First, Nuala and I partied with all our friends on the 20th of August, getting a chance to see everyone in one place. Including some people we may not have otherwise had a chance to visit with, but who made the event that much more enjoyable.
Then we spent Sunday trying to recover from Saturday. I say "we" but in fact it was really only "I" that needed the recovery. Nuala is much more controlled than I, at least in this respect.
The week progressed nicely, trying to fit work in where I could, but mostly spending my time working on packing up the last of my belongings while Nuala finished up her final week at work. We also were able to get together with family and again with some friends.
There were a few hiccups along the way - okay, some could be classified a little more severely than 'hiccups' - but in the end we got everything accomplished and were able to make our flight (by mere minutes, mind you) and have safely arrived here in North Vancouver. I will soon dedicate a full post to these various and sundry 'hiccups' but for now, the above is enough to keep us going.
Last, but certainly not least, I received a message on Saturday evening. It seems the world has been blessed with another Bomers. Elijah Alexander was born shortly after 4pm on Saturday, August 27th. He weighed in at 6lbs 14ounces (if memory serves).
Thanks to everyone for their continued support and encouragement. We hope to see you out here on the west coast soon.
They must be. How else can one explain the change in language they've used in their follow-up on the Pat Robertson assassination debacle, now identifying him as 'U.S. right-wing religious broadcaster Pat Robertson', which is much more in keeping with the truth.
Way to go CBC. Now if you could just get this damn labour dispute resolved in time for hockey season, you might actually make it through another year without being part of an election platform...
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and Blogger has created a spin-off they call NaNoBlogMo - National Novel BLOGGING Month. My goal here, is to use Blogger to write my first novel. And I'm going to do it in 30 days.
That's right. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a novel - 50,000 words or more - in the month of November. Just 30 days. That's about 1700 words per day, or 6-8 pages of written text.
There's a catch.
The truth is, I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head, jangling like so many lost pennies, that it's become quite difficult to figure out which one to proceed with first. Here is where I enlist my (hopefully) faithful readers to point me in the right direction. It's your chance to let me know what YOU want to read about.
So, comment away. All thoughts will be taken under serious consideration. As we get closer to NaNoWri/BlogMo, I will be shortlisting certain ideas that appeal to me as a writer, and soliciting feedback from you in order to gain a clear starting perspective so that when Nov 1st hits, I am ready. I will then create a new online home specifically for my novel, so that you can watch the progression during the month of November. You may be asked to provide feedback and direction during the process too.
C'mon! Don't be shy! What have you always thought would make a good book, but haven't found it yet? What idea popped into your head one day, causing you to think, "That would make a GREAT book!"?
The challenge has been issued. The gauntlet thrown down.
the cbc today reported on the US evangalist Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of venezualan president Hugo Chavez. in their online article they referred to robertson as "The conservative U.S. evangelist and founder of the Christian Coalition."
it would seem to me that calling for the murder of anyone, let alone the covert ASSASSINATION of chavez, would preclude reference, in the very same sentence, to conservatism.
i ask again: is murder conservative?
to me, murder is the greatest example of extremism and radicalism. a quick look at miriam-websters thesaurus search for conservative in fact lists extreme and radical as antonyms to conservative. wouldn't these words more aptly describe a man who publicly calls for an assassination? any assassination?
but more important than how robertson might fancy himself, it appears that the (unnamed) cbc reporter who filed this article has apparently forgotten that he/she is not bound by robertson's views of himself, or by how his "conservative" media-friends in the states might describe him. he/she is free to use any adjective they please.
so why fall into the trap? is this reporter so influenced by the propaganda spewed forth each day by the american media giants as to be wholly unable to think for themselves in this matter? why are we not decrying the use of such a word to describe such a man?
it may be that many of pat robertson's other beliefs and actions could be called conservative, but to use this label, this pejorative, simply to gain sympathy with decidedly liberal cbc readers is a misuse of the term.
let's call the kettle black, when the kettle is, in fact, black. pat robertson is an extremist, a radical. in some circles, you might even hear him referred to as a terrorist. and who are we to argue with miriam-webster, who describe terror as: violence (as bombing) committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands?
it seems mr. robertson does, in fact, fit the description of a terrorist. but that can't be... they don't grow terrorists in the states, right?
