Winding up this year of 2010

The times of change from one year to the next is upon us, like the shifting of sand underfoot bringing a new year, new challenges and a refreshing new life to start over… A new year is coming- 2011, like a morning sunrise full of color that fills your soul full of expectations and the pursuit of happiness…

I sit here on the couch, sick with a deep chest cold with my cat near purring his enjoyment of warmth of the woodstove, thinking of this past year, the ups and the downs, and where I am in my life, where I am heading… This year has not only given me a 2^nd chance to live, but also redefined many of my views on my own life and on people too…

It wasn’t very long ago earlier this year in February, I was in the ER, my kidney’s starting to fail and my heart swollen from a Thyroid problem that also prevented oxygen from getting into my system… You can read about it here: An Unnecessarily Long Journey Back to Health: http://bit.ly/dgOHN6. The closest to death I hope to ever experience till it is truly my time to go…

I am slowly getting back on my feet, a lot slower then I had originally hoped to but getting there… Now it is my immunity and endurance that is still falling short of my expectations… This I found out as I sawed and split my firewood and in a few other things where endurance is needed… One of the things I am glad to have back is clear thinking, as the lack of oxygen to my brain made me slow thinking and also effected my speech… So my thoughts I use to love of images in color and 3D became flat, black & white and I had the hardest time solving the simplest of problems… This was the hardest part, as I no longer was able to think in color, was mentally blind in a way… I’ve no words to truly describe how hard this was for me… But now my thought process is back in full color and I can think to many concepts and ideas again at any given point…

While I have been facing my own hardships with my health, I found out my Mother is also facing health issues of her own, with having cancer, going through chemo and having lost her hair and re-grown it back… During this time, her husband had triple bypass, and is now back to good health and will be starting a new job in the beginning of the year… Health hardships can truly wear on one’s soul, but having a positive spirit and a will to achieve and go forward has ever been part of my family heritage and I am proud of it…

I look to this past year of my achievements… I got my Blog going very well, having a fair amount of viewers and readers…

Liz Strauss founder of SOBCon & Author of the popular Successful-Blog.com

Liz Strauss founder of SOBCon & Author of the popular Successful-Blog.com honored me with SOB badge for my Blog, which I value just as highly as my dual degree from Syracuse University… What some of you might not know is, I am dyslexic and have been working hard on my writing for many years and Blog writing since 2002 and also just my descriptive writing within e-mails to someone a world away during this time period… So to receive an award or badge about my writing is something very deeply touching and full of meaning to me…  I truly look forward to going to SOBCon in Chicago in April and be able to meet so many of my online friends in person, many of whom will be speaking at her event…

This time on my couch as I healed allowed me to set forth my goals and dreams into the steps and plans needed to achieve them… Though the economy and my health has not allowed me to get the old farm ready to sell and go forward with my ideas and plans of moving south, I have grown to except some of what life has laid in front of me…

I was also lucky in finding an old friend and have been dating her since April… Someone who not only is very smart, Tech Savvy but respects me for my views and isn’t materialistic, the best part is she makes me smile and makes me feel needed- and in many ways, I owe her my life just as much in my freely giving her my heart…

So I set out on some of the steps I have in reopening my studio, ArtWorks of Candor studio… Knowing that Social Media and Web 2.0 was going to be needed in my business, I set out to meet new friends online, and earn their respect as well as some earning mine… I have gone in just over 2 years on Twitter of having zero  to over 5390 followers and this next year I will be able to meet some of those great people at future Social Media Events through out the country…

I also would like to thank Debbie Morano-Mahler for helping me think to the entire possible network of people I have and haven’t been using… The idea was something I had been taught to stand on my own instead of using any network that I could have used with Family, friends, University and Business… She once told me, “Chuck, there are many that would give their teeth for such connections, I can’t believe you aren’t using them”…   So in a slow way, after I get my studio up and running, I will be using some of the heavy swingers I have connections to for a Social Media Event and also in Business…

