Category: General

Look, a new post!

On By Chris BuddIn General, Reading ChallengeLeave a comment

It’s been a while since my last post.  I’d apologize, but that’s on me.

One day last week, getting out of the shower, I had a great idea for a blog post.  That’s what brought me to the site today, but now that I’m here, I have no sweet clue what it is I wanted to write about.  Instead, you’ll get a couple of short(ish) posts over the next few days.

I’ll start with an update on my reading challenge.  So far this year, I’ve read 17 books, with another 2 in progress, and a couple more in the queue.  It’s been a busy year, book-wise.  Granted, I’m not at 30 books completed like Adam Copeland (WWE Superstar Edge), but I’m quite pleased with having 17 completed.

Finished:

  1. Tales from the Haunted Mansion – Amicus Arcane
  2. Disney At Last (The Return, book 3) – Ridley Pearson
  3. The Obsidian Chamber – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
  4. Universal Harvester – John Darnielle
  5. The Lost City of the Monkey God – Douglas Preston
  6. The Woman in Cabin 10 – Ruth Ware
  7. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – JK Rowling, Jack Thorne & John Tiffany
  8. The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, book 1) – Stephen King
  9. The Universe Has Your Back – Gabrielle Bernstein
  10. Voilà pourquoi cette fille n’est pas ta mère, T1 – Justin Guitard
  11. Voilà pourquoi cette fille n’est pas ta mère, T2 – Justin Guitard
  12. Voilà pourquoi cette fille n’est pas ta mère, T3 – Justin Guitard
  13. Solving the Innovation Mystery – Steve Gladis
  14. The Search / D’aulnay’s Legacy – Louis Robichaud
  15. Full Wolf Moon – Lincoln Child
  16. Be Feel Think Do – Anne Bérubé
  17. Constellations – Nick Payne

Reading:

  • Meddling Kids – Edgar Cantero
  • The Book of Joy – His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams

That’s all for now folks!

 

 

Sh-Boom

On By Chris BuddIn General, MusingsLeave a comment

Oh, life could be a dream (sh-boom)
If I could take you up in paradise up above (sh-boom)
If you would tell me I’m the only one that you love
Life could be a dream, sweetheart

–Sh-Boom, The Crew Cuts (1954)

Over the past few years, there has been an ever-growing chatter as to whether our existence is real or just a simulation in some super powerful computer.  Reading these metaphysical discussions can end up causing an existential crisis of faith type moments in some people.  But that is only partly what this post is about.

Continue reading “Sh-Boom” →

Disconnected

On By Chris BuddIn General, Musings1 Comment

In my previous life, I was well-connected.  From morning til night, I found myself in front of a computer for nearly every instant that I was not working or sleeping.  Actually, even sleep did not always dissuade me as I’d often pull my laptop next to my bed in case someone would message me in the middle of the night.  (I did have friends in Australia, Europe and on the West coast after all!)  I would get up in the morning and the first thing I did was sign in.  I would get home from work – sign in.  I had even set up my apartment so that while seated at my computer, I could watch TV.  My life consisted of being online. I had become an extension of the internet.

It was during these years (the majority of my 20’s really) that I “disconnected” from the real world and connected electronically.  All of my friends were chat buddies.  I would spend countless hours in chat rooms, or just messaging my friends.  I’d communally watch TV with people, chatting about the show during commercials.  (How many “OMG can you believe that?!” conversations about Lost did we have Nat?) Continue reading “Disconnected” →

Disney World – August 2016

On By Chris BuddIn GeneralLeave a comment

It’s been well over two months since I’ve had my trip to Disney World.  Two months, and I’ve not yet written a word about the trip.  Since I’m sitting at work with all of our systems down (over two hours now!), I thought I’d take some time to write a bit.  I didn’t know what to write about, so I thought Disney would be a good way to start.

