The Amazing Part of the Amazing Race

I should start off this entry right away by saying that Karlo and I are not big fans of the Amazing Race, not because we don't like the show, but simply because we never watch the show. I personally would be all for watching it. On some isolated occasions when Karlo has been out of town the lure of the show pulled me right in as I was channel surfing. I'm not quite sure what it is about the show exactly that sucked me in, but it didn't take long. I imagine it was the cool and exotic travel locations or the interesting challenges the contestants must face. Something about it totally interested me and, if I had my way, we would watch it all the time. I'm not quite sure why, but for some reason Karlo seems to be morally opposed to reality TV. If it doesn't involve dancing or singing then he's not at all interested. sigh.

So why am I talking about this show that we never watch? Because I can't tell you how many people have told me over the past few years that  Karlo and I should be on that show. Everyone says the same thing, "You guys would be great on The Amazing Race." For some reason everyone that we know that watches the show, watches it and thinks of us. There is no doubt that I would love to try it. As a matter of fact one of the excursions on our Cozumel cruise was the "Cozumel Amazing Race" where you got to participate in a mini Amazing Race. I was totally into it, but there were so many other cool excursions to pick from and we only had one day. Note to self that we must go back there.

To continue my rambling story . . . last week I heard from another friend that me and Karlo should be on the Amazing Race, but this time it was different. This time it was "They are holding Amazing Race auditions close by and YOU GUYS GOTTA GO." If I had a dollar for every time somebody told me that we should be on the show we would be halfway to the grand prize, so finally I got curious enough to look into the auditions. The more I thought about it, the more excited I got. We COULD be great on that show. We could travel to cool places and have an amazing experience. Why wouldn't we audition for the it?

Karlo insisted on asking, "Why would they pick us?" And I just thought, "Why WOULDN'T they pick us?" Karlo is a pretty interesting guy and I'm sure he would peak the interest of somebody watching. So that was it. We were going to try out!

Then I went to the web site and read the rules and restrictions and our very short lived bubble got instantly popped. Among the first three rules was "You must be a US Citizen." Booooooo hissss. There goes our big worldwide adventure down the tubes. And what kills me the most is that I went from never even giving one single thought to ever trying to get on this show to complete and utter disappointment over not being able to audition. That little fable about only wanting the grapes you can not reach is so true. The second I found out that I couldn't have it I wanted it ten times more. So ridiculous. Well anyway, I think Karlo is going to begin his application for citizen ship next year so maybe there's still hope for us.

4 Words to Describe You

What four words would you use to describe yourself?  Here’s a test… close your eyes.  scroll down to the picture below.  Quickly, look.  The first four words you see describe you.

I don't think it works at all because here are the first 4 words that I saw:

patient
peaceful
elegant
dramatic

Well, that was good for a nice laugh to begin my day. Did it work any better for you?

Tuna Squisher

I can't believe this. I have been longing for this invention for years. I even asked Karlo to invent one for me. Who knew that it actually existed? And who knows how long it has existed without my knowledge, but low and behold I happened to stumble across this little beauty at Big Y earlier this week:

It's a tuna fish squisher and all I got to say to that is AMEN. Is it just me or do you also despise opening a can of tuna fish? I mean it's just disgusting to have to squish that can and have that nasty fishy juice running all down your hands and into your rings. I wash and scrub and still my hands stink like fish.

So I bought this little gadget and positively could not wait to try it out. OK, so it's not perfect. I did still get a little fish juice on me, but I have to admit, it was much better than not using it. It was a sound $3 or $4 investment and I will buy another to keep one at home and one at the office. Might not be as exciting or fun to use as the pineapple corer, but you should still get one. And who would have imagined that I would have not one, but two kitchen gadgets to recommend in one year?

Our New Pet

Seems we have a new friend that wants to take up residence at our house. For two weekends this little bugger has been hanging out on our back deck. The minute we go outside, he/or she lands right on us and stays there until we move.  I'm just so intriqued by the beauty of a dragonfly.

