To Thine Own Self Be True

Two weeks ago today I was laid off. Yep, they laid off the Marketing Manager. Of course I was the only marketing person for 4 divisions, so I guess it's not so huge for them, but still, the Marketing Dept is gone. Crazy yes, but for me a welcome end to a frustrating work environment and the acknowledgement that I was indeed on the wrong path.

There is a lot of negativity floating around out there, and rightly so for the mess we are in economically, and I must say that it has messed with my self-reliance a lot in the past two weeks. Many people who I have sought advice from are dealing with their own life issues, and I have to stop this "Youngest Child Syndrome" where I go running to family to help me solve my problems.

Being unemployed with no idea whether I want to stay in Marketing or persue something else has not been easy. You all know I have been on a search for months now, even resorting to self-help career books! (gasp) Most of my research has led me to the same types of skills/interests. My gut feelings keep bringing me back to two areas that use these skills and interests, and can interact with each other nicely. What is holding me back is that I would need to go back to school for either of these two things. So instead I have been trying to find a growth industry instead of something that I am passionate about. I say I trust my gut, but in reality I think I talk myself out of my gut feelings for what I "should" be doing. That is a huge disservice to myself.

My sister Pinky said something so simple, yet so eye opening. She said that if there is something that I want to do, now is the time to do it. I am unmarried, no kids, and still young enough to make a go at something new if that's my path. She said, listen to advice from those around me, take it all into consideration but follow my own heart/gut feelings. If it doesn't work out, I have a saftey net to come back to, but at least I went and tried it. Why not take the chance?

Risk nothing, gain nothing. Carpe Diem, Tempus Fugit. Blah Blah Blah. Cut the chord and jump out of the plane already, yea?


Use the Force by Jamiroquai

I must believe
I can do anything
I can heal anyone
I must believe

I am the wind (yeah)
I am the sea
I am the wind
I am the sea
I am the sun
I can be anyone

Oh this world is mine
For all of time
I can turn any stone
Call any place my home
I can do anything

I know I'm gonna get myself together (yeah)
Use the Force
I know I'm gonna work it out
Use the force
I know I'm gonna get myself ahead
Use the Force
Use the Force

I can go eagle high
Circling in the sky
Learn to live my life
I don't need no strife

I must believe
I'm a rocketman
I'm a superstar
I can be anyone
I can step beyond
All of my boundaries
It won't be hard for me
To fell what there must be


I know I'm gonna get myself together (yeah)
Use the Force
I know I'm gonna work it out
Use the force
I know I'm gonna get myself ahead
Use the Force
Use the Force
I can do it
I can do anything
Anything Anything

Best of "ANGEL"

If you are an Buffy/Angel fan (I know Big Geek will appreciate these) you will remember these classic Angel Moments with loud appreciative laughter!

Pat Sajack is a BLOW

Maybe I need to stop watching evening tv. I know it's old news but I have to ask: has anyone else noticed how much of a BLOW Pat Sajak is?


This tool needs a good beating. He thinks he is so cool. He is rude to contestants, he is overly friendly to any attractive women that are on and I think that he picks his favorite and the control room rigs it so that that person wins, mostly the attractive women. I do not watch this show regularly, but how is it that I notice this every time I watch it (maybe once every 3 months or so). He is so consistantly creepy it is scary. I urge you to watch Wheel of Fortune, pay close attention to Mr. Sajak in how he speaks to the contestants, who he interacts with most and who you think is his favorite. Then see who wins.

Case in point: Last night a beautiful Indian woman won. Her score? Over $20,000. the other contestants? Plain Jane with crazy hair won $1500. Overwight goober dude walked away with a measely $1000. HUGE win for the hot chick and Pat got to hold her hand to lead her to the final puzzle.

This has always bothered me. Now that I don't have to bitch about work, I thought this was a good topic. Has anyone else noticed how obnoxious Pat is? I can't be alone in this!

Pleasantly Surprised

Last night I was invited to go see a screening of "Terminator Salvation" by my friend Chantal who had free passes. I am not a fan of the Terminator franchise, and have only seen parts of the first movie, but Christian Bale was in it and I was dying to see what brought on the famous rant. After Ice Cream for dinner (yum! thanks Chantal!) we headed to the theater. I had to smuggle my cell in because they were not allowing them into the theater...as if my audio and video can tape longer than 60 seconds and as if I would even think of doing that! Anywho, we sat next to a very talkative guy who is obviously a screening regular, so that was entertaining.

