IMPEACH GEORGE BUSH!! GJ Willis' Art Notes
GJ Willis' Art Notes

The Adventures and Misadventures of a Neer Do Well Artist Living in Baltimore.

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Name:Gail Willis
Location:Baltimore, Maryland, United States

I am a visual artist and writer living in Baltimore. I don't have any artist friends. Frankly, artists scare me, there so darn flaky. The above picture is either of me or proof that I'm a pretty decent artist. My goal is to be a self sufficient artist, whereas I wouldn't have to do something else in the day in order to eke out an existence. I also like to attend various cultural events around town. I go to plays, the symphony, etc. Also, I have Asperger's Syndrome. I found this out recently and it has explained a heck of a lot as to why I am as I am.

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Saturday, September 30, 2006

Today was a banner day. I went to the supermarket. I spent a lot time on this site I recently signed up on called MySpace. I think I’m the oldest person there.

I also I feel sad to report that I missed The Killers on Saturday Night Live. I tried to stay up to watch them but I fell asleep trying to stay up to watch them. Oh, well...

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on a brand of tennis shoes you can only find at Payless shoe store, Champion tennis shoes. I also have on a red, white, and blue top that has a very patriotic firework design. In addition to this I have on a red hoodie and blue jeans.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....4073
MILES....0.89
CALORIES BURNED....146


link | posted by gail at 9:43 PM | 0 comments


Friday, September 29, 2006


JohnWaters, originally uploaded by willisgirl.



WHAT IM WEARING
Today, I have on a turquiose t-shirt that has a picture of a pineapple on it. In addition to this I have on blue jeans, Reebok walking shoes, and a red fleece hoodie.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....10427
MILES....2.30
CALORIES BURNED....400


link | posted by gail at 9:35 PM | 0 comments


Thursday, September 28, 2006


TerrellOwens, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

I am not sure but I think this is a picture of Terrell Owens.....

Today, I heard that Terrell Owens tried to commit suicide. I do not know much about football. All I know about TO is that he is black and a very controversial figure in football. From what I hear on talk radio TO is the type of person who enjoys the spotlight.

I can not imagine what would drive him to try to take his own life. Maybe it was yet another grab for the spotlight or perhaps TO is a deeply troubled individual.

Anyway, I hope and pray that TO finds a positive way through whatever is bothering him or maybe a more uplifting publicity stunt.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a pink shirt, blue slacks, red hoodie, and black canvas tennis shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....11771
MILES....2.60
CALORIES BURNED....467


link | posted by gail at 9:35 PM | 0 comments


Wednesday, September 27, 2006

This morning I again walked down to the light rail station. As usual I was on time for work. Still at work there was no sign of the co-workers who got hit by the light rail train. I hope that they are all healing well. I wish them all a speedy and full recovery.

A QUICK OPINION
Even though I do not drive. I feel that it is not a mere coincidence that gas prices have suddenly gone down. Its obvious that Bush and his oil buddies are lowering gas prices just in time for the upcoming general election. Well, that’s my quick unsubstantiated opinion about the current gas price situation.

WHAT IM WEARING
Today, I have on a blue and white striped t-shirt with a red trimmed neckline. Also I have on blue jeans and Dr. Scholls walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....10517
MILES....2.32
CALORIES BURNED....407


link | posted by gail at 9:35 PM | 0 comments


Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Instead of walking down to the light rail station I took the bus. Despite this change in routine I made it on time for work. The only problem I had with my commute to work was that driver had the air conditioning on. The morning temperature was fifty eight degrees.

MARYLAND GENERAL ELECTION:
I currently like what I am hearing from Governor Ehrlich. I like that he is talking about the possibility of returning to paper ballots. I personally did not feel comfortable that my vote was secure during the Primary Election. I feel that it would be much to easy for someone to hack into the computers especially when there is no paper trail. Also I do not really trust the Diebold made voting machines. Simply, because they are made by Diebold.

After the the last Presidential election I made a couple of posts about my misgivings about the election results and Diebold. To learn more about the electronic voting controversy go to Bev Harris’ site, BLACK BOX voting.

As far as Michael Steel goes to me he is basically reiterating what Kweisi said about Cardin during the last Democratic Primary debate on MPT. Only he is doing it on a much higher budget. The message he is reiterating from Kweisis campaign is that Cardin takes money from special interest groups. This I feel in a sense is hypocritical of Steele because Steele being a Republican is also taking money from special interest groups, albeit conservative ones.

Also I feel horrible for admitting this but Steele comes off pretty damn friendly on his commercials. I almost feel like voting for him. From his commercials he seems like the type of person you would want to have on your side.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on blue jeans, a turquoise tie dyed like shirt with an ecru design of flowers on it. I also have on Reebok walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....10059
MILES....2.22
CALORIES BURNED....373


link | posted by gail at 9:35 PM | 0 comments


Monday, September 25, 2006

I had a prescheduled day off today. I wanted the day off to mark a banner occassion. Today, I have officially completed paying off one of my college loans. Now I just have one loan to pay off instead of two. It would not have made much sense to me to have combined both loans back in July because I owed so little on one loan. So now I am kicking back and rejoicing in the fact that I only have one school loan to pay off. By the way I graduated from college in 1994. So I have been paying that loan a very, very long time.

Well, one down one more to go!

