Just prior to the Olympics in Vancouver Randy Starkman wrote an article about me with the headline ‘Big Heart, Big Results’. When I think of Randy and what he meant to me, to Canadian Olympic athletes and to the entire amateur sport community, the one word that comes to mind is: ditto.
Category Archives: Life
Caine’s Arcade: Watch this and feel happy!
I think even a stone would find this story about Caine’s Arcade endearing. If you haven’t seen it already — maybe you have as I’ve heard it’s gone ‘viral’ — take a few minutes to be inspired by this little boy, his wonderful imagination and his entrepreneurial spirit. It may leave you feeling a little nostalgic for your childhood or simply hopeful for the future because one day little boys like him will change the world. Either way it should put a smile on your face :)
Mind Shift: Your Daily Commute — Be a Geek!
This really sucks.
Whenever I’m in my car, stuck in traffic or not, I wish with all my might that I was on my bike instead. No matter how windy, rainy or snowy it might be and especially if it’s sunny and warm, I’m instantly jealous of anyone I see riding their bike with vigor and a broad smile stretched across their rosy-cheeked face. If biking is truly not an option I’d settle for the C-Train, so that I could at least let my mind wander or read a book while someone else takes me home. Continue reading
An Important Story To Tell
It’s the honest truth that most of the news we hear about First Nations communities in Canada is overwhelmingly bad. I pay close enough attention to current affairs to at least know that. The most recent wave of bad news to wash over the country has been about the remote Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario. Did anybody see? Did anybody hear? Maybe it’s the relentless barrage of global tragedies that makes us numb to more bad news. Continue reading
Life is Wonderful, Life is Strange, Life is Hard
Back in the familiar surroundings and relative comforts of my own home, it’s hard to imagine that the week I just had actually happened and that it wasn’t a dream or some crazy trip to an alternate universe. It’s remarkable how quickly we can become reacquainted with our own normal lives after otherworldly and eye-opening experiences.
Regardless of where I am sitting now however, I am not entirely the same person I was a week ago, as we all are not, having lived through another seven days and evolved, to a greater or lesser extent, into someone just a little bit older and wiser, for one reason or another. Continue reading
From Schedule B to Schedule Me
Recently I learned that I’ve been unceremoniously removed from Schedule B. I didn’t even know what Schedule B was, or that it existed for that matter, until I found out I was no longer on it. At a recent meeting of the powers that be at Speed Skating Canada, where such things are decided, my name was briefly highlighted then swiftly deleted without so much as a sigh, or so I’m told. Continue reading
Immersion, cubed
It would be safe to say that I never truly excelled at short track speed skating. I used to think I was awesome of course, but if I toss those rose coloured glasses overboard and look back instead with clear, nostalgia-free vision, there is really no doubt about my complete lack of short track talent – it was definitely not my forte. I still did it of course, for many years in fact, while I patiently counted down the days until I could move west and find my true home on the long track.
The GrovesLine 