pros! :D)
@ Thee Parkside for the Noisepop 2006 Kickoff Party
ROCK SANDWICH: Ali, Misty, Trevor & I @ the Connecticut Yankee
There's a few more, of course! View the
Noisepop Kickoff Party Photo Album.
Noisepop 2006 has arrived, peeps! Here I thought it was going to be a more mellow Noisepop year for me, but what was I thinking... I've got shows lined up for the next 5 nights!
Here's what I'm hitting... and we even have some extra tix for a few if you're interested:
Tonite, Wed, 3/29:
The Dirtbombs @ The Independent! I've been wanting to see this band live for a long time, and I've heard they're really fun. yay! Oh & we have an extra ticket to this tonite, wanna join us? Lemme know!
Also, before hand Ted's throwing a kick ass
pre-party Happy Hour @ Thee Parkside w/ Birdmonster, Hijack the Disco and The Heavenly States! All my favorite local bands on one bill, and FREE! HOLY SHIT! I can't go unfortunately, because I have
BAM tonite, but you should go!
Thurs, 3/30:
The National @ The Independent - one of my favorite albums of last year. I am SO excited to see them again!
Fri, 3/31:
We Are Scientists @ The Independent - so stoked to see them live for the first time!
Sat, 4/1:
Hijack the Disco @ the Rickshaw - gotta support my boys! We haven't seen them in a few months, and I dig the Rickshaw. Come with us - we have an extra ticket!
Sun, 4/2 (4pm):
Smoosh @ the Rickshaw. I've been wanting to see them perform for so long.. they're like 13! cute!
Hope to see you out there!!
So, I've been off IM & have been closing Mail and only opening it up every couple hours. You'd be amazed at how much you get done w/o those two distractions! :p No little Myspace message coming in, or Flickr friend or new potential client/project email, etc... just pure PRODUCTIVITY. Which I need right now! I made some serious headway this last weekend, working both days & I feel more on top of it than I have in months. I made last week's deadline ahead of schedule, and I'm hoping I make my next deadline ahead of schedule, too. Being ahead of schedule is like my form of crack.
I would love to fix up my
music calendar so it's in calendar format (ooh, maybe I'll do that Saturday while I'm at the sonicliving focus group!) and upload photos from monday night (I'm working on now cuz there's only a few), but I have got to get to work! Hope you all are having a great week!
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
oh my goodness... get ready to
laugh out loud! so funny!
link from
superherodesigns < a couple other great videos on that post!
update: ok, definitely hit that post & download the video andrea tells you to stop everything for to watch. i love stories like that! i have tears streaming down my face with a smile from ear to ear... go watch it!
Monday, March 27, 2006
me w/ my sweet friends dan & sarah, the birthday girl! @ pomelo lastnight
view photo album
Sunday, March 26, 2006
As
Ali was saying lastnight, "March is the new ROCKtober!", and it totally is. Not only do we usually see a couple bands a week as it is, but with SXSW, this weekend's awesome shows and now, squeezing in right before the end of March, we have
Noisepop! AWESOME!!! I'll have probably seen like 50 different bands by the time the month is over. Might be a record breaker! :p
Ali's actually been kicking my ass in that department, though, cuz I didn't even go to shows all week and she did! Coming back from SXSW I had so much work to catch up on and completely needed to chill at home for the week. Both Ali &
Ted came back from SXSW and hit shows all week. ROCKSTARS! :p
But I picked up the rock again Friday night and it felt good! :p First I had dinner w/ Ali, Holly, and my friends Justyn & Stephanie, who are visiting from Nashville. We ate at
Triptych, where I'd gone originally with
Matt & Haylie a few months back. I love that place! (a few
photos from dinner are here.)
Then Ali & I cruised over to The Fillmore for Metric, catching the opener, Islands, just in time.
Islands were good! Their front man is from the Unicorns, that sadly broke up a bit ago, so I was stoked to see his new creation. He's a cutie! All his dorky side kicks even make him cuter. ha!
Next up...
METRIC!! *sigh* Emily Haines.... you're such a kick ass woman!!!
She put on the most amazing show. She puts her all into it, her songs are so AWESOME and I just LOVE HER!! She was wearing this super cute white jumper with a silver belt and silver sparkly boots! aww yaaa! She's so hot and SO GOOD.
The encore completely stole the show and made me love it all the more.
I LOVE YOU EMILY HAINES! YOU KICK ASS!!!!
View the Islands/Metric Photo Album.
::::
Lastnight: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ GAMH!
The Brunettes were a fun opening band. Poppy, with an amalgamy of instruments (we saw banjos two nights in a row!), sweet harmonies (soprano girls & alto boys) - and they even pulled out some crazy surprise song at the end about gameboys and mary kate & ashley. ha! I really liked the lead singer's voice(s) - both the girl & the guy - and by the end I realized lyrics wise I liked a few songs better than others. But they seemed like a cheery group, and Ali & I felt they were a pretty well matched band for CYHSY, and if nothing else a fun & entertaining opener!
