Trick or treat

Salut,

OK, for those of you not on Facebook, here's your chance to see what I look like tonight (more pictures on Picasa). I'm sittig on my sofa in the living room with some Led Zepp playing back (The song remains the same album for those who care). I'm wearing the same dress I was wearing today at work, the one for which I won a bottle of wine for best costume of the day ;-)... I was telling the guys that I would think about them when I will drink it, and they said that they would drink to forget that they had seen me in that dress... Ho well...

It is funny to see the faces of the little kids when they see me open the door like this... The teenagers say that I'm kind of cute and the parents can't prevent themselves from laughing :-) Ho well... I'm having fun!!!

Both my girls are with friends having parties before and after tick or treating, I have no clue when they will come back (or call me to pick them up), so I stay here and wait, write you a few lines, listen to music and drink beer... Life is good. :-)

And you? What are you doing tonight? Or what were you doing on Halloween night 2008 if you read this later on? Come on, don't be shy, leave a comment... I know you want to do it... Go ahead, it doesn't hurt... And we like it... So if you don't do it for yourself, do it for us...
Have a ver good Halloween, a very good life, a good laugh, and never, ever, forget to have fun!!!

BYE
MAD... Or should I say, MADette??? :-)

Deadlines...

Salut,

sitting on my sofa... No, I didn't bring my sofa in the bus, I have a dentist appointment at 10 and the cleaning lady is also about to show up. So I decided to give you a few minutes before I dive into work work work...

Deadlines... Without a deadline, I'm not sure I would have finished my novel. I decided at one point to finish it before a planned trip down south to meet a cousin of my wife who is living in Europe (yeah, I know, weird, he lives in Europe and we met in Dominican Republic, it was pretty cool actually). Since I wanted to bring him a copy of the first complete draft, I needed to finish it before the trip. I was about 100 pages away from the ending, and about 10 weeks left, so I had to write 10 pages per week. I invested all my lunch time to write at least a page, and then a page every night, and I would have the week-ends as buffer if I was going to run late... And it worked, I completed it before the trip...

Same thing for music. My partner Norm often asks me for deadlines so that we can push ourselves a little more into making music together. We had the deadline of my 40th birthday party to prepare a show, and we did (which reminds me, I should put some of the videos from that show on Youtube, eventually). We also participated in a couple of contest, so those were also deadines that pushed us into completing decent demos.

Same thing at work. Some people might not like it, it adds pressure, stress and frustration, but it helps us being more productive on a day to day basis, during the long season, instead of just waiting for the playoff...

Why do I talk about this today? It is because I'm running late on a deadline at work, and I'm not too proud of myself, so I try (really, I try very hard) to resist the temptation to come talk to you here more often... But... Now... I gotta go... Go MAD Go... Hit this deadline and move on...

BYE
MAD

I feel like posting in the bus...

Salut,

sitting in the bus again. Was the first one in the bus this morning, I arrived at the stop just after the previous bus left. I like that. Anyway, at this hour (8:12), there is a bus every 2 minutes. Some of the buses have a few single seats, so I choose them when I can. I know, You will say that this is so unlike me, that I would strive to sit with someone, talk to them touch them... But no... You don't know me that well...

It's like when I tell people that I'm a very rational guy... They very rarely believe me. .... Sorry for the delay, I was putting on my headphones and cranking my iPod to U2 music (Sunday Bloody Sunday)... Ho right, you're reading this asynchronously so you can't tell how long I take to write a single phrase, a word, a single letter, or how much time spend in between them... ho well...

So... People don't believe that I'm a rational guy, but I am... I was telling GG last night that I think I must have frustrated my heart somehow at one point and it doesn't want to talk to me anymore. Some say that I just listen to him... But I do... I just don't hear anything. OK, nothing at all would be exaggerated (but you know me, why stop at the exact state of things when we can add some whip cream and sugar on top of it, right? mmmm whip cream.... mmmm:-).

I think that I feel with my brains instead of my heart and guts, and I've been doing it for so long that I'm getting pretty good at it. Another thing that may influence others in thinking that I'm not so rational, is the fact that I'm very loud and demonstrative. I strongly believe that it has nothing to do with feelings and emotions. Actually, the fact that I don't have much of those, helps me being so openly blunt, there are no inhibition getting in the way.

It's like when I talk about my marriage which failed after 16.5 years. I think it was a very rational relationship, on both sides (the mother of my kids is just as bad as I am on this side, if not even worst than me, if it wasn't for the fact that she is a woman, no stereotype here, women are much closer to their emotions than us stupid men). Anyway, we had a relationship that made sens. But there is no sens in love, love doesn't make sens... Come on, admit it!

But the good side of this (thus the analogy to what I was saying above), is that our separation and divorce was totally painless. OK, the fact that we are not short on money helps (especially the fact that I don't really care about money, so giving her half of what I had, when she didn't have much herself, was OK with me, it was the "rational" thing to do, and why worry, just do it and let go). But I think that the main factor for the success of our divorce (I tell you, it really is a success, we actually get along so much better now that we are separated, it is truly amazing), it is because there are so little emotions involved...

