10 Things I Learned This Week

1. I'm Good at What I Do
For the last couple months, I've heard a lot of whining at work about not making any money and tips being horrible. In fact, I heard it through most of the winter too. Funny, I seem to make pretty decent cash every time I put on the apron and offer up food and drink. Then again, I'm also visible to my tables and willing to treat them like human beings, as opposed to inconvenient sacks of flesh that force me to earn my wages.

2. Misguided Attention
Somehow, I've spent a lot of time flicking through the channels this week and one thing I've really come to realize is that our media spends an awful lot of time talking about complete and utter bullshit. Headline News dedicates at least 12 hours a day to scandals and murder trials, analyzing it from every possible angle, while TLC is no longer about Learning whatsoever. It's about "Reality" or the fake version of it that works on television. No wonder I've spent so much time on the computer this week - there is nothing good to watch.



3. The Dog's Name is Chase
Yesterday's reports of rescuing a dog named Jake were incorrect; it turns out his name is Chase. That's the only part of the story that wasn't on point though, as talking with the woman yesterday revealed that she was "certain I closed that back door" before heading off to work. Wanna know how to be sure? Lock the damn thing. Easy.

4. Three Wins Away from Fulfilling My Prophecy
After a win in Game 1 yesterday, my Detroit Red Wings are three wins away from once again hoisting the Stanley Cup. Accept it now people: this is going to happen. What they will also do is fulfill my prediction from a few years back that the Wings would win two Cups before the Leafs won one. I didn't say it was rocket science or anything, but I thought it would take longer than three years to prove me right.

5. Pessimists Suck
Understand that I am an insane optimist - things are always going to work out even when there isn't an apparent solution, good things are going to happen and all that jazz. That being said, it still amazes me how negative some people can be about their work and their passions. I know writing is a tough road to travel, but telling that in excruciating detail is not necessary. Thanks for raining on my parade. Luckily, I carry an umbrella, just in case.

6. Somebody Has to be that One in a Million
I know I'm an optimist and making it in this business is a long shot, but doesn't someone have to be that one in a million? Three months ago, no one knew who Susan Boyle was. Now, she has a record deal and is known around the world. The Shack started as a personal project with 20 printed copies for friends and family. Now it's sold more than 2 million copies. You can't win if you don't buy a ticket and just because you don't want to buy tickets anymore doesn't mean I shouldn't start.

7. The Deer Aren't So Bad
Since moving here, people have warned us that the deer are nuts and will actually charge at you instead of running away from you like most woodland creatures will do. On numerous occasions this week, those people have been proven wrong. The pug and I run into at least two deer a day on our walks and by keeping calm and walking slowly, the deer bound down the hill in the opposite direction without any fuss.

8. The Shameless Self-Promotion Tour is Working
Readership is up everywhere. The fan base is growing daily and all the hours I put in networking away on Facebook and Twitter and everywhere else have paid off with my first official MMA interview with light heavyweight prospect Cody "Donnybrook" Donovan.

9. Tiananmen Square Was 20 Years Ago
You know how there are those pictures that will always be burned in your memory? The Tank Man from China's Tiananmen Square Protests in 1989 is one of those images for me. How was that possibly 20 years ago already? Where has the time gone?

10. Patiently Waiting, Though the Patience is Waning
If we're doing this, let's do this, but if we can't, just tell me so that I can find someone who can. Big things are coming and I want to be ready.

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I Live in the State of Flux

It's seems like nothing is settled in my life.

The wedding plans are almost sorted, but not quite. Work is generally good, but the odd day is really craptacular. Website redesigns are screwing up my daily routines. Company is coming on Friday to further screw up my flow.

See - I live in a State of Flux right now and I hate it.

I need regularity.

I crave consistency, routines, schedules, plans.

This idea of things changing regularly being good for you is a lie; things changed a whole bunch of times for me from the time I was born until I turned 27 and it ultimately sucked.

Sure, there were positives and I met new people and saw new places etc. etc. etc. but I could have just as easily stayed where I was, kept the friends I had and things would have been fine.

