It's been a few weeks since Albert made an appearance, so the time frame of knowledge expands to encompass those missing weeks. Besides, I learned a lot while I was away and sharing it with you is important to me.
1. I Am Incredibly Lucky
I know many people say this, but I truly do have the best wife in the world. Over our nearly three years together, she's put up with a lot of headaches, uncertainty, frustration and questions and through it all, she's stood by me. There have definitely been good times too, but she never wavers in her support of me and what I want to do with my life and that reminds me every day how lucky I am to have her. I love you Baby!
2. Life Isn't That Bad... Ever
While being in the Dominican was restful and full of fun, it was also an educational experience for me. Seeing the same cast of characters working every day with a smile on their faces, knowing they were making what we consider pocket change really opened my eyes. The frustrations I experience on a daily basis are nothing compared to what it could be like; a busy day at the restaurant puts more money in my pocket in a day than these guys make in a week, so what am I complaining about? Perspective is a very cool thing.
3. Emily Grace is Awesome!
My niece is without a doubt the cutest child on the face of the Earth. Devilish grin, big brown eyes and just enough vocabulary for everything to be insanely cute and make your heart melt. The nightly "Hi Shermie. Good night. See you soon," followed by a kiss was too cute, not to mention the refrain of, "Bucky, horses!" that accompanied our ride to the airport last Saturday. She is going to be a heartbreaker one day.
4. Positive Spins
Less hours at the restaurant and the decline of The Love of Sports would normally have made me really, really angry and frustrated. While I'm still kind of crusty about the restaurant, the added time it will be providing me is a good thing. I get to do the things that truly make me happy; cooking dinners for Sarah, hanging out with Luke and working on my personal projects, both written and around the house. Life is too short to be surly all the time.
5. Didn't Miss Much
Before we left, sports was a very, very integral part of my daily routine. I mean, I wrote about the damn stuff countless times a day and spent hours on ESPN and various other sites. After being away from it for the last couple weeks, I'm kind of wondering what the big deal was to begin with? I love what I do, but not much really changed in two weeks. The stories are pretty much the same today as when I left. Clearly, I can spend less time with the sports page and more time with the pug dog than I was before hand. And Sarah too...
6. I Know My MMA
One thing I did miss was UFC 97 and I wish I hadn't, simply because it proved I know my shit when it comes to Mixed Martial Arts. Chuck Liddell got knocked the fuck out, proving a point I made a couple weeks back that his time has come and gone. Furthermore, Anderson Silva was wholly unimpressive yet again, earning a decision win over Thales Leites that Dana White called "disappointing" or something like that. Wonder if anyone else is thinking my claiming GSP as the best fighter on the planet makes a bit more sense now?
7. Exploring the Options
Even though I'm old hat at moving, I truly hate doing it. Packing sucks, lugging furniture makes me sore and I just dislike upheaval. That being said, we're on the lookout for better options once again. Not that we don't like it here - we love our place and are finally just getting everything situated and laid out the way we like it - but the economic realities and opportunities are more important than a great view, so we're keeping our eyes on the rental properties in Cranbrook. Half the rent for the same kind of space and closer to work for Sarah just makes too much sense... and cents.
8. Congratulations Jamie and Brianne!
Not only did my cousin and hi super-fantastic woman get hitched, but they also welcomed Calvin James into the world just before we left for our trip. Congratulations you two (now three) - we couldn't be more happy for you!
9. See You in November
Since the above mentioned family members couldn't make it to our festivities for obvious reasons, we're planning a trip to them in early November. Albuquerque here we come! Did I mention that I might also be able to work an MMA interview at one of the best fighting teams in the world into the equation if we get down there?
10. Rapid Reader, As Long As I Like It
I tore through Chris Jericho's autobiography (pretty enjoyable if you like wrestling) and three Alex Cross series books while we were on vacation, as mentioned yesterday. That's a combined 2000+ pages which, considering there was a ton of other stuff to do too, is pretty impressive. It also makes it pretty funny that I couldn't get through more than 50 pages of the book everyone from work told me was awesome and a must-read. Tyler (my boss) lent me Wilbur Smith's River God and within 50 pages it was decided that I didn't have any interest in fighting through it. Fantasy tales set in ancient Egypt just aren't my thing. Suplexes and serial killers sounds better to me.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
10 Things I Recently Learned
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Has Facebook Jumped the Shark?