WALKING LOG

STEPS....772
MILES....0.17
CALORIES BURNED....6


link | posted by gail at 9:35 PM | 0 comments


Sunday, September 24, 2006

My ears are still ringing a little from last nights concert. Anyway, below are some of the pictures I took at the concert.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on Champion tennis shoes, blue jeans, and a pink and orange striped t-shirt.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....4804
MILES....1.06
CALORIES BURNED....173


link | posted by gail at 9:35 PM | 0 comments


WhoVFest2


WhoVFest2, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This is how things looked when The Who finally took the stage. Sorry, I could not get a clear shot of them as there was massive hand waving and crowd surfacing throughout the set. Same goes for The Red Hot Chilli Peppers set. I could not stand still long enough to take a picture before some bloody crowd surfing kid was coming my way or someone was frantically waving there hands in the air. All in all The Who were phenomenal. The only bad thing about there set was that Pete Townsend did not destroy his guitar. All my life I finally get to see The Who and Townsend behaves himself. Oh, well he is getting up there in age.....


link | posted by gail at 5:41 PM | 0 comments


WhoVFestStage1


WhoVFestStage1, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This was how the stage looked five to ten minutes before The Who took the stage. I just had to get a picture of those bullseyes. The bullseyes were even on the two large screen projections that flanked both sides of the stage. They did not do this for any other act. In between other acts they would flash cartoons or text messages that people sent at V-Fest. But for The Who there was none of that crap. Seeing those bullseyes felt wonderfully ominous, that something spectacular was about to happen.


link | posted by gail at 5:32 PM | 0 comments


VirginFestSign


VirginFestSign, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This is a picture of the side of the stage I took as I was waiting for The Who to come on. Providence was on my side because as I was aiming my camera someone just then held upo a cowboy hat. This saved a potentiently boring shot into something a little more exuberant.


link | posted by gail at 5:24 PM | 0 comments


TheKillersVFest1


KIllerVfestival1, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

Thirty minutes after Gnarls Barkley left the stage The Killers came on. I am a really big fan of the group. So there entire set was one big sing a long session for me. The group came out dressed in these black old west gambler costumes. I suppose to tie in the fact that they are from Las Vegas. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed there set a lot. The Killers Rule!!!


link | posted by gail at 5:19 PM | 0 comments


JackWhiteVFest


JackWhiteVFest, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

Then I looked a little to my left and noticed a giant screen with Jack White on it! I had to snap a picture. Finally a shot where Jack White is looking towards me!


link | posted by gail at 5:01 PM | 0 comments


RaconteursVFest


RaconteursVFest, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This is the closest picture I could get of The Raconteurs. I really wanted to get a shot where Jack White is looking directly towards me. Ahh, well....


link | posted by gail at 4:57 PM | 0 comments


VirginFestStage


VirginFestStage, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This is a picture of the stage. Before I got in closer I thought it would be a good idea to get a shot of it.


link | posted by gail at 4:53 PM | 0 comments


3SecurityGuysVFest


3SecurityGuysVFest, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This is a picture of three unintentionally perfectly posed security guards. Two look seriously scary looking the other one looks like my six year old niece could take care of.


link | posted by gail at 4:51 PM | 0 comments


VFestEntry2


VFestEntry2, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This is another crowd shot of people heading over to see The Raconteurs.


link | posted by gail at 4:46 PM | 0 comments


VFestEntry1


VFestEntry1, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This is the scene I saw as I got near the Grandstage Stage to see The Raconteurs.


link | posted by gail at 4:44 PM | 0 comments


98RockVFestSign


98RockVFestSign, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This is a sign I saw floating in the air a little after The Killers took the stage.


link | posted by gail at 4:41 PM | 0 comments


Saturday, September 23, 2006

I just got back from the Virgin or V-Fest that was held at Pimilico Racetrack. The show was phenomenal!

I arrived just in time to see jack White's new band, The Raconteurs, perform. I even snapped a picture of them.

30 minutes later Gnarls Barkley came on stage. Cee-Lo, the lead singer of the group was dressed like a Roman chariot driver or Roman Emporer, it was kind of hard to tell which. One thing for sure is that the rest of the band were decked out in togas. They did a great cover of the Violent Femmes, Gone Daddy Gone. They closed out the show with there one big hit, Crazy.

Next up was my favourite group of the last few years, The Killers. If you can recall I raved about their last CD, Hot Fuss, on this blog. So thus I was super psyched to finally see them perform live. And I have say, they did not disappoint. They were simply awesome! When they came out on stage, Brandon Flowers, the lead singer of the group had on this country western looking bolero tie. He also had a mustache. I can not recall him having a mustache when Hot Fuss came out. So the tie and the mustache must be a new development. My personal opinion is that Flowers should ditch the mustache as it makes him look like the cowboy from the Village People.

Anyway, I was dancing and singing throughout there set, that is when I could. You see every now and then there would be some kid crowd surfing by and it was either help lift them up or be crushed to the ground by their weight. A couple of times in helping to lift them up my glasses flew off. By then end of the night (The Red Hot Chilli Peppers set) I would end up angrily chucking my glasses and putting them in my purse. Also by the end of the end of the night (The Red Hot Chilli Peppers set) I would end of cursing the existence of those damned self rightous crowd surfing kids. Who do they think they are? Damn them to Hell!!!! Anyway, on a much brighter note....

30 minutes later the group that I felt an honor and a priviledge to see, The Who took the stage. I have to admit that the crowd around me before they took the stage seemed to be a little more older. An interesting concert goer was this guy who was looking around for some weed before The Who took the stage. He kept yelling out, "Where the weed at! I know somebody around here got some weed!" I do not know if he ever found weed or not.

It should be noted that this guy was a 20 or 30something black guy. Since I am black I always take note when I see a fellow person of colour at a rock concert. Also I have to say that I saw a number of black girls like me who came to the concert alone. However, the majority of the crowd was white with a smattering of my peeps.

