About winter...

I used to hate winter... When I was a kid, I was convinced I would move out of Montreal as soon as I would get a chance. I was always attracted by California and Australia but anywhere without rough winters would do.

I met the mother of my kids at the university. My initial plan was to go do a PhD at MIT or Standford but she wouldn't follow, so I didn't go (I also got the opportunity of starting my PhD without finishing my masters degree, because I was sooooo gooooood :-). A friend of mine said that I was week... I had the choice between promise land... and.... sex... And I chose sex... week.... week.... soooooo weeeeek... ;-)

Well, as we often say, even though that relationship didn't work out for more than say... 16 years and a half... I have two great daughters, so it was well worth it...

But back to the subject of winter, it is true that having kids, help appreciate winter. They simply love it when it snows... But they don't have to shovel it!!!

I started to accept winter just a few years ago. There was about 3 feet of snow that had fallen during the night, and I had to go out to shovel the stairs down to our driveway (these are wide and deep stairs). I got dressed, sighing loudly, kind of discouraged about the task at hand, but resolved myself to do it.. I had no choice, right? Well... When I opened the door and stepped out, in the freezing cold, I took a deep breath of fresh dense oxygen, and actually appreciated it... I look at the big pile of snow in front of me and decided not to discourage myself as I usually do and approach it just one step at a time... A 3 feet deep step, but still... One step at a time... And I went through the whole thing in no time... And felt good about it...

Since then, winters have been much easier for me (though last year, I was really thinking about moving to California, and work at the Google head quarters, but I would never leave my kids behind, so this time it is not sex that prevented me from going to promise land, it is responsibilities... though it all started with sex of course... whatever)...

And the reason I wanted to talk to you about it today, is that I had a few interesting moments recently, where I simply walked in my kitchen, and had a winter feeling (I don't know if it is the outside temperature, the early darkness or what), but it really felt like winter and I appreciated the warmth of my kitchen and it kind of brought me back to passed winters spent in this kitchen (don't ask my why the kitchen, I don't know, there seems to be a special aura in there), but the weirdest thing is that... it felt... good... weird... It feels like winter, and it feels good... Really weird...

I tried to analyse this... Maybe it is because it reminds me of past winters when my family was still whole and I had my kids full time with a woman in the house... Maybe... Then again, maybe not... Maybe I actually appreciate the fact that for a few months we get secluded in our houses, and the warm comfort of our kitchen brings us a sense of well being that I learned to appreciate... Maybe.. I don' know...

How do YOU feel about winter?

BYE
MAD

Sleepy in the bus...

Salut,

sitting in the bus for my first morning ride in almost two weeks now. Got back from California Tuesday night, and did a little detour to GG's place until the wee hours... Hey... I had not seen her in about 10 days, come on, gimme a break... So I went home and went to sleep a little before 4AM on Wednesday morning, woke up at 8h24 to catch the 9AM train (I find the train more comfortable, but the schedule is not flexible enough for me to take it often... I could have used the train this morning, it is 9h23 now and the bus is just starting, so I would have been sitting in the train for the last 23 minutes as opposed to freezing my ass out at the bus terminal, but since the earliest train back is at 15h40, arriving home at 16h20, it will be a bit tight for my Thursday taxi night, there is a kids dance class that starts at 17h15 and I must have time to get some grocery, prepare dinner and eat it before, so out of the train at 16h40, at school 5-10 minutes after, kids out of school another 5-10 minutes later, this doesn't leave me much time...

Anyway, sorry for the information overload, but hey, I don't think you would be here reading this if you didn't crave for more... :-) But I must admit, it might not be as interesting to read about my public transport timing issues not being well synchronized with my kids school and leisure, but it's not just about what we say sometimes, it is how we say it that makes it interesting or not.

One of my literature teachers once said (and I say that, like if I had many of them when I only been to 3-4 creative writing courses at UQAM :-), most if not all stories have already been written. We simply tell them differently now, but all in all, they are the same stories told again and again and again and again... And we are not only talking about Hollywood movies here (and don't get me wrong, there are lots of good movies made in Hollywood, I just use it to make a point). We have been telling each other stories for a few hundred thousand years already, and there is only a finite set of them...