I will say, however, that with all the new applications and new look recently unveiled, I'm starting to wonder if Facebook's time has come and passed.
Case in point - Blabble.
The picture of my beautiful niece Gracie Lou is my first foray into the tool.
The premise of it is quite simple really: you can now add speech bubbles to any picture in your photo albums. So instead of just having the caption you could always use, now you can have each person saying something.
Neat-o, hey?
Not really. It's kind of overkill to me.
In fact, many of the Facebook changes over the last couple months seem like bad moves to me and have lessened my time spent there, as it has many others I suspect.
Instead of being an entertaining interaction tool to keep in touch and stalk old girlfriends, now you get spam wall posts, advertisements out the yin yang and notifications of notifications that you already received notification about.
My Facebook Fan Page was a casualty of war a couple months ago and with the dwindling amount of time I spend on my actual profile page these days, it may go the way of the dodo in the very near future as well.
As always, I love to hear your thoughts on this...
Saturday, March 1, 2008
For Pete...
As noted earlier this week here on iBlog - yes, I've nicknamed my blog - I started job hunting this week for positions that are a little more relevant to the career paths I would like to venture down as I stand on the verge of 30.
In combing through the media job boards this week, I came across a posting for The Score Television Network. They're looking for On-Air talent. They are a sports network looking for on-air talent. Another way of saying that is "Hello Dream Job #2!"
Later today, I'll be sitting down in front of our digital camera and recording a demo tape to send in along with my resume, a program pitch that I was working on before I knew of the aforementioned opening and crossing my fingers. I'll also be wishing my brother the best of luck.
See, my brother was at the top of his class in the Radio & Television Arts program at Ryerson before he decided to walk away from it after his third year. School wasn't his favourite - it runs in the family - and he didn't need a degree to confirm his talents as a broadcaster. That was proven when he landed, at the time, his dream job, as a host on The Racing Network, a satellite network dedicated to horse racing. Sit and talk about horses all day, throw to a race from some track across North America, rinse and repeat. It was perfect. He was also hired as their lead guy, ahead of his friend and former classmate who finished the RTA Program.
Fast forward to today. My brother left the Dream Job years ago to pursue something even closer to his heart, racing horses on his own. It's a tough racket and he has done okay, but okay doesn't always pay the bills and keep you in the lifestyle you'd like most. So I flipped him the job posting.
If I'm being realistic, I know that pairing myself opposite my brother is a real-life David versus Goliath moment and I've got the slingshot. Sure there are loads of other people who will undoubtedly apply, but all I know is that Pete and I are both after the same brass ring and he has a better chance to grasp it. Some people would say I'm crazy for giving him the heads up, since it will undoubtedly diminish my chances at success.
For me, it was a no-brainer. He's my brother and he'd be great at the job. Better than me. And if I can make his life and that of my beautiful niece better in any way, that is what I am going to do. Even if it is at my own expense...
Sunday, February 10, 2008
10 Things I Learned This Week
1. Apparently the Weekend is for Feeling like Crap
All week I felt like a million bucks and that was with getting up insanely early Monday and Tuesday. Went to work, did some writing, hung out with Sarah, all without so much as a sniffle or upset stomach. The weekend rolls around and WHAM! I feel like ass. Second day in a row I've had some gastrointestinal issues to deal with, which is confusing because it's not like I'm eating any worse.
2. Not Only Will I Be in the Next Issue of Passion...
But I got a raise too! The piece that is set to hit news stands on Tuesday marks my biggest professional payday to date and has given me a jolt of renewed confidence and energy in pursuing my writing career. Like my brother Pete said yesterday, "You've got to do what you're passionate about, but it's awful nice when someone wants to pay you for it too!"
3. Spencer's Fantasy
Fantasy Baseball that is. Sick bastards, thinking I was going to get into the sordid details of what goes through my dirty little mind... Anywho, the B&C Crew have put together a fantasy league over at CBS SportLine and I'm one of the twelve taking part. For the first time in my Fantasy career, there is money on the line. Winner nets $140. Having bragging rights for an entire off season is going to be great, but having a $140 bucks in my pocket to go with it is going to be even better.
4. I Need to be Back in Ontario
If for no other reason than to be able to be at the birthday celebrations of little Emily Grace. My brother's daughter really is the cutest kid in the world and the pictures from her birthday party are adorable. They also make me miss home a lot. I miss you Gracie Lou!