As for The Who, they were phenomenal! However, I was dissapointed that Pete Townshend did not smash his guitar to bits like he did in the old days. Somehow, I feel like I missed out on something... However, I was floored that Roger Daltrey could still hit the yowl in Won't Get Fooled again.

Their entire set as you can imagine was wall to wall classic rock hits. They also had really great graphics playing in the bakground behind them on a screen. Some of the graphics as you can imagine were heavy on the nostalgic. Afterall, The Who have been around for nearly 40 years.

After The Who left the stage there was an immediate crush towards the front. It was such a crush that it was difficult to move or breathe. I am not sure if this was people exiting or people gearing up for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

I have to say right here and now I should have immediately left after The Who left the stage.

I thought that the Red Hot Chilli Peppers would be a great band to see. I was wrong. They mostly played a lot of songs I had never heard of but the rest of the audience appeared to. I realize I am not a hard core Red Hot Chilli Peppers fan. I only like the Chilli Peppers stuff that they play on the radio. But they should have played more of the hits and not extreme deep cuts from their cd's.

Also during their set I began to get annoyed with all the endless crowd surfing. Sometimes two or three at a time would be heading at you from the same direction. Did they (the crowd surfers) honestly think that the crowd could support that many people at once? So as you can imagine there was a lot of tumbling down crowd surfers and innocent bruised audience members. I didn't mind the crowd surfers during the other groups set but with the Chilli Peppers it seemed to go into the extreme. So now I hate the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and all their fans.

In conclusion The Killers and The Who were the two best groups at V-Fest. If given the opportunity I would see them again. They were a class act as were their fans. The worst group with the worst fans, hands down, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I will never even if you paid me a million zillion dollars attend a concert that included, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Death to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers fans! Right now I am going off to burn my Red Hot Chilli Peppers cassettes in a giant bonfire.

As far as getting home from the concert I got lost a bit. I of course took the 91 bus over to Pimilico. Since they let all the concertgoers out at a different entrance from where we originally entered I could not figure out where to pick the bus up at. So I walked down to the subway station with a crowd of people. This has to have been the longest and scariest walk of my life. It was dark out and I hadn't the faintest idea where I was headed. Several blocks later we arrived at the subway station. The crowd I was traveling with made it there around 11:15pm or so. The train did not arrive until well after 12am. I do not know why the train took so long to arrive. I rarely take the subway anywhere but I do know that the trains should run more frequently than that. I made it downtown around 12:35am. In the end I got home at about 1:45 am. The reason why I made it home at that hour was that I finally got tired of waiting for the #20 bus to arrive and took a cab home. Everything just seemed to be running late. Then again I am not usually out that late on a Saturday night. For all I know this may be busuness as usual for Saturday night public transportation.

WHAT IM WEARING
For the concert I have on a black v-neck t-shirt that has purple detailing around the v-neck. I also have on blue jeans, Dr. Scholls walking shoes, and a red flannel hoodie that I wore during the entire concert. It should be noted that I kept the red hoodie on during the entire concert despite sweating profusely with it on. I was afraid that if I took it off one of the miscreants, especially those that were about during the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, set might have stolen or thrown up on it.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....11384
MILES....2.51
CALORIES BURNED....417


link | posted by gail at 7:50 PM | 0 comments


Friday, September 22, 2006

I woke up this morning around 4 AM. I usually wake up around this hour but this morning was different. The phone was ringing. I was very worried as I do not usually get phone calls at that hour and it was day my off. When the phone rang a third time after the caller hung up twice I star 69'd the number. The caller turned out to be my 16 year old nephew, Little David. After I called him back, he told me he was calling because he and a cousin were going to North Carolina for either the weekend or the week and he needed money. This had me deeply concerned as I have recently found out that my nephew has stopped going to school. This odd request for spending money made me wonder if he possibly has developed a drug habit or something. I suppose I will have to ask around to see if his story is true or not. Even if his story is true I feel funny about giving money to a kid who ought to be in school and who should not be calling me up at 4 am in the morning!! I suppose he is also off my Christmas list until he either returns back to school or finds a legitimate job. I am very disappointed in Little David. I hope that he does not turn out to be just like his parents.

In other news my V-Fest tickets arrived today at 10:35 am! I'M REALLY GOING!!! I'M REALLY GOING TO THE VIRGIN FESTIVAL AT PIMLICO!!! Wooo Hooo I''M GONNA SEE THE WHO!!!

WHAT I'M WEARING:
Today, I have on green khaki pants, a light blue v-neck blouse and Reebok walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....6838
MILES....1.51
CALORIES BURNED....230


link | posted by gail at 7:50 PM | 0 comments


Thursday, September 21, 2006

Today, I was on time for work. I attribute this to walking down to the light rail stop as opposed to taking the unpredictable #2 or #20 bus.

Today is also a red letter day because I watched TV this evening. I do not usually watch TV at all except for the morning news. Today I thought I'd try something different, walking on my portable stair stepper as I watched TV. The results were phenomenal! For the first time ever I walked three miles!

Also for the first time ever I watched Grey's Anatomy. I really like the show a lot. I also like that there was more than one African American character on the show. I believe this can be attributed to the fact that the show's creator, Shonda Rhimes, is African American. Next week I plan on watching Grey's Anatomy again as well as the two other shows I watched, My Name is Earl, and The Office. I was laughing so hard watching The Office that I had to get off the stair stepper before I hurt myself.

