Blog or white ... because it never is.

I saw a funny tv commercial yesterday.  It was for a Kit Kat bar  You know, "give me a break, give me a break of that Kit Kat bar".  In this particular commercial, a guy was enjoying his Kit Kat bar when his neighbour starts playing the bag pipes.  He gives the Kit Kat bar to the neighbour so that his neighbour can have a break.  It reminded me of my friend, Heather.  Heather has played the bagpipes for as long as I have known her.  She has a very successful career (not involving bagpipes) but, for me, she will be defined by her piping.  She has traveled the world with various pipe bands and has piped in celebrities at just about any type of event.  She is always in demand.  Like most humans, she has had her ups and downs in life, but she has always had the constant of the bagpipes in her life.  I think she has used them as motivation to heal when she needed to and she has used them as a vehicle for expressing her joy.  She...

So, I have this friend.  Her name is Laurie Paxton.  I have known her since grade 9 and she is very important to me.  I went on my first diet with her.  I have been dieting ever since and also regretting that I dieting through my skinny years.  Laurie has always been a beacon in the storm for everyone.  (See what I did there.  Alluded to Nova Scotia.)  She is outgoing, kind, caring, and well, a veritable hoot.  She is so much fun.  I lost track with her after high school but after missing a few decades, we have been united by facebook.  A few years ago, while living in British Columbia, she decided to do a career make-over and became a permanent makeup artist.  She has called her business "Symmetry Studio."  She is a true believer and has the eyebrows to prove it.  She started irritated me then because she is just so damn beautiful. I look at pictures of her and they are cover of Vogue worthy.  She has found th...

Sometimes I wonder why my partner and I are still together.  Our belief system are so different.  He believes in using umbrellas and I don't.   He also believes in wearing toques in the winter and I don't.  He believes in serving a hamburger on a plate and I believe a hamburger should be served on a paper towel.  I also believe that for hot  dogs, but, get this, he doesn't believe in hot dogs.  Not how they should be served, but he actually doesn't believe in their existence.  He is a like a hot dog denier.  I can actually eat a hot dog in front of him yet, he still denies their existence. Like I said, our belief systems are different. He also believes in the real football also known as soccer.  It is not that I don't believe it exists, I know it does.  I just don't believe in watching it as I prefer a sport in which something actually happens.  His favorite team is Liverpool.  I am hoping someday that changes to ...

Two elections coming up for Manitobans in a few short weeks.  I truly admire anyone who is brave enough to put themselves out there as a candidate for public office.  I had small experience with public office many decades ago and that has inspired me to never seek office again/!  Last fall, I started profiling civic candidates on my blog.  I did it for purely selfish reasons.  I wanted to learn more.  I learned so much about candidates and their stories and also so much about civic politics.  Honestly, I didn't have any idea about the role of a school trustee, for example.  It increased my respect and knowledge.  Here is the part where I blow my own horn.  My most popular candidate profile was viewed over 6000 times.  My least popular candidate profile was viewed over 400 times.  The average candidate profile was viewed over 1000 times.  That is a good amount of exposure for any politician.  So, if anyone runnin...

My perfect grandson accidentally broke an item of mine that was my mother's.  It has only sentimental value and is not sold any more, so, I have been looking in thrift shops and garage sales just in case.  I don't bother going to garage sales in new neighbourhoods because I know I would never find it there.  I keep my eye out for garage sales that are likely an older couple downsizing and moving.  I happened to find the best garage sale yesterday.   They didn't have the item that I was looking for but the story of this garage sale was priceless.  It told me that if you are looking, you can truly find love everywhere.  24 hours have passed and my heart is still warm.  The garage sale was held on the small front lawn of a house that had the same owner for 64 years.  64 years old, a newly married couple bought this house in Elmwood.  They raised three daughters in this house.  A family of 5 in a small two bedroom house with ...

Yes, I am going to get to the controversial ruling at this year's WSOP Main Event.  But, if you know me, I can't just comment on anything without context.  I can't answer a question directly.   It is almost like I am driving a car.  Instead of just going forward, I have to put it in reverse and take a run at it.  I guess that is what happens when you learn to drive in the winter time in rural Manitoba.  Anyway, every sport has rules.  In our major televised sports, you see that most rulings are reviewed by people somewhere off the sporting field who look at television monitors from a number of angles and make a ruling.  Take the CFL, for example.  Seriously, take the CFL.  I am not a fan, however, the CFL, like most sports, have an extensive rule book.  Things should be simple.  Everyone knows the rules, everyone knows the penalties, however, rulings are still challenged and reviewed.  I guess it is a part of the ...

My partner used to tell me that I was the straw that stirred the drink in our relationship.  Before him, I had never really heard that expression.  I just assumed it was an expression that fuddy duddy's used.  This past June, I found out the origin of the expression.  My partner, sports trivia nerd, believes that it was coined in 1973 by Howard Cosell.  It was in  reference to OJ Simpson becoming the first person in a single season rushing for 2000+ yards.  I just had to break the news to my partner today that he was incorrect in his sports trivia and the phrase was coined in the early 1980s and not used complimentary.  So, even though he is incorrect, I am still going with my partner's version.  OJ Simpson was, at one time, a man who seemingly had everything.  Unlimited resources, the adulation of a nation, the fountain of youth.  Rich and powerful.  He only lacked one thing.  Class.  Perhaps society is partly ...