This reminds me of a very good short story from Borgès in his Fiction collection about an impressively large library that contain all potential books of 410 pages, each having the same number of lines and each lines with about the same number of characters. Every possible combination of characters was there, so there were lots of books. Only a small portion of these books were actually readable, and even fewer actually made sense. Yet, since all the possibilities of combinations of characters were there, all possible stories (that could be told in this given number of pages) were somewhere to be found, including the exact story of your life, or mine or anybody else, whether real or fictional... This is kind of impressive... mind boggling actually... Can you imagine finding one of these books? Wow...

So the point is (yes, there is a point to all this, even though it isn't always clear to me when I start writing a post, I always end up converging to something kind of interesting, and it is rarely on purpose :-), I didn't want to believe it then, but I do agree now that all stories have been told, all possible lives have been lived, yet, we keep on kicking, and I keep on writing... because, it is not only about the story itself, it is how it is being told, it is not about the life that you have to live, it is how you live it, or again, as I quoted Mr. Randy Pausch in a previous post, it is not about the cards you were dealt with, it is how YOU decide to play them.

So even when I simply tell you stuff that might not seem interesting in itself, ask yourself why are you reading? How come you want to keep reading? Is it just curiosity? Or is there something bigger, something harder to explain or even understand, that keeps us all together, like the force. May it be with you!

BYE
MAD... Obi MAD Kenoby :-)

Prepare for take off

Sitting in the plane, writing on a notepad because we just took off and we can't use electronic devices… But I just realized that taking off doesn't impress me as much as it used to… I remember the first time I was on a plane, taking off was soooo coooooool...

Ho, we can now use electronic devices, even though we must still keep our seat belt fastened, this plane has two distinctive warning lights, one for the seat belt and another one for "turn off electronic devices"...

So now, I'm typing on my computer, but not for long, because I don't have much battery left, I used it all on the first flight from SFO to ORD, and now I'm heading to Montréal.

So I'm hitting the save button every few seconds, because I don't trust my Mac to go to sleep elegantly, it sometimes do it in an unpleasant way... Ho well... Toys will be toys...

So, what I wanted to talk about is the fact that there are too many things that don't impress us anymore because we got used to it... Like the take off of an airplane... Or the colors of a sunset (though this still amazes me like crazy, I can't stop taking pictures of the sky at sunset even though I already have tons of pictures of sunsets, I just don't get tired of it)...

Actually, as I was taking pictures of the sunset and other interesting views from my airplane window between San Francisco and Chicago, I realized that I take way too many pictures... With digital, it doesn't matter too much, I used a bit of electricity, and shorten the life of my cell phone a little bit too, but nothing drastic so that it could be called waste...

But I wondered why I was taking so many pictures... Could it simply be to capture these moments that amaze me now, in case I get so used to them that they don't amaze me anymore? Like a plane taking off...

Or could it be because I'm alone? Since I have no one to share this with at the moment that I live it (like those walks on the beach along side California Highway 1), I take pictures to that I can share these moments with people like you until I get to live them with someone else?... Could it be?

I don't know, but at the same time, I don't want to stop being impressed by the magic of nature and also technology which you already know how much I love. When thinking about some pictures I took of myself on the beach, and also reading a book about the father of the main character that might suffer from Alzheimer, I was imagining myself, old and grumpy, not remembering a thing, and someone I love was showing me those pictures of the days when I was letting myself easily be impressed by something as simple as the sun setting down on the ocean while I watch it and take pictures of it with my back laying against the rock of a cliff...If I ever get in that state, with absolutely no chance of recovery... Please... pull the plug...

BYE
MAD... Feeling a little gray, coming back from Sunny California...

This is SOOOOO me....

BYE
MAD
P.S.: Yes, I'm alive... And I'll be back with a few post that I worked on while off-line yesterday... after a week of crazy work work work across the meetings galore I was describing previously... Did you miss me? Please say yes!!! Because as you can see in the image above, I have no clue how love works... So gimme some... :-)

WTF do I do with my life?

Sitting under the Californian sun at a terrace on Castro street in Mountain View.

