WORD OF THE DAY

Magnanimous

Definition:
1. giving and kind
2. high minded; noble

Synonyms: considerate, generous, great, selfless, ungrudging

Antonyms: petty, selfish, stingy

Used: His magnanimous character showed brightly, when he gave all his free time at the animal shelter.

Canada D’Eh!!!

So tomorrow is Canada day. What am I doing? Not a whole hell of a lot I don’t think. I’ll just enjoy the day relaxing. Get out a couple of Canadian Flags, maybe pick up a case of Molson Canadian and relax.

So guess what I did last night? Well I had to stay in town while the Mrs. had a late dinner with some girls so I came back to the office to finish up some work when I finished my work, I went to my blog and why trying to find ways of getting more people to check out my blog and so what I did was join Twitter. I was thinking if I had some friends following me on twitter I’d be able to leave a little note saying “Hey, updated my blog check it out” then maybe I’d get more readers, which hopefully would add to some constructive criticism, add to ideas of what to include in my blog.

So that’s really all I have for now, I’ll be posting the word of the day here shortly and maybe later this evening I’ll be back on to do some writing.

Later,

Ryan

Idea

So being that my blog is called Uttering Thoughts I thought I'd share a thought I just had.

Starting tomorrow I will be posting twice daily. One post that is my rant, philosophies, idea, happenings etc. and the other post being a 'Word of the Day' that includs definitions, sentance examples and antonyms.

Lame? Maybe. Reason to be less lame? I won't be using elementary words, average words. In an attempt to improve my own vocabulary I will be using large, intelligent, sophisticated words, words that will better my speech, and better my writing.

Hope you enjoy.

Ryan

Odd Observation

It was a very productive weekend that completely transformed the back deck. On Saturday we got all but one (we ran out) of the patio stones laid down. We got the stairs back together, and the raised walkway that stretches across the back of the patio is complete. Sunday was fence day; we didn’t get started until late morning and while dad measured the cut the fence boards, I boarded up the second half of the first fence (first half was already done).Did even take an hour for that. Once that was finished we spent a couple of hours measuring and digging holes to put in our anchored fence posts for the other fence.

I started boarding up that fence and I ran out of screws after the third board. The Mrs. and a friend were going to town so I asked her to pick up some more. While I waited I pre cut all of the fence boards so I’d have those ready to go and I was done after an hour or so and then came a long wait for the screws. I wasn’t able to start finishing that fence until 4 but my bro showed up and we were able to finish before supper.

That was my weekend. In a constant sweat all weekend long, worked hard, played some b-ball, and did a little swimming.

So they odd observation...When I got to work today I parked at the back area of the parking lot and had to look twice at what I was seeing. I thought I missed a memo about it being crooked day or something because every car that there at the time (there were about 10 cars) were parked crooked. It wasn’t a slight crookedness either. A solid 20 degree angled difference from being straight. Also a lot of the wheels were cut hard and a couple even crossed over the other parking space.

Like I said it was a weird observation but I found it funny.

Until tomorrow

Later,

Ryan

Sheepisly Sheepish

So today is NHL Draft day. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about the NHL Entry Draft is a collective meeting in which the franchises of the NHL systematically select the rights to available amateur players who meet the eligibility requirements to play professional hockey in the NHL it means that every team gets to pick a young prospect for the future of their franchise. I don’t have time to write about how the whole draft is set up so if you'd like to get a better understanding leave a comment and I'll answer any questions you have.

The important thing to know is that the Toronto Maple Leafs have the 7^th overall pick and a desperately trying to get one of the first few overall picks to try and get the highly sought after John Tavares. This kid is incredible, some believe him to be even better than Sidney Crosby. Why? Well John T when he was broke Wayne Gretzky’s OHL scoring record. He is an absolute scoring machine and getting pucks in the net is something the TMLs need. I quite confident that Toronto will not get him though as the New York Islanders have the 1^st overall pick and there is no way in hell that they’re going to trade that pick to Toronto. But we’ll see tonight who they get.

The last I’d like to talk about is a couple of words that I have been seeing a lot or recently:

Sheepish & sheepishly

It might just be me but the a lot of the later fiction literature that I’ve read and am currently reading the writer’s have been using those words constantly and maybe I notice more now because I’m thinking about that word too much. “He turned away sheepishly”, “I felt sheepish saying”, “She looked up sheepishly”, “The sheep fell asleep feeling sheepishly sheepish”.

I don’t get it. I can’t get the attractiveness to constantly use those words why not use embarrassed, timid, guilty, foolish, ashamed, self-conscious, or abashed instead of sheepish. Change it up some writer’s!!! Take the $5 and buy a thesaurus!!!

And on that note have a great weekend.

Later,

Ryan

Habit Building

In my earlier post I mentioned I did some shooting last night and I'll try to remember to upload those tonight

So I'm trying to get into the habit of uploading images, art, poetry etc. so I thought I'd start with an image I did in Photoshop awhile ago featuring a buddy of mine. He's the front statue.

Ummmm...

Not much to say today...

Last night I continued to lay down the patio blocks, lots of fun. We are now putting them down for the second time, they weren’t in the right position the first time. Even though it’s been hurting the ribs and all, it’s a pretty good workout.

As you can see I’ve uploaded and image of a crest. That would my family crest that wish to put in ink form some where’s/some time on my body. I have to do some touching up though.

Last night I night did a little shooting (As in photography). Just took some shots of landscapes and I got a shot of a strange looking red bird that was at one of the bird feeders but it’s too far away to get a good look at it.

So that’s really all I have today.

