a studio view

arrival

Food is Expensive

Gabcast! Snizatch Blog #6 - Food is Expensive

walking to the store

keep smiling. even if only on the inside.

Guilty Feeling

Hey,

I skipped church today and I feel pretty bad about it. I've had a little cough lately and it isn't bad enough to use as an excuse by any means, so I'm not even going to try to. I spent the day relaxing at first and now I'm going to try and get some work done by doing some writing, working on my portfolio, etc. My usual exercises. I'm also going to do some bible study to make up for the missed service today.

Here's more bad news. I've missed hosting my Skypecast twice now and I'm beginning to see why all of these interesting ideas of mine seem to burn bright but fade fast. My follow-through is just embarrassing. This whole beginning of the year has been an exercise in trying to regain ground that I had claimed for myself months ago. Have I learned my lesson yet? Who knows.

A kind of Stardom

Yesterday I went to a karaoke bar with a group of people from work. My initial thoughts were that this would be a good way to meet some of the people that work in my office, network, forge some new professional relationships and such, but that was before the sake arrived. We had a total blast. All self consciousness and discomfort went out the door after the first few songs. I actually enjoyed acting like a complete idiot in front of my peers.

There must be something about music that just puts people at ease. It helps them to let there guard down and see things differently. Even when there was a genre of music or artist playing that I wasn't particularly fond of, watching others get excited and put their all into the feeling of the song was very entertaining and educational. How can you not learn something about someone by the way they scream and gyrate to a set of lyrics and melody that you've never even heard before. At the end of the night, we all made sure to make an appointment to do it all over again at the end of the month, without any hesitation.

Voce Dolce

Gabcast!
Sitting in front of the computer to write my already amazingly boring blog is no longer doing it for me. I'm a much more effective orator when I put my mind to it. Making these NPR inspired Gabcasts will hopefully liven things up. I've done them in the past and they seem to take on much more meaning for myself and others than if they were just dry prose. (Like what I'm writing now!)

I plan to have really interesting guest interviews. Fortunately, I know some rather unique characters that haven't yet been properly shared with the public. Also, my own thought process is better captured in audio, since I talk to myself a lot. (I might as well document my own absurdities if I'm going to be all Anne Frank with this blog.

Snizatch Blog #5

New Skypecast Talk Show: SNIZATCH the mix

Hey,

I'm going to try out this new Skypecasting thing because I think its an amazing new medium. That's it. I think it's cool, so I'm going to do it. Podcasting, Youtube videos, message boards etc. are all very hot and fresh ways of getting a message, an idea, a point of view or whatever out there into the global ether. But, with a Skypecast, you can bring people together and discuss stuff in-real time with no editing, no holds barred kind of action. Pretty exciting, right? How many times have you yelled at Fox news, "that's not right!" or found yourself tearing up during an Oprah segment, just bursting to say something to that beautiful young widow about the meaning of life. Now, there is a forum where we can do just that.

Check me out! Skypecast

Snizatch the mic

Saturdays at seven.

A shot of the Nextweb meeting slash pres

A shot of the Nextweb meeting slash presentations.

NextWeb = New Ideas

Yesterday evening, I attended a small gathering of internet entrepaneurs called Nextweb. My good friend Jack Bury turned me onto it and I was actually very impressed with the presentations that people put together to share their budding ideas.

I've been toying around with an internet based company idea for a while. I.E. this blog and the adjoined "webshop". But here's the thing, It's really hard to get clicks and interest in what you're doing on the web boosted up enough to be a cultural phenomenon, underground or mainstream wise. So, I'm hoping that learning more about how people are building their web company models will help me to refine my concepts and bring much more functionality and usefullness to this blog and other things I have coming down the pipe.

Contemplating

So, I did a little contemplating about God again today. I think I've made a little headway, but it's not that important. I know that I will never fully understand, I'm just trying to improve the context and the language that holds my faith and relationship to the Almighty. Basically, I need a way to think about God that doesn't make me feel completely lost.

In other news, there have been lots of rumors on the net about Brandy's new album. There couldn't be a more hopeful fan. There just couldn't be. Her recent unreleased song leaks have kept me going for the past 3 years or so, and I'm grateful for them. However, now that the prospect of the new album is close, my anticipation and greedy desire has grown immensely. I can't wait.

My instructor at SVA was a very sobering experience today. He reviewed my work last night with a certain objectivity and clinical dryness that surprised even me, Mr. social worker transplant. It's precisely what I need to improve my style and focus, communication strength and overall conceptual effectiveness. I hope.

Laters

sigh of relief

Work is going pretty well. so thats good. I`m slowly getting back into the feeling of going back to school as well. Now that this is my second class at sva, I have a better idea of what to expect from the course and how much I need to put into my work to get the best experience from it. My insomnia has flared up a bit again though. I'm writing this on the Wii at 5 in the morning. I better go.

bad pic

that last pic i posted was not hot. i took it with my helio on lunch a few days ago. i called it hunger. sorry i found some of my old poems. now all i have to do is send them to some publishers. this post was made on the internet channel of my Wii.

