memorial weekend

I spent Memorial weekend in Mexico. I really love getting away and traveling to Mexico. This time I brought my boyfriend and my girlfriend along, we had a great time. In addition to seeing my father, I visited the beach, went to the sand dunes and danced at the clubs. I used a great app named Vine to record all of my experiences. Enjoy. xoxo

 

first short documentary

Debora Silva a reporter from Oakland North filmed and directed this piece. It was emotional for me to watch because my mom makes an appearance and talks about the night it happened. I am super pleased and feel honored with this project. Thank you Oakland North.

suggestions and/or questions

Hey guys,
havent checked in with you in a while.

For a moment I thought about deleting my blog, i felt like i was saturating. And then alot of personal things in my dating relationship began to happen , of course i wanted to vent and write about it but at the same time i was hesitant. I bought a journal and started venting there. Ive been writing in this journal for a while, it cleans me.

So why did i decide to come back? Well i have noticed an increase in page views and in addition people constantly refer to my blog and ask about it. So i feel like its right to keep this baby refreshed and updated. Lastly my life is an open book , im pretty honest and i like to share my thoughts and experiences with the public because i know people can relate to me. Also im hoping that my experience in overcoming a tragedy can inspire a few.

Alot has been happening in my life.

I have many events and great stuff to write about like

•  my new apartment
• school
•  the recent project with Oakland North that was filmed, shot and directed by Debora Silva from UC Berkeley
• A short documentary about my that was filmed and directed by Sherae Ann Honeycutt
• me wanting to get into singing SO BAD
• The interview to become and Intervention Specialist at Youth ALIVE!
• my job in general
•  my latest Newspaper appearance on Vision Hispana
• The Rihanna concert
• Mother's Day
• Mexico
• My Dad
• My house in Mexico
• awesome updated pictures
•  many other things

I know there might be certain things you all might be interested in reading about so I encourage you to drop some suggestions and or questions. It would also be easy for me to just pick a topic rather than thinking and thinking about what youd like to know.
I find my self to be super busy with life. I am trying to balance my work,school, relationship,bills,professional life and personal life so I have little time to check in. But i promise I will very very soon.

LOVE,
 CAHERI

muaaaah xoxoxoxoxoxxooxxoxo

my KTVU experience

I bet some of you are curious to know how KTVU is going. Well I terminated my KTVU internship before it ended. I learned how important internships really are. Its like a "gut check" said the hardworking Amber Lee. And it sure was for me, the longer i stayed there the more i figured out that news is not where I want to be. What discouraged me? The writing! lol ironically. I guess I never really understood exactly how tedious the work of a reporter actually is. Its not just fashion and TV its more like write write write erase and edit. Im not confident in my writing and composition so i felt greatly set back. Also I saw how hard and passionate the interns worked and how much they already knew about the profession. After a while i started to feel guilty for being there... i mean i am a young lady that is going to college to become a   nurse and all of the other interns were so juiced about broadcasting and journalism. I started to think damn ... i bet there is a kid out there that would die to be in this position and here i am not really taking this serious. Of course i worked hard, completed tasks, went above and beyond expectations but in the end I wasn't fully invested. I will tell you something tho...  
Frank Sommerville: DOWN TO EARTH STUD! Im sure people might think that he might be a bit arrogant but he totally isnt. He is remarkably relatable, honest,humorous, hard working and genuinely kind. Also he adopted a black baby girl a few years back (THUMBS UP) and when he talks about her and interacts with her you can just tell that he is so in love with his daughter. She is such a cute little diva too! I spent alot of my time at KTVU talking with Frank. He asked me about my story, we talked about my brother , my sister , the future , oakland. He shared cool stories and meaningful advice. He also kind of reminded me of Superman ... he is pretty tall and handsome and just seems like a hero. He is a superstar.
Julie Haener: MISS USA BARBIE DOLL! If any of you have ever seen Julie Haener in person ...you will agree that this woman is remarkably beautiful. Best part is she is not just beautiful on the outside but she is also such a beautiful person at heart. She was so encouraging and she always gave me compliments. I love women like that...women who are physically stunning but are very relatable, kind and down to earth.
Mark Ibanez: ROCKSTAR! Mark was a straight up rockstar. He's been in the biz for a few years and he acts like it. He is really laid back and REAL. When he wasnt on camera he was at his desk in his casual jeans and white cotton t shirt. Other times he would be walking around in his Nike gym shorts and fitted workout shirt, cracking jokes. This dude is so cool , he acknowledged and greeted the janitors whenever they were around. This man was so cool and nonchalant but very serious when it came down to work and research.