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah was great!! This show felt much more personable from the Mezzanine show. It was like seeing old friends and hearing/watching them play you songs you love! Some people dislike Alec's voice, but I absolutely LOVE it & his singing style. It makes me want to get lost in it.
They came out & played several songs for an encore. And did I mention how much I love the other guys in the band, too? They're all so cute & they put on a great show!!
View the Brunettes/Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Photo Album.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Which doesn't really mean much in terms of how 8-5ers think of it, as I'll be working most of the weekend... but I'm working on the FUNNEST project, so it's not that bad!! That and it's (unfortunately) a somewhat long overdue project, so it feels GREAT to have it moving forward again!!
This poor client got the brunt of us starting and then no sooner did several delaying factors happen: Christmas (and simultaneously my feeling pretty damn depressed from all my December stress), and my taking a much needed break and slowly seeping back into the year (anxious that it might take me back to a deep dark place). Once I was ready to roll again, we made some great progress - I did four photoshoots, revised the illustration and had almost completely finished the animation and then DUN DUN DUN: Wouldn't ya know it shortly afterwards my Powerbook HD died & ate up about 5 hours of work! I was pretty disheartened about that, and the whole PBHDCrash caused a snowball effect like a 10-car-pile up of all my client work, which on top of I had the rush to prepare for being out of the office for my Cozumel trip, which was only the beginning of my being out of the office for almost all of the last 3 weeks! *oy!* Needless to say, I'd been absolutely guilting and freaking to high heaven over having to have it delayed this much. I am all about staying on top of projects & deadlines and I don't take delays like this lightly. So again I repeat with much enthusiasm that it is AWESOME to have this rolling!! I hope to have it mostly finished up by next week & I can't wait to show you all!
::::
Random notes:
I had a teeny sore throat at the beginning of the week, which led to a teeny bit of snot, which led to a teeny bit of coughing, and here it is Friday & it's pretty much gone! wahoo!! I have new faith that my immune system kicks ass now that I've been taking vitamins, working out & eating so healthy all the time. yay!
I got this email about an event going on @ the Nob Hill Masonic this weekend called
Black Sorority Fraternity Council at SFSU Presents the 8th Annual Step Competition. So, doesn't this just sound like they're all up on stage seeing who can do a better aerobic step class? ha! I picture them all on stage with headbands, leotards and those 24 hour Reebok Steps. Who will be the victorious Stepper Extraordinaire!?
Are you listening to the
Bagel Radio Friday Live Show? :)
My good friend Justyn & his wife (who you may recall from
the photos from their Nashville Wedding I went to last fall!) are in town! I'm very excited to see them, our mutual friend Johnny D, and my two girlfriends Holly and Ali. We're all going out for a yummy dinner tonite!
My workout today was nothing short of FANTASTIC. Ya know those workouts where you come out feeling euphoric? I sweat my butt off on the elliptical reading the last of Sedaris' new
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, actually laughing out loud on more than one occasion.
I'm trying to find a good recipe that will help me make the Horseradish Encrusted Salmon I had at Moonshine in Austin. It was so dreamy!!
Tonite is Metric (which I hope Ali has our tickets to, cuz I don't have em!) & tomorrow night: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! yay!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
show hos in austin!
Originally uploaded by spangley.
This was our first "show ho shot" taken on Wednesday night after Ali arrived and we were all on our way to dinner. Here's what I was thinking "Yay! Ali's here - let the rock begin!!" :)
cheers!: we ran into warren, willo's drum teacher, on the street
and dragged him to see aberdeen city! "
Originally uploaded by spangley.
mmmm... margariiittaaaaaas!
OMG I'm SO SICK OF THESE PHONECALLS! For those of you with registered domains, you might know what I'm talking about - but doing a quick search I found there are
several other people who have received these irritating phone calls, too.
The first time they called I immediately knew it was a tele-marketing call. The entire call center is obviously based out of India, so I have to hear them stumble through my name every time. I'm sure they don't run across the name "Willo" very often! They basically ask me if I own domain xyz and then say they have important information they need to give me, so they need my FAX number. MY FAX NUMBER!? Give me a break! If you're so damn official, send me an email - send me something through the mail. If this information is so urgent, tell me right now!
So the first time I asked them nicely to take me off their lists, that I have everything taken care of through my current providers & I do NOT want them calling me. They insist to the point I finally restate my request & hang up. I've received maybe 2 or 3 more since then, each time getting a little more firm with my request. Today: I lost my shit.