WHAT I'M WEARING:Today I have on a plain black t-shirt, blue jeans, and Dr. Scholls walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....14097
MILES....3.11
CALORIES BURNED....550


link | posted by gail at 7:50 PM | 0 comments


Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Woo Hoo!!! I am on time again today!! I walked down to the light rail station instead of waiting for the morning bus to come.

At work one of the women who got hit by the train came into work. However, I do not think she will be back tomorrow. I heard her complaining that something still hurt her.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a blue short sleeve shirt that has a floral design on it, stone washed jeans, and Reebok walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....11114
MILES....2.45
CALORIES BURNED....417


link | posted by gail at 7:50 PM | 0 comments


Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Looks like I will be on time for work this morning!

To the best of my knowledge the people who got hit by the light rail train on Friday did not come into work yesterday or today.

I am still trying to get tickets for V-Fest. Most likely I will just buy them off of eBay. I always have trouble using Ticket Master online. Also I am thinking about maybe spending the night with some relatives who live near Pimilico racetrack the day before the concert. Then again maybe not. Things sometimes get rowdy over their place. Oh, I just noticed that they now have the schedule up on their website as to the times that each band will be appearing.

WHAT IM WEARING:
Today, I have on a short sleeve heather grey sweatshirt. The shirt has the word America emblazoned on it underneath a small American flag. I also have on my pants of choice, blue jeans, and Dr. Scholls walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....10177
MILES....2.24
CALORIES BURNED....377


link | posted by gail at 7:50 PM | 0 comments


Monday, September 18, 2006

This morning I was still feeling slightly sick but decided against calling out sick from work. I would say I was sick but not really, really contagious sick. My voice however, still sounds froggy. It seems like everytime I get sick my voice is the last thing to recover.

DAILY COMMUTE:
I walked down to the light rail stop instead of taking the bus down. Doing this made me on time to catch the light rail train for work. So I was on time for work this morning!

THIS WEEKS BIG GOAL:
My goal this week is to acquire tickets to Virgin Fest. I really want to go so that I can see The Who. I suppose I am doing this is to make up for missing The Rolling Stones. Also I am doing this because my iPod is chock full of Who songs. I have always liked them. Besides it would cool to tell the grandkids (OK, I'm 36 and I have no kids) that yes I saw Pete Townshend destroy his guitar live and in person! Heck, kids, I even I got hit with some guitar shrapnel!

Besides The Who I want to see my all time favourite new band of the 00's, The Killers. I also want to see Jack White's new band, The Raconteurs, as well as Wolfmother, New Pornographers, Drive By Truckers. Thievery Corporation, Gnarls Barkley, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.WHAT I'M WEARING:
Today I have on a black button down sweater, blue jeans, and a short sleaved blue striped blouse, along with Reebok walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....10089
MILES....2.22
CALORIES BURNED....357


link | posted by gail at 7:50 PM | 0 comments


Sunday, September 17, 2006

Still feel horrible and am pretty much out of it. However, yesterday I did manage to watch Evil Dead 2. Overall, I liked it a lot better than Evil Dead 1. This might have been because director Sam Ramey had more money around the time the movie came out.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....609
MILES....0.13
CALORIES BURNED....0


link | posted by gail at 8:40 PM | 0 comments


Saturday, September 16, 2006

Today, I am pretty much bed ridden and zonked out on cold medicine. I am taking 8,000 mgs of vitamin C. I have the type of viatamin C that comes in 1,000 mg pills. I am also taking 8 capsules of 380 mg of Echinacea. And it turns out I am also taking a Rite Aid generic for Vicks NyQuil called Nite Time cold/flu capsules. I though I had purchased NyQuil. Anyway, I prefer taking NyQuil to DayQuil because I'd rather be sleeping off a cold as opposed to being up and constantly reminded I'm sick.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....495
MILES....0.10
CALORIES BURNED....6


link | posted by gail at 8:40 PM | 0 comments


Friday, September 15, 2006

It is still rainy outside. Kweisi finally officially conceded to Ben Cardin. I feel very sad about this. This means that two Democratic candidates (Kweisi Mfume and Lawrence Bell) in my family both lost races for this years primary yet the sole Republican (William Bell) thats kind of sorta in my family won. So overall today was a very sad and bad day.

It was a bad day at work. Tragedy struck. Three co-workers were hit by the light rail train going home. These are three co-workers who are usually on the train with me in the morning if I'm on time. I did not know that anything had happened until I saw Shawn (I'm not sure of his job title or what exactly he does, the only thing I know is that Shawn probably makes more money than anyone currently working in the new building) running outside in the rain without an umbrella with a shocked look on his face. Shawn is not the type of person who suddenly bolts off. So to see him run I knew that something mighty bad had just happened. He's not out of shape or anything. The celebrity he most resembles is somewhere between Kevin Costner and Anthony Andrews.

Then as I headed for the door, it was the end of the work day, I learned from other co-workers that Shante, Angelena and Chandra had just got hit by the train. I have always gotten along pretty well with Shante and Angelena. I do not know Chandra that well. However, I was deeply concerned about all three.

The whole thing was doubly tragic for one of the co-workers, Angelena, as it was her birthday. She had just turned 20. I felt paralyzed. Angelena is such a sweet kid. Shante is a cool happening person. Chandra has never said anything mean to me. Why did something so bad had to happen to them? I did not leave the building until I heard that they were all alive and that the ambulance had come.

