By now, I should probably have a whole category dedicated to “posts in which I apologize for being a lazy dilettante who wanders off from time to time, transfixed by something shiny”.
I don’t want to say I haven’t posted in a while, but there have been two – two! – Slug is Doug podcast episodes released since my last post.
I can explain away a week or two in August – kind of – because my MacBook was in the shop getting a flaw on the display screen fixed. The other computers in our house were in places that were far too hot (no A/C in the house yet, long story, maybe I’ll tell you that one some other time) to even contemplate spending time in.
More than that, though, the summer has been a busy one. Work, yes, and some work-related travel for both Spouse and I, but also some play; a trip to Sudbury, a fishing trip, some writing projects (more on that in a moment), some music projects, a lot of yard-related chores (and yet the place is still a mess), a number of visits from family and friends (including the Second Sort Of Annual Founders’ Day Celebration)- and lots of getting ready for an addition to our family. That last bit, I think, explains a lot about why I’ve found it difficult to write extensively here for some time.
I have talked about it on Twitter a little, but here’s the skinny: Spouse and I are expecting to be joined by Even More Junior Than Junior (EMJTJ), our first child, in about two and a half months’ time. In this space, I’ve tried to strike a certain balance concerning personal matters; I tend to include them in my writing because – for better or for worse – I think that I just write better when I bring the personal context into things. I know, though, that Spouse is a more private person than I am, and I have tried to respect her clearly articulated (and reasonable) wishes not to have the minutiae of her life publicly documented across the Interwebs for time immemorial. Similar concerns would apply for EMJTJ; I have no doubt I’ll be documenting my soon to be sleep-deprived travels through the poop- and vomit-rich land of fatherhood, but I don’t want to make a public spectacle out of my son. That will be something he can do on his own, no doubt in a licensed establishment, on some evening in the distant future.
Obviously, a lot of our energies have been focussed on the pregnancy over the last few months. As we slowly get our home and our lives ready for the changes that are about to come, I think I have also been struggling with what, if anything, I ought to write here about the pregnancy. As you can tell from the dearth of material hereabouts recently, I have obviously decided – I think mostly unconsciously – to edit that part of our lives out of the story that unfolds here. There are reasons for my reluctance that go beyond the obvious privacy concerns. Neither Spouse nor I are what you would consider to be “youthful” first parents, so we’ve been a bit hesitant to allow ourselves to just enjoy the process, I suppose out of a sort of superstitious concern that we might be tempting fate to deal our child a host of medical problems to punish us for our hubris. Writing it out makes explicit how silly that is, but I would be lying if I didn’t own up to using something like that thought process over the last few months.
Anyway, in general terms, all is well. Spouse – and EMJTJ, so far as we know – are both healthy. We have taken to referring to the little fellow as “Furious G”, thinking that it would do him well to get an early start on some street cred. Since he is currently unable to knock over a liquor store, bust either a rhyme or a move and has no posse, we figured a hip hop name would be a good place to start.
Aside from producing a human life, or at least a nascent one, during my digital estrangement from you, I have been doing some writing. Much of this writing has happened at work and for work purposes. It is boring and technical and awful and confidential, so I’ll tell you nothing about it. The only reason I mention it is because that too partly explains why I haven’t been using my leisure time to write more and post it here. In addition to the work writing, though, I also spent some time writing an article for the Maple Street Press 2010-2011 Maple Leafs Annual, which is available now in Chapters Indigo stores across Canada, as well as on many other newsstands in the Greater Toronto Area. You can also order a copy online from Maple Street Press (just click the last link).
My article is an update on the rebuild of the Toronto Maple Leafs, exploring further the ideas I developed in last year’s edition of the Annual. It’s called “Full Speed Ahead” and I am once again genuinely interested in hearing what people have to say about it. Please drop me a note in the Comments below if you’ve read it (or last year’s article, for that matter).
When I finished the article about a month and a half ago, I got in touch with Alec Brownscombe (the editor of the publication) and asked him to send me certain information so that I could help him promote the thing. As busy as he was, he did send along the info I asked for – and it sat in my inbox waiting to be developed into a blog post. While I was distracted, the magazine was made available for pre-order online in August, and I promised myself that I’d have something up the day before it was scheduled to appear on shelves in stores. That day came and went too, lost amid the excitement of the arrival of my newest niece Clara. Now here we are, half way through September and I am re-calibrating my target for “before the opening of NHL training camps.”
I hope to have a little something for you tomorrow on what’s in the Annual. Until then – I missed you. I’ll try to keep in touch.