View Larger Map
Click and drag on the map,
It's pretty cool!
Having a chicken Caesar salad and an Alley cat amber ale.
Don't know yet what I'll do with my afternoon. Might go to Napa. In my previous trips in the area, I often went to the beach, driving between the see and the cliffs, it's a beautiful scenic road the California Highway 1.

In those previous trips, I also often panic, thinking that I might not be properly investing the precious time of my life that I had the luxury of enjoying here.

I just took a picture of this page with an interesting shadow from my glass of water with coca cola logo on it.

Let's try it with my beer now :-)

OK, so, I was saying that I used to stress about not properly using my time here... But what does it mean to "properly" us one's time? It's all about what we want to do with our life, right? Most of the time, we think of what we are "going" to do with our lives, in the future tense... Like if our lives were only to become and never "to be"... Here... NOW!... So Now, I wonder, what am I doing?...

Well... I'm writing these words on a notepad that I will hopefully type on a computer (as I'm doing now, while eating at the Davenport Roadhouse :-) and post it (soon.... soon... :-)...

{some time passes}

Now I'm sitting in front of the starbucks (and I'm typing the text while in bed at the hotel) with a venti latté in my hand, ready to roll in the big Mercury Grand Marquis that Enterprise gave me because they were out of smaller cars... ho well...
But where will I go? So back to the topic of freaking out in the past because I might not "optimize" my time here based on standards that others have set to define what it means to "properly" use one's time... Well... you know what? I don't give a fuck!... I'm going to do whatever I please and if I feel like doing squat or even work instead of visiting a museum or watching a nice sunset while walking on the beach... Who cares?... My loss... My choice... But if I don't give a fuck, why should I worry... We are so weird...

Go MAD Go...

BYE
MAD
P.S.: I have a post about a similar subject, in one of my French blogs.

Meetings gallore...

Salut,

this is a small morning quickie, to show you that I'm still alive, I survived an incredible number of hours sitting at meetings for a single day. A bunch of us (from Google Montreal) are here (Mountain View, Ca, in the silicon valley) to pick the next project we will work on... So we are courted by a few projects that we will get to choose from.

It is interesting to see how we are openly given a choice of what we will work on, yet reminded that what the corporate priority would be, trying to influence the choice a little bit... But so far, we are still free to choose... Though they expect us to be at least 5 on the same project for it to make sense to have people in Montreal working on it, so our freedom is kind of limited by the freedom of the others...

So it will be interesting to see what comes out of this... But I surely wouldn't this to sound like a complaint what so ever, I know that in most other normal companies, you don't 'really' get to choose what you work on, you are being assigned... Google is so cool...'

Well, I'll finish by letting you know that I'm typing this in my bed while GG is watching my my head laying on a pile of pillows using the newly released Google Talk Video, have youn tried it? It is really good... Try it... You'll see... And you'll see VERY CLEARLY... Google rules!!! :-)

BYE
MAD

About to take off...

Sitting at the gate, waiting to board flight 8262 from United which is actually a Air Canada plane with another flight number, ho well…

It’s 7:23AM, we’re boarding at 7:30 to take off at 8:05. So I had set my alarm clock set at 5:00AM knowing I would take some time to get out of bed, in the shower, then in the car, on the road and to the airport early enough in case there would be some traffic at the customs and security. Of course, I had forgotten to print the details of my trip and the computer connected to my printer crashed (what else is new?)…

But I made it early enough to have time for a large latte and muffin (which I’m still taking some sips and pieces between the lines, like… now… :-))…

It amazes me to see the amount of detailed organizations our lives are floating through. Can you imagine the number of ideas from different people needed to converge so that the last 2 and half hours I have just lived worked as it did?

Some might say that simpler would be better. I could have woken up at the same time, have a breakfast at home, made from food that would have been raised on my land by a women that would have given me zillions of kids so that we would all get out of the house at sunrise and take care of the land and stock that feeds us. I would have built our house from my own hands with wood that I would cut myself on the land I own, etc… etc… etc…

But I was born with a set of skills that suites computer science so much better. And working for Google, which helps so many people find the information they are looking for. A company like Google, based on a technology like computers and Internet wouldn’t exist without the collaboration of multiple generations of people having the talent, the energy and the will to invent new things to make the life of others easier and hopefully more enjoyable.

