Well, kids, I'm burning the midnight lamp. Mike & Sandi visited for one last time before Sandi returns to the crap-hole that is Winnipeg. We just finished packing (for the most part) for our trip to visit our friends, Bill & Ronee in the lovely beach town of Wildwood, New Jersey with stops in Scranton, PA (hopefully with some Smokey Bones BBQ) and Binghamton, NY (hopefully it doesn't suck). With any luck, we'll get in to see the Further Seems Forever reunion show but if we don't, it's my own fault. As Bill kindly pointed out to me, I didn't organize like I should have. Just when I thought I was anal retentive enough, it turns out I wasn't enough.
I hope you all have lovely weekends and good weeks next week. We're back in the Creek on Tuesday night. In the words of Dave Blondel, 'Holla!' While you're at it, check out Money Money - they're grand.

I'm at work. I'm a good employee, though I am certain you are questioning that. I have done little-to-nothing all day because almost all of my work is done. I found a mom who was avoiding me this morning and made an appointment for tomorrow morning with her. That was the extent of tasks I needed to complete. So be jealous.
This weekend was killer. On Friday night... Dang. What did I do on Friday? It's probably something with Melanie, which makes me the worst husband in the world. I must have worked out with Taxman because that's a Friday night deal. On Saturday, I left in the early afternoon to pick up one Hollywood filmmaker, Phil Donlon. He flew up that morning from L.A. to join in the first Third Screen, the mini-film festival hosted by The Third Space in Peterborough. It was great to finally meet the man after e-mailing in the past.
I could go through the events one-by-one but that'd be pretty dry. I'll capture the highlights. First and foremost, the people. The PTBO crew is one of the most fly and I wish I could hang with all of them on a regular basis. Of course, there's my main man, Dave Blondel and his wife, Melody. Always entertaining, always caring, always a pile of laughs. Oh, and they are very hospitable. The hooligans that surround Blondel include Mr. Chris Vyn and his wife, Raechelle, Carlo 'The Italian Stallion' Rapone, Joel 'The other Joel' Kiteley and his wife, Kerri, Dave Breukelaar, Jeremy Gabriel (I didn't meet his wife), Steve and Trent (I forgot their last names). Also attending the film festival were Jason Johnston & his wife, Melissa. I was incredibly fortunate to talk to all of these folks to some degree.
Other fun events... The films were totally rad. I finally got to see 'A Series Of Small Things', which featured my favourite Jonathan Inc. song during the closing credits. Phil said that he got a lot of comments about the track and people were interested in the J.I. crew. Yep, you can thank me for that, Jonathan A. & B., Michelle & Glenn! The other movie was more of a video called the Winking Circle video zine. It was so encouraging and inspiring and fun. I have a copy so I can show you at some point. You really should watch it. Had a great convo with Jason and Phil at St. Veronus Pub while Phil sampled the local brews with the rest of the clan. Had a BBQ/picnic in the Vyn backyard with Bruce the dog holding it down. Got to sample the delicious breakfast prepared by Alban at the East City Coffee Shop - it was as good as Blondel had been telling me. Watched Chris and Phil try on some "Gangsta Gear" at a local PTBO store by the same name. The picture was priceless. The only thing missing from the trip was Melanie, who stayed back in the Creek to work on Monday morning. Things are just more fun when she's there.
Alas, I had to leave on Monday so they continued on with the Funday Monday tradition without me. Last I heard, they were off to the Vyn family farm to drive in the field and shoot Carlo's potato gun (likely at the same time). I hope no one was hurt... Seriously, at least. Minor injuries make for entertaining stories.

So I started this post on April 13th, which, as some of you know, is my birthday. Or, in the language of 50 Cent, 'birfday'. I turned 28. I kept it low-key and didn't tell anyone about it. Birthdays aren't that interesting to me because it is merely the passing of a moment (you may have heard my diatribe about the silliness of New Year's). Anyhow, Melanie spoiled me as she always does, giving me five shirts (all of which were really nice and cool), Dawson's Creek - Season 4 on DVD, a bottle of Stubb's chicken marinade (mmmm, sauce!) and a wire shelving unit. Oh, and how could I forget my new ladder! Awesome stuff. No one can buy gifts like she can. She knows me well - lucky me! Oh yeah, and during the day, she showed up at my workplace with a delicious dessert for me and my team. Best wife ever.
Last night, we went out to dinner with my dad, his wife, my sister and her partner. I ate far too much but it was enjoyable. Got a pile of tools from my dad & his wife and then some sharp cologne from my sister and her partner. Saturday a few people are going out for dinner at Philthy McNasty's and then Melanie's mom is making me dinner on Monday. No monster-in-law in this situation, Melanie's parents are great.

