April 20, 2013

2013 Charleston International Film Festival – Why is it important to attend?

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

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The 2013 Charleston International Film Festival will be help April 24th – 28th 2013 in Charleston, South Carolina.

2013 Charleston International Film Festival – Program Guide

Why is it important to attend?

Film has a responsibility to bring social awareness to its viewers. We are a country rich in culture and proud of the individual freedoms we are given. Many of us are unaware of the cultural and moral differences that are understood and accepted around the world. Film has an obligation, through its passion and commitment to share a message of awareness and education. It also strives to promote discussion and bring our own personal passions to a higher level.

This year’s Charleston International Film Festival will:

  • Introduce us to Willy Grunch who thinks only about love, guitars and snails
  • Explore a daughters search for her father in World War II
  • Show the effects of a plague in a small village
  • Examine how photography can open the world up to a whole new meaning through the lens
  • Show how a young girl tries to save her family without a word spoken in this silent short
  • Let us into the wonder of underground caves and all its beauty and majesty
  • Tell a remarkable story of three early 20th century baseball players and their journey through life

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  • Have you meet a young girl, who on the night of her graduation will begin a new life of challenge and decisions that will affect her life forever
  • Love will finds its way from the screen to you while divorce will hit home for many
  • Bring you to the heart of Nicaragua where disease is spreading
  • Show us who is the man behind the clown make up
  • Uncover a conspiracy
  • Put us face to face behind the man behind Catch Me If You Can
  • Lets us ask questions to the man that produced the Oscar winning film Argo
  • Answer the question, what would happen if you were caught in the middle of 70 million dollars?

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These stories, all remarkable in their own way will take you to:

  • United States
  • Mexico
  • Nicaragua
  • Hungary
  • Spain
  • Australia
  • Germany
  • France

There will be East Coast Premieres, South Carolina and a few World Premiere events

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Why is it important that you attend this years Charleston International Film Festival?

  • Blocks are only $10.00 / VIP access to all shorts, longs, animation and after event activities is only $129.99
  • This is a unique cultural event for all ages that will make you think long after you leave the theater
  • This is the only event that offers a world perspective through the magic of film
  • There is a remarkable group of actors, writers, directors, staff and volunteers who have poured their hearts and time into bringing the very best in film from around the world
  • It is a memorable experience that is entertaining, educational and critically provoking

It is an honor to share in the arts and be a part of such a collective endeavor of this size and magnitude.

Whether you attend one block of films or several, you will walk away looking at life in a different way.

Festivals are meant to entertain, but in a rare instance, they can change you.

Purchase Your Tickets Today

You can also visit the festival ticket office at 556 King Street daily for tickets or information.

Leave a comment | posted in Charleston, Charlestoniff.org, Film, International Film Festival, Movies, South Carolina

April 16, 2013

In tragedy there is light – Original Poem

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

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I hugged my child today
The warmest hug I ever did feel
So safe; so warm; so tight
I could not let go

I could not release him into a world fueled by hostility and death
The fire and smoke has clouded my vision of the future

In a moment of sorrow I bowed my head

Humbled by the prospect of peace
Warmed by the heat of a new sunrise
Spiritually enlightened by humanity

My son looked up at me with sadness in his eyes
In a soft trembling voice asked me “why?”

I hesitated as I closed my eyes willing the answer in a way to sooth my child and ease my wounded heart
Words did not find their way to me

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Guided by instinctive love, I looked at my son and said “you”

You are my reason for living
You are my my hero
You are are the happiness I find every morning and the final thought every night

Without you, I don’t know why

You are the meaning of my future not yet written
You are the legacy that will show the world the path to the grace of humanity

I looked at my son and once again began to believe

The smoke is gone now
No longer clouded, I find the strength to rise again and walk, hand in hand with my child to the promise of a new tomorrow.

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Leave a comment | posted in Child, Family, Father and Son, Love, Tragedy

April 14, 2013

Do you know how to save a life?

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

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We are all alone wandering the world, one interaction at a time. We are born into this mystery of existence for a finite time and enter a new plane of being alone. During the moment between the first and final breath, we will make decisions, take risks and question. We will each fall and pick up the pieces to live another day.

Each moment, a new encounter; a new perspective.

Have you touched a soul so deeply that the connection changed them forever? Have you ever saved a life? Have you ever guided someone that lacked directly; giving them hope with an outstretched hand; finding promise in the darkest hour?