Even though many people complain that technology has brought us a stressful fast pace life, I think it improved so many other things that it was worth it. It is just up to us to take the good and leave the bad out of it. Relax, don’t stress, breath in, breath out, one step at time, things will be good if you are good… Just trust your good side and invest a little bit of effort controlling the bad one, you’ll soon see, that you won’t try to blame technology so much anymore :-)

OK, boarding time… Talk to you later :-)

BYE
MAD
P.S.: Pour les francophones je vais aussi documenter mon voyage en Californie sur mon autre blog mad-voyages…

Sleep?

Am I getting tired? I barely posted this week (though you are still loyal and come visit almost as often, thanks, I appreciate it). I've been going to bed late almost every night, but busy with other things than blogging. And I try to use my bus rides time to catch up on emails or re-work my novel (I'm half way through the 3rd of 18 chapters now, and I expect much less changes as I get closer to the middle since most people who read it, or at least the ones who told me about it, said that after the first third, or maybe half way through the novel, it becomes a page turner, you just can't let it got, let me know if you would be curious to try it, it is in French though :-).

There is one night that I crashed in bed around 8:32 to sleep almost one stretch (I almost always wake up a few times during the night), to finally wake up at 6:48... This is because I was under attack... A big bad flu bug was trying to get the best of me... But I fought hard... And I think I won... So far... Let's see if the early flight and the jet lag of my trip to California tomorrow will not give him an unfair advantage if he still have enough strength for a second attempt... We'll see... I should try to get to bed early tonight, but I have things to prepare, and will most likely have one last interesting visit from you know who before I leave for around 10 days (and then come back for 6 days with the kids)...

What I would have needed is a long sleep this morning... But I have a very hard time doing that... I don't know why, but mornings are not for sleeping for me... Actually, late nights either, I love to stay up late... Fortunately, my body doesn't seem to need much sleep (there are much more important things that my body needs, like FUN for example... ho... and food... One of the things that kicked me out of bed early this morning, besides the fact that I couldn't sleep, because I could have still at least stayed bed... but no... My stomach asked me to get up and have breakfast.... I could hear it.... grrruuummmmbbbbllleeee... I know, long parenthesis, sorry, but you are probably used to that by now :-)...

I wish I wouldn't need any sleep at all so that I would have more time to do all those FUN things that excite me... Like writing those stupid things that go through my mind all the time and hope to entertain you with it. Write a little less stupid things in short film scenarios, and then write hopefully intelligent and more interesting things in novels, and also get some work done for my employer so that I can pay the bills and have a few little extras like that great week-end I had last week at L'Eau à la bouche, etc... etc... etc...

But nope, my body doesn't like it if I don't sleep enough. Earlier this week, I had an ugly blood stain in the white of my left eye, I also have two bad 'aphthous ulcères' in my mouth, one on the side of the tongue close where the upper and lower teeth meet... ouch!... very painful when I eat (so I kind of lost my appetite this week), and another one on the inside of my upper lip... no fun...

So my body talks to me by sending those weird encoded message when I don't have enough sleep... I say weird encoded because I don't really feel sleep, I don't feel tired, my mood doesn't change much (OK, I might a little less patient with my kids, but I still make them laugh a lot :-)... So it seems I need to suffer to get the message and try to sleep more...

But next week, I'll be in California, this is not a place to sleep. I'm there for work, first, of course, but I also want to get the best of it... we'll see... I'll keep you posted... But for sure... I'll have fun... I know I will... Especially tomorrow... I already told about this girl I haven't seen in 27 years, right? I'm taking off in about 24 hours now...

Till then!

BYE
MAD

What are we doing here?

Today I heard about a friend who passed away last night. Wasn’t a very close friend, but the little interactions we had a few years ago were very interesting. What struck me the most when I learned about his death is what his sister was saying about him; how he invested the last year of his life teaching others about life and death. You can read some of his teaching on a blog he wrote at http://healemru.com.

