On the occasional need to whinge

I like to think of myself as a glass half full kind of person.  Stuff happens, but it’s your reaction to the things that happen to you that’s important.  The first quarter of 2012 was very tough for me.  In early January, my father passed away.  That was tougher than I thought it would be. …

Another curtain closes for the final time

I just came back from the cast party for the children’s show I was in (Babe the Sheep-Pig).  And I’m going through that bittersweet feeling of being happy that the show is over because I get some of my free time back, but also being sad that it’s over because I don’t get to spend…

To Enter or Not to Enter a Contest

Recently, my youngest daughter was at a singing competition where she was adjudicated with five other girls.  As I listened to them perform, I ranked them according to what I thought were strengths and weaknesses.  When they were all done, I thought my daughter could have come in first, second or third; depending on what…

What’s in Your Bucket, Part 2

I realized that I mentioned working on a bucket list and even mentioned some items on it, but I didn’t provide my list.  Of course, I was still working on it when I wrote the first post, but I now have 100 things, so I figured that I would post it below.  I did include…

He (or She) Who Hesitates is Lost

For the last few weeks, I’ve been scrambling to finish a draft of my current play to submit to the RBC Tarragon playwriting contest.  First prize is $3000 and a year’s worth of dramaturgical feedback from Tarragon’s Literary Manager.  It’s the second part of the prize that really excites me.  Even if I don’t win,…

What’s in Your Bucket?

When I turned forty, I realized that I needed to get started on some of those things that I was going to do “one of these days”.  Middle age was officially about to start and I hadn’t really made much of a concerted effort to get things done.  The thing I picked?  Run a marathon.…

How to be Great

I’ve been meaning to review the book Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen for some time.  I read it last year.  Okay, I listened to it.  But it was the unabridged version and it was excellently read by Jim Collins.  I loved, loved, loved this book.  I loved it so much…

30 Days of Blogs

Although I had intended to write a blog a week for 2012, life has thrown a few curves my way and I just found that I haven’t been motivated to do it.  The first four months of 2012 have been pretty tough – but that will be a later blog post.   It’s funny because I…

How Quickly Life Changes…

My previous blog entry was all about how great 2011 was.  A couple of hours after posting that blog, I found out my father had suffered a massive heart attack and got ready to go Montreal and visit him in the hospital.  Three days later, we were planning his funeral.  Here’s his obituary notice: GRUNER,…

2011 in Review

2011 was a pretty good year for me.  I wrote more in 2011 and developed as a writer.  And I lost weight.  I would have to say that I mostly met my resolutions for the year 2011. I couldn’t believe how quickly the year passed by. I spent a good portion of the year procrastinating…