The movie was formulaic and predictable, but some of the CGI was great and the cinematography was nicely done (a fitting testament to the DP's talent considering the new hole Bale ripped in him). Some of the camera angles and shots they got were interesting and perplexing and made it exciting. Obviously Christian Bale was in it so that was easy to watch, and there were other hot guys as well, like Common and Sam Worthington who is pictured below with Bale:


Bale's character John Connor is the unofficial leader of the resistance against the machines that have taken over the world. Rightly so, he is angry, he is determined and he is frustrated. Knowing that Bale imerses himself wholey into a character explains why he had a freakout on set aimed at the DP who was in his shot. I get it. It was so obvious that he was Christian Bale in accent, but he was so deep into the John Connor character that those emotions just exploded. I didn't think less of Bale the first time I had heard it because really, who hasn't wanted to ream someone out like that at some point in their life. The fact that we don't act on those impulses does not reflect on Bale acting on his simply because let's face it, Hollywood has it's own set of rules and big stars like Bale can do whatever they want. Our worlds are not the same.

Maybe it was the free tickets or the fact that the movie doesn't open to the general public until midnight on Thursday, but I was entertained. I cannot speak to the franchise authenticity or worthiness, I just know that a post-apocalyptic machine ruling earth kept me interested the entire time.

"This is John Connor. If you are listening to this, you are the resistance."

Weekend Recap & Monday Madness

WEEKEND RECAP:

Chris Botti is my new boyfriend. Love him. His concert was tremendous, the muscians he surrounded himself with were wonderful and the man actually signed autographs and took pictures with fans after the show. I did not wait in line since he was at it for an hour and the line was still obnoxiously long. I did take a few pics from about 8 feet away from him as he was greeting fans. He was so nice and gracious to his fans. Great guy!


In the last pic you can see a little lipstick mark on his face from some adoring fan...lol. Such a cute little man. I wanted to pick him up and take him home!

I was glad to go and spend some time with Kevin, Tom and Kim. We met Annie for dinner before the show. She was only about 10 rows in front of us at the show. I love the Stanley Theater. So beautiful. It was especially great to see some of the imporvements they have made recently and compare it to the Landmark theater. The Landmark theater is about 10 years behind in restoration, so I hope they can continue to fundraise and catch up.

MONDAY MADNESS:

So we all know how unhappy I have been at my job, and how they have been laying off for almost a year now. Most of you also know that for the past few months I was wondering when I would be next. Well, Friday I was. I was laid off not by my boss or HR in the usual "escort you out of the building "way though. The President pulled me into his office and broke the news about losing money, not being able to afford me and blah blah blah. He offered to give me references, help me find a new job and said if they recovered in the next few months that he would take me back. While I appreciate all the opprtunities that The President has given me there, and he has been very good to me, I would never go back. This is my chance to get off my ass and REALLY do something for a change.

I am actualy writing this at the library right now. I was happy that Jerry, Susan and Chantal were all working today, so that I could break the news. I applied for unemployment, went to the bank, and checked in with my apartment complex to let them know what had happened and speak to them about what my options are. Overall it has been a very productive morning and I hope to remain productive in the coming weeks.

This sounds terrible, but this is my first time aplying for Unemployment benefits. I have never been laid off before! Unemployment has always had a negative connotation for lazy slugs and construction guys, but in the current economic times, it seems that the benefits receivers are a much wider variety than the usual stereotypical groups. I guess there is a first time for everything. Hopefully I won't be on it for long, but it will help a little in the meantime.

So wish me luck and keep your ears open! I could use any leads for jobs I can get. I will continue to update here on my progress. :)

Weekend Plans

Chris Botti in Concert Saturday!

Time-Lapse Across China And Dancing

Time-Lapse Across China

and a classic video:

Where the hell is Matt 2008

Tuesday Thoughts

I am thinking of abandoning Facebook. I'd keep my profile up and accept friend requests I get but I am not going to actively participate anymore. It's not really networking, most of the time it's "let's see what you're doing now" snooping and then you never hear from them again. I guess if I had any interest in anything I might be able to use it more effectively as a networking tool? Or maybe not. PS) Pie hole has 3 friends now, for real. And yes, an evil plan is forming...Oh and No, I am not sure anyone can talk me out of my evil genius ways...

So I have "Slumdog Millionaire" at home to watch courtesy of Big Geek. I am making myself watch it tonight. I currently rewatching (for the first time since it was on live tv), the first season of Angel. I loved that show. It's been nostalgic. Big Geek let me borrow that since she borrowed Buffy 1-7 from me. I am getting a hankering for another round of Sunnydale adventures too, so I might start the Scooby Gang again after Angel. I still have "The Good Shepherd" on DVR and I watched "27 Dresses" a few weekends ago in a moment of weakness. SO I guess I owe a movie review post soon!