I have also gotten to the point of being considered a Twitter Elite of the Ithaca, NY area- http://bit.ly/cfzSQb and will be joining very soon the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce and will be teaching some Social Media Classes for Business, as an intro to Social Media for Business, Twitter for Business, Facebook with a workshop to help people get their accounts set up… I’ve plans to teach this in Ithaca, Cortland, Syracuse, Binghamton and south in Chincoteague, VA…

Originally I had planned on getting these lesson plans and classes going, then buying a Giclee Fine Art Printer, but my plans shifted with finding a deal I couldn’t pass up… The advertisement was for a 44” wide printer, instead of the 24” wide one I had planned for, but it was advertised as a Refurbished model, and ended up their sending me a completely new printer, for only a couple hundred dollars more then the 24” one… Lets say, I saved a couple thousand dollars on this deal and in the end will allow for a larger amount of work and less paper waste…

The challenge of renovating my office is something I’ve been facing, finding some major electric problems in my house that I am slowly correcting… I’ve hopes of having the office up and running very soon and then put my mind to renovating the studio more so I can get back to painting and illustrating future signed limited edition artworks… How I miss the smell and touch of watercolor paints, inks, and paper and illustration boards… The images and sketches and photos I have taken over the past couple of years have such need of sharing and with this new Giclee Printer, will allow me to do limited edition prints that I will soon be selling in an Esty store and a few other Fine Art online shops, as well as within my studio site…

This is going to be a good year too, as with more work, means more working capital for further enlargements of my business services… I am hoping to be able to set up the beginning step of my Internet café, but will start with a Portable version of it first… To be able to do a weekend Art Festival with my being able to sell the many different kinds of Java and also possibly provide a Wi-Fi area, so customers could relax, sip some java and connect online with some soothing Jazz or classical music would be nice… This heading toward my opening an Internet Café in Chincoteague, VA…

So lots of ups and downs this year of 2010, with the steps and plans made ready for this new up coming year of 2011…  This evening, I will spend it with my Girlfriend, in a quiet night of enjoying a movie near the fire, both of us under covers as we both are fighting off this cold…  But next weekend, will go up to Syracuse to share the New Year with one of my best friends and his family…  How I look forward to this New Year!!!

What will you be doing this next year?

Season of Giving- a Social Media Campaign is a great way to give to someone who keeps giving of himself- Mark Horvath…

 

If you don’t know who Mark Horvath is, here’s a link to his story…  http://player.vimeo.com/video/2077647

The reason I am highlighting Mark Horvath is that he is was once homeless and now spends his life helping bring awareness to people in the United States that are now homeless on his online show InvisiblePeople.tv…  He does interviews with homeless people through out the country and then uses Social Media and his website to share their stories, the stories of Invisible People…  In my view a true American Hero caring for other people who are in need!!!  I don’t know how much money he has raised, but he is making a mark and helping many people who truly need help…

So many people think that the homeless just didn’t try hard enough, but in this day and time of so few jobs, there are many now who are filling tent cities and for what ever reason, find themselves homeless now… I can relate some, I have taken into my home a friend who also found himself homeless, as he fights for his last home that is rented out and trying to save money for lawyers and property taxes…

In June 2010, the National Alliance to End Homelessness (www.endhomelessness.org) did the numbers; “The Alliance research brief Economic Bytes: Doubled up in the United States estimates that there are 4.85 million people (individuals and persons in families) living in housing units with extended family, friends, and other non-relatives due to economic hardship, earning no more than 125 percent of the federal poverty level. This map shows how many of the 4.85 million reside in each of the 50 states. This ranges from a low of 4,330 in Vermont to a high of 725,899 in California.”  Go to the interactive link to see just how many homeless people are estimated in your state: http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/3153

My Idea:

There are times I am at my girlfriend’s house and as she relaxes from her day of IT security, she uses her TIVO, to watch one show named “The Talk” with  Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini and Marissa Jaret Winokur…

