I don’t know if you read Success magazine. I admit, I do. And I listen to the monthly CDs featuring the publisher Darren Hardy. And I read some of their “self-help” publications.
Some of you may find this sort of publication cheesy. In a way I agree. But I also find a lot of value in them. It’s always good to spend a few quiet moments reflecting on my professional and personal life.
The most recent issue really resonated with me. Unfortunately. Continue reading “The Agony of Defeat”
Do you ever drive by your childhood home to kindle some nostalgic embers?
What about old residence dorms? Summer camps? Or the first house you bought?
Well the other day as I was booting about town, I was shocked to see the first Toronto address I ever possessed was now reduced to rubble. It was 1988 when me and my buddies moved into 56 Berwick, fresh from university and ready to hit our first jobs. Continue reading “56 Berwick”
I apologize if you think I blog too much about football.
It’s a fair critique by the way, but I’m a big boy, I can take it. My thicker-than-usual skin on this subject matter was incubated through countless years of advice from my parents. You see, this football obsession was started at an early age and I was appropriately counseled by my folks to not put all of my eggs in a single metaphorical basket. They were right… to an extent.
But critique or not, it is nearly impossible to avoid blogging about the passing of the winningest major (U.S.) college football coach of all time, especially given the pigskin-related headlines that dominate the news. The Super Bowl contenders have been chosen. Planning for the 100th Grey Cup is well underway. Coaches are being hired, fired and re-hired, on both sides of the border. Plus, the whole horrific Sandusky allegations are rolling towards trial. (I have taken into consideration the request of the university’s interim president and stopped calling it the Penn State Affair. It really was the alleged evil of one sick individual, as opposed to an institutional crime. Unless we find out the institution’s level of complicity is higher than any of us grossly unimagined.)
The topic at hand, of course, is the sad farewell we must give Joe Paterno, who died last weekend at age 85. Continue reading “Joe Pa”
I haven’t read Influencing Powerful People yet, so I can’t give you a review on it, but it promises sixteen proven rules on how to deal with the powerful people in your life. This list of people could include a boss, client, business partner or international colleague according to the author, Dirk Schlimm. Jokingly, at least in his live presentations about the book, he also suggests it could be the border control officer you encounter at customs, or a teenager requesting the use of the car from her parents. Continue reading “Power Hungry”
In the cold dark hours of the morning, as I dragged my recycling bin to the curb, I had a chance encounter with my newspaper carrier. It always seems odd to me watching adults deliver the paper. Not that there is anything wrong with it… but having been a ten-year-old paper-boy growing up, I still can’t shake the paradigm that the paper should be delivered by the neighbourhood kid.
Every once in a while, my departure time coincides with the delivery of one of our early morning newspapers. Usually my interaction with the delivery person is a nodded confirmation that the rag should be left on my porch, followed by a mumbled thank-you for his services.
This recent morning wasn’t much longer, but gratifyingly much more meaningful, all because of a single sentence uttered by my trusty town crier. It was all in the quick moment he took to thank me for his Christmas bonus.
Thank-you is an underused and invaluable phrase. Continue reading “Gift Receipt”
Riding the bus to Detroit this morning.
Big game at Joe Louis Arena today, playing the Trenton Cobras with a 4:30 puck drop. Wonder how big of a crowd we will get?
The Cobras are from Trenton, Michigan. We are the York Mills Minor Peewee Select Rangers. York Mills being the “skiers league” in Toronto. These Rangers in particular are my son’s team.
What the heck is a “skiers league”? In essence, it’s a hockey league populated by families that have other priorities. Schedule-wise, it looks like a normal hockey league, until the snow falls and then all games and practices are essentially held on weeknights. Weekends are held sacred for downhill pursuits.
So how will this would-be group of Crazy Canucks do against the Cobras? I have to admit to looking for some info about them online. Does that make me an overzealous, hockey-mad parent? Because I Googled a team of 11-year-olds playing tier-three select hockey? Continue reading “Hey, Bus Driver!”
It was a cruel irony for me to be in Pittsburgh on the weekend when the Penn State scandal erupted.
Sunday, some pals and I were indulging in being immersed in American football culture and lapping it up. It was a scene right out of a bad Tom Cruise movie. Me and the boys sitting in a greasy spoon/bar/hangout – aptly called Locals – on the South Side of the Steel City, quaffing beers and devouring all day breakfast.
The TVs were showing every afternoon game imaginable, with our attention focused on the Bills getting t-rexed by the Jets. Most of the bar was clad in black and yellow, in anticipation of the Steelers’ evening clash with the hated Browns… err, Ravens!
But between Cruise sightings (he was actually in town filming a movie, which I am pretty certain isn’t the sequel to All The Right Moves), and Ray Lewis -bashing, our talk turned solemn to the scandal erupting in not so ‘Happy Valley.’ I could not believe what I read online. No one could.
It has gotten even worse as the week has unfolded. I don’t need to rehash what has been said in a thousand places. But I do need to share my thoughts with you. Because they are sad ones. Continue reading “Game Over?”
When was the last time you had the opportunity to really feel like your work was contributing to a better world?
Is it an everyday occurrence for you? Or hardly ever?
For those whose profession is more noble than mine, I would expect the odds are higher that this is an everyday feeling. At least I hope so.
How do we know if our work is benefiting society? If I were a doctor or a fireman, the results would be right before my eyes. If you work for a charity, you may also feel that way. I would hazard a guess your personal trainer, local politician and child’s teacher, also feel the same.
On Tuesday I met a woman who should never question her contribution to society when she closes her weary eyes at night.
Her name is Pauline Broomhead. Continue reading “Philanthropy in the UK”
I think we need a law to ban idiotic parents from attending their kids’ sporting events.
My rant today is partially due to me being a recent victim of a parent’s heckling. So maybe I should just grow a tougher skin.
The back-story is this. 2011 will go down in my calendar as the proud time period when both my sons started playing tackle football. It’s been a riot. The first day of workouts. The first day in equipment. Their first games. Their first tackles (which took a little longer).
The kids have had a chance to play in Ivor Wynne Stadium and at the Rogers Centre. The former is the home of a professional football team. The latter is the burial ground for Jimmy Hoffa, Jimmy Key (after he was unearthed form Exhibition Stadium in 1985) and Cleo Lemon.
They play in an organization called the North York Grizzlies. It’s run by a very dedicated group of volunteers and has an enthusiastic bunch of smart coaches. Our organization isn’t as big or massive as Niagara, Burlington or Hamilton, which possess massive house league feeder systems – but we are competitive.
As a parent, I have questions for the coaches and the odd ‘complaint’ about playing time. They might have interpreted it as more than odd, but overall I try to go out of my way to thank, praise, motivate, and interact with the coaches. No one is paying them to teach my prodigies this amazing sport, so I am very grateful for their hours of volunteerism.
However, what I have discovered is that I may be in the minority. Actually, scratch that – I know I am in the majority, but boy does this organization have a very vocal minority who aren’t as grateful as I am. Continue reading “Sideline Act”
I’m reading a book about da Vinci that I picked up at a museum in Rome right now. Timely, because until Wednesday of this week I was convinced Leonardo had been reincarnated. His second life name was Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs was my undisputed business hero.
I loved Steve Jobs.
I love Apple. Continue reading “The Real Mona Lisa: Why I Loved Steve Jobs”