It reminded me of the Last Lecture from Randy Pausch, this Carnegie Melon professor who died less than two months ago after spending the last year of his life teaching the rest of the world about the importance of doing something with our lives.

Why wait for the last year of our lives to spread the word. I wrote an essay 10 years ago about the meaning of life (and I talk about it in this post about Making the world a better place). It was one of my first writing efforts and is a little clumsily written, but the essence of that essay can be summarized simply in two rules of life:

1. Do everything you can to make the life of others more enjoyable, either now or in the future.
   
   
2. Enjoy every moment of your life…
   Thanks to all that others have done in the past (and present)
   to make our lives more fun today.

In an even simpler way

1. Give for the future
2. Receive from the past

Darwin explained how natural selection helped species adapt to their environment by the survival of the fittest. Humans have found ways to adapt the environment to their needs and the ones that survived were those who paved the way for the coming generations… This is what makes us human…


So be human and invest your life in transforming our environment to better suit our needs, including yours… I know I will…

And never, ever, forget… to have fun!!!

BYE
MAD… a little sad, but still MAD…

Another morning train quickie

Salut,

long time no see... Did you miss me? I missed you... But things are a little eclectic (I actually meant hectic, but eclectic kind of fits too :-) these days. I'm currently sitting in the train, half way to my destination (which is the downtown terminus, and my home stop is at the other end of the track), we are now crossing Mercier bridge, and the view is great here, especially with the clear and sunny blue sky we have this morning, the St-Lawrence river is a a truly beautiful sight.

I was going through my email and decided to take a little break to talk to you a little bit. I told you about Kino on Friday, and then I went to a very nice place in the Laurentian called L'Eau à la bouche. very good food, and wine (we had the special menu where they provide a different type of wine with all the different dishes and explain why they chose that specific wine, very nice)... Anyway, very nice week-end... I also went to a VIP night for a Kino fund raiser on Monday, that was fun too, and my usual 120Km detour got me home at 3h30 Tuesday morning, so sleep is kind of ow priority these days...

I also told you a few post back that there will be changes at the office and that I might have to go to California to discuss it (poor kid). Well we finally booked our trip, we will be there next week. But fun thing about this trip is that I will make a pit stop in Denver and stay there for a few hours to meet a friend. We have seen each other just once, and that was over 27 years ago... We have writtne for a few years after that and found each other again recently via Linked in (no, Facebook is not the only way of making contact with old friends).

We had met at the "Sitting bull" ranch near Lake George in 1981 (I think), she was from New-York. We actually didn't spend that much time together, but she was very good looking (and nice too), and I was a teen, you know... And the funny thing is that, fate decided that we would keep contact in an interesting way. We were about to leave, and my dad realized that there was a mistake on his bill (or something like that) and had to go back to reception. I followed him and saw her on the way, we talked a little bit and when I told her we were leaving, she offered to exchange address so we could write... And we did... For many years...

OK, I think need to go back to work... I don't even have time to work on my Novel these days, just a few minutes here and there on the bus. But I started working on the music that will go with. I went to spend the night at my friend Norm who has an interesting studio in his basement (and he's a much better musician than I am), so that we start collaborating on this music... I will most probably post the results of our creative sessions here... as we make progress...

Talking about creation, I still didn't talk to you about the Creators Club Redux, but I will... Don't worry, I will... But not today... Gotta go back to work... Anyway, we are approaching downtown now... So I wish you a good one... Till next time...

BYE
MAD

I'm gooooood... :-)

Salut,

sitting at the Café l'Extasse, close to my kids school. I come here for good coffee and breakfast from time to time... I also sometimes bring dates here for the "day after" breakfast ;-)... This morning, I'm alone... Today is not the same kind of "day after", this morning is the day after Kino... And I feel gooood... I'm gooood....

I won the challenge of the month last night. with this movie:
The challenge of the month was to make a movie for blind people. A movie that we could listen to without any images, which we did at first, and then we played again the three movies that were presented for the challenge, but with the images this time.

You can find more details about Kino on our web site, but I can tell you briefly about the "Défi du mois" which is to make a short film that is not longer than 2 minutes and that has an imposed theme or technical constraint. We present all the "Défis" at the end of the night and we choose a winner from an applaudOmeeter (aka the very beautiful yet a little bitchy, in a very friendly way, Anaïs Favron ;-).

