The Beginning of the Season's End...



"Back at the office": January, 2014.

As the end of the hockey season approaches, there are a few memories circling in my head when I think of where I hope the EKU Hockey program goes from here. And it is for this unlikely reason, Mats Naslund, Lou Holtz and my friend Paul Brower have somehow become interrelated.


In 1986, before the specialization boom when athletes still spent their summers doing other things, I remember amidst the championship excitement of watching Mats Naslund getting interviewed by Hockey Night in Canada’s Dick Irvin in the celebratory dressing room in Calgary. When asked how he was going to celebrate the Stanley Cup, Naslund told viewers he was going to celebrate by taking a couple of weeks off before getting back into shape.

No matter what, we need to continue working hard in the off season.

The second thing I recall is reading Lou Holtz’s book on the Notre Dame 1988 Championship season and remember noting immediately how the book began right after the Irish lost in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day… 8 months before the season began and what the book’s 4-month season and main narrative was about. Recruiting, off-season conditioning, and scheduling… these are the things that build successful programs.

Finally, in a more recent memory, I remember losing with Paul Brower with our Nichols tennis teams in conference play and immediately hitting the recruiting websites. Now it’s four years (yet many life lessons and stories) later from those interesting days and I now know that his efforts have been well worth it as he continues to find top 25 recruiting classes at Nichols year in, year out. No matter what time of the season, we are always building for something better.

I have been so grateful for the return to hockey this year and in particular, some of the great players I inherited with no chance to recruit anybody. There are many practices and games where I would sit there amongst a challenging schedule, often taking one on the chin (with the idea to remind myself for later on when things improve to still remember) and say to myself, “Isn’t it great that you at least have (name of player)!”. There’s no doubt this season has been both humbling and rewarding.

We are 5-9-2 (with the “2” my non-“TBH” way of erasing losses by labeling an overtime and a shootout loss as "ties") and I am still loving the battle despite the unusually frigid temperatures in Kentucky. A year ago, not so sure if I was looking long term here in Kentucky, and frigid days like this one would have made it even worst. I have obviously discovered in the education business, you really never can be sure.


However, despite my still missing the Florida temperatures from my great Christmas holiday and the losing record, today is still a day to be grateful for. I have 7 commits for next year, many of whom have played the game at a decent level already (including some great young talent), a group of guys who want to work hard, and an acceptance to present at NASSM for the first time since 2009 just arrived by email today.


This coming weekend is an "off-weekend" (after Appalachia State cancelled) to reflect… and maybe find a frozen pond to go play some outdoor hockey. As always, the cycles of hockey and life, each with their own memories of championships, life experiences, and hopes of landing the next big recruit, go on in my road less traveled...

The Big Picture

The amazing young author, Adam Shepard, recently sent me his latest book. The inscription was one of the great compliments I have ever received in awhile. I had met Adam right before the "insanity" began in 2010 when he was at my former school talking about his book, "Scratch Beginnings". Adam's new book updating us all on his ife reminded me of the big picture... what I thought was going to be lemons, I got lemonade in 2011 spending a year in New York in 2011, and eventually back in my dream coaching position. It also reminded me to keep the big picture in mind this season.


So when do you recall the big picture? When It's 3 AM and you stare at the wall with a permagrin n your face after beating a team in a close game prompting you to climb up on the glass and high five every fan in the rink... or when it's 3 AM you are at a Quality Inn in Danville having just left an amazing loft rental in Quebec City to fly back to drive 3 hours to lose 7-1. In both instances, you try to remember how you had that same permagrin smile in a basement apartment in Regina after coming back from 3-0 down to beat Bethune in 2002 with Coach John Smith and the same awful feeling in your gut after tough lopsided losses with the Argos in 2000 with Terry O'Malley, and remind yourself that you have lived the same feelings before... although this year they get to be often felt in the same season about 2 weeks apart.


This past weekend on a recruiting trip, I got the ultimate reminder of why I am back in coaching. I got to watch Curtis McElhinney play for the Columbus Blue Jackets. While I am not sure if any of my current players will get the same post hockey career experience (it could happen...), I still get the same pride seeing other former players doing cool things. Interesting that Curtis was in nets with those losses and Adam Shaffer, the same amazing guy that got the game winning goal (on a broken ankle no less... courage!) in 2002 is now an Executive Chef. So whether it's the Shane Kellys now coaching the same Pownal Red Devils I got to coach in 2004 or the guys who might find themselves saying "keep doing what you're doing" recalling when their clueless tennis coach tried to help them, I merely hope to hear stories in the future in how my current players are saving lives in a fire (staying safe themselves), flying people around the country as pilots, or simply being great role models for their respective families.


