Be on the lookout for these colorful posters hanging around town! The Fearless campaign was conceived by the Marke ng Team (Jus n Azzarella, Theresa Woehrel, Lindsay Zasada and John Carocci) as a way to promote this year’s Pride Fes val, which will feature an expanded schedule of exci ng events. Watch for more informa on in future issues of Connec ons, or visit the Pride website at BualoPrideFes val.com.
answers answers answers answers answers answers answers answers answers answers answers answers
Worst date ever – first date with my husband.
restaurant to eat, and a er wai ng an hour
He showed up late. Told me his ba ery died
for a table we ordered our food. We started
out in front of my house and he only had
the dreaded “small talk” and then realized it
enough money for our date. So I had to use
had been almost half an hour since we had
my Sears charge card to buy him a new bat-
even seen our server. We finally flagged her
tery (and I’ve been using my charge cards for
down and she said, “Ooops! I forgot to put
him to this day).
your order in!” I lost it and yelled at her and — Lucille Venezia
we stormed out. When we got back into the car, my date ran over a bo le! (No flat re,
My worst date experience was when I was
thank goodness!) We drove around and fi-
heading out with a boyfriend for a Valen ne’s
nally se led on a drive through… the line was
Day dinner, and we decided to stop at a cor-
incredibly long, but we were so hungry we
ner store so that he could get himself a pack
didn’t care. We ordered our food, and moved
of cigare es. I walked over to the cooler to
up a li le. We then began to have a great con-
get a soda, and a guy who was ge ng a beer
versa on, but again we weren’t moving!! To
at the cooler said something disrespec ul
make ma ers worse, a number of cars had
to me. I began to go off on him saying, “my
pulled in behind us so we were stuck! Fast-
man is in here so you had be er watch your
forward another hour. We arrive at the win-
mouth”. I looked over at him and saw that my
dow to pay and the cashier says, “We’re ou a
date was pretending to read the New York
chicken sandwiches. Do you want a burger
Times and ac ng as if he totally did not hear
instead?” Neither of us ate beef. We drove
what was going on and did not make an at-
off angry, hungry, and completely late for our
tempt to protect me. So I told him, “this date
movie. We then drove back to the theater,
is over!”, and told him to take me home.
filled out the “refund paperwork” and ended
– Elisa Luciano
up ea ng his roommate’s cold spaghe was le
that
over from a roman c dinner he’d
A nice guy asked me out. We decided to go to
planned for his girlfriend. What a disaster! 18
a movie at 7:00 p.m. All showings were sold
years later we s ll laugh about it… that nice
out, and reluctantly we bought the 11:00 p.m.
guy is now my husband.
show. This le 4½ hours to fill! We went to a
– Maisha Drayton
GEEK SPEAK THIS MONTH: PUT OUTLOOK TO WORK FOR YOU! by Patrick Butler Our lives are almost completely dominated by email, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Email can be a tool that enables you to get more done, rather than a relentless wave that washes both me and produc vity away. Outlook is your friend. For advanced users, these Outlook ps will allow you to purge inefficiency and make the most of your me. Quickly A ach Files in Outlook A aching a file to an email message can be a fiddly process, but you can streamline it and make sure you don’t forget the attachment by using Outlook’s filing system. Browse to the file you want to a ach to a message and open Outlook at your inbox. Click and drag the file from its folder onto the inbox shown in your mail folders in Outlook. This creates a new message and a aches the file in one ac on. Now address it and add a cover note. Use Quick Parts Find yourself typing the same emails over and over? Quick Parts are blocks of content you can include in messages. They’re a lot like Auto Text, but can include links and pictures, as well as text messages. To create a new Quick Part, start an email message and enter the content you want to include. Select it and choose ‘Insert | Quick Parts | Save Selecon to Quick Part Gallery’. Provide a name, category and descrip on, and click ‘OK’. Whenever you want to use this block of content, choose ‘Insert | Quick Parts’ and select it from the list. You’ll see a preview for each Quick Part you have stored. Disable Message Alerts Incoming email can be a huge distrac on, especially when you need to get some se-
rious work done. However, if you close Outlook, you won’t benefit from task and appointment reminders. Make sure you s ck to your email schedule by disabling new message alerts, then se ng a reminder to check your email at the correct me. To disable email alerts, choose ‘Tools | Op ons | Email Op ons | Advanced Email Op ons’. Now clear each of the checkboxes below the sec on marked ‘When New Items Arrive in my Inbox’ and click ‘OK’ three mes to confirm. Make sure you set an appointment to check your inbox, though, or you might miss an important message. Get Organized with Categories Use Outlook categories to help iden fy items that are important to you. By assigning colors to categories, you can quickly see what different messages, appointments and tasks relate to. To sort your categories, click the ‘Categorize’ bu on on the toolbar – it’s next to the flag and shows four colored squares. Choose ‘All Categories’ and rename the exis ng ones to labels you need. You can change colors, add new categories and set shortcut keys for each category here. To add an item to a category, select it and press the shortcut key. Rename Old Emails Quite o en, the subject line of an email bears li le resemblance to its contents, especially if it’s part of a longer thread that may have started with a message simply en tled ‘How are you?’ You can apply retroac ve filing to important messages by renaming their subjects to make them easier to find. Open the email in a new window and click in the subject line. Delete the old subject and type the new one in. Click ‘Yes’ to confirm the change.