Instead of walking up to the light rail stop which by then was blocked off by police cars and ambulances I walked down to the #9 bus stop. As I walked my clothes and shoes became wet despite carrying an umbrella over my head. Next I transferred over to the light rail. While on the light rail train I got chills. The stupid light rail operator had the air conditioner on on a cold rainy day. How asinine could anyone be? Since I had chills I went to Rite Aid where again the air conditioner was on full blast. I was violently shivering as I picked up Echinacea and Nyquil gel caps. I was still shivering when I got on the air conditioned #2 bus home. When I finally got home I was not shocked to find out that I had a high fever. The only thing I could do was take cold medicine and pray for the speedy recovery of Shante, Angelena, and Chandra.

WHAT I'M WEARING:
Today, I have on black slacks, a black button up sweater, a beige coloured print stiped shirt along with black muppet like shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....10854
MILES....2.39
CALORIES BURNED....385


link | posted by gail at 8:40 PM | 0 comments


Thursday, September 14, 2006

Its a rainy morning outside. I feel sad about Kweisi's lost. I also feel sad because Whitney Houston filed for divorce against Bobby Brown. I always thought that those two would be together forever...

Alas, my morning bus was late. Thus, I was late for work. Also there was no sign at work today of the morning laughing co-worker. I thought that hearing him laugh in an Ed McMahon like manner would cheer me up a bit. The morning laughing co-worker is a guy at work who always laughs uproariously in the morning. I have no idea what morning radio show he is listening to. For all I know he might have satellite radio and is listening to Opie and Anthony or is mentally deranged. One of these days if he's still working for the company I must ask him what radio station he is listening to.

I thought that things would get better when I got home. No dice. It now turns out that in order to download music on iTunes I now have to download iTunes 7. I feel that this is unfair because I do not have all the elements required to download iTunes 7. This means that I can no longer download music on iTunes. The whole thing to me is ridiculous. I have no intention of ever downloading Disney movies or random TV shows. So why do I have to be forced to upgrade to features I do not have any interest in acquiring?

WHAT I'M WEARING:
Today I have on a light blue v-neck blouse along with dark blue slacks and black muppet like tennis shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....10316
MILES....2.27
CALORIES BURNED....365


link | posted by gail at 8:32 PM | 0 comments


Wednesday, September 13, 2006

In addition to having yesterday off I also had today off. I did this because I knew that it would be a long night. I did not get home until a little after 2am. Thankfully, Kweisi's sister Darlene, drove me home. Unfortunately, since I was half sleepy during the drive I misplaced the phone number she had given me to reach her at. I suppose I can probably get her number from another family member. I hope she's not mad at me for misplacing her number.

Even though things do not look very good for my cousins bid for Senator Sarbanes seat. I feel very good about about what I did yesterday. For once this year I really went out there and tried to make a difference. I spent the day with people I would not normally hang around with. We were all strangers at first. Now for a couple of hours we were united in the goal of spreading the word about Kweisi to voters.

Also in Maryland Primary Election Family news it looks like my other cousin Lawrence Bell also lost an election today. He was running for state senator for District 40. However, a Bell who was running for Baltimore County Executive won his race. He's a Black Republican. I am pretty much a dyed in the wool Left Wing Liberal Democrat so I do not have much to say about that but Congrats Clarence W. Bell, Jr.! You know I can not imagine there being a Republican in the family? Come to think of it I do not know if I am really related to him? Besides, what would the neighbors think? Oh, well...

Anyway, All day today I didn't do much of anything. I woke up just in time to watch Dru get arrested on the Young and Restless and see Nicki commit Victor to the hospital. The rest of the day was just a blur.

WHAT I'M WEARING:
Today, I mostly had on big fuzzy purple slippers and a blue and purple nightshirt.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....353
MILES....0.07
CALORIES BURNED....0


link | posted by gail at 8:32 PM | 0 comments


Tuesday, September 12, 2006

The day started like any other day. I got up at 4 AM and left out around 5:45. The only difference was that I had somewhere to be at 6AM. The place I had to be was Kweisi's campaign office on Park Avenue. Last night I had signed up to be a full time campaign worker. I had my Mfume for Senate t-shirt and was ready to go.

When I arrived I had to sign a sign sheet and wait outside the building with several other campaign workers that lined the building. As we waited to be sent out to various polling places we watched other campaign workers outfit various trucks and vans with loud speakers and campaign posters. It was not until 8:30-9AM that we were finally loaded into vans. I had no idea where I was going to be sent to. The first van or SVU I got in had two other people in it, both were male. One kind of reminded me of the father on Family Matters. You know the show with Urkel on it. He had on a black and white Cosby like sweater along with a dress shirt and neck tie. He looked very safe and 80's TV father-like. The other guy was a salt of the earth type, very blue collar. He was very upbeat and positive. He said that he was proud to be a part of this campaign. He kept reminding us as we were sitting in the car that we were making history today. However, I immediately felt uncomfortable when he revealed that he was an ex-con. Despite his great attitude I could not help but wonder what he did to go to jail for.

Then after sitting in the car for a while they moved me over to another car with four other people in it. The Cosby sweater guy was moved over to this car as well to be our driver. I feel bad for writing this but I initially I felt relieved that he was going to be our driver and not the other guy. In retrospect it would have been much better to have had the cheery ex-con be our driver instead of doom and gloom wrong way evil Cosby sweater guy. The man was a nicely dressed piece of crap. I would not be surprised to find out that he later stole the SVU that the campaign gave him to drive us around in.

Before we left for our still as yet undisclosed destination they loaded our car with several bag lunches, three boxes of Dunkin Donuts and coffee. Next Michael, Kweisi's son, gave the driver a printout to the directions to our destination. He then loadly yelled at an asian female campaign worker to print out better directions. She ran upstairs then ran back down with what I assume were better directions from MapQuest. Then we were off on our merry way. My main gripe at this point is that the evil Cosby sweater guy never told us where he was driving us to. He just drove, and drove, and drove, and drove.