The seasons, life and hockey, go on...

End of the 1st Period

At the crossroads and still smiling at 4 and 3...

After a tough weekend in Dayton, it was nice to get home and take a couple of more wins against Memphis last weekend. With Ball State at home and Eastern Illinois the week after, I am also adding the presenting of research at the NASSS conference in Quebec City on "Athlete Aggression" into my schedule. There is no doubt by time I reach the weekend of November 15th and looking at some potential hockey recruits in Columbus, Ohio (catching my injury riddled Habs on that Friday night), we could be sitting on the top of something special or struggling to survive. It's a fun challenge.


With the plans of EKU playing a 23-game schedule we have reached the 1/3 mark of the season. The 25-minute drives, the late nigths (3:30 AM this weekend), and non-stop thoughts about the team's progress, this is the closest things I have had to parenthood in my lifetime. For the fatigue alone, it was nice to deliver a home victory and perform an overhead "Sir Alex" clap to our crazy fans on both nights... and I would say more parents deserve this type of moment that I clearly have not had the chance to understand. This time last year I was at the Lexington Food Show hanging out with my favorite celebrity chef, Tyler Florence. This year, with the same Lexington Food Show on, I was simply too tired to do anything social. Yesterday's trip to Joseph Beth bookstore was the closest thing to a "social moment". It's all about sacrifice.


Still loving the battle... and now for Ball State. The last time I saw them live in any sport, a young Bonzi Wells was getting upset by my CMU Chippewas in MAC basketball regular season action in 1998. They did beat us in football in overtime that year. Ah, glory days. I will talk about these days the same in about 15 years.

Ready for Another Hockey Weekend

After the excitement of winning our first game last Friday, it was a coaching challenge to get the boys up for Saturday. Toughest parts of blowouts is preparing the next day. While 6-3 was much closer, I was beyond happy to get the result. Of course, the best part for the players was it being club hockey, my job as a coach pretty well ended at the buzzer. I hit the hot tub and they hit Beale Street.

After midterms, it was Fall break and for me a little Canadian Thankgving. I was quite happy to back in the city where the coaching dream once fell short in 2001 but that on a cold night in 2012 on a Tuesday night in West Ottawa that I remembered (in the middle of an evening community skate) the joys of giving back to my community in my favorite way. The weekend featured family time and a look at a potential recruit playing some Junior B hockey in the EOJHL.

Getting two wins under our belt was huge for the team and I am hopeful for that little spark of a sign of things to come. I am not going to lie: I certainly sent out many emails on Monday and Tuesday after our Memphis weekend to potential recruits. With the latest story coming out last week talking about how schools with high tuition rates use sports as a method to attract students willing to pay good money for “the experience of playing college hockey”, I think we are doing just that. Between practices, dry land training, and access to the many of the same facilties as our NCAA D-I athletes, I am quite proud of the things we are doing in a very unique sporting situation.

My other favorite part of taking two on the weekend is the congratulatory moments you have with other coaches, some of who make a lot more money than I do doing this. The professor job certainly pays more… but nothing beats the passion from coaching.

My repeated mantra has been “we area work in progress”. Our practice last night indicated we still have a lot of work to do… the first and sweep in the history of the program isn’t the reason why I took the job. Looking for more of the same things to come in Dayton this weekend.

And finally... in the category of "things that stay off the blog" and will continue to do so in recognizing Eric Cantona's famous words, I wanted to mention that I made it six straight yesterday as in "Six. Straight. Positive. WRITTEN. Performance. Evaluations." Regardless... Thank you for that paid trip to New York between 4 and 5.

A Night of Firsts...

Biting into the game puck...

On a night that featured many firsts (i.e. guys with their first goal of the season/career, first points, etc.), on a personal level, I think my Facebook post described it best: ... the last time EKU won a hockey game, I was living in New York. The last time I won a hockey game, Memphis, tonight's opponents still loved their (former and now the current UK) basketball coach. Time for me to open a steakhouse?









First win, hopefully of many, in a new era. New adjustment is the whole new media. Between tweeting out the results, posting to Facebook, I still have to call my mother in the morning.

Hoping for a sweep.
Today's plan is a light jog, stretch, lunch, rest and head back to the rink. With our captain back on the ice with us tonight, hoping for more of the same.