I have been watching it with her in my ever attempting of learning to understand Women’s Views and the way they think for marketing and understanding Women’s buying power…  So I sit on the sofa with my girlfriend as I tweet or work on my Powerbook, this last Friday I started looking at their website…

On “The Talk‘s” website, I came across an area for future show themes, one of which was “Hometown Heroes”, and instantly I thought to Mark Horvath- who I believe is a True Hero more people should hear about and he should be on that show for that theme…

Then thought maybe this would make for great for Mark to be on the show and maybe his being able to not only meet the hosts, but since Mark Horvath use to play in rock bands… Maybe somehow a request for him to meet Sharon’s husband Ozzy Osborn or some other Rock Stars (I’m going to see if a friend of mine would know of some who would meet him) as such shows sometimes do for people in a way to give back to good people…

I got to thinking about Social Media as I looked at The Talk’s website and their Facebook Fan page…  I’ve written about Mark in my blog- “Making a difference- Mark Horvath of InvisiblePeople.tv is a Hero for all!: http://bit.ly/9D52L8. So again I write to see if maybe there are other good people out in Social Media that would help to give back to someone who has given so much for such a good cause…

I am going to be getting in contact with as many of my Social Media friends I can, and see if maybe they will Tweet and Post this article to see if maybe we can get Mark Horvath on “The Talk” for their upcoming show “Hometown Heroes”!!!

So Post his name in The Talk’s FaceBook Fan Page for “Hometown Heroes”…  Link Mark’s Video Interviews, write something about him, lets see if maybe we can get as many people as possibly to help get Mark on the show and to highlight his cause of Homeless People in America- InvisiblePeople.tv!!!

The Talk- Website: http://www.cbs.com/daytime/the_talk/

Future Show Topic: Hometown Heroes http://www.cbs.com/daytime/the_talk/be_on_the_show/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=120384641362266&id=562217237#!/TheTalkCBS

Twitter: @TheTalk_CBS

Mark Horvath of InvisiblePeople.tv

Website: www.InvisiblePeople.tv

His Blog: http://hardlynormal.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/invisiblepeopletv

Twitter: @hardleynormal

A Saint Bernard Christmas…

The Christmas tree all decorated with bulbs and ornaments, brightened up with bright colored lights and tinsel with care…  The cat seeing the sparkles of light, climbed up the tree, to bat at the lights upon the tree…

The Saint Bernard sprang to his feet, wondered of what the cat was up, shaking his jowls and head from sleepy dreams… He thumped on over there with excitement and glee, shoving his big old head deep into the Christmas tree… The cat seeing his head, let out a hiss, jumped with a hop over his head as he stretched in to see…

He tried to turn quickly, to the left then the right, his collar catching some of those Christmas tree lights…  Off he ran after the cat so quick, toppling that Christmas tree, with a bash and bang so quick…

Dragging the tree through the house with big paw steps, running after that cat while sending bulbs and ornaments smashing and crashing…  In chasing the cat, Christmas tree in tow, leaving a trail of tinsel, pine needles, lights and broken Christmas bulbs…  Through the house that dog chased the cat with care, leaving a trail of Christmas tree decorations to show he was there…

Through the kitchen, around the chair, then through the dining room, under the table…  The Christmas tree lights still plugged in, catching a leg, a chair, then coming to a halt as the end of the cord caught with a flare… Then one more burst of effort, as he gave it his might, now dragging the furniture through the house, finally he stopped…

The house a mess with Christmas tree decorations, furniture toppled, and ornaments a smashed, an out of breath Saint Bernard salivating, he flopped down exhausted…  The cat now finding a place to hide, waiting with happiness at the trouble she has inspired…  Several hours of clean up, sweeping and vacuuming, broken Christmas tree bulbs, ornaments and lights, all of them busted…

So when it is Christmas, still having Saint Bernard’s, a living room has no tree, hoping they don’t notice the Christmas Stockings…