Last night, it was a close call... I think my film was better than the others, but the others had more friends there... :-) I know, it might sound pretentious and defensive but Anaïs said it herself, she decided that I was going to win because the applauds I had were more generalized and global, even if not quite as loud as some other much more localized applauds... Anyway, I won, that's what count...

I have been beaten before by a guy who had many more friends there even though his film was really not as good as this one which I presented on that night:


This actually shows that being good is often... not enough... There are so many things that are needed to achieve success... It takes some raw talent (I like to think I have that) and energy (which I know I have) as well as the guts to convince people that what you do is worth millions (I totally suck at this). I'm probably the worst salesman you will ever meet (if you ever meet me ;-). People like me need to collaborate with others who have that talent and are willing to invest it in combination with someone else talent and make it shine... I have not met mine yet... Ho well... But it's OK, because... I know... I'm gooood.... :-)

You don't believe me? Just take a quick peek at MultiMAD.com (in English or French). It is far from being complete but it should give you an idea of how good I am... :-) Some of you are already thinking: "How pretentious of him again. How dare HE tells us he's good, we should be the one telling him he's good, if he actually IS good." And you are probably right, I keep telling my eldest to stop saying how good she is and let others tell her... But at the same time, we must never ever forget how good we are...

I'm convinced YOU are good... Maybe not in the same fields that I'm good at... Most probably in some fields that I totally suck at... But YOU are good... I know you are... Do you?... So don't be shy... Be Good... And don't forget... HAVE FUN!!! :-)

BYE
MAD... the Gooood one :-)

Old habits can die young...

Sitting in the car. Stuck in traffic... Bad move... I thought it would be OK, it's Friday... I just heard on the radio that the other bridge are clear... Ho well... That can happen when you make split second decisions...

I decided to take the car downtown today because I'm going to Kino tonight. I'm presenting a short film to take up the monthly challenge. This time, we have to make a movie for blind people.

Damn... I thought the traffic was bad on the bridge, and I thought I would be clear once on the island... But nnnoooo... Bonaventure highway is jam pack... I guess I lost the traffic patience I used to have before I started using public transit... Ho well...

Pink is entertaining me through this gloomy Friday morning traffic. I bought this CD for my kids but I'm starting to like it. I always find it interesting to look at how music evolve across generations, and how people deal with other generations' music. Just imagine how you felt about old people music when you were a kid. There is a very good chance that today's kids think the wand way about the music you like. And don't forget how you felt when old people were criticizing your musical tastes (or any other aspects of your life as a matter of fact), so be careful the next time you think about criticizing the tastes of another generation.

OK, I'm out of the car now. In the elevator up to street level. Will walk outside. It's nice outside this morning.

I hope you'll have a nice week-end. I'm going to L'eau à la bouche with GG tomorrow. I heard they have great food there... We'll try their Découverte menu which includes a specific selection of wine glasses with each serving... hummmm yummy.... I'll probably tell you about it next week... As for the other things I promised to talk about soon... So I guess will not run dry soon... if ever :-)

BYE
MAD.. getting older every day, yet staying as hip as I can... If ever...

Train quickie about Changes!

Salut,

I’m on the train back home to pick up the kids at school after a two day break they spent with their mom. Then, we will go to the restaurant, as we’ve been doing for many years now. It's the traditional Wednesday night dinner at the restaurant. Some traditions are not meant to change.

With all the turmoil in the market these days, with the merger of some companies and the disappearance of others, even successful companies like Google need to react to these changes. Don’t get me wrong, Google is in great financial shape. But Google being smart, and Google not sitting on its success (trust me, even with all the success it has, Google has never ever sit on it, it’s true), Google still need to make sure it will remain in great financial state.

But I’m not worried, and I definitely won’t complain. I have friends who lost their jobs recently, some great brand names are on the verge of disappearing, history is turning pages faster than ever these days… And actually, all in all, change is good… But change can also be frightening.

