Anthony Bourdain

I have recently been watching Anthony Bourdain's show "No Reservations" on Netflix. I am starting at the beginning and working my way to the most recent, but two episodes have caught my attention in Season 2. The first was when he took his production manager, Nari Kye, to Korea. Her cheerful disposition was a great contrast to his general demeanor. Some of his best moments on the show are when he is talking with people and this show is an hour long great moment. The other episode was the Beirut episode. They started it out like any other, talking to a local who explained the recent history of the war, and how the city was rebuilding from their civil war. They ate a lunch, and that is when everything changed, as machine guns started going off, and the city started being bombed. The airport was destroyed, they were evacuated to a hotel just outside the city. You get to see a lot more of the behind the scenes moments as the "fixer" for the show had to suddenly leave the country, basically abandoning them. Their local security escort held out, but he eventually left and they later found out his home had been destroyed. They had to stay for a week before the USS Nashville could come pick up the American citizens. It was a real unexpected moment for the show, definitely unplanned.

But anyways. I have struggled with my Shutterstock sales lately, of course not uploading doesn't help. But today I doubled my monthly sales with a surprisingly great day.

Moving day will be July 2nd. So my 'net connection will interrupted slightly. Hopefully I will love my new job.  

Exit 101, July 10th

For you local readers, we need extras for the movie on July 10th. It's an overnight shoot, so be prepared to be up all night. You'll need to be one of two types of people, first, we need college age students wearing halloween costumes, non-copyrighted characters. The other will be anybody to play infected people, wear clothes you don't mind getting messed up. If you haven't seen photos of the project go to this link and check it out. Here is the teaser trailer (note: it is a rough edit, not color-corrected, and without correct music)

My three year old, Eliana, is currently fascinated with rainbows. Every morning between 8:00 and 8:20 there is a rainbow that moves across the floor as the light filters through the front door. When she sees it, she'll wake us up if we're not up already and have us play in it.

Preparing for our move to Birmingham. I'll be packing heavily the next couple days. Alot of people already know, so, yes, I did get the job with Books-a-Million. I will be a co-manager there, making more then I currently am.

Not much photography wise. Did upload one of myself, I think I did since I last blogged.

It's pretty straight forward. I am sitting in my living room, so I burned out anything visible in background. I then cropped it halfway down my face, and then added a black copy space to the side. I altered my look by adjusting the contrast and brightness. But I can't honestly say what I did, because I don't remember. I have tried to redo it, but I can't quite figure it out. If you have any ideas what I did let me know. I thought I faded the saturation, lowered the brightness and increased the contrast. I also dodged my eyes a bit to make them pop. 

But anyways. Need to keep packing stuff so I will be going now. 

YEAH!!!

Ok, I won't say how my interview went yesterday, but I will say a new chapter in my life is about to open. And for anybody getting ready to do an interview, be positive. An employer doesn't want to hear someone being negative, even about a competitor. To be honest, I have nothing really against Walmart. Sure, they have silly and sometimes downright stupid programs, but for the most part, if the store runs something correctly, it works. Walmart has been part of my life for most of 15 years. Most of my knowledge as far as retail and merchandising was developed through them. I am thankful I entered the company back in the day when you ran your departments like your own store. It's a little different now, more like just reading the stuff from home office and doing. Not as much creativity.

So anyways, like I said, I can't say anything until I take the proper steps. But I will recommend Books-a-Million stock. I have to get ready for work, so I will write again another day.

Books-a-Million

Today I am off to Birmingham again. I have yet another interview to flub, this time with Books-a-Million. I have been having odd luck with my interviews lately. I have interviewed with several Walmarts for transfers, and of course I nail those right on the head, because I don't really want to be there. But when it comes to jobs I really want, I screw them up. Let's use my latest as an example. Bed, Bath, and Beyond. A nice little company best known for being in Adam Sandler's movie "Click". It was a position I am qualified for, I wanted, and would have provided decent enough money to keep Angela from having to work. At the end of the interview, I wouldn't have hired myself. As I stood up and shook the manager's hand, I knew I was not getting it. Some of my errors? I was negative about my current company. When being interviewed, never be negative about your past companies. Why should I be negative toward Walmart? No reason, they have been my main job for most of 15 years. They have good people working for them. They have good programs. They do honestly try to work with communities. They have great (yes they do) benefits and insurance. So why negative? I guess I was trying to give a good reason why I wanted to leave them. How did it sound? Like I hated them, and that translated to I was a frustrated employee who would probably get frustrated with any new place I worked too. Another thing I did wrong? I rambled. Instead of just answering the question, I would volunteer a little more, add that one more little example. I was a motormouth. And lastly, I couldn't name my weaknesses. I came off as a frustrated, arrogant, rumor-spreader, who thought he was perfect.

But anyways. My strategy with today's interview is simply be myself. Answer the question briefly. Use positive examples from Walmart. Why do I want to leave Walmart? I don't, but since I am moving to a larger city for the first time, I want to see what other opportunities are out there. To see if any other companies want to use my experience and knowledge. Walmart has great programs, and even though some of their newer programs are off to a slow start, I can see their potential.

Ok, enough about me. Let's talk about my wants. For Father's Day I want one of two things. I know I will get neither, but this is a wish list, not a need's list. I want the DVD "(500) Days of Summer" or the book by Anthony Bourdain "Kitchen Confidential". And stay tuned to this blog on Father's Day where I will give tribute to my late father. Anyway, I must go and be myself, so until next time....

....um.... Hi

I'm back(ish). A lot has happened since I last wrote. My father passed away. And I am moving to Alabama. The movie is finally starting to wrap up. Buying a house. Trying to get a new job. Niece was born.

Since I am in the mist of moving, I may not be a steady blogger again. I will try to keep up, but no promises. So, I'll keep you all in mind and try to get back into the habit of daily writing.

Oh, and check out some of the latest "Exit 101" pics