While he was driving he instructed the young man sitting next to him to let him know when he reached such and such a spot or road. The man would earnestly look at the directions. However, he would never say a word when the driver would reach were ever he had told the man to look out for. It made me wonder if the man was illiterate or on drugs. Also annoying the man would constantly fiddle with the radio dial and play the radio much too loud. At this point in the journey it became apparent that the evil Cosby sweater man was not a very good driver. He would constantly jerk the car as he went in and out of lanes. When the car moved left or right all the passengers would also lunge in that direction. It felt as though I was in the 60's version of the Star Trek Enterprise whenever the ship was under attack.

Our final destination was some school in Prince Georges County, Maryland. We did not reach there until about 11:45 or so. Also we got lost several times trying to find the school. Whenever, we got lost the driver would ask anyone other than the police for directions. If he saw a wino or someone who looked as though English was a second language he would immediatly ask them over the police. This made me wonder if possibly our Cosby sweater driver was a wanted man.

When we finally reached the school the man who was sitting next to the driver took out several campaign posters and stuck them around the school. I was surprised at how energetic and industrious he was. Also earlier when the evil Cosby sweater man stopped to get gas the young man would immediatly get out the car and start handing out campaign fliers. So I am not sure if his not paying much attention to the evil Cosby sweater guy was due to drugs, illiteracy, or maybe perhaps, he could not stand the guy. Maybe, Marcus knew that the evil Cosby sweater guy was an asshole before we did.

I should say right about here that as Marcus was setting up the posters a woman who claimed to be the neighborhood captain or something or other for Kweisi's campaign drove by and told us that we were not supposed to be at the school we were at that we were supposed to be at another school. She never told us which school or gave directions she just nonchalantly drove off. This news caused an uproar amongst the other campaign workers. Because earlier during our drive we saw a polling place with lots of people outside it with no Mfume for Senate posters but the driver ignored our pleas to stop. The next thing you know the other campaign workers somehow convinced the evil Cosby sweater man to get back to the other polling place to see if that was where we were supposed to be. So thus it was decided I stayed behind with Marcus to hand out fliers while the rest of the crew seeked out the other polling place. By doing this the campaign would be covering two polling areas as opposed to just one.

When they came back about two hours later it appears that they were lost the entire time. A couple of campaign workers told me that the evil Cosby sweater man also got smart with the people at campaign headquarters when they called him to ask how things were going. They gasped as they told me that the man just sat up there and lied!

After this everyone got out the car and started handing out fliers along different areas of the school. That is everyone except the evil Cosby sweater man. You see everyone else had on Mfume for Senate t-shirts except him. When asked why he would not help out he just smirked and said that he was being paid to drive and not hand out any damn fliers. He then retired to the car and slept while the music that you can all agree on in the office soflty played in the background. The Bastard!

As I was handing out fliers I got to know other people from other campaigns. I was standing next to this woman whose daughter was running for state delegate. She told me that things usually pick up around 5pm because that is when people start to get off work. And wouldn't you know the evil Cosby sweater man decides that 5 PM is when he going to leave! We were supposed to be stationed at the polling place until polls close at 8PM. I was furious! Luckily the car was not fast to start. He had the radio playing all afternoon so he had to get a hot shot to get it started. We made it in town around 7PM. I went home and voted. On the way over to my neighborhood polling place several neighbors told me that they were dissatisfied with Martin O'Malley. I suppose if you wear a campaign t-shirt people walk up to you and tell you there deepest political feelings.

In the end I spent the evening at the Hippodrome ballroom sitting at a table with Kweisi's sisters Darlene, LaWana, and Michelle. I sat there watching campaign results as cousin Billy perform magic tricks for the table. I must say cousin Billy is a very talented magician. Also while at the Hippodrome I ran into Marcus and the cheery upbeat ex-con guy. Right now I'm sleepy so it's off to bed I go.

WHAT I'M WEARING:
Today, I have on red, white and blue, Mfume for US Senate 06 t-shirt along with blue jeans, a red hoodie and Reebok walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....12014
MILES....2.65
CALORIES BURNED....420


link | posted by gail at 8:32 PM | 0 comments


Monday, September 11, 2006

Today, it was dark, dreary, and rainy outside. To top everything off I forgot to set my alarm clock. So thus, I ended up being about an hour and forty minutes late for work. All in all I should have just called in sick.

It wasn't until I was walking on the way towards the bus stop that I realized what today was. Today was the 5th Anniversay of 9-11. This of course made me feel more sadder than I did when I woke up late to the grey dismal day.

There was no escape from 9-11. Whenever I looked up at my computer screen it shouted out the date, 9-11. All day I had to date various paperwork with , 9-11. Everytime I had to do this I felt like crying. The reason why I felt this way was that I could not help but think about all the people who perished. I wish I could have dated the paperwork 9-10 or even 9-12 or maybe even moved the date on my computer backwards or forwards a day. But I think I would have gotten in trouble if I did that...

Yes, I know that in the end it is better to face the day than hide from it. Personally, I would have preferred to have just called in sick. But you can not do that after you have come into work...

On the bright side after work I went over to a meeting for my cousin's campaign on Mulberry Street. I suppose they could not have held it at his campaign headquaters on Park Avenue as they would have needed more space. Anyway, I was surprised by the large turnout. There were various people there from different ethnic backgrounds. There were college students, Blacks, Asians, Africans, and Whites. I never knew he drew such a diverse group of individuals.

Well, since I went to the meeting I will be out there tomorrow helping his campaign. I am to report at his campaign headquaters tomorrow morning at 6 AM. So tommorrow be prepared for a very long post and excrutiatingly detailed post.