I was totally scared when the prospect of a divorce started shedding some of its darkness over my marriage… But 3 years after, all in all, I think it was a good thing. Not that the change I’m referring to here (even if you have no clue of what I’m talking about yet), is not nearly as bad as a divorce… But it is a change anyway, and it will rock the balance of things for me in the next few weeks.

When I started the process of leaving Softimage, about a year ago, it really felt like a divorce. I had been thinking about it for a few years, and I felt I was breaking something that I had built for over 13 years. I felt loyalty to my employer who brought me so many good things, and I accepted the less good things that came with it… Just like a marriage… A job is very similar to a relationship…

This time around, it is very different. I won’t quit Google, and Google is not going to kick me out either. So the relationship stays, but the context will change… Google is realigning some of its strategies and it affects my involvement in the product I’m currently working on. Yet, it is still unclear what I will be working on. The good thing is that I know it will be something more important than what I was doing before. Because Google is smart, Google wants to do the right things, and have the right people doing it. So I trust Google to find me a better nest to lay my eggs based on the skills I have. So it will be a good change, so why is it scary?

It is probably that moment, in the middle, where you know what you are NOT going to be doing but you don’t know WHAT you will be working on… This is a little frightening… Exciting at the same time… But still… Frightening…

So I thought I would share this with you, and I will most probably have more to tell you about this in the coming weeks. I will most likely have to travel to California to discuss this with other people there (I know, life could be so much worst)… So I will stop here for now… And will keep more for later… As for that Creators Club Redux I was telling you about this morning… More later… Stay tuned…

BYE
MAD...
Who won't change... the world changes... But life keeps rocking!

A frame of mine is a friend of mind

Sitting in the train. Had a great night with my friends of the creators club redux yesterday. I'll tell you more about them in another post.

But I forgot to recharge my MacBook (which I used to take notes last night) so I'm typing this on my phone... At least I'm not driving... :) And since I can hardly work on my novel on my phone... Might as well treat myself with a post... Yes. It is a treat to me to write to you like that...

About the title of this post "A frame of mine is a friend of mind". I like to coin these phrases with play on words. When I started writing lyrics to go with the music I compose, I was often looking for catchy phrases like that (one of my favorites and very early song I wrote in the mid 80's is called "A maze in love", it was inspirée from a McCartney song where he sings "baby I'm amazed at the way I love you".

Back to this "A frame of mine that is a friend of mind" thing. What could it mean? Even though these play on words often sounds like they were coined just to sound cool and not mean much, I believe that our mind (this friend of mine :) is much more powerful than we give it credit for...

So I guess this "frame of mine" is the way I organise things around me. I like it when things are well thought out, even though I may sometimes sound foolish and random (it's all a big scam you know:))... So you probably guessed by now what this friend of mind is... Like we all do with our friends, I try to take good care of my mind, and she has been very kind with me so far too (hey! A kind mind... That sounds pretty cool too, doesn't it?). Now if I could only say the same thing about my heart... Ho well... One day... One day...

Train is arriving downtown...

Have a good one...

Till next time...

BYE
MAD... The twisted mine :)

Moody weather...

Salut,

Sitting in a restaurant of the dix30 after an afternoon of shopping with the girls. I'm typing this on my phone while the kids are reading new books I just bought for them, while we wait for our food.
We had a very nice day. Sunny and warm. Changed the tires on both cars, removed the Halloween decorations with the kids and they even had fun raking off some leaves and cleaning up the flower beds...

And you? How did you enjoy this great weather of the first Saturday of November? Don't be shy, let us know, I know you're dying to tell us... :-)

It's kind of amazing how the weather influences our mood. How come we (at least most of us) feel so much better under bright sunshine as opposed to gloomy cold grey raining clouds? Some will say it is obvious, but I challenge them to come up with an explanation that has more meat around the bone than over-simplistic statements like:
"because we feel better under good weather" or "it is just more comfortable"...

Aren't we comfy under a nice hot shower? Ok, we're naked and the water temperature is under our control, but still...

Is it just a question of comfort, or is there something else in rain and sunshine that affects our mood? What do you think?

BYE
MAD
P.S.: I took a few interesting shots of the day after Halloween...
Check them out: Halloween2008TheDayAfter