I was going to blog about various creative ways for job-seekers to communicate their (professional) value to prospective employers...but honestly, people, oy, the news out of Newtown just has me heart-broken. I was sniveling while running at the gym this am and watching a broadcast on CBS' morning show about the "Elementary School Massacre," which seriously are three fucking words which should never EVER go together.

Thinking about people's professional value, of course made me think about the intrinsic value of being human, the unique universe inside all of us--I promise, I am not stoned, just emotional--which makes me think of those murdered children, those lives (and, of course, the equally valid adult lives) wasted, all that potential squandered...arrgh! It kind of makes me want to scream and beat my head against the wall and be all melodramatic. I mean, I'm trying to be perky for clients, but there's another part of me which wants to curl up under the covers with about 50 mini bottles of vodka, some cupcakes and be all Judy Garland (wink, wink) about the situation. Heart-breaking.

People are going to attempt to learn some lessons, pass some new laws, do whatever because of this tragedy...and I hope it does, in whatever way possible, force us to do better by our children and ourselves. (Because honestly: the alternative is too horrible to bear.) But the only "lesson" I can handle today is: USE YOUR POTENTIAL. Do what you love, what you're drawn to TODAY because tomorrow is not promised. Choose creativity, choose to invest in yourself, and your life and your dreams. If for no other reason, use your talents to honor those bright lives cut short: those children were our children, and their teachers were our teachers.

"Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay." -Simone de Beauvoir

Also: tell your TEACHERS, family, friends, neighbors,cats, flings, Yentas, you LOVE them.Want to tell me something, and/or invite me over to watch "Futurama" and help you drink some or all of that 80 proof eggnog? You know you do... Email me @ carlotazee@gmail.com!

(Christmas is next week! I'm sure there's someone in your life who could use a session of coaching, maybe to help their stalled job search...or resolve some issues at the office...or get them started on making their dreams come to life. Buy a session through PayPal, by December 24, 2012, and I'll send them a special, personalized notification!...And, you're welcome.)

I'm a born & bred New Yorker, so I feel I can say this...I hate New York. Not all the time...but frequently. Sometimes, walking through Central Park on a gorgeous mid-summer afternoon, I only actively dislike New York. But then, after reading this articlehttp://www.vice.com/read/amphetamine-logic-disappeared-cat-marnell and then this, heartbreaking article, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/nyregion/the-short-life-and-lonely-death-of-sabrina-seelig.html?smid=pl-share...I kind of want to scream. I kind of want to rent a car, throw the cats and some books into it, and flee the overpriced cesspool city right now. Move to Wyoming or Montana and start a pro-cat, free-love commune or something.

Perhaps you see my point? Cat Marnell is alive and well and able to stuff as many drugs as possible into her bony, cadaverous 98-lb frame...while the chick with promise, the girl who was trying to create something real with her life...oh, she's dead. She died alone, tied to her bed in an outer-borough dungeon "hospital," with no doctors or nurses checking on her for hours. No malpractice there! That seems like standard procedure...for Auschwitz. Paging Dr. Mengele! Where did they get that jury? Oh yes, they came from right here in NYC! Some of them are probably my neighbors, for f**k's sake.

I have lived in many other places--Russia, India, Washington, D.C., the Midwest, etc.--so I'm not one of those exasperating New Yorkers who tediously bitch about this city, but can't leave it. I've left plenty of times. I even have a driver's license. But right now, due to the various business projects I am involved with, I have to remain here. And I suppose  honestly, the bigger issue, the real issue, is that I'm disgusted by people who choose to destroy their potential--Cat Marnell, for all her melodrama, is, in my opinion, a rather talented writer--and other people who choose to have no empathy. Sabrina Seelig was all of 22, fer Christ's sake. Remember when you were 22 and you made some stupid choices? (Remember last night, when you probably made another stupid choice? Exactly.) She didn't deserve to die alone, neglected, tied to a bed, because she took a supplement. I'm cranky because I'm so disgusted... and because my heart just aches for Sabrina and her family.

Despite all efforts to the contrary, August has arrived. August, the dog days of summer, when it’s time for students to start thinking about going back to school. Oh, the poor dears. (Still, it beats working, right?) So, with the thought of college and keggers looming, I’m just going to go out on a limb here and give college students some free advice: N-E-T-O-W-O-R-K! Network to gain contacts, who will help you gain access to the jobs you are interested in. Network to gain entry to internships and part-time jobs at which you will have the opportunity to learn something about your chosen field, and what skills/experience they require. Network to gain said skills and experience.

Your prestigious school is lovely, good grades never hurt, but if you would like to graduate and not have to move back in with your parents (who, let’s be frank, kinda suck as roommates); if you would actually like to have a chance to use your degree, you absolutely, without fail, must network your path to employment. Some of you are rolling your eyes at me, because um, Carlota, what’s this fancy degree I’m about to get…chicken liver?

Listen, I love my purty Wellesley College degree too, and it’s framed, and it never fails to impress the super whenever he comes over to 1) fix stuff and 2) try to set me up with a nice Colombian friend of his and yet: if I don’t network, and more importantly, demonstrate to potential clients why it is worth their time to hire me and give me their hard-earned money, that degree ain’t paying the rent. (Same with the law degree, by the way: fancy, quite large, tends to impress my dates… but  unless I can use it as a means to differentiate myself to clients, and demonstrate my value…well, then it’s just a very large framed piece of paper.) Some of you are also thinking, um, weren’t you a history major, AKA unemployable? You are correct, son…and I got my first job at NBC News in Moscow, Russia because of luck, timing and networking. That was way back in the ‘90s, when the job market—even in Mother Russia, fer Chrissake—was cooking.  NBC hired me, gave me the keys to the office and started throwing money at me. (True story: my neighbors, in my slum Moscow neighborhood, were pretty sure my boyfriend and I were members of the Mob. They gave us a very wide berth. Ahh, good times. I could have probably ended up running some miscellaneous republic of the Former Soviet Union, had I just been more focused.)

Today…well, not so much. Today, you must think from the POV of a potential employer: you just graduated college. So if you are hired, the employer has to spend time and money (valuable company resources!) training you to make you profitable to the company. Now: why is the employer going to do that? Because you went to her alma mater? In an economy that’s creating jobs like popcorn, perhaps…in this one? Um.

But: what if you could demonstrate to that employer, not only did you attend, for example, her alma mater, but you held relevant internships and summer jobs, you gained relevant, cutting-edge skills, and you bring with you contacts that can add profitability to the business? That’s a lot of work, right? Right! But you can do this. You can start to network, and to view internships and summer and part-time jobs all as ways to gain further value and profitability in whatever field you are interested in. You can do this…and you must. You went to college, I presume, to broaden your mind, and gain the educational tools necessary to benefit your entire life, right? Right. (You also went to hit it, I know, I know, but let’s stay on message here.)

 I fell into TV news when it was still worth the network’s while to train me in the daily logistics of putting news on the air; the value I added was fluency in Russian, as well as a deep understanding of the country, its culture, history and politics.

Today, that value wouldn’t be enough. I was very lucky, determined, hard-working, ambitious…but lucky. Today, you have to make your own luck.

(P.S.: you can do this!)