It was the 2nd call TODAY and right off the bat I knew it was them again. So he barely gets through his shpeal when I ask to speak with his Manager (this takes about 6 tries repeating myself till he gets what I'm saying). Some other guy gets on & after I sternly request that I don't care who they think they are that I want OFF their call list, he tries to give me the same "this is so important, this isn't a sales call" shpeal... and I came unglued. "Why don't you mail me an official letter if it's SO important!? Or if you have my domain, why don't you just email me, *especially* if I've asked REPEATEDLY to get OFF your phone list!?!?!?" And you know what he says? "Our networks are down right now." HAHHAHHAAA uuuunnnggglluuuuuiiiinnnggg!
I never do this, but I all out yelled at the guy SO loud and so PISSED that I hung up the phone shaking with adrenaline. They better not fucking call me again.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
OK, so seriously: TREO, Blackberry, that new Motorola (Q or MxP?), or ? (I think there's even another one I'm missing in this list.)
I'm leaning towards getting a TREO, but am just not sure. I sourced some people at SXSW, and so far I've gotten a lot of pluses for it, but I can also understand with any of these I'm sure there's a love/hate. Good ol' electronics! All I know is my current cell phone sucks. It's nice & small, but
after a year of having it I've realized it's horrible at recognizing incoming calls & texts even if the person is in my address book - annoying! And I've found the photo quality is just crap. That & I think the whole checking/sending email when, in the rare moments, I am away from my computer is cool. And the calendar thing. :) I think I might even see if someone has a used 650 on CL or something. This will be my first venture into the PDA world, let alone the PDA phone world!
OK, so in summary - My Considerations/Requests:
- Ability to easily type/send/receive text messages
- Have my contacts & calendar on my phone
- Read/send email from my phone - I use IMAP, will that be a problem?
- Have a camera phone that isn't absolutely horrible. I used to never care about the camera on my phone, but now I've come to love the instant upload feature, like snapping a photo of the band I'm watching and having it show up on my flickr page right then! Sarah Hatter is also an awesome leader in the whole cameraphone to flickr revolution. :)
- I use a mac! Which means, can it pretty please sync w/ Address Book & iCal?
- I'm on SprintPCS, and I actually like them. But would be willing to hear about other deals/plans, etc. My only request (and I know it's silly!) is that I want to keep it so that you can hit # to get to the beep and leave a voice mail. I cannot stand it when I'm trying to bypass someone's long VM intro, and I hit # to skip it & it says "Please enter your password". haha. Anyway, Sprint doesn't have that! I've been with them for YEARS. Since like 97 or 98 or something. They should GIVE me a TREO. (I wish)
- I still would like it to be fairly slim & compact. Of course. ;)
So what do you all think?
Monday, March 20, 2006
If you use
flickr, or even if you don't & you just want to see when your friends post photos on flickr, you must use
Kula's 1001! It's awesome! I just downloaded it last week & am loving it so much.
/geek.
Oh it's so good to be home! What an incredible week in Austin, though. I had no idea Interactive would be SO much fun, but I am already looking forward to next year! It's so fun to see all my internet/blogger peeps and I forget how much I get out of connecting with other geeks. :) I met some awesome new people and saw a few really fantastic panels.
Everything changed on Wednesday though! One by one most of the interactive people shipped out, and suddenly the town was getting flooded by musicians and music lovers left & right! Let the rock begin!! My friends Ted & Misty arrived, we went & had some tasty BBQ and shortly after we were at our first show.
Day One, Wednesday, I saw:- Birdmonster - as you know, we love these boys! It was so fun to see them in a different city! I think they filled in for Diamond Nights at this particular time @ the Red Eyed Fly. Thankfully they gave us the heads up... we couldn't have kicked off our SXSW Music with a more apropos band!
- Calla - happened to be going on after Birdmonster. Cool to see a few songs, particularly their song "It Dawned On Me", that Ted brought my attention to on his Cloak Room Compilation a few months back.
- Aberdeen City - These guys were excellent live!! We've been listening to them for a couple months now, and live they did not disappoint! We even got to see them play again the next day. They're SOO good.
- Voxtrot - I loved their set! I just bought their EP off iTunes (thanks for the giftcard, Dan! :)
- Ex-Boyfriends - We love them, and again, so great to see our friends play in another city. Their set sounded FANTASTIC, which we think was because they had Peter's vocals turned up more than usual. Whatever it was - they kicked ass!
- Flaming Lips - SECRET SHOW! We were there in plenty of time and stood maybe 4 rows back. So sweet! Wayne Coyne is ALWAYS a pleasure to watch & listen to. He played about 5 songs, one being their new one, which I love! Their shows rule: Balloons bouncing everywhere, Wayne's crazy re-engineered instruments, the singing nun, and the best surprise ever? For the encore he invited PEACHES out & they sang War Pigs! HOLY SHIT!!! We were freaking out! Misty summed it up best when she wrote "I'm surprised I still have a voice." Here's an awesome shot that Buzz got of us freaking out in the audience.