Note: completed the Sweep on Saturday with a 6-3 win. Drive back through the rain and a busy Monday morning... more on the "Sweep" later. Happy Monday!! - JC 10/7/2013

Getting Ready for Memphis



Finding my old UNB scribbler... "lotsa work to do!"

 

Happy to say that my previous blog title, "Jumping Off the Ivory Tower", followed by a tough blowout loss did not lead to my jumping off any tall buildings (besides the $230.00/month apartment rental, the best part of not living in New York is how this is much easier to avoid). The score line was... "what it was" and I knew we might be in trouble in warm up. On a night we lost 8-1, it is hard to believe there was a moment that we were up 1-0. As for the atmosphere... the fans didn’t stop the whole game. Even harder to believe is that in Kentucky, it was on a night when we lost badly, I was involved in some of the best atmosphere I have ever seen as a coach. No exaggerating!


It was still tough on the ego despite the great noise from our fans. By time I was licking my wounds on Sunday, I had the sound off the TV watching NFL football. I had plenty of time and much to reflect upon last Sunday. In my "real job", class discussions have focused a lot on lately on how recruiting impacts coaching as a whole no matter what the sport is. I can only say that I buried my soul into the 5 weeks leading into the first game. The best part has been re-finding my UNB scribbler (the same scribble I found after 18 months in storage in Massachusetts last year). Mike Johnston's PHE 2283 class still has some "cutting edge" stuff in it that a lot of coaches still haven't picked up on 20 years later. We'll continue to work with what we've got: Good kids who work hard.

I am also happy to note that, despite the insanity of my schedule last week, I was able to get my second year self-evaluation porfolio done and handed in on time on Friday. My portfolio can be summed up in one word: "Grateful". It doesn't take re-reading my blog for some of the hidden meanings in my past writings to know this. However, I do think the current Volleyball Graduate Assistant summed it all up better than any thank you message I received and included in my portfolio: Great to be a Colonel!

Speaking with hashtags is a new thing these days when communicating on Twitter. While it would be nice to #beatmemphis, I am merely hoping for a great weekend. Practice tonight, dry land tomorrow night, and a big practice on Wednesday before getting ready for travel on Friday. If the guys are as ready as their coach, it should be a great weekend. The process continues.

Jumping Off "The Ivory Tower" and Back into Coaching

36 hours until the return of Coach Joel

Where was it? Somewhere around the time I was walking back from the market one day in 2012 during the the cold winter of Ottawa and I said, “It’s time to get back to our passion… coaching hockey.” I missed New York (still do) and it was my focal point for a long time, but when it failed to come back into my life, I knew the logical step.

But first, there was an adventure still yet to happen since I last wrote on here. By time Neil Diamond’s “Spring became the summer” in 2012, I needed a full-time position and the interview tour of United States began in April. Still being wrongly labeled in my career (not in writing), late in the summer of 2012 there were some changes that happened in my previous place of employment allowing for my name to be cleared. After 9 campus visits, there was only interview left. With my name finally cleared, I got an offer on the table during the interview from Eastern Kentucky University.

And so I went to Kentucky, and with much relief, back on the tenure track. Knowing my story, some may say getting a tenure track position was a comeback. I am not so sure. As aspiring writers, we all search for superlatives when the conversation turns to extraordinary deeds involving comebacks (paraphrasing here... loved that line by a writer* describing the 1999 Treble won by Manchester United). In sport, a big part of my life, I recall the cold-eyed overtime winning instinct of the Montreal Canadiens in 1993, the aforementioned Manchester United’s never-say-die comeback in 1999, and the Pownal Red Devils, the never-say-die hockey team I coached to an Atlantic Championship in 2004; recalling each and every one of these instances often gives me hope that anything is possible. The doctoral dissertation to finally capture my Ph.D. was a personal solitary battle but it didn’t involve coming from behind the way I did. From now I will also recall the day I got the job offer at EKU but only knowing it wasn't a comeback as it swept beyond the limitations of that term. It was a resurrection. But I wasn’t finished, yet.

