This Was My Week That Was

Since we moved to St Catharines from Toronto in December, life has been pretty chaotic on the home renovation front.

But this week we caught a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel. Our guy Andrew is here today putting the finishing touches on the basement family room area AKA the MurCave and it’s magnificent
I have started to range much further on my bike rides and have actually gone all the way downtown twice this week.

The Visit

Some old and new friends (John Wild, Phil Dunk and Derek Meehan came to visit from Toronto and we had a great time at lunch. John and I have known each other since high school. He’s a great photographer and all pro DYI handyman and was really interested in all the details of our reno.
Phil used to own a large photo finishing and digital studio shop in Toronto called Photomethods. He was also a client. He’s retired now and an avid sailor. So he really wanted to see how high the water levels were in Port Dalhousie. They were high but not tragic.
Derek is a designer who has bought a house here about 6 blocks from my house. He’s going to rent it for a couple of years then he and his wife are going to mover here. He’s a bike rider like me. But he’s also someone I can work with creatively going forward.

Bullet Proof

Charlene Norman and I have picked up a couple of good leads for business already, and the ink is not even dry on our presentation. I have a really good feeling about our partnership. She’s such a firecracker, and we get along like a house afire. She trusts me and I trust her and that’s the only way these things work. (Business advice 101)
On Tuesday we went to a Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce event and trade show. Good bunch of people there. But we really have to figure out how to access the larger businesses, which is where we really want to be.

Cease Fire In My War With The Media

I have imposed another moratorium on network news, especially CNN, because as of my last viewing I have decided these people are all agenda-addicted pinheads, just like the people in the White House.
America will be fine as long as the non-idiots keep on carrying all the weight and have a ‘Fuck Washington” attitude.
This is my post Comey rant on Facebook:
"So the former Director of the FBI who is fired because he won't look the other way on an investigation into Russian Interference with the US election, sits down and testifies to all that. And then the jackals on CNN all sit around and argue about what he said. They argue till everything is chewed up into a fine mush and projectile vomited into the next dimension and nobody watching has any clue what is actually going on.
The world that the 24 hour news media has created is this psychotic president's best friend.
However having said that, the FBI, who like the mounties, always get their man, and are dialing up the relentlessness of their pursuit of the Drumph. They know what a slimeball he is.
Sooner or later they will get him. Because you can't do that much stupid stuff and not get nailed to the cross eventually.
What I don't understand is all these people who think they picked a winner in the last election, and who still think that despite the fact that he has actually done nothing except turn the world against America. And he has done that very well."

The Pool

The pool is almost ready to go. My sister is coming over to help Heather vacuum the rest of the stuff lying on the bottom and then, hopefully, we can heat it up and go.
Heather very much appears to have embraced the zen quality of pool surface skimming.

The Quest For O’Malley

I got a step closer to my search for Terry O’Malley, the first big agency Creative Director I ever worked for. He lives here and is a big deal here as well. Some guys are just big deal oriented. I will find him. This town’s not that big.

Dylan

I finished my second reading of Bob Dylan’s autobiography (12 years old now) and have to tell you, it’s one of the best pieces of non fiction I have ever read. I also watched his rambling Nobel Price Speech and that was amazing too. He really is my only hero and for very good reasons.

The June Poetry Challenge

My daughter Star, has challenged me to a poetry duel. The idea is to write a new poem every day for the month of June. She is using it as therapy of sorts as she has a bi-polar affliction than writing the poems forces her to think hard for longish periods of time.
I took her up on her offer to both help her and see if I could actually pull it off. We’re 7 days in and so far, so good. Here are is my favourite and the one I like best of hers. She is quite talented and we’re prating she finds the right combination of therapies to get here back to normal.

Star’s Poem

NO TOMORROW
(So I've Cancelled Today)

As far as I can tell

there is no tomorrow,

so I've decided

to cancel today.

I'd like to thank the sun

for showing up,

making a real effort

to pierce the overcast sky.

I can tell you really tried,

but you must be exhausted

from fusing endlessly at such

a great distance--

it's okay to retire,

to take a break.

Today is cancelled,

it's time to go home.

Thank you as well

to the birds on my window sill,

your intentions to wake me

were admirable--

your assorted calls melodious,

enchanting even.

But since I cancelled today

I didn't think I needed to listen

and I stayed asleep anyway.

Thank you to the little girl,

who had a temper tantrum

on the sidewalk in front of my house.

Your emotional outburst

was inspiring,

we should all be so lucky

as to care that much about

a future (full of ice cream)

that doesn't even exist.

You are still young enough to believe

that we can have more,

than this present moment

we are chained to.

You must be disappointed now,

don't worry though--

it's okay to leave this day behind

and forget all about it.

A big thank you

to the wind,

blowing through the trees,

out my window

and rattling the leaves

so they whisper my name.

I hear you calling me out

from under this blanket

I have been hiding under.

I appreciate your concern,

but someone forgot to tell you--

today is cancelled,

and your blustery services

are no longer needed.

I have seen the future,

and tomorrow never comes,

it's only an endless series of todays.

And with so many todays,

piling up ahead of us,

the weight of the present

sometimes feels

like it's more than I can bear.

So this today I opted out:

From the sun,

the birds,

the tantrums,

the wind.

Maybe now we can all get

a little sleep,

knowing today is off the table

and tomorrow is nothing more

than another chance at today.

My Poem

I WRITE

I write to let the demons deep inside me out to play

I write just like the dog who demands to have his day

I write until I feel my aging wounds being to heal

I write until my hands become unstuck from the driving wheel

I write when the sun does set & all the world has gone to bed

I write to clarify the crazy notions in my head

I write to make myself feel something, anything at all

I write to answer all the ghosts that nightly come to call

I write to build my words into a house of brick and stone

I write to keep myself from feeling lost and all alone

I write because I always have and likely always will

I write because I have no choice…it is my only skill

There was a lot more but those are the highlights. It was, by my standards at least, a very good week. Hope yours was the same. Now I've got some lawn to mow.

If your business has reached the point where talking to an experienced  communication professional would be the preferred option to banging your head against the wall or whatever, lets talk.

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