It wasn't until I stopped flying by the seat of my pants and started to actually take stock of things and figure out where I wanted to end up that my life started going the way I wanted it to.

Now, I have the pieces all laid out before me, but I can't get them all in place just yet.

Too many balls in the air. Too many daily changes and adjustments.

One of these days though, it'll all fall into place...

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Soundtrack of My Life

Song: A Change Gonna Come
Artist: Sam Cooke
Album: Single (1964)

Sometimes you just need a reminder that the struggle is worth it; that eventually all the work that you put in on a daily basis is going to pay off. The unreturned phone calls and doors you knock on will eventually get answered and the opportunity you crave to prove yourself will happen.

Soulful and smooth, Sam Cooke gives me that reminder with this song, released after his death in late 1964.

Change is inevitable. Sometimes we just have to wait a little longer than we like.

Thanks for the reminder Sam.

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2 AM and I'm Wide Awake

If we're being 100% accurate, it's 2:05.

I've been sitting here at this computer for the better part of the last hour and a half, after having laid in bed for an hour without so much as closing my eyes.

I watched a webisode of MMA Live @ ESPN.com, played a little simulated Blue Jays Baseball and checked the usuals about three times each before deciding that an early morning iBlog post was in order.

Life has me awake at 2 AM on a Monday morning, one where I will be up at 5:30 with Sarah and out the door an hour later with Luke in tow.

Right now, all I can do with my life is sit and wait. Those of you who frequent the site know all about my inability to grasp the virtue of patience.

I'm dying to see the Bugs & Cranks stats for June, knowing that my SI linkage for The Thieving Bastards along with some solid numbers from various other pieces has me in a good position to make some coin for the first time in a long time. But those numbers are still a couple days away.

Those two jobs I mentioned in 10 Things are running through my head, as each is an opportunity to make something more of the situation I am currently in. Unfortunately, I can't force people to return my emails or let me know where I stand in the hiring process.

Ideas and stories and projects rattle around in my brain until they reach the "How do I get it out there?" stage where the answer is always "I don't know."

My eyes are wide open and my mind is racing.

Today is going to be a long day...

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How Hard Is It?

Welcome to something new we're going to try here from time to time.

No, I'm not replacing Soundtrack of My Life. In fact, today's choice cut will be coming to you a little later, so don't fret.

How Hard Is It? will be a new, randomly occurring rant from Yours Truly whenever someone neglects to do something that is fairly routine.


Today's example: Returning Messages

I'm in the process of coordinating an interview for a new freelance job that I'm hoping to make a regular pay cheque.

The interviewee just happens to be a life-long friend, so getting him on board initially was easy. Getting a time and date to complete the interview, on the other hand, has been like pulling teeth.

Why? Because he won't return my messages.

How Hard Is It?

We're all super busy and it doesn't have to be right away or anything, but there is no way that in the last four days he hasn't checked his email or the messages on each of his phones. Yes, I've left messages at all three places... the piece is due on the 25th...

Here is how the process works:
Someone leaves you a message, you get back to them. Simple.

Even if it's a "I don't have time" or a "I need to cancel," get back to me so I know what the hell is going on, instead of sitting here impatiently waiting by the phones (yes, plural) for a call so I can then drive an hour and half to get this done on my one day off this weekend...

I understand that I'm being a bit of a brat with this one, because it is a friend who is doing me a favour by agreeing to the interview in the first place, but still. He gets the free publicity from an interview that will be easy as pie (umm... pie...) and I get a place in another magazine. Everybody wins.

At least, everybody could win if someone would just pick up the damn phone already!

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Missing Virtue & A Future Tattoo

D'you see that symbol?

The one on the right.

Yeah, that one.

It's the Chinese symbol for Patience.

I need to print a giant poster-sized version of it and hang it in my makeshift office here in the house. Or maybe I should tattoo it on my left wrist. The one on my right seems to be working out so far*...

There is no question in my mind that I am, by far, the most impatient person I know.

I want instant reactions, instant acceptance and instant gratification.

None of this wait two weeks, let me think about it and you'll thank yourself later bullshit.