Week 42 in Photos

I've been laying pretty low this past week and I'm not exactly sure I can explain why. I think maybe it will just take me some time to adjust back to my normal home life. I need to fall back into my 'home' routine and this past week wasn't exactly a good chance to settle back in. It was a very busy week (at work) with not much free time at home in the evenings. I think the entire week slipped by without me spending any time at my home computer. These pictures are the only shred of memory that will remind me of what I did.

#289

It was so very nice to have a real home-cooked meal. Karlo made a batch of his Hungarian veggie soup and we enjoyed it for days.

#290

This was a real treat. For some reason you can't buy one of my favorite beers here in CT so our friend from PA brought some up from home for his visit to us. We spent this night entertaining him at home.

 

#291

I'm just appreciating some creature comforts of home. I was so loving spending this night on the couch with my favorite blanket.

#292

Went for a walk at lunchtime and captured a small speck of fall color.

#293

The highlight of this day was, of course, going to Boston to see Sting. Luckily Karlo graciously backed out of using his ticket and I made a deal with a friend . . . "You drive me to Boston and the ticket is free."  Best deal I ever made. I ended up having a great dinner and great time while Karlo was happily in the seclusion of home. But he's on the hook for tomorrow night, when he will be escorting me to see Sting in CT. Fingers crossed that it goes as smoothly.

#294

Tonight was another one of our group themed dinners. It was a repeat on Mexican night and I was, once again, in charge of dips. My spinach dip was a huge success and crowd favorite. I also lost my mind and decided to bake a few batched of tortillas using the never reliable convection oven. No wonder I agreed to a shot of tequila, after the horrific kitchen experience I had leading up to dinner.

#295

We took a couple of short motorcycle rides this weekend to try to capture some of the Fall beauty. I think Northeast CT is way past peak at this point, but it was still nice.

Shoe Update

Well, my brilliant shoe find turned out to be a total bust in mega proportions. I was so excited about those darn shoes. I loved the style, I loved the color, I loved the heel height, I especially loved that they got Tina's approval . . . and then kaboom. I wore them around the house last night for a whole 15 minutes and that was long enough to bore small holes into each heel. I simply can not believe how much they hurt after such a short time. Does nobody actually wear and test these things before they go into mass production? I mean if somebody with the thinnest heels on Earth can't wear them then tell me, who can? So frustrating. But on a bright note this means that I have to take another trip to Marshalls for more shopping. What a treat!

The Skinny Heel Struggle Continues

I don't think I will ever make peace with my difficult feet. It just really irritates me that it is nearly impossible to find shoes that fit me. It's rough getting through the Summer having to avoid all the cute 'slide-style' sandals, but at least there are plenty of other sandal options available - ones that include adjustable straps. Wait a minute, now that I think about it I do recall having to take a stapler to my beloved Athena Alexander sandals this Summer because even those adjustable straps simply refused to stay up on my heel. Drat.

So now that Fall has arrived I breath a sigh of relief. Finally, I can drag out all my boots and clogs and I can finally walk around while staying in my shoes. Yeah right. That is until I need to dress up and put on a pair of pumps. I had a wedding to go to last night and with all my recent traveling I didn't really have much time to shop. Thank God for online shopping because I purchased my dress from my bed in a hotel room in North Carolina. But with shoes I don't really have that luxury. I knew I had to physically go to a store to try them on. I found a pair of cute black pumps at Kohls that would be perfect for any dress so I pounced on them. I always first try a size 8 and then I either go up or down a half size depending on how badly my heel slips out. Well the 8 fit me pretty snugly and my toes were not all too happy. The whole front of my foot felt too squished so there was no doubt that I had to move up to the 8.5. And of course, in true Kohls style, they didn't have my size in the color I wanted so I ended up buying online anyway. But I knew I was safe with this purchase because I went to the store to first try them on. They would be perfect for sure.

It's now time to get dressed for the wedding and yes, I waited until the very last second to put on my outfit and head out the door. Luckily the dress fit (literally) like a glove and the shoes, well, not so much. I could barely walk out the door due to the fact that they suddenly felt a whole size too big. Just great.