Gerry Butler and his new movie "Gamer". Looks kinda stupid, will probably be limited release but I can watch Gerry do anything. I remember when you couldn't find more than 4 websites for Gerry and now there are almost 3 million that are about him or mention him in some way. I can't help it, I still love Gerry Butler. Anywho here is the Trailer for "Gamer"

Just Another Manic Monday

I finally met the new neighbors next to me in my building. They are a younger couple with an adorable little girl who is about 10 months old or so. VERY NICE people, and beautiful as well, they should be J Crew models. :)Unfortunately we met for the first time last night under crazy circumstances. The influx of Community College students into our complex has made is noisey and littered with beer cans and cups. Last night was the worst with someone throwing a bottle into the middle of the complex parking lot. Nice.

I get it, you are college students, and community college students at that, which means you are very young. Problem is, you are not living on campus, you are living in a complex with adults who have families and jobs to get to in the morning and your parties are an annoyance to everyone else. Especially annoying when you are screaming and falling down, parking in tenants spots (and opening car doors into our cars), smashing bottles and littering your drunken trash all over our complex grounds. Seriously, go home to Mommy and Daddy and get a summer job...PLEASE!

My neighbor called the police on them last night. 4 cop cars ended up coming and breaking things up and taking the underaged morons with them. My complex seems to be extremely laid back about this since this is the only time the cops have been called to my knowledge, and there have been many parties. I've been there, done that and I still enjoy a good party, but once it spills out of an apartment and affects everyone and their property, then it's an issue. I think the new management made a bad decision to open up to College students. The complex never had any students and is a reason why I moved here and not other complexes in the area that rented to students. The Student population is one of the many reasons I will not be renewing my lease at the end of August. I am very happy to have nice neighbors in my building though.


Let's Get Politcal for a second: Have you heard the spewing of Dick Cheney Lately? Granted, I am using an msn link, but this guy is such a BLOW. Always has been, always will be. Now he is endorsing Rush Limbaugh and slamming Colin Powell? I have such respect for Colin Powell, though I may not agree with everything he says, he is an amazing man. Since when should Rush Limbaugh be the head of the GOP? The trouble with the Republican party is old Blows like Cheney and Limbaugh thinking that the old school, grey haired boys club can still hold onto the Republican party even if it has to strangle it to death to do it. They have run the party into the ground by the way they pick their candidates: "Because all our cronies have to have their turn". Our political process is seriously fucked people. The only reason I am registered is so that I can vote in NYS primaries, I don't subscribe to the views of either party. The Democrats are double-talking bleeding hearts and the Republicans are double-talking old farts. They are ALL corrupt, they are ALL in it for themselves and they are sucking the life out of this country.

My God Son Evan and I were ready for our long awaited overnight Friday. We watched the A-Team (talk about flashback for me!!), we played Wii and Linny made yummy Rhubarb pie. Here is a pic of us in our Batman Pjs!


Wow, that was a typical CC rant post. Wanted to leave you with a smile though, and how can you not smile thinking about BATMAN PJs?????

Enjoy the beginning of another week all!

PS) It's Chantal's B-day today!

Videos from London: By Alysa

Alysa had a camcorder in London and she shot a few little snipets while I was there.

The first is The London Eye and Buckingham Palace:




This one is my favorite. Pembroke Castle!


Thanks to Alysa for uploading and sharing so I could embed here! I had such a great time! Thanks again for showing me around London and going on adventures in Wales!

American Ghost Hunter

Received an update from PRS in my email inbox this morning:

CC1105, A special announcement from Ryan Buell:

The Movie. I'm am proud and excited to finally deliver the news that Chad Calek and I are in production for an upcoming feature film. That's right, a movie. It is about the journeys we face as paranormal investigators, where we come from, and the people affected along the way. We will confront a life-long haunting that has terrorized so many, and hopefully, win the war that we've been fighting for so long.

The entire journey is being filmed and soon you will be able to come along with us.

This is something that Chad and I are doing together and that we have complete control over. We believe in it so much that we turned down offers to have it bought and produced by a third party. This is something we decided needed to be done ourselves. It's a privilege to be doing this with my friend, Chad.

The first teaser trailer is finally here and I've posted it below. The official movie site is also live, where you can learn more info about the movie itself, as well as watch web-documentaries that document the entire process.

We've been blessed with the support of a loyal and ever-growing fanbase, so we can't wait to hear what you think. Please spread the word and leave us feedback.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm honored to officially announce, "American Ghost Hunter."

Soldier on!

AMERICAN GHOST HUNTER OFFICIAL TRAILER from Chad Calek on Vimeo.

