Posted on September 19, 2013 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

Note to self. DO NOT ever write a story about politics again. Ever. In the story, “Playing in the Mud”, I wrote about voter apathy. Well, my hunch is that once people saw the picture of campaign signs at the top of my story, they immediately went somewhere else on Facebook or chose to do the laundry. Really folks, the story wasn’t that bad but only a small number of people read this one. Oh well, live and learn.

The next story, coming Saturday is about pianos and divorce. Have you ever tried to move a piano? Have you ever tried to move a piano in the throes of a divorce? And just how, pray tell, do you equally divide that asset? Does one spouse get to keep the white keys and the other one , the blacks? This is actually a true story with only the slightest hint of embellishment. It’s called “Playing the Same Tune.”

As many of you know, I’m always ranting on and on about wellness. I speak often of the merits of diet and exercise. While I no longer run marathons, I still keep active mainly by walking. So my good friend, Matt MacDonald, or “Matt the Mover” as I like to call him, convinced me to start wearing a pedometer to count the number of steps I take each day. ( I have been averaging around 12,000 ). Like the calendars I use for 30 day challenges, it is another way to make oneself accountable and conscious of their health. My wife noticed me wearing the device, clipped to my belt. And, wait for this, she told me that researchers in Edinburgh , Scotland have just done research with cattle who were hooked up to pedometers. I am not lying. I mean, everyone  is into fitness by the sounds of it. I haven’t written the story yet but the ideas are swishing around in my head like a cow’s tails. I wonder if unfit cows are put out to pasture?

I have just about decided on the title for the book and you’ll be the first to know. My website is being redesigned and I hope to unveil the title and the cover of the book by the beginning of October. I know you are breathlessly waiting.

We’ve got some really good momentum going with ticket sales for the fundraiser next Thursday the 26th.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Posted on September 12, 2013 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

Have I mentioned the big fundraiser coming up on Sept.26th. at the Schwartz auditorium? Only about 10 times. Two weeks from today is the day and tickets are starting to sell. If you want to make sure you get in, get your tickets early and while you’re at it, invite a few friends to join you. Phil and I are planning on doing a dry run of the program this evening at a senior’s apartment building. Remember…. every penny raised goes to charity. Phil and I have waived our normal exorbitant speaking fee!

Do you like going to yard sales and flea markets? Do you ever buy something that you really don’t need? Do you ever buy more than one of the same items on successive weeks? Do you ever end up selling things you bought at a yard sale at your own yard sale? I have come to the conclusion that you either love yard sales or you don’t. There doesn’t appear to be a grey area on this subject. So, in our house, there is one of us who LOVES yard sales and the other person is me. My better half arrived home recently with more “treasures” and I paused when I saw one particular purchase. I know better by now, not to ask why. It’s like asking “why do you breathe?” I thought it would be much easier for me to explain all of this by writing a story. Coming this Saturday ( yard sale day ) is a brand new story called ” It’s Just a Crock”

Also coming soon is the new story I recently wrote about CJFX radio station and some of the characters who worked behind the microphone in years gone by. It is called “In The Shade of The Chestnut Tree.” You see, the only thing separating our old family home from the radio station was a chestnut tree. Do kids play in chestnut trees or any other trees for that matter, these days? If you are of a certain age, you will remember all of the people in this story.

On a more serious note, someone stopped me the other day and suggested I write a serious piece on people who text and drive. It is a real problem. I’m sure you’ve witnessed this. I think distracted drivers have overtaken drunk drivers as the major threat on our highways and byways.

If there is one of my stories that you think I should read at the fundraiser , let me know. I’ll see if it passes censorship!

Have a great weekend.

Posted on September 5, 2013 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet

Do they teach “shameless self promotion ” at school? If there were such a course then I should be the first instructor as I again draw your attention to our big fundraiser coming up three weeks from today. The word is starting to get out. The combination of posters, ads in the paper and radio spots is building up awareness for the “Phil and Len” show at the magnificent Schwartz auditorium on September 26th. Grab some friends and come out for an evening of storytelling with all proceeds going to charity.

Thankfully my editor has returned from Montreal and she put the finishing touches on the story called ” Of Vice and Men”. Many of you may have not seen the first promo of this story last Saturday while you were busy stuffing your face with cotton candy at the Fall Fair. This is a story about standing in a lineup waiting for someone who is getting their lottery tickets checked. Doesn’t sound like a complicated plot until you factor in the lineup that continues to build as this person painstakingly goes through ticket by ticket in molasses like fashion. Me and lineups. You will see me revisit this topic on more than one occasion.

The other reason you may not have checked in on Saturday ( shame on you ) is that you may have been getting things ready for the first day of school. I read one post on Facebook that had just a hint of sarcasm that alluded to the fact that today was the first of 195 days to prepare something interesting for your child’s lunch. I suspect that a story, or several for that matter, could be written about this subject.

A colleague at work was recounting a story about a friend’s daughter who was heading off to university in Halifax. That, in and of itself, is hardly worthy of a story. It is what she said next that got my undivided attention. Apparently the apartment that she was moving into had not been cleaned. Is there anything more soul destroying than cleaning someone else’s squalor? Well, if you are an experienced parent, then you know that there is a hierarchy of dirt. Cleaning up your own house or apartment is one matter. Doing it for your children after a “summer sublet” ratchets up the disgust level but the ultimate gross out, is cleaning a perfect stranger’s  ( asshole’s…oops, I mean arsehole’s ) dump. I had to pay homage to filth so I wrote a little piece called “Down and Dirty”. Coming soon.

Hopefully you are all settling back in the groove that is September.

Have a great day.