It had been 4 years since Isabelle and I had been to Disney World.  While we did make a visit to Disneyland in California a couple of years ago, the magic is definitely not the same; to the point where we debated taking a trip to Disney World as a palate cleanser.  But it did not come to pass. Continue reading “Disney World – August 2016” →

Nose-Picking and Butt Stuff

On By Chris BuddIn General, WritingLeave a comment

If there is one thing that I can say about myself is that I am an observer.  I am always watching, listening, observing everything around me.  I tend to notice things that other people don’t.  Over the years, I have always delighted in picking up snippets of conversation of people that I pass by and wondering where the conversation was going or where it started.  Am I alone in doing this?

Occasionally, these little moments of conversation will spur on an idea or catch me in such  a way that I need to jot them down.  Who knows when you might find the perfect reason to use them?  I’ve started keeping a list of pieces of dialogue, ideas, characters, etc. with a hope that I can someday use some of them.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had three specific snippets of conversation that have stuck with me.  The first was by a 4-5 year old kid who said to another child “ça va faire mal à la butt-crack, Nicholas!”  It struck me as so funny at in the moment.  While I know what the context of the dialogue was, I’d rather leave it unspecified here and let you make up your own scenario.

The second was a day or two ago, walking through our building while at work.  “Just let me touch your butt.”  That was it. And they were gone.

The most recent happened today, again at work when I overheard someone utter the phrase “It never fails – every time someone gets up to ask you a question, you’re picking your nose.”

I don’t know that I’ll ever really need or have the opportunity to use these pieces of dialogue in anything I write, but I like to think that by sharing them with you all, you’ll at least imagine a scenario where these bits and bobs were being used.

Happy imagining!

gratitude rock

Appréciation

On By Chris BuddIn GeneralLeave a comment

appreciation

Aujourd’hui, je suis très reconnaissant et appréciatif de tout ce que j’ai dans ma vie.  J’apprécie:

  • mon corps parfait dans son imperfection
  • ma santé
  • l’amour, l’amitié et l’accompagnement que je reçois de ma belle femme
  • notre vie en couple
  • notre belle petite famille avec Roxie
  • toute ma famille et mes amis
  • mon emploi
  • ma belle ville
  • le fait que je suis capable d’aller marcher pendant deux heures un vendredi matin le long d’une rivière, sans me déplacer
  • ma dualité linguistique
  • que nous pouvons nous permettre de retourner à Disney World dans 50 jours pour célébrer nos fêtes
  • que je puisse me traiter à un PS4
  • la musique qui m’entoure
  • le silence qui m’aide à apprécier le bruit
  • le bruit qui m’aide à apprécier le silence
  • ma belle, belle maison de lumière
  • tous les animaux qui viennent visiter notre cours
  • l’amour et la joie que je vois dans les autres autour de moi

En court, j’apprécie ma vie, comme elle l’est.  Parfois je dois me rappeler ce fait, mais de plus en plus, je le reconnais à tous les jours.

One step at a time…

 

Cue the Music

On By Chris BuddIn General1 Comment

Music has played a large part in my life.  Growing up, my father was a music lover, so we always had a wide variety of music in the house, whether it be records or cassettes.  My music collection started fairly young with “Weird Al” Yankovic.  This progressed into various other genres and types over the years, ranging from Hard Rock/Metal to Alternative, to Pop, to Swing, to Jazz, to Blues, etc.  I’ve pretty much gone through the entire roster, with the notable exceptions of Country and Rap.  And while I do have a faint appreciation for very small samplings of these two genres, they aren’t my favourites.

Continue reading “Cue the Music” →

My name is Chris, and I am an addict

On By Chris BuddIn General1 Comment
addiction
Addiction

It takes a lot of courage to admit that you have an addiction.  Admitting the problem is the first step towards recovery.  I’ve struggled with this addiction for many years.  It started out innocently, but slowly became something bigger than me – something that I just couldn’t control any longer.  That’s when I decided that it was time for me to do something.

Continue reading “My name is Chris, and I am an addict” →