Gone for a minute

Yeah, I know. Its really been a while, and where are all the pictures that I've been promising already? I just can't seem to really find something that I find interesting enough to photograph and post. It can't help that I'm always at work and I never get out to do stuff in the city and live like a normal person under 50, that could have something to do with it. Since I don't have any hot pics or exciting tales of intrigue, I'll just talk about random stuff that catches my attention here and there.

While running a simple errand on 23rd street on Super Tuesday, I was handed a Hillary Clinton pamphlet from a middle aged Latina woman. She was wearing a blue and white mesh vest that was remarkably similar to that of a construction worker or someone completing a mandate of community service. "Ave youw woted today?" she called out to the massively uninterested passersby in a genuinely concerned voice. I walked over to her and stuck out my hand and one of my most non-threatening smiles. I must have looked like a crocodile winking at a baby wildebeast at the watering hole, but I really was glad to see her. She handed me the pamphlet, saw my croc-smile and raised me a thank-you-kind-sir smile and head nod. As she turned away to continue her outreach, the only thought that my grey matter could muster in this awkward moment of truth was "America". But not just any "America", the "America" uttered with a sigh and a shrug during the song Sante Fe in Broadway's Rent by the tranny character Angel. I just couldn't help but feel the guilt of ambivalence in the face of this woman's courage, trust, dedication and patriotism in and for a country that she may or may not have been born in. It's just something to think about.

Strengths and Weaknesses

I believe that everyone should know their own strengths and weaknesses.

Personal Time

Is there some sort of unwritten rule of life that states one must immediately be bombarded with unforeseen responsibilities and tasks at the precise moment that one decides to take some time for oneself? If you are me, or anyone else who actually longs for some time to yourself, then the answer is most undoubtedly yes.

Today was a very good day at work for me. We shot some video clips that will be used to rally the sales troops of one of our clients in an upcoming sales conference type thing I guess. It's always good to step outside of my usual routine of think, write, show others, listen while others rethink and rewrite what I've thought and wrote, wait a little, and then give them the exact same writings and thinkings again when they realize the rethinking and rewriting was unnecessary and unwarranted. No, I'm not patting myself on the back, its just that I'm a junior right now so I only get the really duh writing assignments anyways. And, as you can tell by the quality and frequency of this "blog", for good reason.

Anywho. Today was a very good day but I am disappointed that I couldn't find time to sneak away and grab my glasses and turn in my continuing education paperwork for approval and processing.

OOPS! 2

I totally forgot to take pictures over the Christmas holiday. I suppose I was having too much fun hanging out with my family. I will most certainly take some in the weeks to come.

I'm back in the city and taking everything back to basics. All the stuff I said I was going to do, I'm doing, and all the the other stuff I needed to do that never got done will be done so the I can write later on about all of the things I did. And here they are in no particular order:

Find and attend a suitable church
prepare for graduate school
complete a professional advertising portfolio
create and register a small business
start singing again, somewhere!
get my glasses so I can drive

2008 is going to be my year for revival!
Thank you Jesus.

Seasonal allergies

I have received such a wake up call in the second half of this year. A new job, a continuing education course, a move, a roommate and my return to the dating scene have all brought some much needed reality into the world of "Nate". I'm glad to be going home for Christmas though. I can't think of a better way to recharge my batteries than seeing the people that I love during a time when nothing else matters except being next to one another.

However, I must be careful not to get too comfortable in this haze of happiness. My list of must-do's has become to long that it seems to end where it began in some crazy circle of responsibility and action. Once again, I'm charged with looking at the path I'm on and deciding how to plant each foot as I lumber on towards an unknown, but anticipated future.

Many pics to come from NC!

Road Blocks

I've got to get over this fear of asking for help. I have a lot of work to do for this portfolio and there is no way that I can do it all alone. Why can't I just go up to an art director in my class and ask for help in putting the blasted thing together? There is so much at stake, and yet I clam up every time. This SVA (School of Visual Arts) class has been a unique and helpful experience, and I've learned so much about my new "craft" and even more about myself and how I thought I worked versus how my creative process really takes place. I can't allow my own personal fears of failure and inadequacy take over the simple ambitions I have for success in this endeavor.

Getting my Weight Up.

Well, I weighed myself on the bathroom scale today after almost 5 or so months of not being able to even think of what I may have gained in poundage. I wasn't surprised. I have gained some weight, but I totally know where it's all coming from; laziness and fear. After losing my free gym membership when I changed jobs, I haven't gone back into the NYSC offices to reinstate myself into their fold. Why... because. Parties here, lazy afternoons there, plain and simple. I've watched my lovely dancer's build balloon to slightly above average Joe-ness. Not cute. Stretching, push-ups and crunches at home have done nothing to stem the tide of flab that has come over me. Don't get me wrong. I'm still turning heads, but only with some carefully crafted outfitting and "incognegro" public appearances. The only good thing about all of this, is that, by not going to the gym, I have had some time to look at the projects I'm working on and make some priorities in my life. My writing, my portfolio, my job in pharma advertising, my friends and family, my spirituality and love of Christ. These are all adding to the mental weight that I've appreciatively accumulated in the past few months. I'm getting my weight up; focusing on living a better life and moving forward, hopefully, without getting heavy in the process.