WHAT I'M WEARING:
Today, I have on a yellow top with a blue floral design on it along blue jeans and Dr. Scholls walking Shoes.

WALKING LOG
STEPS.......9428
MILES......2.08
CALORIES BURNED.....354


link | posted by gail at 10:23 PM | 0 comments


Sunday, September 10, 2006

Today, I did not go to church mainly because I knew it would be crowded. Today, was the start of church year with the Homecoming Service and Water Communion. I think they also had a pancake breakfast scheduled for today as well.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....555
MILES....0.12
CALORIES BURNED....0


link | posted by gail at 8:32 PM | 0 comments


Saturday, September 09, 2006

Today, I went on Blog Explosion and Blog Soldiers to get an idea of which of them has a better traffic generating ratio.

In my opinion Blog Soldiers has a better ratio. It seems that Blog Explosion is running at a 4:1 ratio. Meaning for every four blogs you look at BE sends one hit your way. Whilst Blog Soldiers seems to be closer to a 1:1 ratio. If I look at twenty blogs they'll send 20 hits my way.

I tried to get on Blog Mad. It appears to be soley by invite only. I hear that they have a 1:1 ratio. Oh, well I suppose I will have to wait until they open the gates and go completely public.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....10157
MILES....2.24
CALORIES BURNED....304

This weekend I decided to pop in a Leslie Sansone video and see how it went while measuring my steps along side my trusty Omron pedometer. The DVD I tried out was her 3 Mile Walk.

Since, I know that no one is really reading this log religiously, I'll add that I have never walked 3 miles in a day since I started logging my steps. I thought that trying this tape would give me an idea of the possible limitations of my pedometer.

What I soon learned was that the pedometer did a lousy job measuring my steps when it was clipped to my belt loop. In total it measured only about 5 thousand steps. Then after resting a bit I decided to try her 2 Mile Walk with the pedometer placed in my pants pocket. The steps measured went well over what they did with the 3 Mile Walk. The 3 Mile Walk lasted 49 minutes, while the 2 Mile Walk lasted 30 minutes.

In conclusion with my unscientific study I have learned that the best place to keep my pedometer is in my pants pocket. It should be noted that I always keep my pedometer in my pants pocket. But today I was just a little curious as to which location would garner the best reading, my pants pocket or the belt loop.


link | posted by gail at 8:32 PM | 0 comments


Friday, September 08, 2006

I can not believe it! All this week I have been on time for work! This is simply phenomenal considering all the days I have been late this summer. I hope that I will be able to keep up this streak now that that bizarre contest that we had at work is over. The contest had something to do with winning a bonus based on the amount of overtime you did. Yes, I was silly enough to participate and get a bonus.

I suppose my next surge of overtime will be near the Christmas holiday. That is, if I am still working at the company in December.

WHAT I'M WEARING:
Today, I have on a black v-neck t-shirt with purple detailing around the neck along with blue jeans and Dr. Scholls walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....10260
MILES....2.26
CALORIES BURNED....384


link | posted by gail at 8:32 PM | 0 comments


Thursday, September 07, 2006

Yipee!!!! I finally got to eat lunch outside again. I do not know what I will do when it starts to get cold outside. I hate eating lunch indoors because our cafeteria feels claustrophobic to be me. I wonder if I am the only one who feels that way about the new cafeteria.....

WHAT I'M WEARING:
Today I have on stone washed jeans and a short sleeve dark blue blouse that has a white flower design on it. The shoes I have on are my Reebok walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....11077
MILES....2.44
CALORIES BURNED....414


link | posted by gail at 8:23 PM | 0 comments


Wednesday, September 06, 2006

I can not believe it! I was on time yet again for work! Yippee!!! Also today at work I found out that I won one of the bonus' that they were giving out for people who have accumulted a certain number of overtime hours. The contest ended on September 1st. So I am thus thankful for that. The extra money will be very welcomed. However, I fear the amount that I will end up owing on taxes next year....

Also today, I finally got a flier from The Creative Alliance about there upcoming program of events. For a while I thought they had it in for me. I have not received a flier from them in months. The last one I got from them ended with there events in May. Anyway, with this handy dandy flier I can now go to one of there Open Critiques ans what not. Also today feeling re-invigorated I have started working on Mail Art to submit. I am also playing with the idea of completing a painting or art project a week and posting it on this blog.

WHAT I'M WEARING
Today, I have on khaki green pants and a green and ecru striped print short sleeve shirt. I also have on my Reebok walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....10025
MILES....2.21
CALORIES BURNED....364


link | posted by gail at 8:21 PM | 2 comments


Tuesday, September 05, 2006

This morning it was rainy and I was running late. So I did the best thing I knew, I took a cab to the light rail. The driver I got today as an African man. He had WPOC on. WPOC is a country radio station. Throughout the ride an uptempo song by Montgomery Gentry was playing. It was just so surreal. It should be noted that despite this weird juxtaposition of cultures I made it to work on time!!!


BigPhat, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

92Q's BIG PHAT MORNING SHOW SOON TO BE GONE?
Recently, I read on the DCRTV site that the uber successful Mark Clark and the Big Phat Morning Show would be replaced on September 12th with a whole new morning lineup. I am simply shocked by this! I can not believe that they would give them the shaft after such a long and successful run. Not to mention the fact that the Big Phat Morning Show was recently nominated for a whole slew of industry awards.

I suppose I will have to wait until next Tuesday to see if the Big Phat Morning Show is gone or if this all was just a nasty rumor.