5. For the Record, I'll Be Back in May Sometime
It's seem that either (a) I just think I've told people about our triumphant return or (b) they've all forgotten about me telling them about our triumphant return, so here we go, one more time: Sarah and I are heading back to Ontario sometime in May. We're setting up HQ in London until September and then from there, who knows? The only definite is that we're both taking September 100% off to go to Vancouver and have a relax before Sarah joins the workforce full-time. There, now you know.
6. Everyone Has an Excuse
D'you know what's amazing? How everyone who sets foot into Blockbuster and has any charges on their account has some kind of story as to why they shouldn't have to pay the charges. Here's a novel idea, you don't want to pay any charges, bring back the goddamn movies! It doesn't matter if you work odd hours, rented the movie to show to disadvantaged youth or left the movie in your car that sat in the pound following an accident. You had it for a longer time than can be reasonably expected and now you owe us some money. Cough it up. I don't want to hear your sob stories anymore.
7. The Irony of the Above
It's $2.00. Actually, since January 1st, it's $1.98. It's less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks. How can you come in and want to fight tooth and nail about two goddamn dollars? Jesus...
8. Professional Developments
So, on top of catching my first feature in Passion, they've also stuck a pic and bio of me in the Contributors page, but I told you that last week. On top of that, I've also been encouraged by my recent conversations with Rotowire.com, a fantasy site in search for fantasy geeks with writing abilities and we all know I fit the bill. Thanks to my man Herija Green for the advice. There is also a little talk of building a personal website, but that too is only in the discussion stages. As with everything, I'll keep you posted.
9. Baseball Season is Approaching Fast
And I couldn't be more excited. Pitchers and catchers report later this week, which means baseball will be in full swing in no time, horrible pun very much intended. I've started breaking down the Jays position by position over at Bugs and will end it off with an overall prediction about the Jays chances this year. We'll also break out a couple staff prediction pieces I'm sure, so make sure you check it out on the regular from here on out.
10. I Don't Hate Boston Nearly as Much
Earlier in the year, I dropped a bomb on Boston and their success in the sports world. Now, KG is on the shelf for the Celtics and the Pats took their first lost of the season on the greatest stage of them all. The Red Sox are still the champs, but hey, at least it's the start of a new season and everyone has the same record... for now.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
10 Things I Learned This Week
1. Happy Birthday Emily Grace!
My beautiful little niece turns one today. I can't believe it has been a year since she was born. I've only seen her twice and one of those times she spent the whole time crying and wanting nothing to do with me. She is easily one of the biggest reasons I am excited to be moving home in May. You're an angel Gracie Lou and your Uncle Spencer loves you very much...
2. Thank God It's Super Bowl Sunday
Because if I had to go through another week of hearing about every last little thing that has taken place in Tom Brady's life, I think I might swear off football altogether. I honestly expected the sports channels to have little running trackers of Brady's whereabouts and what he's wearing running along the bottom of the screen instead of scores.
3. Barack Obama Needs to be President
Watched a couple hours of the debate last night on CNN and I have to say that Obama just comes across as the better candidate. He's a real dude, whereas Hilary Clinton has that "I'm better than you" appearance to her. Isn't it about time that there is someone other than a Bush or a Clinton in the White House? C'mon America, make Barack Obama the next Commander in Chief.
4. The Mets Will Still Screw Things Up
Sure, they may have just landed one of the best pitchers in all of baseball and signed him to an astronomical contract, but seriously, these are the Mets we're talking about. This is the same team that shit the bed last year at the very last possible second. It's not like Philly suddenly got crappy over the off-season either. This is already my favourite story to watch all season long... and yes, I look forward to hearing what you think about this Brad.
5. I Heart Juno
Saw it Tuesday night and fell in love with it. Been listening to the soundtrack all week and talking about the film with anyone who cares to listen. Diablo Cody wrote an amazing film and deserves to win an Oscar. Ellen Page could too, but she's got stiff competition. All that being said, I can see where some people aren't going to like this movie. The writing is quick, sharp and smart but it will undoubtedly be too much for some people. Kinda like how some folks just don't like Little Miss Sunshine.
6. My Picture is Going to be in a Magazine
Along with a brief professional bio, Passion Magazine will be including a headshot of a goofy-looking guy that they let write articles for them in the next issue, on sale February 11th at all Chapters and Shoppers Drug Mart locations. Except in Newfoundland... we get it a week later.