Now I'm back at work. I had a mom ditch her appointment with me this morning after avoiding me for the previous week. That's REALLY annoying. We're just killing time until we get new cases tomorrow. I should probably book the hotels for our trip down to Wildwood, NJ, home of Bill Power & Ronee Lynn Cozza! I've got the time, it appears. Hope your day is going well. I apologize for not calling you (or calling you back). I'm bad at that. I'm tired of staring at this screen right now so I'll be signing off. If you've already visited all those links I've included, I'll give you a couple more that should occupy some of your precious moments. I really enjoy the writing on Pete Walker's Essence Project & Emerging Christianity blogs so you should check them out.

Believe it or not I actually did post something a while back but the system crashed after I tried to publish it. To my faithful reader, I apologize. There's been a fair bit of cool things I've done in the last while so I'll quickly bring you up to speed.
Last week, I was on vacation. I had accumulated a fair bit of overtime and, with the Easter holidays, I was able to have ten days in a row without work. Can anyone say, 'Killer'? I knew you could. What did I do with my free time? Things and stuff, as Jon Belanger would say. I can't remember all of it. I worked out a bit more than normal (including twice in one day), which I hope has made up for my laziness in the subsequent days. Played basketball on Tuesday and Thursday.
On Thursday, Josh and I went to see the film, Riding Giants. You can watch the wicked trailer here. It was really good. Written and directed by Stacy Peralta, the director of the classic documentary, Dogtown and Z-Boys, the film chronicles the history of big wave surfing. The footage they had was amazing. The last wave shown in the film, owned by Laird Hamilton, was recognized by most surfing enthusiasts to be the biggest and baddest ever surfed. I think Josh can attest to the fact that it was insane.
On Friday, Melanie, my friend/supervisor Kevin and I went to the Cottage Life Show in Mississauga. It's a place where rich people (i.e., cottage owners) and poor people (i.e., us, who only dream of owning a cottage at this point). We walked for four hours through a million exhibits, entering all the draws we could to win stuff (with any luck, we'll be the owners of about 13 new BBQs) and grabbing for free junk. Kevin's bag was filled with papers, magazines and brochures and must have weighed twenty pounds. That will keep him busy for about two weeks. Fortunately, we both received the new issue of Cottage Life magazine today. Woo hoo!
I don't remember what I did on Saturday. Oh, wait, yes, I do remember. I was going to workout with Taxman but we got a late blast of winter. Taxman lives in the middle of nowhere (commonly referred to as Binbrook) and the power went out up there. He had to man the generator to prevent his house from flooding so he couldn't workout. While waiting, I rode my recumbent bike, lifted some dumbbells and watched the original Gladiator. No, for those of you who are familiar with it, I didn't watch the sequel this time. Later in the afternoon, Mike came down and we hit up some different stores for crap I needed to buy. Bought a pizza, some Pringles and pigged out.
On Sunday I went to church through a crazy snowstorm (a bunch of cars spun out and some moron truck drivers who decide to park on a hill in the right-hand lane instead of on the shoulder). That night was Fred's CD release party. His new disc is great and he packed the house. I'll lend it to you if you ask me nicely. Fred and I wrote the press release for the EP. That's my glimpse of rock stardom. Daniel Lanois' brother, Bob, showed up at the show. He looks like Dan. He dressed like a suit (record company executive). Yes, Dan is the producer of U2's albums. He wrote one of Mike's favourite songs performed by the Tea Party, 'The Messenger'. That song kicks ass still. Interestingly, the link for Bob shows him and his shack with Liam Titcomb, an artist Mike discovered on the radio and really likes.
This week was fairly busy with work. I got through a lot of paperwork that inevitably leads to a decrease of stress in my world. I'd write more but I've been advised by my wife that it is time to leave. I'll see you in real life, hopefully. This weekend, I'm off to Peterborough to hang with Blondel and Phil Donlon at the Third Space film fest. WORD!