Socially, it was a tough first year in Kentucky. Culture shock aside, anywhere after New York living was going to be an adjustment. In my effort to avoid going stale, more comebacks have come along. And keeping that promise I made to myself on that cold winter's day, I am now back pursuing my passion again as the Head Coach of the Eastern Kentucky University club hockey team... the same level I coached when I began this blog in 2005. Besides my usual teaching at the undergrad level, I am now also teaching graduate classes in Marketing and Finance. Things that just wouldn’t have happened without my time in New York. In an epic battle, you don't look for external rewards through other people or careers. But what a reward I was giving in 2010. Interesting that I have been indirectly invited me back to teach a class next summer in Massachusetts. I plan on writing this all down. It’s probably a best seller... under a pseudo author name!

The thing that I forgot about coaching? Time consumption was known ahead of time. So it wasn’t the drives to the rink, the practice planning, the late hours or even the dedication to recruiting. It was how it consumes your soul. I totally forgot since my last game in New Mexico in 2006 just how much coaching hockey was part of my “raison d’etre”.

Besides the renewed passion, the one thing that I am liking about coaching 7 years later? Group communication much simpler now (group text to let people know practice time changes much better than a "phone tree") and teaching hockey systems with a classroom with access to youtube and instructional graphics. How did I not do this before?

So I am back officially tomorrow behind the bench, yes, a midnight Saturday game, back behind the bench and back on this blog getting ready for EKU Vs. Cincinnati. Hopefully finding that hope and beauty... not at a New York City piano bar but in a ice hockey rink in Lexington.

*James Lawton Daily Express as quoted via http://www.manutdtreble.com/quotes.htm

March of Champions

"Go on Giggsy!" As Sir Ryan goes, I go at times. Hoping the legend's late goal last Sunday is a sign of things to come.







Back in Ottawa and on the blog after a great couple of weeks. I enjoyed my trip to home, even if it might have been a reminder as to why I am more than happy to be away from the Island during its crazy ahrsh winters.

There was an old advertisement on my mind today.

“If I give you a clean sheet, what will you write?
Will your words be long and graceful, or short and sweet?
Will it be poetry, or just plain English?
If you have something to say, say it now.
For soon, always too soon my sheet will be filled.
And this chapter will end sure as the next will begin.
With a clean sheet…
new authors…
and a million possibilities.”

Looking forward to a great March!

Reading Week: Heading to Prince Edward Island

(Photo of my nephew Samuel pointing to where his Nana and Papa live).

Prince Edward Isle, to thee
Our hearts shall faithful be

The last time I was home in February, I was in the middle of climbing up the proverbial playoff mountain with the Pownal Red Devils. It's "Spring Break" at the University of Ottawa and I am heading home to PEI check in with the parents, check in with Moulded Image and perhaps find some wine. I won a 10-dollar gift certificate from the Merchantman Pub so it's looking like it will be an old fashioned Friday night on PEI... likely hitting the Canton later as well.

Happy to say I have landed a few more publications. I have a piece on choosing the right sports management program for a Culture Magazine/Blog. They also want me to write a piece on scrapbooking... who me?

The winter rolls along...

Ottawa Update

(Photos: my new faculty ID and my picture of me at the computer while making Coq au Vin last week).















Where am I, now? I am in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Similar to my previous position, I left NYU with excellent written performance evaluations. Only this time, as an adjunct, there were simply no classes for me to teach (except to be truthful and thankful, with less emotional scars). However, I am happy to say I will be teaching at the University of Ottawa/Universite d’Ottawa (Canada’s only official bilingual University marketed as “Canada’s University”) this semester. Besides its excellent academic reputation, I am also being provided with 4 Teaching Assistants to mentor.

I didn’t exactly want to leave the center of the universe but the award of being close to my nephews and also being able see my parents more often (12 hours away but a cheaper flight) has been so far a VERY nice bonus. Living in an amazing sublet (half of my NYC cost) in the Hintonburg area (great neighborhood for theatre, markets, and restaurants) of Ottawa for 4 months before possibly heading home to teach a class at UPEI this summer.

As far as next Fall, I am merely asking that the "Did you hear anything?" questions be put on hold. I can tell you that Andrei Kirilenko went to Russia this past year during the NBA stoppage and he's expected back someday.

At this time I simply want to thank Bob Boland for allowing me to live the dream in allowing me to live in the greatest city in the world in 2011. To my NYC friends I have made in the last 12 months, you are still in my heart and always will be. I hope to see you all at the Giggs/Cormier “Shared testimonial” at Nevada Smith’s in May of 2012 or 2013 (Giggs will determine if it’s still on... then again, if I am really like “Sir Ryan”, perhaps we will both be back next year).

