Snaps: Remember Your Unbridled Exuberance

Sometimes being an adult isn’t very fun. There are moments when I forget that I’ve ever felt as happy as I look in this ridiculous photo, age 5, rockin’ a giant sombrero.

…Luckily, I have this pic around to remind me that I am indeed capable of experiencing crazy amounts of amazing, joyous, unbridled exuberance (and in possession of lots of great memories). I am incredibly blessed and even when I’m not feeling so hot or so lucky, deep down I am aware of how fortunate I am.

I am in the mood to see amaaazing “when I was little” pictures of my friends. Post a link in the comments… if you dare. ^_^

California Dreamin’

July 28th was my last day with MTV News. After three incredible years, I knew it was time to go. Here are some photos that encapsulate what my time there was like:

I decided to leave because I’ve wanted to be a film director/producer since I was 10 years old. After five years of working in New York, I figure now’s the time to start doing that.

I am not afraid because I know it was the right choice. I was actually more fearful when I was avoiding difficult choices. When you go against the grain of your own dreams, it hurts.

Here is a short video from my goodbye party on August 1st at Studio Square in Astoria, Queens:

I will never forget my friends at MTV and what they did (intentionally and unintentionally) to make me a happier person and how they altered my view of the world.

My mom and step dad came to visit me the day after I left MTV News, which was a happy accident. Their presence curbed my initial worry over what I’d just done – quitting a staff job in the middle of a recession. They support my choice 100% because they know who I am.

Shortly after arriving in Cali, I surprised my god daughter Trinidy at her theater camp in Sacramento, CA. Her mom said that she had been counting down the days ’til my arrival:

I’ll be traveling all over CA until August 25th, catching up with family and friends, plus meeting with mentors in the film/tv world.

This is the start of something new and I can’t wait to share my experience with all of my people. If you’re reading this, you’re my people too.

I’m Going: Back To Cali! (For A Visit) + FreeAgent Love

It’s been a while (in 2007!) since I’ve seen my family on our home turf. This Cali-to-New York transplant has finally saved up enough dough to get outta Gotham for a while and spend some time on the left coast with the people I miss so much.

There’s a lot of history I have missed out on and one 7 day trip isn’t going to make up for that, but I am coming prepared: I’m bringing my new 500G FreeAgent Go.

image via Vector_Transformers’ Flickr

I ordered one the other day on newegg.com and I’m hoping it arrives in time.

I’ve missed a lot of birthdays, holidays and special moments, so I plan on spending some time on each of my loved ones’ computers, taking some memories home with me via images and videos. If I find music and movies that I like, I’ll be “borrowing” that as well.

I’m going to record a lot of video and take photos while I’m in Cali this time, so being able to dump it all on a drive before I come back to New York makes for easier transfer.

I picked the FreeAgent Go because my primary home computer is a Mac. Although it’s optimized for the Mac, the FreeAgent Go can be formatted to work with both Macs and PCs. It’s sleek and small (I’ve seen a coworker’s and it’s less than six inches wide and under a pound) and it matches my computer. It features both Firewire 800 and USB 2.0.

…I tweeted a while back that Seagate should start a social media compaign centered on people who were recently laid off. Many of those folks are using the FreeAgent to quickly and efficiently back up years of data from work computers when they have one day to clear out their offices. That is actually happening in the workforce and there’s a way to talk about that in a sensitive (hopefully funny) way.

Perhaps the angle could be how the FreeAgent made it easier for an individual to transition from one job to another?