WHAT I'M WEARING
Today, I have on jeans on a tie-dyed like short sleeve turqouise shirt. The shoes I have on are Dr. Scholls walking shoes.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....7577
MILES....1.67
CALORIES BURNED....267


link | posted by gail at 8:21 PM | 0 comments


Monday, September 04, 2006


SteveIrwin, originally uploaded by willisgirl.

This morning I was stunned by the news that Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin had died. I can not say that I was surprised just stunned. Irwin seemed to always be taunting and poking sticks at wild animals. It always seemed to me as though he had a death wish. You just knew that eventually he would be done in by one. I was just stunned that it was a stingray straight to the heart that finally did it. I always thought he would be offed by an angry crocodile.

Oh, also on a bizarre note today I got a phone call from Ben Cardin's campaign asking if I wanted to volunteer for him on election day! This was bizzare because I'm a supporter of Kweisi Mfume! I just laughed as I hung up the phone.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....466
MILES....0.10
CALORIES BURNED....3

As you can see today I took it easy. Today, I watched In America as well the commentary on Evil Dead.


link | posted by gail at 8:21 PM | 0 comments


Sunday, September 03, 2006

This morning I went to church. I have not been there in a month. The main reason I stopped going was that I did not feel comfortable with this year's Summer services. The Summer services last year were cool. Somehow everyone seemed much friendlier last year than this year. The main problem I had with this year's services was that it seemed that they did not have enough hymn books to go around. And it also seemed that whoever I was sitting by did not seem willing to share. I just felt kind of stupid standing around while almost everyone had a hymn book or a person near by who was willing to share. It should be noted that Summer services are held in the church's Parrish Hall and not in the Sanctuary. The Parrish hall is a much smaller venue than the Sanctuary. And you guessed it today's service were held in the Sanctuary. So thus there were plenty of hymn books to go around!

Today's service was in honor of Labor Day. The title of the sermon was, The Boss. An interesting thing about the service was that it featured the music of Bruce Springsteen. God/Goddess, I love going to a Unitarian Church!



APTOPIX US OPEN TENNIS, originally uploaded by willisgirl.


After Church I went home and watched Andre Agassi at the U.S. Open in his last professional tennis match. It was kind of sad watching him. He seemed to be limping around. I understand that this was because he has a bad back. Alas, he eventually lost to the German, Benjamin Becker (no relation to Boris Becker). However, after the match he got one heck of a standing ovation.

I really like what he said when he tearfully, addressed the crowd. Agassi said, "The scoreboard said I lost today, but what the scoreboard didn't say was what I found. You have willed me to succeed sometimes even in my lowest moments...You have given me your shoulders to stand on, to reach my dreams....dreams I could have never reached without you. Over the last 21 years, I have found you, and I will take you, and the memory of you, with me for the rest of my life."

Agassi retires with 60 titles and more than $30 million in career earnings and elite status as one of only five men to have won all four major titles, Wimbledon, the French Open, Australian Open, and the U.S. Open. Rock On Dude!

WALKING LOG

STEPS....7793
MILES....1.72
CALORIES BURNED....290


link | posted by gail at 8:21 PM | 0 comments


Saturday, September 02, 2006

This morning as I was checking my email I noticed that I got something from my cousin, Kweisi Mfume's political campaign. It was a link to his upcoming commerical.

The above is the commercial he shot for his Democratic bid for the Senate. I also noticed that he has three other things on You-Tube and they are all highly rated in comparison to those of his competitor. Also I have to say that in comparison to his competitor Kweisi comes off more like a real person. His competitor seems very stiff and robotic on his commercials.

Also I have to say that I watched the MPT Senatorial debate on Thursday. Kweisi was phenomenal!! I felt he really drove home the point that he can not be bought and that he will stand up to the Republicans. In comparison it appears that his competitor can be bought and as far as I know has spoken out little against the Republican's and Bush's War.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....687
MILES....0.15
CALORIES BURNED....16

As you can see today I just took it easy. I mainly spent the day watching DVD's. The Netflix movies I saw were, Spirited Away and Con-Air. I know, weird double feature. Action flick and anime kiddie flick. It was all good!


link | posted by gail at 12:25 PM | 0 comments


Friday, September 01, 2006

Its drizzling rain this morning. To cheer myself up a little I decided to do everything this morning in reverse order. For example, instead of breakfast being the last thing I do in the morning I let it be the first. I think you get the idea...

Yes, I admit it I am feeling a little down today. Yesterday, was Ms. Helena's last day at work. Ms. Helena has been at the company since before I was hired. I can not imagine our department without her in it. Oh, well I suppose everyone has to retire at some point. Here's to you Ms. Helena! Have a Wonderful Retirement!

Also I am feeling down because fall and winter are coming up and I will have to eat lunch inside the very claustrophobic cafeteria. Right now I like to eat lunch outside and do sketches. There's plenty of room outside and you do not have that god aweful closed in feeling like you do in that closet of a cafeteria. I do not know how all this will work out when it gets cold outside. I hope that no one gives me grief in the tiny Barbie sized cafeteria for doing sketches. I swear to God the cafeteria at work is the world's smallest cafeteria. I'm surprised that they do not sell tickets to passerbys to see, The World's Smallest Cafeteria!

WHAT I'M WEARING
Today, I have on a short sleeved magenta top and blue jeans. Since it is a little chilly outside I also have on a black cardigan sweater. The shoes I have on are the Dr. Scolls Walking Shoes I bough from Walmart.

WALKING LOG

STEPS....10314
MILES....2.27
CALORIES BURNED....394


link | posted by gail at 8:21 PM | 0 comments


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