RIGHT?
incidentally, both the toronto star and the globe and mail referred to robertson as a 'religious broadcaster' and without making mention of his "conservative" nature.
last note: it would appear that at least one person (venezualan president hugo chavez, himself) agrees with my assessment of robertson's statement. as quoted in the globe article, chavez states:
"The ball is in the U.S. court, after this criminal statement by a citizen of that country. It's huge hypocrisy to maintain this discourse against terrorism and at the same time, in the heart of that country, there are entirely terrorist statements like those."
much thanks to my dad in newfoundland, and the folks at jim pattison hyundai - north shore who have arranged a sweet ride for me when nuala and i get out to vancouver.
it's a 5-door hyundai elantra (2006) in midnight blue. as you can see in the pic, it's a sharp looking car and we'll be able to use it to get up in the mountains for some serious play!
i first heard of archive while flying home from vancouver to toronto on saturday. alan cross does a monthly show for enroute in-flight radio, and the track 'waste' just blew me away. pink floyd meets radiohead is how alan described them. you'll have to decide for yourself if that's accurate or not...
check out their website and have a listen. then go to their fan forum and tell them you want them to come to canada - they have a deal here, so there's a chance they'll actually come if enough people badger them.
thanks to everyone who came out last night for our 'goodbye' celebration at the always friendly Pour House. also, thanks to emma, our server, for taking care of us all night. hope we didn't stress you out too much. (damn she's cute, too!)
i successfully eliminated a healthy portion of my remaining brain cells, but it was all for a good cause.
from an email sent to me. as always, it came at the Perfect time.
** adam will totally be able to relate to this one... **
life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming --
"WOW! What a Ride!"
thanks M.O.M. for your inspirational support and unwavering belief that i can do it -- regardless of what it is.
anyone who knows me even remotely well, can probably attest to the fact that i'm a visual kinda guy. anyone who knows me really well, knows that this is peppered with kinesthesia, but that visuality prevails.
i love images. i love imagery. i love to see. i love to be seen.
see what i mean?
photoblogs are a visual representation of the world as experienced by those who post them. while i have never been compelled to become a photographer, i greatly appreciate a great photograph.
here is the world as seen through the eyes of three people:
we'll probably never know just how steve jobs, ceo of apple computers, was able to conceive and build such a brilliant operating system, after this incredible blunder.
the ipod patent, which accounts for an estimated 1/3 of apple's profits, is now held by none other than jobs' nemesis, bill gates.
what this will mean for apple's revenue is, as yet, unknown. but there is a high percentage chance that apple with have to pay bill gates a percentage of all ipod profits -- for a technology they developed themselves.
i've been doing lots of thinking. can you smell it?
i've realised that i have a tendency to hold on to the past. i find myself overly concerned with those things that no longer have any direct influence on my 'go-forward' life plan. the umbilical cord is still attached, as though i believe, on some deeper level, that my life depends on this security. this 'known' element.
and i wonder why i find it difficult to move forward with my life.
today, i feel as though i've turned a corner. i am letting go. releasing, back to the universe, those bonds and chains with which i have bound myself. i no longer feel the need to peek back around the corner, to make sure those things and people i've left behind are 'doing okay' without me. of course they are okay... how could they be anything else?
they may struggle. they may not like it. they may even try to lay blame on me for their current conundrums. but that's okay, because i'm not actually there to be weighed down by the heavy blanket of blame. i'm all the way over here, and i realise that the weight i have been feeling is the blanket of blame i've laid on myself.
it's time to throw off the covers! time to unshackle my legs and arms. time to shout YES! to the world in front of me, arms wide, legs spread, feet planted firmly on the ground, head floating in the clouds.
i remember those first steps i took, not as an infant, but as an adult, walking for the first time after six months in a wheelchair. in the background played marvin gaye's let's get it on. i remember thinking to myself that this would be my new anthem. i even thought that i should create a new walk, a swagger, perhaps, to go along with it.
