Getting There

A few days break occurred in my new regime due to a combination of sick family and a very busy weekend schedule.  It's crazy how the days just get away from you.  Yes, yes...I should be well more than aware of this based on the fact I have a five and AND a three year old child but it just needed to be said.  Once again, just a short linking post tonight as I'm worn out.  I just finished hauling the components of our snazzy new BBQ to our back deck.  The sucker weighs about 200lb altogether in the box, so I moved it piece by piece. 
We bought it this weekend from Ontario Gas BBQ...it's a Broil King Sovereign XLS 90.  We were originally thinking of getting a Weber, but this had all the options we wanted, including a rotisserie.  Plus the price gave us a bigger bang for our buck.  I will finish putting it together on the weekend, and can't wait to break it in with a nice steak dinner.   

Another toy I received just today was the Microphone I've been waiting to get for a long time.  It's funny, I've been recommending it to people for about a year now, based on the sound alone, but haven't owned one myself until now.  Being really into podcasts, I focus on the quality of the sound and try to find out what equipment is being used on the better produced shows.  The Blue Snowball mic seems to keep popping up time and time again.
So why did I wait so long?  Well, it comes down to money.  For those of you who have known me awhile, I used to spend money on electronic equipment like it was going out of style.  I'd spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on computers, audio equipment and movies/music...truly spending beyond my means.  Well, I had the means...I was making a fantastic salary, but I wasn't keeping a safety net afloat.  My 20's was a decade of feeling immortal...I bought myself, my friends and my family lavish gifts and felt like it would never end.  Well, it did.  The dot-com bubble burst, jobs became scarce and my arrogance faced a very ugly reality.  It took a long time to recover financially from this.
Now these days I not only put my wife and kids first when it comes to making financial decisions, I will also think a LONG time about buying anything for myself that isn't a houseware.  Not a bad habit really.
So, now that I have the right tool for the job, I'm working on some project ideas for recording that should hopefully start appearing within the month.
And with that, I bid you Auf Wiedersehen.

Podcast of the day: The Nerdist (Episode 68)
TV Show of the day: Mythbusters

Push Through

Eugh.  I'm fighting a bit of a cold tonight.  Six hours in a car today; three in the morning followed by the same on the way home kind of got to me, I guess.  I shouldn't be that surprised that it hit me as poor Kyle has been fighting some kind of bug for the last couple of weeks and it was just a matter of time before it smacked me in the head.  It's just funny that I felt fine when I left work and just needed to lay down when I got home.  A few hours later...here I am, forcing myself to do a bit of writing because I hate when I make a promise to myself that I don't keep.  Hopefully this burns itself out quickly.

Its very possible that this actually started itself out yesterday without the ugly sneezing and pains associated with it.  I was at Toastmasters last night and really just felt completely off my game.  Thankfully I was not officially speaking or chairing the meeting, as I just felt like I was rambling everytime I did get up to discuss anything.  I ran the Table Topics component of the meeting based around many famous book titles (sans author), and when I chose to discuss what I imagined the book based around a title was about I just couldn't stay focused.  I am planning to do a technical speech next week on easy-speak.org so I need to get healthy and refocused by this weekend.
Health permitting, I am going to Keswick tomorrow night to say goodbye to a good friend of mine who passed away last week, so I'm not sure if I'll get a post in or not...if not I'll be back on Friday.

Favourite Podcast of the day: Two Minute Timelord

Renewal

I've been experiencing some nostalgia over the last week or so, largely brought upon by the unfortunate deaths of a couple of my older friends.  This brought me to take a look at the old blog and I realized just how much time had passed since I added an entry.  Almost eleven months....{smack}...BAD TIM, BAD!

I've actually been formulating a couple major topics...some of which were inspired by the aforementioned passings, and others inspired by a speech I delivered for the International Speech Contest called 'Refine Your Anger'.  Additionally, I've been working on getting the technical side ready so that I could begin doing some podcasting.  I love to speak, and feel that I could put on a really good show with assistance of a bunch of good friends of mine.  It pays to have a long background in theatre, improv and Toastmasters...you never run out of content and/or people willing to speak with you.

Expect to see cool things coming soon.

Favourite podcast listened to today: Stuff You Missed in History Class

Exhaustion

Just thought to post this in case anyone was checking in (if so, thank you!).  I have a lot to blog about regarding the last week, however I have been so exhausted that I just couldn't spare the time I needed for sleep and homework to get in on it.  Same old story...life gets in the way.

Well, as I draw new inspiration from my own posts and endeavour to continue growing as a writer again I will be back very soon (likely tomorrow)...so stay tuned.
Just to tease you...I am now officially a TESOL Certified ESL Teacher.  The journey to get here has been filled with some ups and downs, and I'm not sure yet where it's going to take me...but I'm opening myself up to possibilities.  There are various considerations that are incredibly important to deal with and it is my priority to focus on those first...but that will take time.  I will share with you what I can...again...tomorrow.
Goodnight!