- The Ponys - only a few songs... not as great as their BotH show we saw a few months ago
- Art Brut - SO FUN! the lead singer is a riot!
Day Two, Thursday:
I actually worked a lot of the day & missed a ton of awesome stuff that happened to Ted & Misty (
read her post about day 2 here), but was able to meet up with them by 5pm for Eagles of Death Metal @ the Levi's Fader tent. The best part about that was feeling so rockstar when I walked up to the guy managing the very long line of people wishing they could get in, and him saying "Are you Willo?" and placing the wristband on me no questions asked. Thank you Ted! :)
So, list of bands I saw:
- Eagles of Death Metal - I'd seen them before, but this time Josh Homme was really there on drums! Actually they had 2 drum kits - hott! They're so fun live... and I was glad to be rockin again. Oh & you must read Misty's post (that I linked to above) to hear about her follow up run-in w/ the lead singer, Jesse. That's right, he gave her his number :p check out this photo.
- Aberdeen City - again! So good! I had run into Warren on the way, so that was fun to have a drink w/ him there, too!
- The Noisettes - I liked them! Anyone have their CD?
- The Submarines - soo great to see them live! This was actually their very first live show. They're managed by Tough Love, the Artist Management Co that Ali works for (they also manage Josh Ritter & a few others). I had been lucky enough to hear the album before anyone else, but it's finally available on iTunes! Check it out here. Lead singer, Blake, is adorable and, if I may say so, has great legs! :p
- Mates of State - these two are SO cute. They played a number of my favs... I've become a huge fan since the last time I saw them. I can't wait to get their new album!
- Thunderbirds are Now! - holy energy batman! These kids did not stop moving - SO entertaining! loved it!
Day Three, Friday:- Bound Stems - SOOOOO GOOD!!! I have had their CD for awhile now, too. Another amazing recommendation from Ted. Seeing them live was just excellent. They impressed me sooo much and they're one of my new favorite bands!
- Silversun Pickups - FANTASTIC!!!! "Kissing Families" was #1 on all 3 of our lists I'm pretty sure, so seeing them play it live just absolutely KICKED ASS!!!! Sadly Ali had to leave right before they played it - but all of their songs sounded great and it was rad to be outside (great lighting for photos!) for their set.
- Cold War Kids - I've been a fan of theirs since I saw them play at Hotel Utah here w/ Hijack the Disco. Seeing them again only confirmed that they are indeed a band to watch. Solid!
- Birdmonster - again! They're so good every. single. time!
- White Rose Movement - couldn't get into them. Seemed like the band didn't like each other.
- Tilly & the Wall! We only briefly watched one song from the street, but I was glad to catch even that. I heart them!!
- Heavenly States - we love these guys. we made it right at the end, and it was good to at least be able to say hi to Ted & Mark!
- The Lashes - I think I might officially H-word this band now after seeing them live. I'm that girl with the blog you (the lead singer) talked about. I don't like your stupid 3 (or was it 4?) belts that aren't actually behaving as belts, and I guess I'm just not 13 enough to latch on to your emo-tiveness. Did your acting career not pan out, so you decided to walk into Hot Topic and start a rock band?
- DMBQ - Warren had told me to check this band out and so I talked Ryan into joining me and I don't think either of us knew we were going to see what we did. We even saw the tale end of the Afrirampo show. Crazy Japanese! Very, very entertaining. :) DMBQ's men gave us some awesome facial expressions. If I were to add them up, I'd say we got to see about 438 variations. Long hair, screaming, jumping around, holding onto their guitars by their teeth. SO entertaining!
- Spinto Band! - I was so stoked to see them. I love their new CD, and Ali saw them last week while I was @ SXSW Interactive & said they were great. Officially put in your pocket cute... or as Misty has coined, "PocketRockers".
- Tapes 'n Tapes! Ryan & I were smart & headed over to Latitude early to make sure we had a good position for this long-awaited show! They, in my opinion, were the buzz band of this year. Them, Voxtrot & Wolfmother if I were to pick three. We made the right decision going early because it scored us FRONT ROW! yay! Sadly none of my other peeps could get in, but fortunately we all got to see them play again the next day. Their album, The Loon, is probably one of my favorites of this year (hmm, but I think it's 2005 release). Anyway - we heart them! And seeing them live was SO FUN. Being front row was way fun. They're all very down to earth boys and they put on a good show. They're playing here in SF this Thursday if you want to check them out yourself!
Day Four, Saturday:
We started out the day getting me EGGS! hahaa! All week I'd been craving a good breakfast, and FINALLY went to Las Manitas, which I now wish I had gone to every single day! It's like Huevos Heaven! Ted, Misty & I met up with Ryan & Tantek there, and even had the dreaded bass player from Nada Surf at the next table over! Rockstar breakfast.
