A time for reflection

Why do people blog? Why do they think what they write is something that others will want to read about? I've tried blogging several times over the years and after a week or so it goes the way of the dodo. I don't know if it's because I feel my life isn't interesting enough for people to be excited about or if it's just because I'm lazy.

Actually, I do know. I'm lazy.

I know a lot of people ignore the posts I make on facebook using services like Miso, Gowalla and Instagram, but I really love using them. It's an easy way to document the day to day things I do, the shows I watch and the places I go. Every now and then I'll go back over my posts and remember the things I've done. I like that. A blog like this takes a lot more effort.

So I turn 40 this week. It's a point in my life where I'm supposed to be successful and have everything everyone wants in life. So I'm not there yet. I'm working at an entry level job that I'm pretty happy to have at this point. Things are starting to turn around so I am optimistic about the future. I'm a bit disappointed that the travel plans I had made for this birthday had to fall through, but I'm sure it means bigger and better things later.

The past year and a half since I have written a blog post have been interesting. Being unemployed was not great, but there were many experiences that made up for it. Getting to be better friends with the gang at Blue Beetle comics was surely a highlight. The shows I did at South Simcoe Theatre was another. The chance to play a lead in a musical was great, and the experience of The Drowsy Chaperone was more than I expected. Ending the theatre season with the play readings of Four Play was a great challenge for me and I'm excited to try that again next season.

One thing I never would have done if it hadn't been for unemployment was indulge a secret dream and play Santa Claus at a mall. It really is an honour to bring smiles to children at the holidays. Getting the chance to bring smiles to the faces of my friends at Walt Disney World this past December was the icing on the cake.

Speaking of those people, I feel so lucky that through this medium of the internet I have been able to make such great friends. I never dreamed back in the summer of 1999 that a simple question on a message board would lead to decades long friendships.

So, what is the point of this blog post? I don't know! I just wanted to get down how I'm feeling right now. I feel blessed to have such great friends who support me, a family that loves me and a life that I'm enjoying. I guess I can't ask for much more than that.

The minutia:

Podcasts: many including Pop Culture Happy Hour, This Week in Travel and Coaster Radio

Restaurant: Pie with on of my oldest friends Rob Wrigley (let's not go years before seeing each other again)

Comics: The Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Classic (which I read at Chapters without buying it)

Maybe not so daily...

So I called this blog "Daily Doings". I guess I was being a little bit over eager. It's only been 10 days since I updated last...so what's been going on?

Not too much.

I've done a little more caching, over in the Craighurst area. I've read some great comics. I've watched some good TV. I decided to get back into the theatre world, and volunteered my services as stage manager to the KCP production of Rumors.

Tuesday I drove over to Collingwood and spent the evening with my friend Mary. We planned to see the early showing of Sherlock Holmes, but by the time we got to the cinema, the show was sold out. So we went to the Spotted Gecko for Thai food. It was really good.

The movie was more fun than I expected. Robert Downey is fantastic as Holmes. I guess my only exposure to the character to the character was scenes from old movies, and Downey was nothing like that. His Holmes is brilliant, arrogant, messy and tough. Jude Law's Watson is a moan of action, the kind of guy you want beside you in a fight. The film totally sets itself up for a sequel, and I will be in line buying a ticket when that happens.

So, that's it in a nutshell. Nothing exciting, just life going on as usual.

Movie: Sherlock Holmes

TV: Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Republic of Doyle, Modern Family

Book: Oishinbo

Not much goin' on

But I did get out of the house yesterday. I decided that since the temp was a balmy -4 C it would be a good day to get out and do some geocaching. Now seeing as it is winter, I don't fancy a several mile trek through the wilderness, so I filtered my caching database to only find caches of difficulty and terrain ratings of 2 or less. I also add waymarking into my winter caching, which is kind of like virtual caching but broken down into hundreds of categories. Many of the categories are, in my opinion, stupid like McDonalds or KFCs. Each category you make a find in gives you an icon on your personal chart. What I like to do is, in the categories I don't like, make one find and then ignore the entire category. That way I get the icon, and then eventually my searches will only come up with waymarks that I want to find like historical markers, roadside attractions or museums.

