yes, i'm alive.

Sorry it's been so long. I haven't had a spare moment to breathe, let alone blog.
Things at 'CCO are rockin'. We're cranking out lots of stuff, and rambling up on the topical front...so lots of long hours-but, with people I love so that's awesome!

In my spare time on weekends I've been working on this 'lil guy. A music video. I did most of the concept, directing, and editing. Fun. I was blessed to have Joe Berglove of WCCO as the director of Photo, Maranatha Wilson of WCCO for Motion Graphics and Lorri Burchett and Carly Danek also on board for shooting.

Anyway, it's doing really well on youtube right now. #7 ranked in the Comedy category. Help me get it to the top by clicking "favorite" k? :-) Thanks!

E

sorry!

oops.
i haven't blogged in a long time.
and i'm keeping this short.
and forgetting punctuation.
imlazyatbloggingyouneedtodealwithit.

anyway, lots of fun going on at wcco these days. i've been working on a new proof campaign, we've ramped up topicals a lot, i have an image campaign on the horizon, and i'm up for two emmy's.

i probably won't win. but it's all good. having a job surrounded by amazing, loving, and creative people is reward enough.

*collective cheesy sigh here*

new blog

hey guys-
below is a post that probably seemed out of place.
it is a sample from my new blog: misplacedfriend.blogspot.com
what i'm doing is writing letters to the universe. they might be directed at friends, strangers, family, even you...so check it out, take from it what you will... and comment if ya want.
:-)
e

see it.

I saw you today.
Walking hand in hand with a beautiful child. The little one was holding a page from a coloring book, up to the sky as if to say, "Here ya go, God-my work of art is THAT good...hang it on your wall of clouds." Her little face was priceless, transparent, and radiating happiness.
But, yours held a scowl.
How is it possible to have a face holding a heavy frown, when you are in the company of such beauty and innocence?
You rolled your eyes at her with a look of disgust, as if to say, "What do you know? Stupid kid...so naive."

WHAT does she know?
A lot.
You could learn from her.
How to let excitement into your heart.

A lesson, in pure joy.
The little girl, who can barely walk or talk
is the teacher.

Are you guilty of overlooking obvious moments of delight in your life? When you start to seek out snippets of elation...they will be yours.

wowza...it's been awhile.

Sorry it's been awhile since I touched base.
Things have been very busy this past month or so.
We are officially down 4 people in the 'CCO creative dept since last summer...so needless to say, things are busy. But, I'm not complaining. It makes the days go by fast, especially when you are surrounded by kickarse co-workers.

So, what's new?

Well, I won't a Promax award...that was perrrrdy rad. And unexpected. :-) My DTV spot got silver in the PSA category. But...the weird thing? Silver, actually meant I won the category-weird, eh? They didn't award a Gold this year. Nobody lived up to par, I guess? But, that's cool with me. Honestly, I liked my spot but definitely didn't think it was "Promax Gold" worthy. If I could, I'd tweak a lot of things about it, in hindsight.

Wanna see it? Here ya go...recognize the caller's voice? hehe:



In other news, I've been traveling a bunch.
Spent some much needed time with my hubby :-) We visited friends and checked out the following ciites, all within' the past few months: philly, DC, NYC, Chicago, and Milwaukee! Fun times. I'll blog more about that later. For now...it's sleepytime.

music/choreography

help.
i'm choreographing a few routines...and need inspiration.
what is a favorite song of yours? what brings back a sense of nostalgia?
i'm looking for songs that will trigger a great emotional response in the crowd. for instance....last year i used: ice ice baby, and i would walk 500 hundred miles-by the proclaimers. stuff that makes ya smile, and maybe think of your middle school/high school days. upbeat is preferred.
ideas? thanks in advance, all.
peace and hugs.
e

Seeking Approval...or A Wise Career Choice?

