Posted on February 6, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

False advertising with the cover picture? Perhaps, but better than a picture of the most recent snowfall.

Let’s start with the Senior’s Café held yesterday at People’s Place library. Despite the gloomy weather forecast, more than 40 brave  souls showed up to listen to Phil and I go on about romance, wine and snow blowers. The organizers said it was the biggest turnout they’ve had to date. Must have been that ad I posted on Facebook offering free booze. We had a thoroughly delightful time. The audience enjoyed tea, coffee and sweets while we did our thing. If you are a senior, you might want to check this out some time. The library is an amazing place. They have lots of interesting things going on there all the time.

My apologies to my loyal readers who showed up at the Senior’s Café to listen to three of my stories that they had already heard. I will make a mental note to add “fresh road kill” the next time I do a public performance. However, having said this, when I went to hear Paul McCartney the first time, I wanted to hear him sing “Hey Jude.”

I took a trip to Truro yesterday to see a doctor at a pain clinic. What a great guy. We talked about MRI’s and his bad experience having one. I told him I wrote a story about my experience. It’s called “Brain Wave” . It’s on page 89 of my book.

At the social media class I’m taking, the instructor starts every class with a trivia game. I must admit that I suck at trivia. I am not a movie buff and my knowledge of history and science is appalling. After our trivia game, I happened to mention in passing that I was a participant in Reach For The Top back around 1969-70. Those of a certain age will remember this show which pitted school against school in a trivia type game. The other three people on our team were brilliant. One of them went on to become a world renowned physicist. Three out of four ain’t bad. I was added to the team for my knowledge of sports and music. I won’t spoil the story. But it’s title should give you a clue. It’s called “Reach For The Bottom” and will be coming soon at Week45.

Admit it. At some point in your life, you lived in a dive, most likely as a student or when you got heaved out of the house by your parents and told to “go find yourself.” I was thinking about the place that I lived in Victoria, B.C. back in the ’70’s. We affectionately called it “The Bongo Pad” and I will be writing a story about this experience soon. You can simply change the names and locations and make it your story.

I have a number of other stories in the cue so stay tuned.

Here’s a great quote from one of the articles I read for my social media course. I think you can apply it to just about anything…unless you are retired, lying on a beach somewhere. It’s about taking yourself out of your normal comfort zone.

” You have to go where you don’t feel comfortable and embrace the discomfort and learn new ways of thinking. And there is nothing comfortable about that.” Steve Buttry.

Have a great weekend.

Posted on January 30, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

Shameless self promotion….round 2! If you’re at lose ends next week ( Wednesday, Feb.5th. @ 2:00.m. ), come on down to the People’s Place library for an hour of storytelling and light refreshment. I’ve often wondered what heavy refreshments would look like! Phil and I will be bantering back and forth talking about the process of writing, reading a few pieces and chatting it up with the audience. We would love to have you come… if you can get yourself dug out.

I still have a backlog of stories waiting to be unleashed. “Band on the Run” takes the reader back to Antigonish in the late ’60’s and chronicles the comings and goings of two local bands: The Strangers and The Escorts. “Len’s Law” deals with the quirky nature of life. You just know that when you’ve finally broken your back shovelling snow and decide to order a snow blower, that it won’t snow the rest of the winter, and possibly the next two. ” No Sign of Stew” came about from an encounter last weekend when I was in Halifax visiting our granddaughter. I went to visit friends in Cole Harbour. Sid wasn’t home so I went to see other friends! I hadn’t been there in over 10 years and finding the house ( without GPS ) proved to be more than I bargained for. A street sign would have helped.

My “Casket” story next week which will also appear on my website ( Wed. 5th. ) is a Valentine’s Day special. And what’s better than one V.D. special ( may want to change that acronym! ) ? Gosh but you guys are brilliant.  Two stories on the same topic. Yes, the week after my story, my partner in crime, Phil will be tackling the same subject, albeit from a very different angle. My story is titled ” The Heart of the Matter.” You will all remember the reference in the first paragraph of the story. When I say “cut out Valentines cards” … you know, the ones you cut, folded and gave to everyone in the class in elementary  school, you know what I’m talking about, right?

Do you ever look at the ads on Facebook? Neither do I. But if you are female, between the ages of 45-65 and live in Nova Scotia, would you humour me and see if you can spot a Week45 ad? I’m conducting an experiment as part of a class I’m taking on social media. Just message me if you see it on your feed. Thanks.

Believe it or not, I still have copies of my book for sale despite my presence on the N.Y. Times best seller list ( North Yarmouth ). Wouldn’t the gift of laughter be a swell Valentines Day gift? And only $15. I will autograph the book and even write “sweet nothings” if you so desire. Available at 5 to $1.00, Brendan’s, Brosha’s Short Stoppe and the Plum Tree… and of course from me.

Posted on January 23, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

Don’t be fooled for one minute. We are definitely not down south. I had to put a picture with today’s post so rather than “after the storm” pictures, I thought an “after the vacation” picture was every bit as good. Don’t you agree?

Those of you not from the area, bear with me as I pass along this piece of information. Those of you who grew up in Antigonish in the 1960’s and 1970’s will remember a wonderful member of the Town’s police force: Joe “Judique” MacDonald. Joe was a wonderful and decent man and I did a tribute to him which appears in this week’s Casket newspaper. It’s called “No Ordinary Joe.” Please support our local newspaper and pick up a copy or go to their website.

As some of you know, I also write for The Fairview Post, in Fairview  Alberta. The editor of the paper was in touch with me this week and specifically asked if I would prepare a piece for Valentine’s Day. As they say, ” be careful what you wish for.” While home yesterday afternoon riding out the storm, I took a crack at the first draft. This one will undergo a serious edit, similar to the story on menopause, methinks. It’s hard to put me and romance in the same sentence without evoking snickers. The story starts with cut out Valentines cards in elementary school and ends up at the present day. Tell me women, are you treated like royalty on Valentines Day by the special person in your life? The story is called “The Heart of the Matter” and will be appearing sometime around Valentines Day.

I have a slightly longer piece coming this Saturday. It’s about tobacco, particularly chewing tobacco. I got chatting with this lady from Guysborough a few weeks ago and somehow we got on this topic. Have you ever tried chewing tobacco? Have you ever swallowed the juice? Wasn’t that fun? So curl up with a coffee at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday and check out ” The Spitting Image.”

A few of you have come forward expressing an interest in helping out with the hot meal program at the St. James United Church. I am meeting with their people next week and will have an update for you shortly.

Don’t let the weather beat you down. From ” the 10 habits of optimists” … “be a positive forward thinker”

 My “gratitude jar” for the month of January is filling up. Something as simple as a good meal is one thing  to be thankful for.

Have a great day and a great weekend.