Meanwhile, to all my friends, please know that the heat is always on here (because yes, it’s cold!). If you’re ever up for a skate on the Rideau, followed by a beaver tail, and of course, a hot toddy to warm up even more after, please let me know. On the rink called life, I can only tell you to skate straight, keep your head up, and always be “stick ready” (stick on the ice with both hands!) because you just never know what kind of rebound you’ll get. I certainly enjoyed the last rebound. And what an experience! I will always love New York.

There you have it...an update. Still smiling...

Top 5 NYC Moments

Top 5 moments in order of photos...
1. “Manchester United beats Chelsea”. Cinco de Mayo Thursday makes for an extended weekend, texts from the graduation ceremony from the class of 2011 back in Massachusetts on Saturday followed by the greatest day of my life: United wins the league, I do brunch, have an afternoon nap, have a great dinner, and inspired by Ryan Giggs, have another great night out with karaoke until 3 AM (photo of my Nevada Smith’s lads).

2. Birthday week. It was a typical week but that’s what made it so great. East Village living just seemed extra special those three days but highlighted with a great Thanksgiving day.

3. Fall 2011 Class two offering… I was on PEI but it involved New York. Singing “New York State of Mind”, Sinatra’s “New York, New York” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqlJl1LfDP4) and “One Day Like This” until 2 AM.

4. Family visit(s). My late grandfather once said if he made a million dollars, he was going to New York. Meeting my parents at Grand Central on their way back from Florida and having dinner with my brother and father at Les Halles. Watching the Canadiens with the tickets bought my former students.

5. New York Public Library moments… researching and writing an article for the Encyclopedia of Sports management and Sports Marketing, having lunch on outside terrace one day, and skating at the Bryant pond. The fact that I taught across the street from the NYPL is still mind boggling to me. Like a dream.

Honorable (too many to) mention. “Class nights”- I love what I do and absolutely think NYU brought back my love of teaching after a challenging final chapter in Massachusetts, reuniting with my childhood girlfriend Katherine, Brooklyn nights and mornings with Stevo, playoff games at the Blue Moon, great dinners at the Post House with Bob, wine nights at Uncorked, Winebar, and Von wine bar ($4 happy hour), Sunday NFL football at 13th Step, Trader Joe’s budget, poutine at Pommes Frites, Halal Cart on 53rd and 6th, “Hope and Beauty” moments in May, NYSC workouts, Grande Skinny Caramel Mocs at Starbucks, people watching and coffee at Think on the corner of Bowery and Bleeker, 2A nights, amazing brunches at Cinema Café and Black Swan, meeting the actual practitioners of professional sports, lobster paella at El Paso, ball hockey games and post-game parties at Tompkins Square, Rooney’s bicycle kick, Molded Image’s win, meeting the NY Knicks dancers, West Village dates, Central Park walks, and finding peace with the UES...

5K Goal Mission Accomplished!

The sub-20 5K goal was set back in 2006. Between a partially torn Achilles in 2007, finding bad dieting for a while (the effects of “I can afford to eat anything?!” after grad school), running again in 2009 (talked about my goal in the “Last Lecture” series) only to find myself off track again, it has been a journey. So the commitment to fitness and losing about 20lbs., increasing my leg strength, and intervals lead to today on the treadmill (who I have had some other battles with recently) on a post-workout cardio run.

Not sure what it was but basically I was at 10:02 at the 1.5 mile mark going at a 6:00/mile pace, I felt good and I said (probably out loud) "we are in touching distance of a sub 20:00 3-mile” (still recognizing that a 5K is 3.1 miles) so I increased the tempo with the idea that I would do it for a 40-second interval. I kept it going at about 5:40/mile pace until I reached the 2-mile mark at 13:00 and dropped it back to the 6:00/mile pace knowing I could clinch the 3.1 mark at 19:40. I hung in there... and finished with a flurry and was at 19:30 at the 3.1 mile mark.

I can only say it’s amazing when you accomplish something like this. There were no cameras, no cheering, no fanfare but just a bewildered person on the treadmill next to me wondering why I was pumping my fist in my cool down. That’s the glory of running and the glory of sport… finding yourself believing you can do anything in life on a Friday afternoon at New York Sports Club gym in the East Village.

Special thanks to Stephanie who set this goal for me many eons ago and all the people who trudge along in the gym trying to become better simply for the most important person: yourself.

Bridges...

