Snowy Greenwich, CT

When I don't find myself reading Marketing trend articles, applying for jobs, writing cover letters, fixing my resume, and twittering useful job search articles that could help others land a job, I find I need to address my creative side a little more. And thus, I go and take some pictures

As it turns out, the snow storm that hit the Midwest came over to the East Coast to say hello. I decided to greet it the best way I knew how. Pictures! When I was going to go out and take pictures a friend of mine called me up and asked if I could take some of his car in the snow, since it was a Subaru and they are awesome cars, I agreed. And we were off on our adventure. We were in search of a road/driveway where the snow wasn't plowed. Being Greenwich, we had to go pretty far back country to find one of those roads. Back country is where all the big/private estates are. It's pretty far away from the center of town but there are some nice looking houses back there. Well, we took a ride out to investigate and here are some of the things I found. Side note: Nothing we did was illegal.


























Hope you enjoyed. Comments welcome.

Consistency, focus, and change

Being an unemployed college graduate, I am in constant search of advice on how to land a job. From interview tips to resume ideas to what to wear, everything is a crucial part of the process. There are many things out there that can help, but one thing that I have come to read on a regular has been the New Grad Blog, which gives tips that range from interviewing to networking. It has been a great help so far, and has lead to a better sounding resume. It's most recent post "3 Golden Keys to Job Hunting for New Grads" has reinforced what I have been doing.

I get up, grab a snack to start my metabolism, and off I go. I have a list of sites that I tend to go to and search for jobs. These sites are:
Media Bistro, Indeed, iHispano, One day One Job, idealist, Craigslist, Tweet my Jobs

On top of all those sites, I use my twitter account. For those of you familiar with twitter, there are third party programs which allow you to better organize what is going on on your feeds. I use tweetdeck, which allows for search columns to be laid next to each other. My columns are All Friends because you never know who is going to say something that will lead you to success. My next one is my marketing column, this one allows me to hear what people are talking about in relation to marketing. This may include trends, techniques, new things going on, etc. Most job posts on twitter will have a location name to allow for anyone listening to know where the job is. That's why I have a couple other columns designed to locations. I have New York, NY - Chicago, IL - Greenwich, CT - Stamford, CT.

I'm still trying to work on the networking part of it, but I have confidence I will make some connections. Anyone reading this that would like to connect, let me know. Here is my LinkedIn.

The second part of it was finding something that you want to do. It talks about being picky so you go where you want to go, but with the small job market there currently is. This although very smart for you to enjoy your job, is something that I can't accept. There are already a limited number of jobs out there, so being picky isn't really an option, for me at least. I tend to apply to jobs that would allow me to learn, grow as well as challenge me because if I am not challenged, I don't feel I am doing my best work. With that being said, the second part also talks about tailoring resumes, something I've been doing for a while. After tailoring the resume, I tailor the cover letter to the resume/job posting. I address what I have done in a manor that allows the person reading to see why I would be a great fit for the position. I don't lie, I don't stretch the truth, I just explain what I have done and the results it has had.

The last part is the change part, which pretty much explains that you need to see what your doing and relate it to the results. The only problem with that right now is that the time it takes for the companies to get back to you is at least a month at best. So I play the waiting game.

If you are in the same situation as me I would recommend staying tuned to the blog. It does provide insightful posts. It has definitely helped me along the way so if you're in my situation, take some of the tips I gave you and see if anything works for you.

Operation NYC

It was a long time a coming but I finally had time to go and visit a friend (Katie) in the city. We had been trying to get together since she invited me to her home warming party. Not having matching schedules and with me be out of town/country/state, or just incapacitated because of sickness, we finally found a time that worked. As luck should have it, it was supposed to rain that day and here I was wanting to go in and take some pictures. Just my luck right? Everything went according to plan though, and I got to say hi to another friend (Amanda) in the process. I have 2 people I know in NYC. That's exciting!

I was mildly wet from walking around though, which may have had something to do with the reason why I was some what sick a little longer. I am not sure as to whether you have felt this way about anything, but as I walked the 45+ blocks down to canal street, I was overcome by the urge to writing something that was going through my head. A lot has been on my mind these couple of weeks, and I had an urge to just stop and write down everything. I found a Starbucks, and got to writing. I think, the the app. I have used the most on my Black Berry has been the memo app. that was pre-installed. Let's just say, I have gotten a lot faster at texting.

I was meeting Amanda down by Canal street. Which, turns out has a small little park. But, when I say park, I mean a couple of trees and lots of benches. Maybe some grass? There was also a board walk that I found, so here are some pictures from that area.

1.The starting point.


2.Just one of many lights down the boardwalk.


3.Signs of the night before.


4.Mind it.


5.I wasn't looking for it, but I found it.


6.The park... and it's benches.


7.In order to get to the boardwalk, you needed to walk through a path that had this pattern. For some reason, I really enjoyed it. I don't know why. Maybe it reminded me of simpler times.


8.The Boardwalk


9.A little walk way off the board walk.


10.Soar


11. New Jersey


12. I don't know what this building is but it had a nice little path leading to it.


13. Lower part of the city skyline.


14. 8 hours later, 7 miles of walking later, and I was on my way back home. As I walked the streets back to Grand Central Station, Something caught my eye. Here is the picture of what stopped me from my brisk walk back.


The Chrysler building looks rediculous with the fog around it. It seemed unreal.

Well that is all for New York City.

So it's been a while...

It has been a while since I've updated anything on here so I figured it would be a good time to start. Things that have been taking up my time as of late are: Finding a full time job, Editing photos which are taking a lot longer then expected, doing some volunteer web marketing work for Know Your Source, chores around the house, little siblings, holidays, and my workout routine which I start today.

Finding a job is proving to be a lot more annoying then originally expected. The only way to keep up the morale is to stay positive and being a positive person, it's not that hard. You think positive, and positive things will happen!

So last month as a going away present to people at my school and myself in a way, I hosted a photo shoot where people could come and get their picture taken. They could come and get their picture taken for any reason whether it be for a family member, linkedin, facebook, myspace, or just for fun. I had a good 45 people come but since I didn't have the photography lighting, I had to make do with video lighting, which has resulted in a lot of shadow editing. At this point I am just about done, I just need to go ahead and send them to the people who came.

I interned for Know Your Source from Sept. until December when I graduated. It was a great experience and I learned a lot about web marketing. I got to work hands on with an adwords campaign and made it my own. Since I have graduated, I am now doing some volenteer work and staying along with them to further my web marketing knowledge.

Since the parents are at work, and things need to get done around the house, I am the one that is left with those duties. But I am not one to complain, it's a free room and I get to enjoy the delicious food my mother has always made.

The siblings... what can I say, I was in that stage once. 16 and 17 year old high school kids, thinking they know everything.

The holidays were good, Christmas was spent at home with the family. I never ask for anything because I don't want my parents wasting money on me due to a holiday. So I just accept the little things they give me and am always happy. New Years was spent in Illinios, visiting places and getting to know new people. Pictures to come when I get around to those.

The work out routine: I will work my way up to running 20 miles but as of now 5 will do. My goal is to run from my house to the beach which is 8 miles to get there. Walk around for 4 miles so 2 times around the beach, and then run back home for the additional 8. My plan is to alternate every other day, and on the opposite days go to the gym and build muscle so the running doesn't eat away at the muscle I have already. That way I can eat what I like and not get fat, which is essentially the goal.

Things coming up:
1.Studio Party with the photographer I know/Company I worked for last summer
2.Photo project: Picture display of my Shot glass Collection
3.Update the website (http://www.aceduo.com/)