7. I Need to Care Less About Work
The simple fact of the matter is that it's not my job to worry about everything that goes on there and always wanting things to work out the way I think they should is just stupid, because it's not going to happen. Starting tomorrow, it's show up, work my shift and call it a day; no anger, no frustration, no concern. All that energy is going to get channeled into my writing... or NBA Live '08.
8. "High School never ends."
Great line from The Jane Austen Book Club which I watched last night and thoroughly enjoyed. Immediately after I heard the line, I got to thinking and an idea for a post you'll get later in the week has now formed in my over-sized head. For now, mull it over; think about it in preparation for the piece. Yes, I just gave you homework.
9. Update: The Tattoo Fund
So I bought a pack of smokes again this week, which means two weeks in a row without a penny being dropped into the Tattoo Fund jar. That being said, I have done a lot of thinking about what I am going to get next. One thing it isn't going to be is a giant knife up the middle of my chest. Seriously! This is why some people automatically think tattoos are stupid.
10. I Love Having the Weekend Off
I know that a segment of society has every Saturday and Sunday off, but I haven't ever worked in that sector, so getting the full "real weekend" off is wicked to me. By the time tomorrow rolls around, I will have had two straight days of lounging around the house with Sarah, watching Friends, a handful of movies, reading and just doing the things we enjoy most. No interruptions, no work, nothing but relaxing. It's been a great way to end a crappy week.
OUT / ONE
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Things I Learned This Week
Welcome to the quick, mobile version...
1. Doing This On The Road Sucks, Part 1
Writing at home is easy; Sarah knows I need to do it and at times we arrange our days around the work that I need to hammer through here on the old Interwebs. Outside of Sarah, not many people completely understand. As much as it sounds like the easiest thing in the world to do - put together an article or write a few words about the latest Blue Jays signing - it's a bit more complicated than that. Maybe one day people will figure that out.
2. Doing This On The Road Sucks, Part 2
Right now, I'm in the Middle of Nowhere, Ontario posting this using dial-up. Yes, there are still places that operate strictly on dial-up. London wasn't even that much better as the DSL only worked down in the basement, close to the modem itself. Someone - Bill Gates, Steve Jobs - needs to get on this.
3. It's Just Snow People
For the last three days I have been hearing about the Winter Storm that is coming to Ontario and how it could shift our travel plans. We drove out here last night and it wasn't that bad. Woke this morning and all the news stations wanted to talk about was how Ontario was getting walloped by a storm which was going to drop - gasp! - 20 cm of snow...
4. Surprisingly...
Toronto has yet to call in the Armed Forces to help dig them out of this perilous situation. I loved Mayor Mel, but that was the stupidest thing ever.
5. Nothing Is Simple
I should have known better than to think coming to Ontario for a vacation was going to be easy-peasy. Everything is complicated, from getting sushi yesterday night to finding time to pen (type) this little number here. From now on, vacation might have to mean "go away somewhere where there is no family..."
6. Emily Grace is Still Adorable... Even When She Cries
Managed to sneak in a visit with Murielle and the baby yesterday, sort of. We had a visit but Gracie Lou was sleeping, until she woke up when we were leaving and got freaked out by the sight of her ugly unlce (read: me) standing at her crib. For the next 45 minutes, she proceeded to make strange and cry while staring at me like she had no idea who I was. This is reason #27 why we need to move home sometime soon... I need to be a part of my niece's life.
7. Today is Cole Family Christmas
I have mixed feelings about this. Everyone has always been very inviting and welcoming, but something tells me that today might be a little different. Before it was only ever adults and things change when you mix kids into the equation. Cuple that with the religiousity of the group - outside of Sarah and her dad, all are Church going folks - and my penchant for swearing could get me in trouble. Oh yeah, this is a dry event too...
8. No Booze + No Smokes... What Am I Going To Do?
Garry, Sarah's Dad, was discouraged from bringing a bottle of red wine for today's festivities. I haven't had a smoke in six days now either. That means I will be without my two greatest coping mechanisms for the duration of the day. Sarah better not stray too far from my side.
9. Passion Magazine, Issue #2
Got my finalized assignment for the next issue - January / February - and it's even better than last time. 1800-2000 words on Celebrity Comebacks and hopefully a profile on my buddy Jeff Woodrow's company Joy Apparel. I know I've told you all this before, but hey, I need to fill up a little space here people.