Trailer was pretty well done although stylistically was nothing new. I hope this does well for them. It's looks very interesting.

Full Moon Madness

I wondered what was up, but I see that there is a full Moon approaching. Friday is the day, but I am feeling the pull already. Here is the randomness:

Happy Cinco de Mayo.

No name for my car yet. Perhaps Voldemort would be good, because me and Ralph Fiennes are such good friends since London. :) Actually I am sort of digging Voldemort. I could call him Voldy...or "He Who Shall Not be Named" hmmm... let's let that stew a bit shall we?

Work is killing me. I wish I was someplace that's else or that I could vanquish the evil that I work with. Maybe I will just go play my Buffy on PS2 and get the aggression out that way.

OMG have you seen the ridiculous amount of movies coming out this summer? So many I want to see: Wolverine, GI JOE, Harry Potter, Transformers 2, Public Enemies, The Time Traveler's Wife, Night at the Museum, The Brothers Bloom, Cheri, 500 Days of Summer and maybe even Whatever Works because Sir Hotness of Suffolk is in it. I am not sure about Star Trek (I don't want them to wreck it!) and Terminator although Christian Bale rocks. Those may be rentals later on.

I am listening to a mix I made consisting of some newer songs and songs from college including: "Elephant Bones" by That Handsome Devil, "Long Skirt/Short Jacket" by Cake, "Monsters" by Matchbook Romance and "Where it's At" by Beck. Can you dig it?

No pictures in this post? How about this:

The Goonies Reunited for Empire magazine's 20th Anniversary joined by Steven Spielberg and Richard Donner. From L to R: Data, Brand, Spielberg, Mikey(seated), Steph, mouth, Donner, Chunk(not anymore!) and Andy. Best. Movie. Ever. My one question is why don't they ever include the Fratelli boys? I realize Mama and Sloth are deceased, but Francis and Jake deserve some nostalgia too!

5pm cannot come soon enough.

Chip Coffey at the Landmark Theater!

Our local CNY Ghost Hunters group headed by Stacey Jones held a presentation and ghost hunt tonight as a fundraiser for the historic Landmark Theater here in Syracuse, NY. The presenters were John Zaffis a Demonologist and lead investigator on the famous "A Haunting in Conneticut" case, and my favorite medium Chip Coffey from "Paranormal State" was there to talk about his background and experiences as well. Everyone was very interesting and entertaining to listen to. Stacey showed us some of the EVP's and pictures they have gotten in local sites here in upstate NY as well as Gettysburg which were neat. This group had wicked senses of humor and their close friendships with each other through their work was evident and made the evening very enjoyable.

After the presentations they signed autographs and took pictures before the Ghost Hunt started. The line was fast moving and I got to meet Chip and got a picture with him. He was exactly as you see him on tv and that was pretty cool. He seems like a very genuine person and we learned that is a big supporter of adopting pets from rescues and shelters since he showed us pictures of his 4 dogs. Any fan of dogs/animals is a good guy!

Pinky and I went for the presentation portion. I had been for a presentatoin and Ghost Hunt a few yearsa ago but the hunt was so unorganized, I didn't do it this year. I think I might be regreting that decision because they seemed to really have a handle on it this year, and were serious about making it a great experience and weeding out the people who ruined it for everyone last time.

I thought that it was a great fundraiser for the theater which recieved a partial grant and must raise the rest. Pinky had never seen the theater and I had only been once so it was great to explore this beautiful piece of history. Apparently in it's heyday, there were 18 theaters along this main drag, the Landmark Theater is the only one left. For those of you who are local, it is comparable in size and era of the Stanley Theater in Utica, NY. I took a few pictures while I was there, and although it is difficult with a small digital, I think these came out pretty good. look closely and see if I caught any ghosts! :) Click to enlarge the phtos. The motiff is an interesting mix of Moorish, Hindu, Budhist and Asian. Hope you enjoy.

Aha Ahee Aha Aha!

A funny thing happened on my way to work this morning. Something that would only happen to me...

I was traveling the thruway to work from my parent's house early this morning. It is about 1 1/2 hours give or take a few minutes. I was enjoying my Sirius radio and thinking about lots of things when it was time for me to pass the Budget rental truck in front of me. As I began to pass it I noticed that there was something spraypainted on the side. Moving up I could read what the red letters said "Why So Serious?" with a red eyed, black mouths smiley face!

If I only had a passenger to take a pic of it! I grabbed a pic of a Budget truck the same size and design off the net and painted how it looked so you could see what I mean:

I do not condone grafiticizing, although, this made my day!

Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend:)