I should probably mention at this point that Friday's show insanity and my (stupidly) wearing my slip on Converse all day as we hiked across Austin & back caused my ankles to be SO strained that they were swollen to 2 or 3x their normal size. OUCH! Like old people we went & got arch supports from CVS hoping to save our poor over-rocked feet. It's so hard to rock all day every day! :p
Saturday's shows:
- Essex Green - pretty good
- Tapes 'n Tapes! We scored getting on the Ny2lon party list at the last minute and got free drinks, burgers & got to see 2 kick ass bands!
- Voxtrot - I sat this one out and listened from the other room. Which led to me realizing I really needed a nap and went back to the hotel & pack my bags and rest up for my last night.
- After a YUMMY dinner at my favorite Austin restaurant, Moonshine, we began our last night-o-rock!
- Dressy Bessy - sorta. We couldn't get in, so we listened to a couple songs outside the gate
- Ali & I tried to go to Jose Gonzales, but the schedule had changed. bummer!
- Swearing at Motorists - I'd never heard their music, but the lead singer was totally entertaining to watch & take pics of. I wish so bad I could have captured one of his rock jumps on camera.
- Forward Russia - too screamy for me, didn't like it. But we pedicabbed there! FUN!
- Rainer Maria! yay!!! Somewhat of a fluke that we caught their set, I think, but I was SO stoked we did!!! I love love love them.
- The Duke Spirit - wow, is the lead singer a hotty! She was SO fun to photograph, and their set was way more rockin than I expected! KICK ASS!
After that I wanted so bad to go to Okkervil River @ midnight, but I was essentially standing on what felt like two sprained ankles. Plus my flight the next morning had me getting up at 5:15am - ug - so I called it a night. The super sucky thing was I did not get a wink of sleep!! I had some screwed up anxiety insomnia that left me tossing & turning all night! To top it all off I was getting a sore throat, so I was all stressed that I needed sleep really badly. It was horrible. I maybe got an hour of sleep, and the rest of the time layed awake listening to my roommates sleeping peacefully. I did manage to conk out on the plane for a much needed 3 hours, and then even napped for another 3 yesterday afternoon. I'm praying I'm not coming down with something. I've escaped being sick for a long, long time. And surprisingly through a lot of partying last fall even. I'm taking my vitamins & getting lots of rest though. And not going to show again until Friday, at which time it'll be: Metric! yay!
OK, this had to be a little "quick", if you can call a couple hours working on sorting & posting my photos, naming them and blogging about each one quick. :p But there it is!
View my Photo Album for SXSW Music 2006! I'll post videos at some point in next few days.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
HJ, Me & Willo
Originally uploaded by Aubs.
Willo & HJ
Originally uploaded by Aubs.
willo, supermodel
Originally uploaded by kingryan.
There's one more
here. Thanks Ryan. xo
SXSW Monday
Originally uploaded by In The Crowd.
Further evidence on my "wine in one hand/camera in the other" mistake. But hey, I was having a good time!
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
View the
videos from Monday night's raucous Blogger Party @ Club Deville.
I know it isn't very glamorous just giving you all a directory listing, but I don't care. :p I just want them posted, cuz they're so hilarious I want you all to see them ASAP. You're going to crack up. Forgive the drunken sillyness... but those of you who were there are going to love that these moments were documented. We were all having an awesome time! Speaking of, I'm not sure what's going on with my laugh in these, but it's totally cracking me up!
Leave comments here or on Flickr. Forward to Martine & those in the vids whose contact info I might not have. Thanks!
"Can I do this another night?"
So, I'm "home" now & everyone else is still out. After very little sleep lastnight, and partying the last 4 nights in a row, I decided to make it an early one tonite. Ya see, my show ho/fellow music feigns fly in tomorrow & I gotta have some energy to celebrate their first night in town! woohoo!
Again, super sad to see the Interactive peeps go... but a number of them are staying on, so that'll be cooL! The next few days is going to be so crazy fun, I can't wait!!
I only hit one panel today, worked through it, went to lunch @ Manuel's w/ Michael & the Eric|ks. Afterwards I just came back here to (try to) do a bit of work this afternoon before dinner. That photo of me at the top of this post is after
finally motivating, showering & getting ready to meet everyone for dinner. Self-portrait note: I'm holding this really cute map Erik drew for me to get to where we were all at for dinner. A place right on the other side of the Convention Center, called Moonshine, where I ate the MOST AMAZING salmon I've ever had! And I order salmon a LOT! OMG, I'm craving it as I type this. I could seriously eat that every day. yumm.
I just uploaded
today's photos, which start at #133 on this page, if you're keeping up. Here's some highlights:
Me & cutie Molly, who is STILL internet famous. :p
So bummed she's cut off in this one, but I thought it was still cute.