I'd much rather thank myself right now or not thank myself at all thank you very much.

Problem is I have no control on the world.

Being a writer - and one just on the cusp of some success - makes the patience problem even more pronounced because no one ever gets back to you right away, about anything.

Story pitches sit in email Inboxes for days on end, as do assignments submitted in advance of deadlines. People must think keeners have busy lives and responding to their early submissions can wait because they're busy doing something else long before it's due...

WRONG!

We're sitting here wondering why in the hell it's taken you so long to get back to us with some feedback, seeing as we got you what you were looking for a week before you had asked us to.

Job applications don't even get looked at until after the competition closes and that's usually at least a week away.

And don't even get me started on Passion Magazine, who have once again taken the summer off to drive me totally insane by refusing to return emails and keep me abreast of where things stand editorially.

Patience is one virtue I certainly don't have. Good thing I doubled up on humility...
________________

* tune in tomorrow for the full story. See how I'm doing that? Keeping y'all who don't know coming back for more... Tricky huh?

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And Now We Wait...

Yesterday afternoon, Sarah and I went to meet our potential new dog.

Yes, that's him. Isn't he cute?

After meeting him, two things were certain:

1. Our original name idea - Pickle - doesn't suit him. He's a Dog Faced Gremlin and so, his new name will be Gizmo.


2. We really, really, really love this dog!

The uncertain thing is whether we're actually going to get this dog.
Yesterday, when we met the dog, we also met the family, obviously.

The dog actually belongs to the most mature 9-year-old girl I have ever met, although her apparent lack of exercising the dog is the reason he could become a Kyte.

At least, that's the reason we were given.

After spending thirty minutes with the family - except for the father / husband - Sarah and I came to a couple revelations:

• Dad hates this dog. He has a Lab and this little dog is the furthest thing from a Lab.


• It's entirely possible that we're serving as a wake up call to this poor 9 year old who is being expected to provide solo care for this dog.

I don't care how mature your kids are - who gets their 7-year-old a dog and then expects her to be the only one who takes care of it? She's a kid for chrissakes!

It probably doesn't help that the family of five also has a big Lab, two ferrets, a guinea pig, some fish, a couple sharks and a camel in the backyard...

Mix in a 14-year-old son, 9-year-old daughter and a one-year-old who we were shockingly told was a surprise - I'm not lying! - and you can see how the townhouse might be a little crowded.

Oh yeah, the fact that our potential future dog can also tackle the little girl - which he did at one point yesterday - might work in our favour too.

We sent an email thanking them for the visit and got one back earlier today asking for a little patience while they talk things over.

So now, we wait, fingers crossed, dog treats at the ready.

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Worth The Wait

A week has passed since the rest of Canada could scoop up Passion Magazine which means it has finally landed on the shores of dear, old Newfoundland. As you would expect, hitting Chapters was the lone objective of the day.

Thirty minutes after I dragged my lazy hindquarters out of bed, I was standing in Chapters, sucking back a Venti Cinnamon Dolce Latte, leafing through the January / February 2008 Issue of Passion Magazine.

I gotta say - it was worth the wait.

My piece is one of the five mentioned on the cover, adjacent to Natasha Bedingfield's hair-covered forehead and the Sarah Cole Studios photo me inside looks pretty solid, considering I was sporting a pair of basketball shorts on the lower half and the black backdrop is actually a blanket on our futon affectionately known as "The Stinky"...

Piece looks great - like the layout of the "Ready for a Rebound" section and the pictures Chris & Hammer secured are perfect.

Even more surprising is that I already one piece for the next ish written and ready for review - a profile on my man Jeff Woodrow and his incredible business venture The Joy T-Shirt Project. Check it out now and read about it in two months time...

Coincidentally, I put in my notice at The Block on The Rock yesterday, as I'll be heading into London a little early to set up shop and get established and am looking to this latest article as a jump-off point for turning my writing from a hobby that makes a little change on the side to the full-time job that makes a little change on the side.

Irons are in the fire and you're all in the loop. When something happens, you'll know about it.

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