The greatest wealth in life is the grand gesture; the selfish act of kindness led by a pure reaction of energy fueled by love.

A decade later, we no longer talk of the destruction of September 11 but the individual stories of courage and triumph that will live on and serve as a benchmark for true heroism.

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So many of us go undiscovered

So many unfulfilled

So many longing to be needed; to be yearned for.

The sign of love is not the Tiffany necklace but the way he looks in your eyes when he puts it around the soft circle of your neck. Do you know how to safe a life?

Can you deal with the responsibility of seeking out a lonely heart and giving it protection, nurturing and love?

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The ability to save is only achieved when:

  • You have the strength to believe you can
  • You accept that an act of heroism is simple and true
  • You no longer look in the mirror and see yourself
  • You see the act of kindness as a mutual bond and the energy shared is a power greater than the energy of one
  • You believe in something much greater than yourself
  • The music never stops playing.  It is a heartbeat, a songbird, a thank you from someone less fortunate who was blessed with your kindness.
  • You find light in a field of darkness

This is a responsibility more important and difficult than any job. This is one where the greatest reward is lifting someone to a better place.

Do you know how to save a life?

Leave a comment | posted in Generosity, Giving, heroism, Love, September 11, The Fray

April 13, 2013

Stop – Original Poem

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

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In the body of a dead soul these words find shelter from the cruelty of reality

Stop the madness screaming inside my head

Run to me through these frosted fields
Let the jaded edges of the ice cut your skin and heal you through the warmth of your blood

Stop the insanity that is controlling this prose

My words take me where I want to be
Closer to you; yet still so far

Stop the pain I cannot feel, but yearn for in the valley of lost feelings

I found this piece of heaven resting on my lap
Her shadow growing in the sand as the sun sets into the night
She speaks her kindness in silence
As the fire in the sky turns to darkness, your warmth comforts me from the evening chill
Angels sigh

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Stop the resistance that fences me in this prison

I have finished the race that led me into your arms
The pain in my legs has subsided
I have gained the strength of a strong oak protecting the river from the terror of natures revenge

My search is over
Clues in my words led me to the ending I always dreamed about

My dream is intoxicating like the nectar of wine

First kiss
Never want to stop
The sky has opened and a spiritual lift has taken these words and spread them across the universe to be shared

I no longer have to stop
I no longer have to write

My words are now the reality in your eyes

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Leave a comment | posted in Fear, Love, Poem, Poetry, Recruiterpoet, Writing

April 11, 2013

Are we missing the signs of depression on Facebook

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

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“That’s the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it’s impossible to ever see the end. The fog is like a cage without a key.” – Elizabeth Wurtzel

Depression is all around us. It does not discriminate by gender, age or lifestyle. In infects us and spreads like a cancer and takes over our lives. For some, the signs are very clear while others hide it very well through their actions or lack of actions. With the world being brought at our finger tips are we missing the clear signs of depression or choosing to turn a blind eye to them?

Facebook is populated by over one-sixth of the human population. It has bridged our worlds and put the idea of voyeurism and stalking into every day activities. There are so many common indicators of depression and so many of us need to be aware and take action to help.

After all, these are our “friends”.

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What are these signs that a person may be suffering from some level of depression?:

  • Aggressive use of language on the social networks (Facebook, Google+, Twitter)
  • Constant uploading of self portraits.  When someone is constantly putting up pictures of themselves or re-issuing their favorites looking for reinforcement of their “beauty”, that can be a clear indicator
  • Constant quotes about seeking a better place, a better life, a true utopia
  • Constantly checking in to reinforce to their circle how socially active they are
  • Posing a number of “what if” questions or commentary on society
  • Not having any pictures of yourself but friends and family only.  Perhaps a sign of hiding behind unfriendly aging
  • Showing many pictures of drinking or many check ins to bars
  • Late night random thoughts out of character
  • Adding many new friends often.  Needing to be surrounded by strangers and constant attention can be an indicator as well

This is just the tip of the iceberg.   We can list off another ten or fifteen behavioral indicators on Facebook that could be a silent scream for help.

How many of these have you seen?

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How often have you reached out to try and help or even ask if someone needed help?

I am going to lean on a small percentage that have taken on the task of question number two.

I have witnessed these signs and later learned of depression, rehab, loneliness, sadness and rejection from these same people.

Maybe Facebook is the great savior for avoidance of responsibility since it is a virtual tool or maybe we have a higher responsibility to help.