A rational marriage is bad, but a rational divorce is great. So I think that the fact that I'm so transparent, demonstrative, loud and open, is actually a sign that I'm a rational guy, emotions don't get in the way, I just do it. "Le ridicule ne tue pas" as we say in French, but so many of us are afraid of it. I'm not, fright is an emotion, and I don't have much of those.

But, although I love the fact that I can be very expressive, I don't want to be suited only for successful divorce... I would rather have had a successful marriage... Actually, I want to have a successful relationship, with true emotions, with real love... So I must apologize to my heart for whatever I did to him, and make him talk to me again. As the emotions slowly come back in my life, I sure hope that inhibitions will not get in the way so that I can keep being open with all of you and keep the clown alive... Some people seem to appreciate it... As for the others... fuck them!

BYE
MAD... being a bad boy and not working on his novel because he would rather talk to you in the bus this morning...
We're almost there now, just a few minutes before the terminus, so just enough time for a proof read of all I said above...
Enjoy... and have fun!
8:31

No bus rides today...

Salut,

so I won't get to work on my Novel today (which I almost exclusively do on the bus these days)... And I didn't take the bus either last night, I had a nice (and very cute) little lady that gave me a ride to the bus stop parking lot on her way to Granby. And today, well, it' s 10:24 already, and I just got out of the shower, ready to leave for work. The parking lot will surely be full by now, and I will most probably work late tonight, so I might as well take the car downtown... I know.. Bad boy... No good... But a boy's gotta do, what a boy's gotta do...

So... I won't take the bus today, won't work on my novel or blog, and I might do a 120Km detour on my way home tonight so... I thought I would spend a few minutes with you, even though I don't have much to say except...

Ho... Wait till you see my Halloween costume... It is truly outrageous. I showed pictures to a few people that I know I won't see till Friday anyway and they freaked out (so did my kids). I don't want to put the pictures here until Friday because I will wear the costume at work and I want it to be a big surprise.

I will also wear it at home to give away candies... The kids will freak out when they see me... Much scarier than any vampire, skeleton, devils or monsters that you can think of... Just wait and see... ;-)

BYE
MAD... having a ball.. as usual... :-)

Bus ride quicky

Salut,

this is a quickie bus ride post before I get back to my Novel re-write. Is it Halloween already? Some people really look like they are disguised this morning. There is a bunch of angels and demons and some even scarier creatures in the bus this morning. OK, I agree that's mean, but I can't help it.

It really amazes me to see all this spectrum of looks and expressions we, humans, can have. So it really is a good thing that we don't all have the same tastes because there are quite a lot of people that would stay single for a long time, and others with way to many suitors.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that some people are not worth it. They are just not interesting to me. As others might really not be interesting to you and I, myself, am most probably disgusting for many. So when I see a couple, and find that both of them are really not attractive (to my own picky taste I mean), I really envy them. They found love, they are attracted to each other and are very happy together (OK, I may be pushing it a little bit, I know that not all couples are happy together, but bare with me for a second).

Whatever the looks we have, nature provides us with a wide enough diversity in tastes and other interests, that everybody can aspire to find that special someone that will find them so attractive and interesting. Even those that I saw int he bus this morning and thought that they were disguised for Halloween... Isn't this great?

OK, MAD,back to your Novel, the bus just left the parking lot, so I better get at it if I want to finish this re-write before that woman standing besides me lose her balance again and send her big butt on my keyboard, or even worst, my face!!! (just had a butt kick on the shoulder now... geeessshhh)

BYE
MAD the bus rider... ;-)

The week-end before Haloween...

Salut,

how was YOUR last week-end before Halloween 2008? Here's mine:

Friday:
Don't really remember... What have I done Friday night? Picked up the kids at school a little later than usual. Had pizza for dinner. Watched the tube with the kids. Went to bed early... but with my laptop... Bad idea... End up working and chatting in bed and get to sleep later than ideal... Had an interesting phone call at one point though... But I won't get into much detail and let your imagination flow... :-P

HO! Yes... Of course... It was Friday that I needed to dial 911 for the the first time in my life... But I already told you everything that needs to be said about that episode...

Saturday:
Dance lessons in the morning (no, no, no, not me, my kids, of course). Grocery and a quick lunch (Quiche Lauraine). Blogged about the Unbelievable Stupidity of the Friday night Fire. Got my nephew to babysit while I go to a family dinner with GG. There are a few birthdays in her family around this time (Ho, and she officially turned 40 on Saturday, I had already sang happy B-Day to her on the phone Friday night, remember? ;-)

Was raining like crazy on the highway to her brother's place in Magog, but it was fortunately quiet and already dried when I cam back home at the wee hours... Was hard to stay awake, but it was still worth the effort... héhé... ;-P

Sunday:
The kids (including the nephew who spent the night here, of course) got up around 8, less than 5 hours after I crashed in. I got up at 10h30 and did some work... Then it was the special Daddy's crêpes au jambon fromage for break-lunch (abbreviated to brunch). Marilaure had some school project to work on at a friends place, so Fannie and I went shopping for Halloween (after my mom came to pick up my nephew).