Right now I'm dealing with an inner struggle.
I just finished reading "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle...it really rang true. Very cool book-I highly recommend it.
But, through my journey of reading it...I realized one thing about myself. I am constantly seeking approval. Even to the extent that I have come to live through any accomplishments. "You may think...well, that's OK-it keeps you driven." But, the flip side is also feeling a big sense of lacking in my life if I don't gain the approval I seek, ya know? Almost as if I'm finding a sense of self through the things I do...instead of what is inside, at times.
I've really come great lengths when it comes to this. Currently I'm in the finals for a Promax award. And I'm pumped, of course. But...not like I used to be. In the past I'd be "hanging my hat" on getting a gold. Now, I think I'm at the point where I'm just happy to be in the position I am. Winning or losing doesn't define me anymore, ya know?
Now, a new challenge. The Emmy's. I've won Emmy's before...but always in collaboration with my fellow producers, etc... A big career goal of mine has been to win one, on my own-a solo project. This year I did a lot more solo stuff, which was fun. But now I face the issue of entering for Emmy's. It's leaving a icky taste in my mouth because I feel like once again...I'm just seeking approval. But, at the same time a solo "win" is just one thing I'd like to list on the resume and check off my "life list." If you will. So...where do you draw the line? What is a wise career choice...and what is just seeking approval from others?
Hmmm...hard to tell-it's a blurry line.
I'll definitely enter something, no question in that. But, I just need to remind myself---my actions and accomplishments do not define who I am as a person.
Perspective.
It's a good thing.

hi

i just wanted to share this awesome quote with everyone today:

be miserable. or motivate yourself. whatever has to be done, it's always your choice-nobody else's.

now, do great things! you have it inside of you :-)

long day.

Today is shaping up to be a long day...but no complaints here.
I came to work around 11am to prep for my shoot with Frank and Amelia. We headed out to the Metrodome, and had a blast! The story we are doing is about "do you parent each kid differently/should you?" -we ended up interviewing Joe Mauer and his family (well...I didn't get to...Frank was the lucky duck). Pretty rad.
The peeps at the 'Dome were really great. Super friendly and accommodating. They even custom made jerseys for Frank and Amelia to wear for the shoot. aww...
I'm off to upload the footage now, fingers crossed that it looks great---I'm sure it will, I worked with a shooter today I'd never used before, and he has a reputation for being AWESOME. Great guy, super efficient on a shoot too-but still personable.
I work with some really awesome people. woot.

In the personal life...things are crazy. "Good crazy" with the hubby-love that guy. And "cool" crazy with the social scene, hehe. I'm excited because I"m going to a kickbutt concert on Friday night for a band I love called The Melismatics. Check them out!

Exciting Future

Life is good. Remember this: Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

Anyway...I'm pretty excited about the future right now. I'm helping some friends of mine promote their band, as well as another buddy of mine (below)--that's been really rad. Almost like doing promotional work, but it feels different. I love music, so it's been nothing but fun.

The future at work is exciting, as well. My attitude has changed a lot in the last two weeks---for the better. Not that I had a horrible attitude before, just a more "normal" way of looking at things. Now I'm seeing situations for what they are...opportunities to make the best of life. Cheesy? A little. True? Yes.

My boss told me today he's going to have me team up with Michele Tafoya again. I am really flattered. In my previous mindset I would have been filled with anxiety, and worrying about getting it done asap "what will i do, what will i do?" But today, i took it for what it was. A compliment. She is a nationally known reporter, and an amazing woman. How lucky am I to be able to work with her not once, but now for a second time? So fun.

Here is a look at what we did the first time we got together. This won a bronze at Promax :-) More importantly, Michele told me that this promo really touched her...and we actually shared a tearful moment in my edit bay when I showed it to her. She's such an amazing, talented, courageous woman. wow. I'm in awe of her talent, and her charisma.

So yeah...life is good. Remember that.

you gotta see this :-)

this is what i work on in my free time.
my buddy dan hit this cover outta the park. a parody of beyonce "single ladies" like you've never seen before.
fan. tas. tic. please rate and subscribe-any support you can lend would be awesome.
E

mwwwawa ha ha ha ha....

I'm working on a hilarious youtube video for a friend of mine. We're posting it Monday, and I can't WAIT!

ps. new spot!

oh yeah...i did this today, almost forgot to post.
the kids in the spot are my friend Sean's little ones...aren't they ADORABLE? they are such good little actors. And their brother Jack was in my new economy promo this winter. awesome!

a whirlwind of inspiration...wow.

So, after three different people recommending Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" to me...I finally picked it up. I was skeptical, everyone said stuff like, "It changed my life...blah blah blah." whatev, right?
haha..RIGHT, is right!
I'm about 2/3 of the way through the book-and it's absolutely amazing. It's all about finding inner peace, and those of you who work in the TV world know it can be hard to do that when you're surrounded by murders, disasters, and all around "bad" stuff. What's changed in me is that I can center myself...put distance between those things now. It's amazing. I still know what's going on, but I'm strangely at peace. Yup, I sound like a crazy spiritual nut. But ya know what? I also feel GREAT. woot.
Here are some of the main points that have stuck with me:

1. you do not become good by trying to be good...but by finding the goodness that is already within' you.