Conference (Day Three)

A light mist of rain was falling as I arrived at the Delta for the final day of the conference...just in time for the Evaluation Contest.  Unfortunatly, I was again running a tad late, so did not get a chance to watch the Target Speaker but I did get to see most of the evaluations themselves.
I was very impressed once again with the calibre of each and every contestant.  Each had their own method to provide a nicely balanced evaluation and I learned quite a bit from each one.  Of course, only three could walk away the winners, and those were:

1st place... Harry Ansara
2nd place... Katherine McLean
3rd place... Julie Boyer

Wonderful job all.

Brunch was again provided and then we reached the pinnacle of the convention.  Mark Hunter took the stage and completely blew me away with each of the speeches he gave (yes, he did more than one) along with an amazing gift of information to each and everyone in attendance on how he worked towards being the 2009 World Champion of speaking.  Mark had a wonderfully relaxed and pleasant personality, and took the time to chat with anyone who took the time to approach him.  This is the kind of individual you want representing the organization as a Champion, and I am honoured to have met him.

Suddenly, that was it.  Shortly afterwards, the conference was officially wrapped.  I took the time to walk around to see if there was anybody else that I should speak to.  In particular, I discussed some Web 2.0 and podcasting ideas with the new District Public Relations Officer Katie Chida.  Plenty of fun stuff to do ahead.

So, looking back, what did I take away from the conference.  For me personally, number one was a lot of ideas and inspiration.  But in addition to this it was wonderful to meet so many other people from so many different backgrounds that share two common elements - a love of speaking and a desire to help other people achieve their goals.  I'm in good company.

The Fall Conference will be held in November.  As long as I am physically able to (geographically that is) I would not hesitate on going, and I recommend to each and every Toastmaster in District 86 that if you have been sitting on the fence about investing in these conferences, get off it and buy your tickets.  It's well worth it.

Conference (Day Two)

*** Note...my wife heckled me a bit for writing a fairly dry entry yesterday...my apologies for that. I had little time to write it so just went for the quick facts.  I will endeavour to do better this time around...but be prepared, it'll be a long one.

Now on with the story. ***

As to my presence at the conference itself, Saturday did not start well.  As I mentioned previously, to save some coin I stayed at my friends down the road from the convention.  Well, being nice people that they are, after a late night of chatting away they let me sleep in.  Problem was, I didn't WANT to sleep in...I wanted to get there as early as possible so that I could grab a coffee, maybe do some writing and hopefully chat with some of the other possible early risers.
As soon as I realized what time it was (already 7:40am, only 20 minutes before opening ceremonies), I made a mad scramble to get myself showered and ready to head out the door.  But then I realized I was starving, so stopped to grab myself some breakfast.  This turns out to have been a mistake.  I missed seeing such events as the Parade of Banners, the general introductions of the district executive and especially missed seeing Hazel McCallion, the Mayor of the City of Mississauga give a speech.  I was fortunate enough to catch most of the morning's Keynote Speech by Brian Brennan from the Towns of York club in Aurora so all wasn't a total loss.
Once that meeting was adjourned, it was the time  for workshops and some dilemnas to face.  Each block of time was shared by four workshops, so you had to pick and choose each time.  For myself, the first workshop I chose was by a gentleman named William Cassels who discussed how to Write unique speeches using music as a guide.  His was a truly inspirational story where he discussed how his major setback to providing good speeches was a dibilitating stutter he suffered from.  Through practice he discovered that if he wrote his speeches to music; concentrating on such things as the timing of the melody to the length of his lines of dialigue it provided him with a great ability to deliver his speeches in an impactful manner.  He gave many examples of the classical musical he used for his speeches, followed by using the same piece of music as he spoke.  In addition to this, he showed how as a fan of ballroom dancing he would use the same music to control how he used the stage with his movement and gestures.  To me it was a fantastic idea that I am thinking of trying for one of my future speeches.
My next workshop choice was by a younger lady named Erin Lau, who provided a great session on Leadership called Flexing Your Creativity.  It was very much a think outside of the box concept; how to see the world in a new way.  For her youth, she held the room extremely well and had us all go through exercises including using 2 pipe-cleaners to make something in one minute.  I formed mine into the shape of a mouse and when my immediate neighbour noticed this he took delight in my little bit of artwork and Kept It!  Not that I was too worried about it...I'm sure it would have ended up in garbage if I brought it home, but I never figured out why he did that.  Oh well, at least I inspired somebody with my little creature design.  Worst case scenario I know where his club is....I could also go pester him about it..{grin}.

Following lunch, I was talked into taking Judy Suke's seminar on From Free To Fees and I'm so glad I did.  Judy is a fantastic comedic speaker who has been speaking for corporate groups for several years now.  She gave plenty amount of information on how to properly market yourself as a professional speaker as well as tips on what kind of material is in high demand.  Plenty food for thought there....feft me quite psyched to get working on my own material as soon as possible (after I've finished blogging, of course).