Next time you witness behavior that is unorthodox, it doesn’t hurt to ask and just maybe you might be saving a life.

Leave a comment | posted in depression, Disease, Facebook, help, Loneliness, The Fray

March 29, 2013

Black Hair and Penetrating Eyes – Original Poem

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

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Her jet black hair and penetrating eyes crossed from silhouette to angel
Footsteps in the distance send shivers
Closer she comes
Each inch of her skin penetrating my soul like a dagger

It was the pain of love
Love unrecognized
Love unknown
Love so perfect

She is a visual masterpiece free from the canvas
She is the artist’s opus

Men weep for this Madonna
High on the pedestal; chiseled in stone for generations to fall to their knees

She is color where there is darkness
She is inspiration when humanity has lost its way

Soft hands heal
Lips soothes with words; words of comfort

Those eyes; the gateway to the soul

The journey down to the soft curves of the hips and thighs are the apex of an explorers manifest

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I am a hitchhiker on the road of life
Without a permanent home
Seeking answers each day to questions all around

I want to dive in the pool of her desire and get swallowed in the comfort of her fantasy

With her jet black hair and penetrating eyes I am captured
Captured forever in a single moment
A moment that stopped time and defined the purity of love

I look to a star; close my eyes and let her image brand into a permanent place in my memory

Leave a comment | posted in black hair, Girl, Poem, Poetry, Stranger, Writing

March 20, 2013

Remember when……Life was simpler

By Recruiterpoet - Professionalism With Flare

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As we get older we mature, we begin to look at the world a different way and make adjustments to our perspectives. We see more value in things we didn’t see initially when we were younger and see the importance of family, respect and love.

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Still, we have undergone unprecedented change in the last ten plus years. Not as dramatic as the first light bulb and telephone but clearly we are seeing life and experiencing things in a way we have never before. As we look at our children, we consciously know, they will never know the life we have.

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Maybe it is time to sit down with the little ladies and lasses and bring on a little journey to the past when things may not have been right at our fingertips but they sure brought us happiness.

Let us talk a walk on the yellow brick road of memories.  Follow me now as we journey to a time of innocence and simplicity..

Remember when…

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    • You put a VHS tape into the VCR to watch a movie and not click a poster to stream it on Netflix

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    • You spent hours trying to figure out Rubik’s Cube instead of spelling out a word on Words with Friends once every two hours
    • A company newsletter was printed  and handed out at staff meetings and you could flip the pages and read it; not view it on the intranet site

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    • A card was made with construction paper, markers, lace and love, not an ecard from Hallmark.com
    • You wrote a note on a napkin or piece of notebook paper; not a text
    • Your appointments were written in a planner with a pen, not on Google calendar

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    • Birds weren’t angry (We love you Tweety)

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    • Apple knew how to “Think Different” and never stop “Imagining”
    • When you won the big race or scored the game winning basket, you cut out the article in the newspaper and put it in your scrapbook; not find the URL online and share it on Facebook

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    • You didn’t need Match.com or EHarmony to find a date; you walked up to a girl and handed her a piece of paper that said “Will you go out with me:  Yes or No”

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  • You stood on line for hours to purchase concert tickets at Ticketmaster for bands you idolized; not buy them online, download them and scan them at the door

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  • You sent a postcard from the amazing places you visited; not take a picture with your IPhone and Instagram it
  • When you met a boy or girl at a bar or club, you got a number on a coaster; not add them as Facebook friends and get lost in the shuffle

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  • A photo album consisted of pictures you took that you couldn’t see for a minimum of one hour; not a digital screen of images
  • A creative image of yourself was a caricature at Disney World or the shore; not an app on your IPad that takes a picture and warps it to look cool

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  • If you had an opinion, you would write an editorial and handed it in to the local town or school paper.  Then you were a blogger
  • MTV showed videos and network television had shows with plots, no celebrities and no sign of reality anywhere

Times were different.

Some argue life is better now; life is easier; life brings the world closer together.

Is it?

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I liked my friends in the neighborhood that played wiffle ball until we couldn’t see the ball anymore, playing hide and seek on eight different yards, going out for Halloween and not even needing our parents, having the door unlocked at night, riding bikes instead of riding a virtual bike on Wii, buying the first baseball cards of the season during a snow storm just so you could do it first, walking into each other’s houses and eating their food, making mix tapes for our friends and girlfriends and just enjoying things a little simpler.

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1 comment | posted in Childhood, good old days, letters, VHS, Youth

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