Awake.In:::DreamSpace:::

I haven't cleaned my house in 3 years. Wait, let me explain. You see, back in 2003 when we moved into a 100-year-old restored Victorian home I inherited Trini, the McKenna's cleaning lady of 18 years. I knew that with a full time job and commuting into Manhattan, there was no way I could maintain cleanliness of this 3-story mansion. I welcomed Trini with open arms and we became fast friends.

Trini is from El Salvador, married with 2 children and as far as I'm concerned, a domestic mastermind. How she cleans this house in 5 hours every week still baffles me. First floor, great room, kitchen, living room, dining room, _ bath. Second floor, 3 bedrooms, full bath. Third floor, master bedroom suite, full bath. It would take me 5 hours to convince myself to start to clean the house…which brings me to my current level of distress and suffering. Trini is on vacation. Last time I survived because it was only 3 weeks, I was able to “fake clean”, you know, a quick vacuum job, dust only what absolutely needs to be dusted, throw toilet cleaner and brush vigorously…but that isn't going to work for 6 weeks. I'm going to have to really clean, like Trini…but I don't want to. I have become spoiled. Household chores are no longer on my list of things I have to do. I don't think about it anymore. It just gets done, by someone else, Trini, the Goddess of Ajax.

Week 3 has now passed and the dust bunnies are rampant, the bathrooms need attention, the furniture is begging for Pledge and, the cleaning supplies taunt me every time I walk by them…it doesn't work. I didn't clean yet. I need a plan. A great plan.

An email I received yesterday. Some back story…

My resume has been posted on Monster.com since October, 2006. Why? As Dr. McCoy would say, “I’m a Video Editor not a Technical Manager”. You see, my career at a Television Network took a 180 degree turn when my gig moved to Burbank, CA. The editing gig I moved into in 2003 went away in 2005 like the editing gig I had since 1988. The Technical Manager position was offered to me and knowing that I was selling my soul to the Corporate Devil, I accepted. My wardrobe changed, my responsibilities changed, and now I was part of “Management” that I used to make fun of and laugh at. For the most part, since I worked in the trenches with the people I now manage, they accepted my position and knew why I took it…20 years with the company, pension, 401k, vacation, and the most important thing…medical benefits. Oh, and since I was a skilled video editor/engineer, I was a manager that actually understood what they were talking about when something needed to get done.

OK, back to the email…here are excerpts:

Subject: Opportunity

Hello,

I came across your resume on the web today and thought you or someone you know might be interested in a tech management position I have in the area.

Being at your level of experience you might know someone that has worked for you/with you that would be interested in a fun and exciting career working on electronic/mechanic components. It is board level repairs, cosmetic equipment repairs, and new challenges on a daily basis. The job has a lot of flexibility in managing an entire gameroom. It is a great working experience with full benefits, Monday thru Friday and weekly overtime opportunity. 401K after six months of employment. Pay scale depends on experience.

Who sent me this? Now the punchline….
Best wishes,
Lynne DeRusso
Regional Recruiter for
Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza

I’m horrified and disgusted. This is the best my 20 year career at a Television Network in New York can attract? I’m a bit stuck up you see, I was part of editing teams for “One Life To Live”, “All My Children”, “The View” and, ABC News. I have something to say to you Lynne DeRusso, why would I or what colleague do I know would be interested in managing an entire gameroom at Chuck E. Cheese Pizza?

OK, I feel better that I let that out!

If you are a Anthony Hopkins or Ryan Gosling fan, check out the preview for this new film out April 20, 2007.
http://www.fracturemovie.com/

Seems like Sir Tony has let Hannibal out to play...yum!

I would like to thank...

The 79th Academy Awards were on Sunday, February 25, 2007 and the week prior at ABC’s Times Square Studios 50 real Oscars were on public display with one you could hold, pose, and take a snapshot with. So, I couldn’t help myself and headed down to Times Square to check it out. Had to wait in the queue like everyone else even with my ID...thank goodness it wasn’t crowded.

It is heavier than you think. Feels really cool to hold. And wow it would be sweet to win one. Hey, I dream big. I’m not going to be a Video Editor that was corporate morphed into a Technical Manager forever!

Applause here :)

Flashback 1997...
Apple premiered their now famous “Crazy Ones” TV commercial. Click here to screen commercial.

Richard Dreyfuss narrated...

Here's to the crazy ones.

The misfits.

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,

disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine. They heal.

They explore. They create. They inspire.

They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Flash Forward 2007...
Inspiring, isn’t it?
It never gets old, it still makes me want to do better and more.

I’m glad to be a crazy one,
even though there are times I wonder why.

I imagine and create and somewhere someone watches.

OK, it’s 2:40am and I’m at the Lucerne Hotel being kept hostage by the Network to make sure I’m at work tomorrow at 5pm. According to the weather people, we are in for a Nor'easter that will dump snow, ice, and wind on us. So, I’m waiting here...

Morning...snow...but not the horrid weather conditions that were predicted. Check out at 12pm, breakfast on the Network at the West Side Diner.

This past week a colleague was entertaining a group of us with the description of the photo above. I grabbed the digital camera out of my bag and went to get a snapshot. At first I laughed, a chalk outline of a discarded tree that had been picked up by the sanitation department earlier that day, a parody of a crime scene. But wait, perhaps it meant something else. Could it have been a statement? The grim end of a perfectly healthy tree that had it’s life cut short for a tradition? Or maybe deeper? Perhaps, Christmas time is like a crime scene, everyone stops to look and pay attention for a moment but then move on and forget what it was all about.

This song by the Goo Goo Dolls says it all...

Better Days

And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days
Cuz I don’t need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight’s the night the world begins again

And it’s someplace simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And thats faith and trust and peace while we’re alive
And the one poor child that saved this world
And there’s 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight’s the night the world begins again

I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight’s the night the world begins again
Cuz tonight’s the night the world begins again

This article was on the Apple website a few months ago. It fascinated me. It is about a new school that was built in the Masai village of Oloolaimutia in East Africa that runs day and night...but how? This majestic tribe lives without electricity. Here is the link to find out,
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2006/11/masai/

Here is the link to Build African Schools, the non-profit organization that raises funds and oversees the building of Primary and Secondary schools in the Maasai Mara region of Kenya.
http://www.buildafricanschools.org/

OK, they cost $100 bucks...but they are WORTH it. The sound is amazing and they are comfortable. I have tried all different kinds of headsets...these rock.

http://www.bose.com/

This verse sums up how I have been feeling lately...

‘Cause in my head there’s a greyhound station
Where I send my thoughts to far off destinations
So they may have a chance of finding a place
Where they’re far more suited than here.
From: “Soul Meets Body”
Death Cab For Cutie

Music has a way of piercing through the subconscious and capturing emotion. I may have listened to a song many times and heard the lyrics but once in awhile a song strikes a chord of recognition of what I’m feeling.