Michael, Dennis, Alex, Danny & Harry
Again in this one unfortunately Alex is cut off, but he looks great in
this 2nd one! Aww yaa, cute geeky boys! :)
::::
OK, time for bed. I'll be starting a separate album for music tomorrow! Let the rock begin!!
Partiers
Originally uploaded by kingryan.
Chris and Willo
Originally uploaded by kingryan.
I hadn't seen Chris in *forever*
SXSW 2006 (Sunday)
Originally uploaded by Laughing Squid.
Ryan & I on Sunday. We're so serious! But not for long, you can see the not so serious one here.
Willo in Austin
Originally uploaded by mbiddulph.
Wow, I wish I had
this lady's condition. Thank god for my blog & photos, or I'd forget a lot of what I do! :p I call it my "digital memory". I wish I had a blog growing up, I'd know so much more about what I actually did! Kids are lucky these days. Sometimes I think i was born too early. Then again, regardless I have been and will be around for some amazing technological advances in my lifetime. Pretty sweet!
Being here at SXSW I'm around these people who are on the cutting edge of everything web. It's inspiring, humbling and provocative. I'm honored to know a lot of really great minds who are a part of very big groundbreaking movements in the tech world. geeks rule.
Check it out here. I'm bummed I missed this panel... we were trying to figure out what site got the makeover, but thought it might be Google. Anyway, it looks good! I hope Craig implements it.
- on this trip I've finally figured out T9 (for text messaging) and I love it now! except I so need a new cell phone, i hate mine. I'm thinking TREO!
- I have just recently learned of digg, valleywag and had to have someone explain this whole microformats thing. and even though i don't totally get it, apparently i can still wear the tshirt. :p sweeet. i'm wearing the dodgeball t right now & I dig it!
- speaking of, dodgeball has been HUGE down here! hence my new found love for T9, too.
- you guys should watch this funny video/geek entertainment tv interview taken at the adaptive path party. merlin's comments are hysterical.
- future tip to myself: don't spend all night with a drink in one hand & my camera in the other. it's a little sticky now... like we're talking I now have to help it open the lens protector thingy and the knob to turn it from play to take pic is stiff. oy! so ya, the resale value has plummeted on this puppy considerably. not that the super scratched up lcd screen & the crack in the viewfinder from my NYC trip last year weren't already affecting that. oh well... another reason to buy that new SD600! :)
- i just discovered this funny cereal-bar photo of me that thor took down @ ruby red labs a few months back. it's been so fun to see them down here everywhere.
- more later, my battery's dying..
Aubrey, me & Erik @ lunch yesterday
On Sunday night I thought "It's Sunday night, maybe it'll be chill... maybe I should go home early?" and by the end of the night I thought, "Whoa, are Sunday night's supposed to be THIS fun!?". Lastnight I thought "OK, it's only a Monday night..." but I've now learned that at SXSW, it doesn't matter the day. Every single day is SO CRAZY FUN!!
@ the Blogger party. Danny & I's first round of drinks: double fisted, baby!
Aubrey & I give Eric some lovin
Meredith gives me some lovin
I love these boys!
Lastnight was full of many many many drinks, confessions (hi Ryan! *gulp*), and what every SXSW promises to deliver: debauchery! Oh my goodness... quite possibly nearing the "too much fun" category. ;) Let's hope nobody got any incriminating photos of me. Umm, not to say that there would be any of course. hahha. *gulp again*
Regardless, my photos have been added,
starting at #73 on this page. And even better, videos are to come soon, toO! SXSW INTERACTIVE IS SO FUN. I'll miss it when all these people go... but next up: MUSIC! HELL YES! My life rules.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
justin cox & i... rockin the box: free delicious bandit wine from darling helen jane, who I love!
photos from today have been uploaded! check em out! so fuN!
time for bed... ;)
Ok, although I'm not 100% Flickr, I am trying to send some (crappy) camera phone pics to it every once and awhile when I'm here. The whole instant thing is just soo cooL! :p
Check em out here.
Now I'm off to the yahoo/flickr/upcoming party. byeeee!
Oh! So one other thing I forgot to mention is that it is HOT here in Austin!! I'm so stoked! It's really humid and warm, which means skirts - yay!
In stark contrast, Mother Nature pulled out all the stops in SF before I left and it HAILED!! holy sh*t! I think I've only seen that happen maybe 2 other times in all my 10 years in SF. And it stuck for a couple hours! WILD! Check it out:
See all the photos here
If Day 1 of being here is any indication for how fun this week's going to be, I have a lot to look forward to! :)
By the time I had arrived in Austin yesterday at 4:30pm, I'd already run into 5 people I knew - on the plane!