We drove straight to the pharmacy on route to the wedding. I bought a pair of heel liners and unfortunately they barely made a difference. Maybe if I doubled or tripled them up I would have had a chance of not walking out of the stupid things. It was a very difficult night of trying like heck to keep my shoes on. I HATE that.

This afternoon I found myself in Marshalls looking for a new purse. Now that it's Fall I can no longer get away with toting around my sunshine bright yellow purse. So instead I got a pink one ;-) Anyway, I took a quick stroll through the shoe department and found what just may be the answer to my skinny heel problems. These may look ridiculous off my feet, but I love the concept. They actually stretch to accommodate your heel, no matter what size that heel may be. The stretchy fabric makes them snug. Oh, I have very high hopes for these things. I can't wait to build an outfit around them and take them for a test drive.

Week 41 in Photos

#282

 Ahhh, my glamorous job . . . I spent this morning setting up computers at our trade show booth and the afternoon hanging around in this giant machine shop. Such the rock star. [sigh]

#282

After dinner this night Bubba and I strolled around the city streets of Charlotte. Thankfully it stopped raining long enough to enjoy some of the cool artwork around the city. This skull was big enough to get inside. Too bad I don't have the photo Bubba took of my arms hanging out of the skull's mouth.

#282

The reason I may soon be fired. I think I'm pushing the limits of how many shots I can get away with putting on the company tab. This was my introduction to Jack Daniels. When in Rome . . .

#282

By far the best part of this day. I was so thrilled that Einstein Bagels was in the convention center. I had a very long day and night and was the very last exhibitor to get out of the hall. I had to get back to my hotel room to set my alarm for 4am . . .

#282

And the stinkin' rain followed me up north. This was taken before sunrise from my window seat on the tarmac in Washington/Dulles. Then I got home to a monsoon. uuugh.

#282

We attended a beautiful wedding on this evening. The weather held out perfectly for an outdoor ceremony. Everything was so beautiful and we had a rockin' good time. (footnote: I didn't take this photo. My camera phone did a pitiful job so I stole this photo from somebody else. Hey, my game, my rules and I can break them when I need to ;-)

#282

We sat on the deck and tried to take in some much needed vitamin D today. This one dragonfly took a liking to us and just wouldn't fly away so I got out my macro lens while he posed for several shots.   

Losing my Identity

I've been in this same career for nearly 20 years now. I've met a lot of people through my business travels and I have always been introduced as, "This is Paula from Corporate." Or, "this is Paula from Marketing." Both of those introductions usually were met with instance recognition and respect. It's funny how people view any "corporate" entity. That word just seems impressive I guess.

But lately it seems that my introductions have completely changed. I am no longer 'the marketing girl from corporate.' Now my introductions go something like this . . ."Do you know Karlo Apro? Well, this is his wife." HA, how about that? I am now just Karlo's wife in this industry. I guess that is way more impressive than me being from corporate! I am the wife of the famous author and 5-axis guru. I guess I can accept that. ;-)

Video Bootcamp

I survived my one week video bootcamp in Maine. Well actually, I did more than survive it. I excelled at it and had a terrific time. What a huge contrast it was between last year's 'bootcamp' training and this year's class. Last year I almost never saw the light of day. It was nothing but grueling long hours inside a dark cold computer lab with my nose stuck behind a monitor from 8 am to 10 pm. My goodness just thinking back to it gives me the shivers. It's hard to believe that I willingly volunteered for another week of this sort of intense training, but I am so very happy that I did. I learned a tremendous amount of information. In fact, the instructor normally takes 5 weeks to cover what he covered in 5 days. To say it was fast paced was an understatement, but I couldn't be happier. I love fast moving things and finding fast moving things in Maine can sometimes be a challenge . . . as I flash back to my drive up there and the 56 miles of one lane roads and nothing but locals in my way driving too slow . . .