I've been really tryin, baby Tryin to hold back these feelings for so long And if you feel, like I feel baby Come on, oh come on,
it continually surprises me that people in general just don't get it. i suppose this illuminates one of my own shortcomings, as much as anything else - the very fact that i am continually surprised by the same things, and the fact that i have an assumption that there is an 'it' to 'get.'
take my former employer, for example. they don't get it. now, i won't say i'm the best at what i do, but i'm damn good. i won't say that i'm the most committed, but i am fiercely loyal. i won't say that i know it all, have done it all or am always 'right' -- but i know a lot, i've done a lot, and i'm usually 'right.' well, of course i am... i'm looking at the world from my own perspective, so why shouldn't i be right?
but i digress...
my former employer lost me because of one simple thing: they didn't show me that they appreciated me. now i'm not saying that their appreciation would have made up for the lack of progress and ability to improve my own lot, at least not eternally, but it would have helped. it would have made the three years of MY life that i gave them seem a little more worth my while. and it wouldn't have cost them a penny.
now they've lost me. and because i've decided to move to vancouver, and because nuala and i want to be together, and because nuala also works for the same company, they are losing her too. but they have an opportunity to save her... nuala is a graphic designer. a damn good one too. now, if you know anything about graphic design, you'll know that it's the type of job that could be done remotely, via computer and the internet. and you would think, with a magazine needing to be produced 5x per year, and countless web ads, print ads, and flyers needing to be produced, they would jump at the opportunity to keep her - being that she's good, she's affordable and, let's not forget, SHE'S ALREADY TRAINED!
but they've decided to play games. they've known for five weeks that nuala will be leaving at the end of august. do you think they've given her one iota of information about what they think about keeping her on as a tele-commuter? no, not one. today they had a 'marketing meeting' to discuss how to move the business forward in a cost-effective way. nuala brought up the fact that with me gone, her going, and another woman also leaving at the end of the month (do you see a trend developing here?) it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to plan a marketing and promotion strategy until they've figured out who is going to be doing what, and where!
do you think they gave her one iota of an answer? do you think they even acknowledged her point? you guessed it. bing bing bing. we have a winner! (in case you couldn't sift through the hyperbole, the answer is no.)
so, i spent three years working for this company, and in all the time i was there, i was continually surprised by these ass-backwards ways of doing things. and yet i stayed, and stayed, and stayed. and now that i'm gone, i'm still surprised.
so, in the end, who is it really who has got it ass-backward?
bill maher is, without a doubt, the most intelligent, reasonable, down-to-earth visionary I have ever heard speak. he appeared last night on larry king live. during his talk he made some extremely well articulated points. here are some of them, entirely out of context:
‘You hear about gas prices over two dollars a gallon and it makes you nearly choke on your four dollar latte’
‘Human beings are very ill-equipped for certitude. Doubt is very fitting for the human mind, because we don't know. We're not that good.’
‘It should be enough to want to be a good person for the sake of being a good person. I don't think you're good if you're doing it to get to heaven, first of all. That's not a -- that's not a reason. That's not a good reason to be a decent person.’
‘I'm a board member of PETA. And this man is exactly right, and I'm glad he raised the issue. It's despicable the way we treat animals in this country. And it's part and parcel to our general lack of compassion for things that don't affect us directly. But no, I'm not a vegetarian, because I'm not in lockstep with everything PETA says. I mean, animals kill each other. They just don’t do it cruelly.’
‘He (Senator Coburn) literally calls homosexuality the -- and gay marriage the greatest threat our country faces. Seriously. I mean, they call me a traitor? That's treason. If you think that that's what we should be guarding this country from, at a time when I read today in the paper that we're going to start selling nuclear material overseas, then you are not doing your job.’
you go, bill.
everyone should read the transcript of this interview.
well, the time has finally come. i've made allusions. i've skirted the issue. but now all is out in the open, and i can say to the world, "nuala and i are moving to vancouver!"
i will try and keep regular updates to this site, including pictures, so that i can remain in connection with family and friends, and whomever else happens to stumble across my little corner of the internet.
browse. stay awhile. and check back regularly. oh yea, and don't forget to tell your friends to visit too!
Location: West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
A copywriter, consultant & now Amazon #1 bestselling author, Paul Keetch has a knack for making complex topics easy to understand.
Paul reveals this talent in his book Make My Marketing Work: How to Win Customers & Make More Money by distilling marketing down to its few essential elements.
These essential elements are the keys to your marketing success. Using simple language and effective exercises, Paul helps business owners move beyond theory and into practical, real-world strategy and action.
His process-driven and results-oriented approach to marketing has led his clients to refer to him as The Customer Creator.
Those clients include Chicken Soup for the Soul co-creator, Mark Victor Hansen, T. Harv Eker, Christine Comaford and Libby Gill, the woman who help launched the Dr. Phil brand.
