YOU ARE ONLY OLD IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT.

Remember how I always tell you “you’ll never again be younger than you are today, so do something awesome”? Last night I experienced that in full force and I am going to tell you about it. I was feeling meh and tired sitting on the couch writing about how I didn’t feel like blogging when Sean asked me to come to a music video shoot.  It was over at midnight so I got dressed, put on some makeup and went. Being in videos is fun and I’m s sucker for being on camera. These guys are the band. They’re called Shit From Hell, they’re all successful lawyers/businessmen and around 50. Yes, 50. The crazy thing about one of them “Ritalin Boy” (second from left) was having open heart surgery in the morning. Like, NOW, while you are reading this he is on an operating table with doctors in his chest. He had to be at the hospital for 6am. OPEN HEART SURGERY. They rolled him out in a wheelchair with hot nurses and a drip bottle of Jaegermeister. So badass. I was surprised at how entertained I was by their performance, I’m not a punk music junkie but I love a good live show. They exuded a comedic confidence you don’t see in younger bands. Some of their songs are “Horny Single Mom, F*ck Buddy, Super Poke, Onterrible dedicated to MP Tim Hudak (whom they detest), and Double Bubble Trouble inspired by the bubble girl at the G20 last year. They had a full on industrial bubble machine too. They made me think about getting older, we’re always getting older. Now. Now. Now. Oop, there slips another moment of your precious life. Don’t waste it people.  You never know what is going to happen from one day to the next. So, why waste time feeling like crap, being lazy, grumpy or old? If these guys can rock a…

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Start Something Big: RogersTV @ 8:30pm CH 10 & 63

I asked the team at RogersTV to give me a screen shot from my episode of Start Something Big that airs tonight on CH10 and CH63 at 8:30pm EST. Pretty cool eh? Looks so complicated. There are heaps of components when putting together a show for TV. I sat down with the Start Something Big team about a month ago and the reason I think you will like this segment is that I talk about how I got here, before internet. I was really involved in my community, social and media in high school which was the foundation I built my current career on after university. I had lots of inspiration from my parents and family who always encouraged me to be myself, no matter how different I was from other kids or what outfit I was determined to leave the house in. (This happened often!) They also filmed part of a panel I spoke on during Social Media Week (Building Valuable Social Features into your Web and Mobile Applications) in The Burroughes building and talked to a few friend who’ve known me for a while. I have no idea what they said and have not seen the episode.  I hope you can tune tonight and if not, the episode will be online eventually.  There’s a short one minute interview with the producer Neresse on the ol’ YouTube here. Enjoy the day. Remember, you are younger today than you WILL BE AGAIN. Make the most of it. Do something. I’m going to attempt to clean beautify my room and have a productive work day. TONIGHT on Start Something Big! we have Raia Carey and Casie Stewart on @RogersTVToronto at 8:30pm CH 10 and 63!! @Rai_Raii @casiestewart — StartSomethingBig! (@start_big) March 27, 2012  

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FREE AND HAPPY AND ALWAYS IN LOVE

It’s warm enough to work fromt he patio today. I’m catching up on emails and business etc. It’s crazy how I missed home near the end of SXSW and now that I’ve been back for all of two days, I can’ty wait to travel again. I’m off to Windsor for a press tour Thursday and Friday and might be in Montreal for a few days next week. I love that the weather here is warm already, I might go to the island this week and work on my tan. Caught a beauty sunrise this weekend. Now that we’re into spring I’m trying to get up earlier, exercise more and get off the computer and GO OUTSIDE. Even if it’s just for a little jaunt each day. This weekend I brought out my ta[ shoes and put on a little show. It’a amazing how those skills never leave! I danced for 10 years as a kid going to competitions across Ontario and in New York & Myrtle Beach. I loved it so MUCH. This week I start rehearsals for a cabaret I’m in at the end of May. Think I’m gonna go see Grimes tonight at Horseshoe. She’s a young, punky, hipster babe from Montreal. This vid is rad cause she’s surrounded by all these jocks. I’m into it. Show is $10 and doors are at 8pm. If you wanna join me, you’re totally welcome. Have an awesome day! Remember… YOU ARE YOUNGER TODAY THAN YOU WILL EVER BE AGAIN, DO SOMETHING FUN!

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DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH

Morning! I’ve been added as a speaker to a second panel during Social Media Week and this one is probably the most personal talk I’ve even agreed to take part in. It’s about to get deep, we’re talking ANXIETY. One of the things that gives me the most anxiety and possibly you too, is not having money. I’ve gone through lots of ups & downs in my life and I don’t come from money so all I have, is all I’ve earned. When I returned from Australia I was so skinny from living on next to nothing I looked like Nicole in her anorexic days, not by choice. It’s hard to carve out a way to get paid for what you love doing. Especially as a creative person. Last summer I wrote a post about how you can’t pay me in chips or chocolate bars. I got sick and tired of people asking me to do work for them in return for things I don’t need. What would I do with a bunch of chips & chocolate? I go to the gym for a reason! Helloooooo. If they (whoever is asking) are getting a paycheque and are asking me to do work, I should get paid too. You wouldn’t believe some of the extreme things I get asked to to in return for ‘publicity’. I turn down way more than I accept. (That’s not to say I don’t love getting a few freebie’s along the way!) Lauren posted this video that’s an excerpt from an upcoming documentary on Harlan Ellison, “DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH“. He’s an excellent writer and inspiring man. I’m sure you will enjoy it. My startup disk is full so I’ll be spending the afternoon moving TO THE CLOUD. Have a spectacular day. It’s lovely & sunny in Toronto 🙂

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You can’t fly with the eagles if you’re with the seagulls.

Title is advice from Mum. She said that to me a few years ago when I was trying to sort out where I wanted to go with my life. I always thought I wanted to work in fashion, then I did. After that, I thought wearing a suit, working long hours and being part of the downtown financial district was my dream. I stayed in that job as an IT recruiter having meetings at 8am (yeah omg, it was hell) and 2pm every single day. I hated it so much (job not the people!). One day my boss said “Casie, it doesn’t seem like you are having fun?” I replied “No, I’m not having fun at all. I badly want to quit but I need two weeks pay”. I left at the end of that very day, cheque on the way and started a job at Toronto’s most famous Kiwi restaurant shortly after. I knew the owner (HI MARTIN) and that because of my Kiwi citizenship I had a bloody good chance of getting hired. Working in the bar gave me the freedom (and same money TBH) to do what I wanted with my time. It was stress free and I loved chatting to the regulars and new customers. I worked at Hemingways for a few months and met some really rad people, it was like a family there. One of my recruiter friends sent me on an interview and moved into a job in IT. I worked for an online casino (it was cool, we had catered lunches) for two years and despite almost getting fired for doing it, worked on my blog A LOT. If my old boss reads this he will totally be shaking his head. Thanks Mike! When they caught on to all my blog activity, I decided…

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