Ev,
Sara,
George,
Irina & Paul. I checked into my room (moved in, since I'll be here for 8 days!), met up with the Erickckcks*, checked in & got my badge & big bags-o-shwag, and headed out for the night.
*
Erik Benson - who will be my roommate for a couple days - and
Eric Case, who just may get nominated for cutest Blogger boy of the year if he's not careful. Well, they're both adorable,
see?
First we hit the
Rails gathering @ Buffalo Billards on 6th where I ran into my buddy
Ryan and met
Aubrey Sabala finally!
Aubrey, Ryan (attempting to look at us both at the same time) and me!
Then after 2 drinks on empty stomachs we giggled our way to dinner @ The Spaghetti Warehouse. After getting a gazillion dodgeball messages about everyone being at the Frog party, and then subsequently a few about it being too packed, we all decided to skip it & go straight to the
South by Northwest party @ the Iron Cactus where eventually *everyone* showed up. SO FUN!
OK, I must shower, get out of my hotel room & greet the world.
Photos are here!
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Highlights include:
The long awaited XXX iguana love scene. Actually I didn't take one of the actual consumation... I try to keep this blog PG-13, people!
The sunburnt tops of my feet photo (I'm actually really stoked I managed to not burn anything else the whole time - yay!)
Me & Momma after our first dive!
Me & my Mom enjoying beautiful sunsets
Diving, day 2
Me: Underwater! We got filmed underwater, so instead of buying the video, I snapped some shots of the screen while we watched it. ha! Not the best quality, but fun to have some memories from it!
Lots of beautiful sunsets...
View the
Cozumel Photo Album:::
I'm pretty crazed this week, as I have about 48 hours left to do a ton of work for clients, and somewhere in between do laundry and repack for my Saturday departure to Austin for
SXSW!
Monday, March 06, 2006
I am one with the fishes! I´m so in love with diving!! I´ve had many drinks! I love Cozumel! hahhaa
OK, so I´m officially a CERTIFIED DIVER!! WAHOO!! I did 2 dives Saturday, 2 dives Sunday (my 4 open water cert dives) with an awesome divemaster named Ian, from Manchester... total CUTIE and sweetheart. My Mom got to come with me - the arm did great! - and we really lucked out on some serious 1 on 1 attention and dives. SO COOL!!! We dove Palancar Gardens, Columbia Shallows and today 2 more at Palancar Caves and umm, I can´t remember the other one... but wow was the current STRONG today!! Pretty cool because you just float along watching stuff, but you really can´t stop & check something out if you want to the current just cruises you along. It´s like floating in outer space! SOOO COOL!!!!!!!!!!! I want to live under the water with the fishies and never come up!
We´ve seen beautiful sea turtles, mantaray, a huge green moray eel, some humongous grouper today, baracudas, huge lobsters, crabs, and tons of beautiful, beautiful schools of fish! The coral and sponge here is totally amazing!! A lot has been covered in sand from the hurricane, so my Mom said it was even more magnificent before, but it was really amazing to me regardless. I´d only been diving in Maui & Puerto Vallarta before, so Cozumel is a total treat ESPECIALLY in the coral reef department. Seriously, at Palancar there is this huge wall that goes down about 3000 feet and you can look down it and it´s so cool to think the ocean just goes down forever and ever till it´s pitch black. I´m in love with the ocean. Diving is the most amazing experience. Think about those dreams you have where you can fly... it´s like that. You think, ¨I want to go up a little¨ and so you take in a deep breath and you float up a little and then you breath out and you float down... it´s dreamy!!! And the little fishies just look at you like you´re a big fishy. You swim right along with them and sometimes they follow the yellow fins of the divemaster, thinking that he´s part of their school. heheehee!
Oh, funny side effect from being on the boat, is that right now typing this I sorta feel like I´m swaying side to side. But this time I´m not nauseous (sp), like I was with the rocking sensation after that cruise a year ago... this time it feels cool... like I´m on a waterbed. I´m giddy with love for the ocean and the sun and all the free drinks. hahaa. I actually haven´t been having that many - but today´s the last day, so I´ve had like umm... maybe 4 or 5 total. I just got done with a yummy margarita I sipped while I was in line for one of the 2 internet machines. :p
I loved all your comments and the few emails I got, too. I´ve been thinking of my friends a lot and how STOKED I AM FOR SXSW!!!!
Lastnight we went & had a yummy dinner in town and I bought some silver. I probably could have bargained the guy down more, but I am pleased with what I bought. AND I go back tonite and pick up a ring they custom made for me! yay! I love silver.
My Mom is getting ready right now and we´re heading out for our last night on the town. I gotta say, I don´t really wanna go back to working, when laying out in the sun - reading a ton (I already finished Perks of a Wallflower) - eating and sleeping whenever, and wearing hardly anything all day long is sooooo naaaiiiice. But I also must admit I am re-energized!! Plus, it´s not so tough that I really only have to work a few days and then I jaunt off to Austin for a week. Gawd I love my life!!