Next, it was time for the District 86 speech competition.  These speakers are those that have won at their club level, their area level and their division levels...so I knew we were in for a treat.  Doubly exciting though is that a member of my own club, Annette Lavigne was one of the eight contestants.

All I can say following the contest was WOW.  I would not have wanted to be one of the judges, because all of these speeches were truly fantastic.  I had thought about discussing them here, but for the sake of timing I'll just cut to the chase.  The winners were:

3rd place...Annette Lavigne 

2nd place...Frederique Herei

1st place...Gregory C.N. Smith

So now in August, Gregory will have the opportunity to compete at the International level in California.  I wish him well, and will be watching the results from afar.

They had the business meeting next...but I honestly skived off from most of it to do some writing.  I did catch some of the elections though and got to know a few of the people who will be representing us as executive members.  Suzette Leeming, who has been my clubs Area Governer is now moving upwards, taking on the role of Division M governer.  I truly wish her all the best with that role.

To end the day, it was time for the District Governer's Ball.  It began with a spectacular dinner finished off with one of the best pieces of chocolate cake I've ever had.  We had a dynamic range of conversations at our table, ranging from my background in theatre to a spirited discussion of Ayn Rand, where Suzette and I kind of tag-teamed our individual knowledge of her works for the rest of our captive audience.

But then sadly, I realized that it was getting close to 10:30, and that I had once again broken my promise to Joe and Chi for when I'd get to their place.  So, just as the first dancers took to the floor in their finest duds, I bid adieu to many of my new friends and the conference for the night.  I did feel bad about doing so, part of me wanted to stay.  Lessons learned...but I'll discuss that in part three.

Look forward to my information on that and much much more coming soon.

Conference (Day One)

I have had the honour of attending my first Toastmasters convention for the District 86 area in Missisauga and what a joy it's been, Meeting and socializing with so much talent has been an incredible inspiration and it leads me to work in a more productive manner.


I arrived Friday evening at the Delta Meadowvale just as the First Timer's meeting was about to start. Now, for those of you who are not members of Toastmasters, this particular meeting is just what it sounds like - for people who are attending their first conference. I have no issues speaking these days, however I am occasionally still a tad shy on meeting new people unless there is a specific purpose behind it. So this meeting is perfect for people such as myself; it provides the opportunity to break the ice. As a matter of fact, they FORCE you to meet new people...they provided us with a little book and we had to go around and swap information such as our biggest similarities and differences.

I found myself in my element, talking about my best topic...ME, and people seemed to be very interested in my theatrical background. Seems like people with my kind of background are in high demand (filing that fact away with big bold stickers on it for future reference) as I have already have what many of the people there don't already have - confidence on the stage.

Then we were honoured to meet with the conferences Keynote Speaker Mark Hunter (2009 World Champion Speaker) who gave us a very rousing speech about his origins as a speaker in Australia. We were introduced to many current and past members of the executive council and were given a good pep talk as to why our contributions to the organization in general was a needed and cherished thing.

Following this meeting the Mardi Gras themed official meet and greet started, and I regretted instantly that I did no go with my first instinct to wear my Hawaiian shirt and beads to the convention. The organizers dressed up in their finest wigs (that's a joke folks, they were clown wigs) and the most outrageous feathered masks I've seen this side of a pantomime. No, I went with a more modest jeans and nice shirt ensemble. However I soon realized I was on par with a good majority of the attendies (at least a couple hundred) so felt a little less guilty for not playing along. It was a good time in general. They had us play a game where we each received one coin and if we had somebody else introduce themselves to us we had to give it up. Of course, the opposite is also true so you have the opportunity to make a good amount of coin yourself (sadly plastic). I lost mine within seconds, and everybody I introduced myself to had already lost their coins. Never did find out who was hoarding them all. I hung around with my groups area governer Suzette, and another member from my club Kathleen but also had the chance to meet a lot of great people there from all walks of life.

Then we had a magician come on stage to entertain us. The Great Gerard did a fairly good yet short performance of slight of hand involving plenty of audience participation. Following this we were introduced to a stage hypnotist, Paul Anthony, who gave a commanding performance. One of the exercises he had us do was interlock our hands, place our index fingers together in a point and raise them above our heads...and keep them there. I ended up on stage with about three dozen other suckers people and was in agony by the time he allowed us to release them. This is likely one of the reasons I was not able to completely find myself in a relaxed state for hypnosis...my shoulders were killing me. Soon enough, it was obvious to him that myself and a couple dozen others weren't good hypnotic material so he let us go back to our seats...but another eight remained in what appeared to be sleep or at least a very dormant state. He had some fun with them, and apparently the rest of the show went well. I had to run out before the show ended though as I had promised my friends Joe and Chi that I would be at their place to crash for the night just after 9, and it was already 10pm (oops!). Definately looking forward to tomorrows session (workshops and speech competition, yay!), and will write about that in a separate post.

Cheers!