2. illusion will never satisfy. only the truth of who you are, if realized will set you free.

3. when you fully accept that you "don't know" you actually enter a state of peace and clarity that is closer to who you truly are.

4. defining yourself through thought is limiting yourself.

5. authentic interactions become impossible when you lose yourself in a role...i definitely struggle with this.

6. to see one's predicament clearly is the first step toward going beyond it.

7. nothing ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being present now. therefore...the past has no power.

I hope this helps you go into your weekend with a slightly better sense of presence and awareness. Check out the book if you have a chance. Good stuff.

G'night.

An oops...or was it an oops, really?

So, I (obviously) try my very hardest not to mess things up at my job. This weekend I got a call from my boss saying that one of my promos was in the server under the wrong "endplate"-that the monday version was running with a tonight tag.
I was SURE I had flipped both versions to the server and was so confused. He asked if I could come in to fix it, and I felt horrible because I was actually visiting old friends 5 hours away, so it just wasn't an option. Long story short-I really didn't make a mistake at all!!! :-) yippee. Our server was messed up and pulling the wrong spot from our HD server, that's all.
But, ya know what I learned from this experience? I have a great manager. He's really awesome. Why, you say?
Well, when he called to inform me of the mistake he had thought I made he spoke calmly. When he could tell I was upset, he responded, "No biggie, E. It's only TV. Please don't lose sleep over it, things like this happen." True, right? This is the difference between his-and some other managerial styles. Another manager may have yelled and yelled and yelled about how irresponsible this action was, etc...But not Scott. He knows me well enough to realize I am my own worst critic, and no words he can say to me would make me feel worse than just giving me time to think about what I did (even though in this case, it was all a misunderstanding-but that's not really the point).
The reason why I think being understanding works (for some people) as a managerial style is because it gives me time to think about what I have done. If I get a royale butt chewing I'm more likely to just get defensive, instead of thinking about my actions. It almost gives the worker an excuse to just direct anger at his/her boss, and say, "oh whatev-they'll never be happy, jerk." Instead, I had no anger towards him-only remorse for what had happened, and a desire to make sure I never disappoint him again. I repeat...it turns out this was all a misunderstanding, and just a glitch in our server....BUT that's not the point.
This situation really made me think about WHY I like my boss. That's one of the many reasons (and no, to the best of my knowledge he doesn't frequent my blog-so I stand to gain nothing from this). Just using the 'net as a sounding board...hopefully other managers might see this post and know that there are workers out there like myself who are so harsh on themselves, punishments aren't effective.
I get it-this style doesn't work for everyone. But...I'm glad to have a boss that "gets" me. I'm pretty darn lucky.

Ugh.

So...I don't even know why I'm posting this-probably because a few people have asked to see. Anyway, this is the next promo in our relationship series for sweeps.
Overall, I think the concept was there. But my execution was shoddy at best. We didn't have time to set up for the shoot, and the anchors had to book to get to the 5p show---so, quality suffered. such is life.
They were good sports.
The funny part?
3 people promised to bring me a wedding veil that day and everyone forgot. So...I had Amelia wear paper towels in her hair. She was such a good sport. And man...she looked like the flying nun! hahaha

I'm proud...

So, my buddy Dan is a fantaaaabulou-so musician. About a month ago I lectured him a bit about getting his crap together and going for it. Really pushing himself to the max, getting a new website up-creating new content for the web.
Well, he surprised the shipoopi out of me (family guy reference, for all of you fans!). He did it. He launched his new website, on schedule. Annnnndddd, together we posted yet another vid of an original song of his.

First...check out his website: DANRODRIGUEZMUSIC.COM

Second...check out this vid. It's one of my favorite songs of his...and it will definitely get your toe tappin.

Need Pics?

Are you a in a band, a model, a couple...basically-are you an interesting human being?
Do you want kickarse pics taken?
My bud Mike Minehart is running a spring special for seriously---realllly cheap to fill up his summer portfolio.
Here is some of his live performance work. woot.

