...But is it Worthy of Posting?

It's been a bit of a slack week for me in the posting front. A combination of holiday preparations and the same crappy job have kept me away from the computer. That's not entirely true, I suppose, as I've been reading and commenting on the posts of my online friends.

I noticed a couple of times folks commenting on not really having anything to talk about so they have been reluctant to post at all for fear of boring the shit out of their readers.

I agree that some days it's debatable on whether or not what I post is of interest to anyone at all. In fact, that could probably be said for a lot of my posts. As I began my blog I didn't know what I would be posting about. My primary interest out here in the nether-regions of the Internet is creative writing. You will notice that I said writing, not publishing. I am in the infancy of my writing experience and have used this forum to meet some amazing people who ooze talent from...well, you get the picture (a lot of those folks are horror writers).

As I've noted before, if this blog doesn't pass on much information in the way of my writing progress (the output of which is very small, which would lead to a boring and unpopulated blog) it should at least educate people and perhaps give an image of this amazing island that I live on. I hope that this blog is entertaining. At least once in a while. I view this blog as a forum to keep me writing in some format. All writing is good writing. Correct?

Enough of that introspection. I've only had one coffee this morning and my brain hurts...

And now, for the awards portion of the show...



I was happy and annoyed amazed to receive this fine award from Jarmara Falconer from over at A Mission Impossible for the Nightwriter. I have admired Jarmara's continual pursuit for improvement in her craft while conveying a bit of personal information on her blog. She has followed my blog for a few months and I always appreciate her honesty and kind words. Please visit her blog if you get the chance.

The rules that follow this fine award are as follows:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you.

4. Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself and at least one outrageous truth.

5. Nominate 7 3 creative writers who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.

6. Post links to the 7 3 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

You will notice that I took a bit of creative licence and changed the number of folks nominated from 7 down to 3. This is to make this award feel less pyramid scheme-ish and chain mail-ish (are they real words?) and generally less viral.

I would like to nominate:

• Danielle Ferries at From the Attic because she seems very sweet and honest, and I'd like to force her to fib a bit.
• Laurita Miller from Brain Droppings because I'm sure that her lies would turn to the macabre and horrific...
• the incomparable Anton Gully from The Black Dogs Reading Room and Flash B*stard because Laura Eno has the Flaming Sword of Death held to my throat and Karen Schindler is ready to clobber me with a brick if I don't. I have a feeling that Mr. Gully's lies could be very bizarre and amusing (I'm sure that the censors will be on standby as well).

Congratulations to you all. I hope that you're up to the challenge. Please see my one truth and six bald faced lies below...

1. While working as an Animal Control Officer in London, Ontario I served a court summons to the mayor of the city.
2. I once caught a 50lb. salmon while fishing in Saanich Inlet, near Victoria, B.C.
3. I once officiated at a funeral for a West Highland terrier called 'Wee Willie'
4. I was the star of the cheer leading squad in high school, but the girls kicked me off the team because of the short skirt and the fact that I refused to shave off my beard.
5. We buried a hairless Skinny Pig in our back yard with a toy and some loose change.
6. I am interested in genealogy and researched our family tree to find that I am distantly related to the Scottish hero/villain Rob Roy MacGregor.
7. When I was 9 years old I fell 20 feet from the maple tree in our back yard and broke 9 bones in my body.

Any takers on which one is true?

Better Late Than Never

Greetings and Happy New Year to you all!

I never imagined that it would take 11 days into the year before I got my act together enough to post. I will attribute this to a number of things...

We only just had snow again Saturday after 2 weeks of nothing. I think that this has me confused (more so than usual for a guy my age) regarding weather matters. We were at +3 Celsius a few days ago. Someone told me that it was the same temperature as Tampa, Florida on that day. I hear that they have had freezing weather this past week, so I will bank on switching from OJ to something like cranberry or prune juice in the near future.

I think, also, that I have been in a bit of a funk since Canada lost to the USA in the World Junior Hockey Championship in Saskatchewan last week. We had won so many in a row that I think everyone takes it for granted that we have hockey supremacy. The US showed a lot of grit and snatched the cup away. Remember, though, that you have football (as in toss the pigskin, not soccer) and basketball and baseball...hockey is our game!

I had also made a bit of a promise after my last posting (my 100th) that I wouldn't post again until I had made progress on a short story that has been swirling about in my brain the past few weeks, since Remembrance Day. I have a lot of work to do on it still, but I at least have made enough progress to report on it and convince me that I still have a blog about writing and not just 'schtuff about that guy up in Canada in that Newfoundland place.'

I would also like to thank Jarmara Falconer over at A Mission Impossible for the Nightwriter for bestowing upon me the One Lovely Blog Award. Those of you who have followed my blog for the past few months will recall that I am a two-time victim winner of this fine award. I was beginning to feel under appreciated as it has been several months since receiving an online award and am happy to accept it. I have been following Jarmara's blog for several months and consider her an emerging writer who is working hard at educating herself, and others, in the craft. She is a fine representative of things Gothic, dark and mysterious and if you haven't dropped into her blog, I encourage you to do so.

I am supposed to pass this on to 15 other blogging friends. I am thinking, though, that most of you who read my blog have also been presented The Lovely Pink Teacup Award within the past few months. If you haven't and are reading my blog (yes, you!) then you are displaying impeccable taste and are therefore more than worthy of this fine award. You are a winner in my books!