My Mom is here, so I´d love to write more, but I´m ready for dinner (and another margarita!). Can´t wait to show you all the amazing photos. It´s been the best best best time and I´d recommend this resort to anyone. Not to mention just a vacation all around. Vacations in sunny places at all inclusive resorts where you can swim with the fishes. A+!!
We fly out tomorrow. See you peeps on IM tomorrow night *wink* (cuz i don´t know where the semicolon is). xoxo
UPDATE:
Photos posted
Friday, March 03, 2006
You´d be so proud of me: I actually left my powerbook at home! wahoo!! they have free internet in this hotel, but tonites the first I´ve checked it. it´s feeling soooo good to relax.
they lost my luggage on the way here, but luckily I was smart enough to put a bikini in my carry on just in case. I´ve had my luggage lost 3 times in 1 year. what´s up with that!?
side note: this keyboard is making me work to find the right keys.
One thing that was in my luggage that I desperately needed was my PADI referral info... so unfortunately because I didn´t get my luggage till this afternoon (24 hours after arriving, and inconveniently approx 2 hours *after* the dive time) I can´t do my first dive until tomorrow. Bummer that it cut a day out of my diving. From now on I will be religious about packing a smart carry on! At least I had a bikini though... as I definitely took advantage of a beautiful day laying by the ocean, and the pool.
I was fretting big time about putting sunscreen everywhere. Getting it all over my back, and around my bikini - so afraid of that *one spot* getting burnt where I`d missed. I was slathering it on everywhere. Well, guess what got burnt? The tops of my feet!!! gah!! I was wondering why my shoes felt so uncomfortable tonite... and after dinner I looked down & they´re bright red. DARNIT! The good news is you really don´t have to wear shoes here at all. Except to breakfast, and if we go out to a nice restaurant, of course. The best news is 97% of the time is bikini time. I´m loving it!
I bought 2 new bikinis before I left, the 2nd of which just arrived in my suitcase today and I love it soo much. I think when I get back I´m going to buy a 2nd one of the same design, just so I have it for when this one wears out. :p
side note: I hate obnoxious middle age men that think their coined *wootwoot* they do is so funny over and over and over and over again. DUDE. STOP IT.
Our resort is BEAUTIFUL!! We´re staying at the
Iberostar Cozumel. And I don´t know if it´s the fact that they´re on vacation, but everyone´s so friendly. I´ve been caught off guard having to say hello to strangers. Oh ya! People do that when you´re not hustling & bustling in a city! (Uhh, or cooped up in your house all day only to leave to hit a rock show. ha!)
I finished Time Traveler´s Wife & it was sooo good. And in the Dallas airport (on my 5 hour layover yesterday morning), I bought ¨The Big Moo` and finished that today, too. It looked interesting in the store, but after reading it, I realize I totally didn´t really need to read it. I suppose I gleaned a few insights but it´s more for people in a corporation or a start up or something, but whatever. Next up is ``Perks of a Wallflower^`. (getting lazy about fixing these weird keyboard strokes) I´m looking forward to it!
Other interesting vacation tidbits:
- My diving instructor (today through a refresher course in the pool) is a nice girl named Lisa from Oregon. But you´d never know it because she has a slight accent from the last 6 years of travelling around the globe, working at various dive shops. Pretty neat, but she said she thinks she´s finally tiring of it. I´m not sure why I´m reporting this, but I like her & so far she´s made my stay better somehow. She even joined us for lunch today.
- Sad: my Mom broke her wrist a week ago... so I´ve been helping her with everything. She´s pretty bummed, but her pink cast is cute & she´s going to try to dive anyway.
- There´s pink flamingos here on this resort!
- Today we watched 2 iguanas do it! Yes IT! XXX at Iberostar, who knew? ooh, let´s put in some of these: ¿¿¿¿¿¿
- I fell asleep in my lawn chair & woke up to my Mom whispering to wake me in order to look over and see the most beautiful sunset over the ocean.
- Today we saw a cute little crab in the water.
- There are kitties here. Stray skinny cats, but they´re very friendly. So far I´ve made friends with 3 of them. They love me. But I got scolded for letting one drink my water. I wasn´t going to encourage them with food, but I was amazed at how grateful gatito was for fresh water. poor babies!
- Tomorrow night we´ll go in & eat in the town at Carlos & Charlie´s - we ate at The Mission Restaurant instead, much more authentic. :)
- My spanish sucks, but they act mildly impressed that I try.
- This post has no smiley´s cuz I have to think about finding the keys to make the semicolons & parenthesis.
- My skin is super soft from the moist air.
- Tomorrow I dive at 1pm.
I love vacation!!!!
UPDATE:
photos are posted