10. The Mitchell Report was a Big Waste of Time
There weren't many shocking revelations to me. Even Roger Clemens wasn't that big of a shock to me. As my man Cabbie said back when I interviewed him for Bugs & Cranks, you gotta wonder how a 40-year-old man keeps bringing it the way he has over the last bunch of years. Kudos to Andy Pettitte for stepping up and admitting his HGH usage; that is a class move from a class act. The rest of the "This is an outrage! I've Never Used Steroids!" bunch could stand to learn a litte from the Yankees hurler.
That's it, that's all... time to get on with the day!
(P.S. No Einstein this week... he's at home in St. John's on my computer and pulling a picture off dial-up seeems like too much work...)
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Things I Learned This Week
Since this is the first Sunday of this blog, I can't really say whether or not this will become a Sunday tradition, but as of right now, those are my intentions. Kind of a mash up between Peter King's 10 Things I Think I Think and your average, run of the mill recap of the comings and goings of my life.
Let us begin...
1. This writing thing isn't a phase or a passing fancy.
Not that I ever thought it was, but many have, did and do still. This week confirmed to me that it wasn't. I hammered out a couple posts for Bugs - one of which got some love from The Big Boys while the other only went up today - engaged in an outstanding discourse over at The Starting Five that started off poorly and has morphed into something meaningful and even put in a little work on the book project that is in the works. The only thing I didn't do was make an attempt at synthesizing the housing data I'm supposed to be dealing with for a friend...
2. We - everyone - often pay attention to the wrong stories
Let's take sports / athletics this week as our basis. While everyone spent their week counting down to today's Super Bowl, some seriously important happenings took place outside of the National and International spotlight. Does Brady v. Manning seem that important up against the story of Genarlow Wilson?
The back story and the events of this week... Read and get back to me.
3. New England is still perfect... and might remain that way
So, what else is there for them to do? They beat their arch rivals, in their own house, while making more mistakes than they seemed to have made all year. The remaining schedule, after next week's bye, offers maybe three challenges at best (Baltimore, Pittsburgh and The Giants). The '72 Dolphins might be getting company.
4. I'm 360 days away from turning 30.
My friend Bucky emailed me on Tuesday, wishing me Happy Birthday and noting that thus far in his 30th year on the planet, it's been mighty rough. His aging body just can't handle the booze like it used to when we were, say, 23 or 25 or even 27. Baring in mind that Bucky always has been, still is and always will be a much better drinker than me, I'm not looking forward to drinking any time soon.
5. My old computer was a real piece of shit
That isn't really a new development since I knew it from the time I acquired it last summer. But stacked up against the new one that Sarah so lovingly bought me last weekend - thank you Baby for the beautiful HP Pavillion Media Center Television Computer - it's like eating Filet Mignon after a healthy diet of Salisbury...
6. I still love a good cartoon
Both Meet the Robinsons and Ratatouille have been in my DVD Player this past week and they were both excellent. The things the folks at Disney Pixar do are amazing. Everything has been a home run. Makes me look forward to Wall E.
7. Speaking of movies...
I saw Gone Baby Gone on Tuesday night and I really enjoyed it. It wasn't the best ever and doesn't contain any Earth shattering performances, but it did make me think with the ending and all. I won't play spoiler and give it away, but it is an interesting question that is raised, one I am still going back and forth over in my head.
8. That goal that Sam Gagner scored in the shootout the other night... GOD DAMN!
Scariest of all is that he is only 18 years old and will only get better. As much as the NHL doesn't command the attention it once did, the future does look bright as some of these kids - Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in Chicago, Gagner and Andrew Cogliano in Edmonton, Phil Kessel, Carey Price - are going to be mighty exciting for the next ten years.
9. I know I don't have a vote, but I'm voting for Barack Obama
If I were an American, this is the man I would want leading my country. This is a man I could respect and admire as My President. Is there any way we can make him a Canadian Citizen and have him as a Prime Minister?
10. My niece - Cutest Halloween Monkey Ever
Click here and tell me she isn't adorable... I dare you!
End of the week shout outs to David Chalk for vouching for me at TSF, my man Francis Dennis Santos for being 4 hours older than me and everyone who has stopped by this week and offered some encouragement.... cheers for that.
P.S. Adrian Peterson is a not human!
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