 As an intern I got to see how television works and how important it is to stay on time when on air. I went out to shoot a story with two wonderful women: Erika the camera woman and Jana katsuyama the reporter. I learned how to run scrips lol  and how to log in forthcoming events in a program named the datebook. I was also at KTVU when Kenny Clutch was murdered in a shooting that led to a fiery crash on the vegas strip.That shit was crazy to see because Kenny was my friends babydaddy. She had just given birth to their daughter a few months before he was killed. It was interesting to see how reporters portrayed him and the story. All of these folks were so good to me. I feel like I spent most of my time at KTVU chatting with the wonderful people listed above...sharing stories, advice,experiences and lots of laughs. . I learned that I didnt want to be in the news biz , well actually I like to be interviewed and share my opinion on television but i dont really have an interest in creating stories and reporting. My fellow interns were such interesting and awesome people. It was great to see how passionate they were about news. I believe that one day they will be working in a news station fulfilling their dreams. I made a good connection with them as well. One intern in particular : Sherae Ann Honeycutt. She is a rockstar and KTVU loves her. Another important part of this experience is that because of it my self esteem was boosted. I am a person that struggles with my self esteem and being beautiful. Frank, Julie and Mark made me feel important and special. After sharing my personal story with Frank Sommerville he shared an unforgettably kind Facebook post about me. Hundreds or maybe thousands of people wrote kind and encouraging messages about me. It was hard to sleep that night , i was overwhelmed with the recognition, love and support that i was receiving. Around the same time that I was at KTVU , the book that was written about me and Oakland named Until You Bleed : The Caheri Gutierrez Story became published as a Kindle Single , Mark and Julie didnt hesitate to talk to me about my experience and to recognize me for the hard work that I do. Their feedback meant so much to me, you wouldnt even imagine.  I am so grateful for that KTVU experience, I taught me alot. It is something that i will never forget, something that i will be talking about to my grandchildren.

Amazon says Until You Bleed: The Caheri Gutierrez Story just sold its 500th copy!

Amazon says Until You Bleed: The Caheri Gutierrez Story just sold its 500th copy!

Until You Bleed: The Caheri Gutierrez Story
A Kindle Single for $0.99
by James O'Brien
http://www.amazon.com/Until-You-Bleed-Gutierrez-ebook/dp/B00BPYTEKW
You can read it on a Kindle, iPad, tablet, smartphone or computer

This is the story of how it looks and feels when the bullet finds you. It’s the kind of story you encounter in violent neighborhoods across America. Only there's one big difference. 

In old modeling photos, the face of Caheri Gutierrez confronts you with one of human history's miraculous hybrids, a sublime symbol of what we can accomplish, over centuries, if we work together: the big, dark, almond shaped meso-American eyes and wide, pre-Columbian cheekbones; the flared, triangular, European nose; the dark skin — burnt, Mexican; the full, downward, frowning mouth pure early 21st century Oakland, California, USA. 

Gutierrez thought that face was her ticket to the future. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, came the bullet. Suddenly, on a cold night in November 2008, she found herself bleeding, choking, holding her face together with her hands, calculating her very chances of survival.

Caheri Gutierrez' inspiring struggle to heal herself and the city of Oakland is woven with courage, fear and defiance. In many ways, her personal story is much like the story of Oakland itself, a polyglot city, not quite so innocent as it wishes, but a victim nonetheless of the political flailing that comes of desperation and neglect. Like Gutierrez, Oakland is beautiful and wounded, unable to let go of its past and uncertain about its future. 

Until You Bleed is a deeply researched, literate and brutally frank portrait of a city under the gun, and a young, wounded woman trying to change that.