Oooops, back to the training . . . This class was fantastic for several reasons. First, we had a really good instructor and teaching assistant. Those two guys made the learning easy and entertaining. Then we had a great group of people that all got along and gelled really well together. That is probably the single most important thing to having a great class compared to a disaster. It's the people that make it and these folks were fun. And the last thing that made this class so awesome was the fact that we were out and about with shooting assignments every day. It was just a thrill to get out and interact with the community for all of our various assignments. My God are people from Maine friendly. In one week's time, interacting with over a dozen different people we were just floored by the level of cooperation and kindness we recieved. It was just so refreshing. I never felt so welcomed anywhere. Oh, and add to that the fact that my partner for the week was a stinkin' hoot. Never a dull moment and nothing but laughs.

So now that I painted a picture that it was just a joy ride vacation week I should share some of the real details to illustrate what I did. Day one was intro to a professional video camera, that has no less than 50 buttons, switches, levers, and adjustments. You can not imagine the extent of controls and adjustments on these cameras. Holy spinning head of trying to remember what to do and when. But off we went with with several thousand dollars of equipment and zero experience or knowledge of how to work them. There's only one way to learn and that's to just do it. It was a challenge, but it was a ball.

Day two we learned about audio and it's importance in any film. Our exercise on this day was to record an audio short story that didn't include any narration. The listener should be able to visualize the location and what's going on. Since I had a car, my partner and I had more flexibility to get off campus and we headed to a local music shop. The guys working in it were, of course, all too eager to help us out with the lesson. Let's just say that our project rocked!

Day three was all about simulating the real world of video production. In the morning we were given the video theme and it was up to us to go out into the community to talk to people to try to find a good story. We needed to find our lead characters and develop 6 different 'scenes' that could be strung together to formulate a short story within our theme. Just like in the real world, you are given so many hours of research time before you need to be back to the art director to 'pitch' your ideas. During the pitch the instructor helped up develop our scenes and then were were sent out for the rest of the afternoon and following morning to shoot the footage. Wow, was THAT every challenging. Now we had to worry about everything all at once . . . working the camera, recording the sound, figuring out how to do the lighting, directing the overall shoot, the angles, the ambiance, the "cinemaverte" (which basically means 'keeping it real.' We were not allowed to mess with reality as far as directing our characters what to say or do. This, by the way, drove me nuts because I'm not a documentary filmmaker. I make propaganda to sell products. I'm all about distorting reality!

It was a long 24 hours of shooting. Our next huge challenge was to jump into the editing phase and we were already late with getting the footage. Then my camera took twice as long to transcode so we did a lot of pacing around. It wasn't until Friday morning that we had all the footage and after hours of painstakingly beginning my project, the computer I was using crashed, not once, but twice, causing me to lose hours of work. I was so frustrated that I just wanted to throw my hands in the air and quit. I didn't really get started on my project until 2 pm and I had it all finished by 4 pm. In the professional world we were taught to budget one day for every one minute of finished edited video. I think I blew that average out of the water. Of course, my project was crazy raw and mostly bad (as far as the professional world goes) but I was very proud of my accomplishements. I had, by far, the biggest disadvantage in the class and ended up with the longest and most complete project. I will try to upload my project to YouTube one of these days and share it here on my blog. But first I need to stay home for more than 31 hours. I'm already sitting in another hotel room and homesick :-(

Week 40 in Photos

#275

Today was the first day of my week-long video boot camp class in Rockport, Maine. The class started with a bang and was chock full of learning and laughs.

#276

This is just a sample of what the class was like. Never a dull moment. By day two we already covered what is normally covered in a week+ of video training. By now we were mastering the professional cameras and we already dove into the world of audio recording.

#277

Every team had to pick a story to base our final project around. The theme was supposed to be the effects of the bad economy, but somehow I managed to score the assignment of building a story around a brand-new high-end chocolate shop in Camden. The first day was all about research so we were forced to sample all the flavors! Not a bad gig if you ask me.

#278

I strolled down to Camden harbor on this fine day to take some pictures of the boats during the 'golden hour.' But instead of using one of the pretty pictures for this day I just couldn't resist this perfect picture of Maine.