First Waymark Location: St. Thomas Church, Shanty Bay

Categories: This Old Church, Ontario Historic Plaques & Stained Glass

The one geocache I did find was a short hike to Little Lake from a North Barrie suburb. Thanks to a recent snowmobiler, the trail was hard packed almost to the cache location. The find was quick and I was back to the car quickly.

Spent the evening in front of the boob tube. I hadn't watched the Simpsons in years, but seeing as this was the 20th Anniversary 450th episode, I thought I'd watch. The episode was average, eliciting a few chuckles, but I really enjoyed the documentary special that was on right after. It was interesting seeing how the show is received around the world.

Highlight of the night was the return of Chuck. I love that show and the start of the third season didn't disappoint. The direction has changed a little, but the humour, the action and the characters will keep me coming back.

Geocache: Bush Golf GC1Z17F

TV: The Simpsons, The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3D on Ice, Chuck

Another couple of days go by, and I've got no place to go.

I miss having a busy life. The last few years I was always involved in shows so I was always out in the evenings. I have taken a self imposed break from theater and now I'm finding I really miss it. Watching tv or surfing the net is fun for a while, but I need to get out of the house every now and then or I'll go crazy. Hopefully the temps will warm up.

Game: Rock Band 2, 1 vs 100

TV: Top Chef Masters, Republic of Doyle

Behind already

I had promised myself that I would update this blog nightly, even if there was nothing much to talk about. Of course after only 4 entries, I break that promise. In my defense, not much has happened in the last few days. Tuesday and Wednesday I didn't even leave the house. "Too cold" I said to myself. I spent my time surfing the net, reading comics and purging my PVR of shows I'm never going to watch.

So I had to get out today. Thanks Pete for letting me hang out at the store all day today. Ended the day at East Side Marios with the guys for the usual Thursday night get together. All is right with the world.

Book: Secret Warriors: Nick Fury Agent of Nothing

TV: Modern Family (FUNNY!)

Movie: The Santa Clause 3 (It was on my PVR and it was one of the few things I watched before the purge)

Dinner With the Burnses

It's always great to spend time with good friends. Ever since I last saw Polly and Bob, she was insistent that I needed to come to her home for dinner. After a couple of missed opportunities, tonight was the night. Once I arrived, the ulterior motive came to fruition. Polly really wanted to know about Facebook, and how to get in touch with all the friends I've introduced her to through the annual December Disney World trips.

So, the student becomes the teacher and I walked her through how to upload photos, and how to use IRC to chat with the gang of us that meet regularly on Wednesday and Sunday nights. We got photos off an XD card thanks to a slot on her printer/scanner, and every photo led to great stories.

The meal was nothing special, but the company, the conversation and the memories were wonderful.

Gift Fight!

Alison and Graham show off their gift fight winnings

Today was the last of the big holiday get-togethers. What started as our book club's Christmas party has long outlasted the book club itself. We tried to figure out how long we have been having the annual gift fight, and came to the conclusion that it had been at least 10 years.

It was good to see everyone who was there. 2009 was such a busy year that there were many people I hadn't seen since last year's gift fight. Moe and Pam's new place on Lake St. John is beautiful, can't wait to see what it looks like when the lake isn't frozen.

The highlight was the gift fight itself. Many gifts were highly sought after. This created great drama and it may go down as one of the best in the long history of the gift fight. In the end I took home a Glee CD and some flash drives. My gift, a copy of Jeff Lemire's Essex County Trilogy was desired by several people and it is always heartening to see it passed from person to person knowing that they all wanted to take it home. Of course the Stimulator made its annual appearance. It is looking quite bronzed these days. I think this year it went home with Graham.

I hope that in 2010 I get to see these friends more often. They are all great people and we have good times when we are together. Hopefully we can do this kind of thing again before 2011.

TV: an episode from series 3 of QI which I had recorded quite a while back