Added some outside decoration to the few little pieces I already had, and we we also bought costumes accessories for the three of us (wasn't easy to argue with Marilaure over the phone to choose her backup plan once we realized there were no Chinese costume available). Marilaure and I ended up with the same costume (with different sizes, of course). Can't wait to show you the pictures, but not until Friday night (or maybe Saturday morning). My colleagues will see it live on Friday, I'll wear it at work. And I will also wear it to give candies since the kids will go trick or treating with Friends.

Tonight, I tried another improvised recipe of chicken and multi-colored pepper in the Wok. This time, I added read crumbs and creates a sauce by blending a bit of Kikkoman sauce, cherry sauce, BBQ and also a new one I bought yesterday, General Tao sauce. It wasn't too bad, not great, but still, not bad for a guy that hardly cook at all... And we treated ourselves with a chocolate fondue for desert, but I goofed, I used a regular fondue burner... Bad idea... I then remember that all we need it a candle for chocolate fondue. D'Ho! So my container cracked and my chocolate got cooked and lost the perfect taste of Toblerone... Damn... Better luck next time.

We still ate like pigs, and I still feel it... Having a hard time kicking myself in the butt to cleanup the mess we left in the kitchen for dinner and in the living room when we tried out our costumes... I feel like going to bed right away (well, after I'm done with this post), but I need to wait for the laundry anyway, so might as well finish cleaning and then I can treat myself with some Google work before going to bed... Ho, but not before I prepare the kids lunches for tomorrow... almost forgot that one again...

I hope you had a good week-end, and that you will have a great week... If you remember to have fun, things should go alright...

BYE
MAD... not feeling like adding pictures or links... live with it!!! :-P

Unbelievable Stupidity

Salut,

Those of you following me on Facebook most probably know by now that I had to put out a fire last night in front of my house... Yeah... Weird... An 8 feet tall evergreen, besides my front door, in front of a large bay window was on fire... What the FUCK!!!

It started while the kids were in the bath... Actually, Marilaure was done and was talking to her boyfriend on the phone (yeah, I know). I was playing the piano in the mezzanine when someone started knocking on my front door and ringing the bell like crazy. I thought it was one of my kids' friends... Come non already...

While walking down the stairs, I saw sparkling lights through the bay window and wondered... Hey... I didn't put on my Christmas light yet, WTF... So I go there instead of the door, cause... You know... Not sure which kind of freak is knocking at my door like that, I want to look through the window first to see who's there before opening the door...

WHAT? Flames!!! FIRE!!!! So I open the door to see a frighten friendly woman that was driving by, saw the fire and came to warn me... KUDOS MAM... She runs back to her car and I run back inside to dial 911... But the line is busy... No, not 911, my line... My daughter is still online talking to her boyfriend, so I ask them to hang up and finally contact 911.

They put me in contact with the local fire department and while I'm on hold (yeah, I know), I ask my daughter to take the phone again and tell them the details while I go take the matter into my own two hands. I get the hose out of the garage and start playing firemen (without the uniform, sorry girls, but the guys are on their way, a few of them were actually pretty good looking, you missed a good show, especially that they didn't have much to do :-).

I finally get to put out the fire on my own and the fire truck arrived a few minutes later. They looked around, make sure there were no damage to the house and that there are no sparks left that could start a fire again. No clue how it could have happened, they looked around a little bit more, no electricity there, nothing, and it's dark so we conclude to a stupid smoker walking on the street and throwing his cigarette butt randomly towards the house... That would be stupid enough to justify the title of this post... But wait, there is more...
This morning, when we got out to drive my little one to her dance lesson, her big sister noticed something under the tree that we didn't see yesterday because of the darkness. I look closer, and I recognize wrapped paper, like newspaper or magazine. But I don't have time to pick it up. So I guess, maybe a publi-sac that had been blown there by the wind at one point. And, bad luck, the careless smoker's cig butt would have landed right on it... Maybe... But wait... there's more...

When we got back home, I took the time to get that thing out of there. Wasn't easy to navigate between burnt branches, and walking in the mud... I even got a large trace of black soot on my favorite Quiksilver... Damn... But wait there's more...

When I pick up the big ball of wrapped paper (about 10 inches wide), big disappointment in the goodness of mankind... I see a large flat rock (about 25 square-inches and an inch think, FUCK!!!)... This seems to have been on purpose... TABARNACK!!!
Who the hell is stupid enough to do something like that???... If I wasn't there, my whole house could have been gone in hashes... Or worst, if that nice woman wouldn't have stopped to warn us, we may have not noticed in time, and my life, and even worst, the lives of my two innocent children would have been in great danger.... CALISS!!!!

Anyway, all is OK now, but that stupid butt head is walking freely and laughing at his own stupidity... What could have gone through the mind of someone to do such a stupid thing? To me... It is simply UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Unbelievable STUPIDITY!!!!

BYE
MAD... For once... I am.... Arrrrrrgggghhhhh....