#279

It's tradition that the last day of class is celebrated by a lobster dinner. My classmates and I had a great time, despite the fact that we never did make our video deadline.

#280

It was so worth the little sleep I got in order to leave Maine really early in order to get home as soon as possible to spend the gorgeous day with Karlo. We took a nice motorcycle ride and enjoyed a great Thai lunch. It's about time we spent some time together.

#281

What a beautiful day for a run. And now I have to run . . . and go finish packing . . . I'm off again to the airport this evening for another week on the road. It's getting old.

On the Road Again

Well, I'm on the road again. This time I'm in Camden, Maine so I really can't complain too much. I'm here for a week of video training and so far I've completed my first two days. This year I'm having a much better time than last year, mostly because I'm not stuck in a computer lab (with no windows) for 12 hours per day. On Monday we had a morning and an afternoon shooting exercise, which got us outside. It's almost sinful to be in such a beautiful place and spend every waking moment indoors in front of a computer. It looks like this class has no computer time and the only thing I'll be in front of (and mostly behind) is a camera. Not many things make me happier.

And speaking of cameras, I haven't touched mine since I got here. I can't even explain that one. I spent sunset on the Rockport harbor last night and the lighting was spectacular. I didn't even have my stinkin' phone! Good grief, what a loser photographer I am. But in my defense, I was on a mission and that mission was to shoot video (which a big, confusing, real professional video camera). That task consumed all my attention and energy and it didn't even occur to me to tag along my camera. Still kicking myself.

And also speaking of cameras and photography, Monday night was a life changing experience. Unlike all my evenings at last year's training where I never made it out of the computer lab, this year we were released to attend some of the activities that the school sponsored in Downtown Rockport. I'm pretty sure that "Downtown Rockport" is an oxymoron, by the way. You have to see it to understand. Anyway, I went with my classmates to see a famous photographer, Vincent Versace, give a talk and present some of his slide shows. Can watching a simple slide show really be a life altering experience? Well, it was for me. This is unusual for me, but I struggle to find the words to describe what I felt after watching this guy and his work. I'm just stunned and amazed and inspired beyond belief. One thing is for sure . . . after me blogging about whether or not I'm a "photographer" a few months ago and trying to come to terms with the fact that I am . . . well, I'm NOT. Not even close. Not yet, but someday I hope to be. Vincent is my new photographic hero and idol. I won't soon forget that slide show and as far as I'm concerned, if I learn nothing else this week, the trip was worthwhile.

Week 39 in Photos

#268

On my last day in the Carolinas I toured Michael Waltrip Racing. I spent most of the day there taking pictures and interviewing a couple guys that use our software. A very neat day indeed.

#269

I stopped along the road on my way to work to snap this picture of the pretty fog.

#270

Karlo makes it home from a very long day of traveling back from Europe. He spent the previous week and a half in Germany, Austria, and Sweden. I couldn't believe he brought me back that Ocktoberfest gingerbread cookie (hanging from his neck). Can you imagine him on an airplane for lots and lots of hours holding onto and not eating this cookie? So sweet. Thank you Karlo!

#271

This goes against my rules of me taking the picture, but this was such a special occasion that I wanted to be in it. We had a mini family reunion at my Dad's place. Not something you see every day, that's for sure.

#272

Finally a night at home with Karlo. I can't remember the last weekend night we spent at home together. I brought back that wine from NC and we just relaxed and hot tubbed. Aaahhhhh.

#273

My original photo today was of the cool decor at Willington Pizza, but then we came home and set up our anniversary present. I first saw one of these pendulums in Chicago with Lisa about 7 years ago and wanted one ever since. It's about darn time I got one. I could sit and stare at this thing for hours. So relaxing. Just what I need!

#274

I visited my favorite store in Freeport today. I had to drive up to Camden for another business trip so I left early in the morning and stopped in both Kittery and Freeport for some outlet shopping. That sure did make up for the fact that it rained all day.