O 5
February Birthdays Kelly Kenyon – February 3 Damian Mar nez – February 9 Eric San ago – February 14 Stephanie Vroman-Goodrich – February 14 Frank Goldberg – February 16 Ann Licata – February 19 Karen Edmond – February 22 Sheila Marcheson – February 22 Victoria Deleon – February 26
fiverandomfacts oneisalie! C A N YO U T E L L T H E D I F F E R E N C E?
1
(see back cover for answer)
The average human brain has about 100 billion nerve cells.
2 Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour. They can also travel as slow as 2 miles per hour. 3 Humans produce about 10,000 gallons of saliva in a life me. 4 The average adult heart beats 72 mes a minute; 100,000 mes a day; 3,600,000 mes a year; and 2.5 billion mes during a life me. 5 Your intes nes can wrap around the equator.
S U B M I T T E D
B Y
B R E N D A N
O R R A N G E
February Anniversaries Margie Hunter - 1 year Kelly Kenyon – 1 year Dana McKnight – 1 year Ricardo Nazario – 1 year Eric San ago – 1 year Shannon Bryant – 2 years Saw Min – 2 years Nicole D’Addario – 3 years Kim Harding – 3 years James Hill – 3 years Yakira Moreno-Soto – 3 years Jacob Perrello – 3 years Julie Vaughan – 3 years Joshua McClain – 4 years Carrie Sentz – 4 years Jerome Robinson – 5 years Crystal White – 5 years John Carocci – 19 years
Your Con nued Dedica on and Hard Work Are No ced and Appreciated! CONNECTIONS CONTRIBUTORS PUBLISHER/LAYOUT JOHN CAROCCI EDITOR KIMBERLY HARDING CONTRIBUTORS MAISHA DRAYTON, SHEILA MARCHESON, BRENDAN ORRANGE, PATRICK BUTLER
New Kids on the Block in 2010 and 2012!!! – Mindi Mietlicki It’s a toss-up between Billy Talent and Say Anything; I saw both last year. Amazing. – Ashlee Rudolph Keith Sweat, with Boys to Men. —Elisa Luciano Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Live @ the Aud in 1990. I sat in the first row and gave a high-five to Raphael. I didn’t wash my hand for a week, much to the dismay of my mother. —Patrick Butler When I was 10 I a ended my first concert with my mom—Puff Daddy and the Family (all about the Benjamins what) best concert ever!! – Shannon Bryant The best concert I’ve ever a ended was last month: Alexisonfire farewell show on New Year’s Eve in their hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. The crowd surfing was ridiculous. – Lindsay Zasada 1969 (I think). Rolling Stones, sold out at Bills Stadium. — Lucille Venezia Megaton Mundial was the best concert I have a ended (also the only one— LOL). It was the biggest concert in the Hispanic Community. There were 18 stars/singers and more than 40,000 people. The concert started at 3:00 p.m. and we didn’t leave ‘ l midnight. – Johanna Aponte A friend who works for NBC sent me a promo CD with a note: “I think you’ll like this.” It instantly became one of my favorite albums. A few weeks later, I saw an ad in Artvoice – Kate Jacobs, my new favorite singer, was coming to the Calumet. When I showed up, I was the only person there, and Kate called me over to sit with her and the band. We talked about music (and life) for over an hour, then she and the band performed their set. – John Carocci
Aaron Pry 1.
Wrestled an alligator in Everglades.
2.
Got 5 s tches on Christmas when
Lindsay Zasada 1.
I’m a classically trained violinist and have been playing for over 20 years.
I was 5 years old.
2.
I love the smell of skunks.
3.
Was born on Friday the 13th.
3.
I’ve studied Zoology, and wanted
4.
Irish twins with my sister (11 months apart).
5.
Played 2 college sports (Basketball
6.
to be an octopus expert. 4.