Clinton had his bridge to the 21st century and Sarah Palin had hers to.... when I look at the photo of the Washington bridge, one of the many that take you the island of Manhattan (interesting fact: Hudson discovered it on September 11th), and noticing one thing: there are two lanes to this bridge. This bridge leads to the greatest city that home to every major sports league's operation and home to 6 professional sport franchises, not counting the teams close the area in Long Island and New Jersey. It's where I am teaching classes with people working in the field. When you take the lane to go away from the bridge, it's the rest of the college and universities schools making sure their students get their sport management degrees doing internships with minor league teams and the in-school athletics department, where faculty conduct research that only their peers will read.

As such, loving my life in the East Village teaching at a school where the program isn't just a cash cow but a viable degree where students can gain entry into the field. Looking myself in the mirror is easy. Who made this all happen? Apparently, it was the people who burned the bridge. Happy swimming.

Eric Cantona once said... wait! ( I'm up to here with your philosophy. I'm still getting over the seagulls!) in the movie "Looking for Eric" that

"The most noblest form of revenge is forgiveness"

The Art of Losing

(Picture: NYC apartment last week before going to a function on campus)


Wow.


NYU?


Word slowly gets out.


What happened?


No comment.


I am living in NYC and can afford it.




"One Art"
By Elizabeth Bishop (Worcester, MA)

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

------------------------------------------
Closure on November 22, 2009 to come soon...

Closure on November 22, 2010 to come later...

I might get my voice back soon.

Sardines are still following the trawler, apparently. Mr. Eric has apparently signed for me a NY Cosmos jersey.

Regardless, the Renaissance is alive and well.

Happy New Year From Florida!!

When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea- Eric Cantona

"A Renaissance Man"...should have a detached, cool, nonchalant attitude, and speak well, sing, recite poetry, have proper bearing, be athletic, know the humanities and classics, paint and draw and possess many other skills, always without showy or boastful behavior. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath).

New developments in my life... as such Mark Twain's quote on rumors of his death and some Frank Sinatra lyrics MIGHT be appropriate, but for now a George Costanza quote:

"I am back, baby!"

Happy New Year!

Food and Exercise

It's been an interesting time as usual in New England. Year 4 has started with my running 125 miles since August 7th and a "Fresh Start" in my approach to teaching. Between a daily exercise routine and weekly trivia routine on Thursday, I am finding myself in rituals.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

Perks of the Job

With a student interning with the Yankees, I threw a shirt and tie in a bag and made the 5 hour trip to NYC on Tuesday. After having a quick little dinner at Bobby Flay's "Bar Americain" (fulfilled another little dream goal... been dying to get there forever!), I made my way over to the stadium. It certainly is a modern day Roman Coliseum... of course, the $300 tickets may have helped a lot!

Love the city and I am already looking forward to my program's next trip there in the Fall semester. Off to send out a Thank You note. Ironically, I will be at Fenway on Sunday!

PEI Vacation 2010

One week back from my trip "back home", and I am still in denial. The pictures are in chronolgical order with the video clip at the end from the sailing week... And if a picture is worth a thousand words, the best way to describe the summer at home was "busy". Whether it was first feed of lobster, Canada Day weekend, golfing in the Charlottetown Boys and Girls Club golf tourney (pictured with Bruins prospect Nathan MacIver), sailing in a regatta, attending my 20th High School reunion, or seeing Newfoundland for the first time. It was a terrific trip home. Mom and Dad still are the tops when it comes to my feeling at home.

I wanted to make sure that I mentioned that I saw Leigh MacMillan during the reunion. It was so awesome to know that my blog had another dedicated reader. Jeff and Leigh had apparently been on their own similar "road less traveled" and were very close to New Mexico when I was there, living in Texas. As far as Leigh's comment, "You seem to hold back on here"... it can be best answered with Eric Cantona's answer to reporters after he was suspended for karate kicking a fan.

When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.

There was talk of creating a new blog under a fictional name. Between thiefs being caught on a webcam, the Dr. Phil twins, and some of the other odd adventures post-dissertation, there have been some unbelievable "you can't make this up" moments... but I have learned that you certainly can get in trouble in telling them.

Wishing everybody a terrific end of summer.

Ottawa Weekend

Pictures... "The trip that keeps on giving". Many people have noticed that it was empty; Samuel helping Papa out with the pasta; Thomas and I enjoying a post-pasta picture together.

Nice to get some updated pictures of the nephews after my camera and laptop were stolen last November. Not sure where my life is taking me right now. Home on the Island... or sticking it in Auburn longer. I have a New Mexico visitor coming.