MIKE MINEHART DOT COM

Mpls/St. Paul Film Festival

So, this weekend I was invited to the Mpls/st. paul film festival by my friend Karen (below). Her friend Travis was showing his film LO.
Honestly, by the trailer I was a bit skeptical...it looked scary. I'm not into "scary" usually. Turns out-it wasn't scary at all. It was HILARIOUS. Dancing demons, smoking, swearing, laughing, outlandish costumes, and great makeup! All done on a shoe-string budget. And I mean shoestring...I've had promo budgets bigger at 'CCO, honestly. I was so impressed by what the director Travis Betz pulled off, in such a short amount of time (6 shooting days) and literally no cash.
Long story short-see this film. You will laugh hysterically. It's the little things that make you chuckle. For instance, one of the demons scares the lead (played by Ward-nice dude)...then turns around with a cigarette and says, "Aight...now, clean the sh!t outta your pants man. hahaa." So unexpected, and funny.
Anyway, here are the links for two different trailers. See this film if you have a chance.


OFFICIAL TRAILER:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhFsK7e8wUo

A better taste of the humor involved:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmw3DWxgCgw

Check out My friend, Karen!

I've recently become friends with a youtube "celeb" of sorts. 

Her name is Karen Alloy and she's extremely talented, beautiful, and funny as he**! 

Seriously...so witty. I always learn a little something from her vids. And apparently nearly 2 million people have, as well--->she's quite the sensation. 

Oh, and she's going to co-star in the music video I'm directing this summer! More on that a little later. Until then...check her out! 

I'm pretty sure...

That nobody ever reads this blog. 

But ya know what...? I'm OK with that. 

haha. 

I am, however going to try to be better at blogging. woot.

So, let's start today. 

Tomorrow I have not one, but two promo shoots. Buuuuuut...it's going to be easy peasey. I know, that's not a word---but this is a blog, so who cares?  Basically what I'm doing is shooting two special report promos at once, in a similar style I just did "Can men and women just be friends"--as seen below. 

I'm not sure if the next two will be as "fun"---the topics aren't quite as quirky, but we'll see what we can come up with. Wish me luck. 

CHEERLEADING

I have two big competition routines I'm choreographing this summer. 

But, I'm at a lack of ideas for music...I've run out of originality! 

Help. 

I need songs that elicit some sort of sentimental response from judges-not too "techy." 

For instance, in the past I've used: ice ice baby, 500 miles by the proclaimers, and even the flinstones theme song. 

Ideas? 

Ever been unsure about being in love?

Then you'll dig this new song by my buddy called "I love you...maybe"

CRAZY

I just realized my youtube channel is close to reaching 80,000 views. 

Woah. 

Apparently people ARE interested in TV promos, eh? Rock on---local TV isn't dead yet people :-)

What is news?

Recently I did a promo for a story titled "Can Men and Women really be friends?"

This brought up the debate----is this really news? 

In my opinion-yes. 

I think anything is "news" that creates buzz and leaves the viewer learning new information in the process. Who cares if it's not a scary investigative piece? I think the face of news is changing, people...viewers can get "breaking news" or depressing news, on a number of national channels everywhere these days. Our challenge? To figure out what intrigues them...and bring them information about that topic. Teach them.  

Long story short---whether it's real "news" or not, we did one of our biggest numbers last night when that story ran. Why? I think it's because everyone can identify with the story. Most of us have been in that situation.  Now, we're getting an expert opinion on a topic that is potentially controversial/a buzz starter. THAT, is news. 

In my opinion.

Woot.

my life...isn't bad.

I caught myself complaining under my breath today. About having to put in a few extra hours. What is my problem?
A lot of my friends don't even have jobs. I need to be thankful for what I have. I mean...I worked in one of the best news markets around, have great co-workers, and a platform where almost anything I want to do, goes. Wake up, you have it good, girl!
In my spare time, I'm working with a dear friend on his very first music video. HOW. fREAKIN. RAD. I'm so excited.
I had a dream the other night that I got laid off...it really made me realize how much I love my job. I woke up to my cat liking my face, because I must have been crying in my sleep. Wow.
That's it for the random ramblings.
Wanna see something cool and uplifting? Check out my friend Dan playing an original song for some kids in the hospital:

Like Jason Mraz?

If so, you'll love this version of his song I'm Yours.
Check it out-my buddy Dan and I went to visit Tyler Olson at Courage Center. Ty was paralyzed in a High School football game this fall, and I'm friends with his older sister. He's been making awesome progress though!
We stopped by to sing some fun songs to Ty and some of the other patients. Check it out.

in my spare time...

i like music. i like videos.

i like my buddy dan. 

he is a musician. 

therefore...i did a video FOR him. 

woot. 

watch it if you're bored. it was just for fun. 

MUSIC OF THE SOUL