June 11, 2008
When Life requires a h.umoro.us soundtrack
Rubber Chicken by h.umoro.us 2008
Introducing H.UMORO.US a company dedicated to making the world giggle. One of the things I have enjoyed most over my term as producer/cco of NOEvil Productions is the creation of funny music and songs, and I love working with Chris Leap.
So WHO do you know that needs to hire a comedy producer? And please enjoy the music, Rubber Chicken.
Posted by photocartoonist at 10:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
June 7, 2008
Climb Every Mountain
or "Why is this woman so happy?"
photo © Thomas Hudson Reeve
I took my first hike yesterday. It was Tom's idea and as you can see from the picture I was pretty happy about it!
I had every reason to be happy about it. I have been battling with a diagnosis of "severe bronchial asthma" since 1999 and this hike proved that I have WON! I really don't have asthma and I stopped all medications in 2003. But after those 4 years under doctor's supervision my real problem was de-conditioning and my cardiologist (yes it went from a supposed serious problem with my lungs to a potential serious problem with my heart!) said those magical words, "When can you get back into the gym?"
It is true, surprising but a fact, I had stopped regular physical training. Since 1984 I had been swimming, body building, practicing hatha yoga, training in Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, Tai Chi; I even took mime classes from Marcel Marceau! And there I was being told that the level I train at would cause damage to my heart because of my "condition". So I stopped and started to investigate what was really going on.
And yesterday, after 18 months of daily physical training, I was able to walk up a steady incline 1400 feet. Oh baby! It was a challenge but I did it!!
I figured it out on my own, in spite of the doctors but my primary care doc is smart and I consulted with him along the way. It was not easy, in fact it was alot of hard work; still is. We determined that I must have congenitally smaller bronchial tubes which makes me "fail" the breathing tests but the only time I ever had trouble breathing was when I was under the care of the leading pulmonologist in New York City, and taking 4 different asthma medications! My diagnosis went from "severe bronchial asthma" to COPD in a year because I did not respond well to the medication. So he gave me MORE medicine and I got even worse! What he never hear of a paradoxical reaction to medication?? It even caused a jump in my blood pressure. And to make matters worse I herniated two discs in my lower back along the way (lack of exercise??) and was told my a neurologist that I could no longer do anything that had impact on my back. What? Was I suppose to stop walking??
So now I do stair cardio 2-3 hours a week, in addition to aerobics, strength, flexibility, endurance, core stability and plyometric training. I have to do this to regain a healthy blood pressure, train my lungs to be able to do more (like climb mountains) and to be able to keep my back strong enough to do anything!
Don't let anyone, even a doctor, ever tell you that you can't do something. The body was designed to move and it is a miracle how it works. It takes time; lots of time if you do it right. I didn't want to hurt myself with the cure. I even hired a trainer for a year (bless you Christy Miller) who taught me the foundation of how to regain my strength and train safely.
Now I have my own gym in my studio and a pool right across the street! I even am training Tom now. So when he suggested that I climb this 1400 feet to the top of a mountain I knew it was what I had been training for. Going up was strenuous and a real challenge for my lungs but my muscles were ready and my heart is very strong! But harder yet on the muscles was the coming back down - calves, feet, shins, quadraceps, knees; WOW. It took about an hour to climb up and about 40 minutes to come back down which is a good clip for 2.5 miles.
I am proud of myself. I have come a long way.
Posted by photocartoonist at 7:40 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
May 28, 2008
My Year of Living Dangerously
Photo © Thomas Hudson Reeve
2007 was the year that I decided to get back into performing condition and start what would become a game changer. We took our chances and packed up, lock stock and barrel and headed for the hills, taking with us our hopes and dreams of a better life and the chance to grow now that we have space.
We went for broke and broke is exactly what we achieved! But what a way to go!!
I lost 15 pounds and over 30 pounds of body fat! I built back the strength I had lost after I herniated two discs in my back (comedy is tough) and I have achieved a personal best in fitness! I am back down to fighting weight, literally, and am boxing again.
We took a year and we built our dream studio and tried to build Greetums. But we ran out of money, so now we are regrouping. I am proud of what we have accomplished and our willingness to take such a risk. Tom is back working on movies and TV shows, and I am in pre-production on a children's TV show idea that I have been working on since 2006.
I certainly have some regrets. My team has all shifted to freelance and we are waiting to hear
if we will be making more e-cards or not. I have promised that Greetums will get launched but not until I myself can do the first draft the the programming necessary to build the site. And I have launched H.UMORO.US, our online portfolio for comedy and sound design services.
It took longer than expected for me to settle in; I am such a city kid and my heart was broken when I left Manhattan but it was time, past time. I saw my opportunity and I ran with it. And Tom has built an amazing studio. I had forgotten how much experience he has in stage craft and we are now capable of doing all of the projects that just had to wait while we were stuck in a cramped 500 square foot store front on the west side of Manhattan. It is glorious.
Construction took time and I am still unpacking boxes which makes it like Christmas every day! I have such good stuff and it is nice to see it again. And now I am in shape again so that I can fit into my whole collection of costumes!!
Who says you don't get a second chance!!
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February 23, 2008
It's been way too long!
By KAT CAVERLY
And what HAVE I been doing?
Well there's the long and the short of it. I'll start with the short story. I have been lost in the vortex that is Facebook. Launching our newest greeting product Giftums on Facebook in December was nothing short of a harrowing experience. We have problems with programmers and the so called F8 evangelist culture. Beside getting some really bad advice (and paying for it), despite programming ills that proved I was woefully our of my league, we created an amazing product AND succeeded in launching the Greetums app by Christmas.
We have a few subscribers and some really loyal customers who inspire me daily, but I still have my work cut out. First of all we need the world to be able to come into our card shop and just browse; no "require join", no Facebook, just browse. And next we have to be able to send cards to any email address, not just to your Facebook friends.
Turns out your Facebook friends ain't necessarily your real friends and that the gold rush of application developers have delayed what might eventually be a great marketplace. I still believe that greeting cards belong in any space that is dedicated to communication and staying in touch. After all greeting cards were the first social networking tool in the real world.
Posted by photocartoonist at 8:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
December 13, 2007
Snow! Snow! Snow!
By KAT CAVERLY
I don't think I could be any happier. The simple feeling that I finally have the strength
to shovel snow again...and just in time! This is our third snow and our first big snow
of the season and I was thrilled to be out playing in it.
The thing that I was most proud to report is that I did all of that by myself and in only
10 minutes.
Pure satisfaction. Tis the season!
Posted by photocartoonist at 8:57 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