In my spare me I work for a local movie
and soccer).
studio as a photographer and graphic
Received the Army Commenda on
designer, and I’ve helped produce and
Medal for 24 months of service for
direct three short films and one
OEF/OIF (Opera on Enduring
full length feature.
Freedom/Opera on Iraqi Freedom).
5.
I sing in a band with another staff member
7.
Have lived in 9 different states.
8.
I have 4 ta oos that I got in
6.
I just became an aunt for the first me.
4 different states.
7.
My favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
9.
called ‘The Charm School Dropouts’.
Been to 9 different countries.
10. Been in Army for 11 years,
and I have two Vonnegut themed ta oos. 8.
9 more ‘ l re rement!!!!
I have a zoo at my house: a ki y, a bunny, two Russian tortoises and a red eared slider turtle.
9.
My favorite television show is Doctor Who.
10. I think bow es are cool.
How much do you really know about your co-workers here at Evergreen Health Services? Read 10 Fun Facts to learn all the juicy details! If you’d like to be featured in a future issue, write down 10 fun facts about yourself and send them to either Kimberly Harding or John Carocci. There are only three rules: there have to be ten, they have to be fun, and they have to be facts!
by Laura Pasquarella Many of you may not know that my experience as an art therapist with this agency goes back more years than I’m willing to admit out loud. After I graduated from Buffalo State College with a Master’s Degree in Art Therapy and became a Registered Art Therapist, I had a number of opportunities to volunteer with AIDS Community Services doing art therapy groups. Throughout my career I have worked as an Art Therapist in a variety of settings including general psychiatry, addictions medicine and geriatrics. I worked primarily in inpatient settings, but also in a couple of day programs not unlike the Wellness Center. In my new position in the Wellness Center, my goal is to raise awareness of the benefits of art therapy and integrate art therapy experiences throughout our agency’s services. The American Art Therapy Association defines Art Therapy as a mental health profession that uses
the creative process to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages. It is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self esteem and self awareness and achieve insight. Art Therapy integrates the fields of human development, visual art and the creative process with models of counseling and psychotherapy. I will be utilizing two approaches that are integral to art therapy. Small groups will employ an art psychotherapy approach where the art created is explored and discussed as a reflection of the inner self with the goal of gaining personal insight. In larger groups, the creative process itself is the therapeutic venue and is rooted in the belief that making art has inherent healing power.
In addition to the groups originating with the Wellness Center, my aim is to partner with existing support groups throughout Evergreen Health Services. In this setting I will be co-facilitating (guest facilitating) these groups and offering art therapy as an adjunct to the support group experience. It is my hope that the art therapy program will also serves as a resource for those artistic or creative clients who lack the means to support their own creative efforts. In addition to accessing materials, this may include visits to local galleries and museums and contact with local artists. I also plan to make use of public spaces throughout our agency to promote the art therapy program and the creative efforts of our clients. I am excited to be engaged in this new endeavor of offering our clients the opportunity to give form to their ideas, feelings and experiences. I welcome any feedback you may have.
M
y stomach sank when I saw that number on the scale. I had deliberately avoided weighing myself for probably a year. At that moment, in bold digital wri ng, all my worst fears were being personified in that terrible number. I was fat. Enough was enough. I contacted Human Resources to see what was available to me for help. I was told that our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers a free, confiden al nutri on consulta on service. I immediately called to set up an appointment. The Registered Die an was wonderful! She asked me to explain my goals. Was I there to lose weight? Was I there to maintain my current status? Were health issues involved? I told her about my recent epiphany, and she began to ask about my ea ng habits, triggers for overea ng, and my “weaknesses”. The en re session took about an hour, and by the end I knew what, when, and how I should be ea ng. I had a food diary, and the empowering realiza on that I could do this! It was the first step of my 30 pound weight loss journey.
That was three years ago, and I have accessed the benefit again. I’ve maintained the weight loss; however, diabetes is prevalent within my family. When my health care provider told me I was a few steps away from being pre-diabe c, I knew what I had to do. I set up another appointment, and this me explained that it was about avoiding diabetes more than losing weight (even though it wouldn’t hurt!) It was another fantas c session! I learned about foods that help boost my insulin response and those detrimental to my cause. I le this session with educa onal materials specific to diabetes preven on and again, the feeling that I can do this! If you need help making healthy food choices or even need a road map to be er ea ng, I suggest you give EAP a call. It worked for me! The mission of our EAP is to help employees, employees’ families, and employers to cope more effec vely with personal, family, environmental, social, and healthrelated stressors which they may encounter in their homes, in the workplace, and/or in the community.
February’s Five Fun Facts Answer: Number Five is a Lie!