“Until tomorrow I’ll just keep moving on” One of the Best Theme Songs Ever

Kim ol' Boy, We Need to Talk

So Last week I added a link to a CNN story about Kim Jong Il & North Korea doing some missile testing and I said they were being a little ballsy.

Yesterday they issued a warning to...THE WORLD!

Basically they said stay the hell out of our backyard (& waters) because we’re doing some “military training” which I believe is code for “OK boys let’s see if our gun can make it to Hawaii”.

Why Hawaii? Don’t know. Maybe they don’t want to go to big. Maybe they believe that firing a missile at Hawaii would be like stepping on America’s little toe.

So what does the US do in response? They beef up their military defence along Hawaii with anti missile ships. North Korea’s little bird is going to get shot right out of the sky.

Here's a story about what's going on

Something Quick

As I daze into the tranquil night sky
my mind wanders and dreams
how near, how far how I wish I could grab
an evening star
but then I’m back in reality
and like all dreams
this one is out of reach

I still have lots to learn
to me the world has much to teach
So again I bear my cross
and another dream I toss
so I can be stuck here another day

A Boring Daze

Kinda poetic title huh?

Not a whole lot going on today. Last night I laid some concrete patio stones (for the new pool deck) that weighed 85 lbs a piece. Arms got pretty tired after lift those for a couple of hours. Afterwards went in had a beer while looking over the pattern design for the stones (we got two different colours) and once I was done my beer I read some out of Christopher Moore’s Lamb, which is incredible by the way.

Before I sign off, I listened to a song today that really moved me for some reason. Anyways check out this link of Jeff Buckley singing If You See Her

Have a good one

R

Canoeing in the rain...

Well this past Saturday was the canoe trip that I’ve mentioned before and despite the rain that had me drenched, I had an awesome time. It was a warm rain too, so if it had of been cold I would probably have a different opinion.

As usual we had a first-timer get foolishly drunk and required help from drowning from a number of people. The shitty part for those who were helping is that doing that is going to sober you up pretty damn quick.

For me though I had a great day. I was in a canoe with two beautiful women and a cooler full of beer, we had plenty of food to share with everyone and once we had been landed for a couple of hours and the rain stopped, until early the next morning. Luckily it was plenty warm enough to camp out.

Back to the cooler full of beer...I BEAT MY RECORD! I didn’t however make my goal of 30, I got to 29. If I had of been able to count Saturday night I probably would have opened another one. Oh well, all in all it was a good run even though it did rain most of the day. However, because of the rain a few of us discussed a possible 2^nd trip sometime in the summer.

Well that’s all I have today
Later,

R

Quick note

North Korea getting a little ballsy?

CHECK IT OUT

Beer, My Friend and Yours

Last night a enjoyed a couple of Coors Light so in preparation for tomorrow’s canoe trip I am going to discuss my beer habits.

There are all kind of beer drinkers out there; social beer drinkers, excessive beer drinkers, the people who go to friends house and is afraid to ask for a rum & coke so settle for a beer. You also have the people who go with only one brand, you have the people who get the beer that’s giving away free shit, and then you have the people who go to the liquor store and end spending 15 minutes trying to find a beer to go with for that particular weekend.

I am a self proclaimed Hybrid Beer Drinker. I may go through a stint where I’ll only buy one brand. I may go into the store and the beer that’s giving away a free glass. But mostly I’m one of the ones who will end up do thirty laps trying to buy one case of beer.

Here are the different kinds of beer that I have bought in the past 3 months:

Ricards White
Sleeman’s
Miller Genuine Draft (MGD)
Alexander Keith’s Light
Coors Light
Budweiser
Moose Light
Guiness
Kilkenny
Pumphouse Blueberry Ale
Corona

The 3 that I buy the most however are MGD, Coors Light and Budweiser. I love my MGD but the pop-tops are a pain in the ass.

Sad...but a little much

NOTE: By no means am I trying, to insult, or be insensitive.

Last night I attended my brother in-law’s graduation. Firstly it was way too long, there were only 38 grads and it was still the better part of three hours...frig! But it being too long is not what I want to talk about today.

Last year there were two tragic accidents that killed two formers students from the community so last night at the graduation ceremony they awarded for the first time two new memorial scholarships. Once was nicely delivered while the other one, not so much.

The nicely delivered award was in memory of a young person who lost control of their car (wasn’t speeding and no alcohol involved) on their way home (in the afternoon) and was tragically killed. My heart goes out to this family.

The other award while still emotional was a little much. It involved a young person who was travelling with some friends and the driver who was intoxicated lost control and crash killing the young person from our community. This is a very horrible & sad story and I know this family and my heart goes out to this family as well, but last night seems to have left a bad taste in my mouth.

Last night they had this person’s sister talk about their sibling and give people insight to how they chose who received the award, to give people (who didn’t know this person) insight on who they were, how this person lived their life and to use the memorial as a celebration of their life. Although she did mention that she focused more on the tragedy, focused more on the individual who was responsible for the accident and how the investigation is still ongoing. She spoke to the grads saying that life is full of choices and responsibilities and mentioned that some of them will probably make bad choices and may even live in poverty (a little much I thought), or always in trouble etc, etc, etc. She was dwelling on the negativities that can be part of people’s lives. Yes people can make bad choices, yes people may not always be the most responsible but when you are directing your speech to 38 young adults waiting to get the rest of their lives started you can’t stand there and tell them that ‘life sucks and then you die’.

This sister should have used their sibling as an inspiration for quality of life, inspiration to be happy, acting courageous, honourable, hard working, passionate, and kind hearted. I knew the person killed and what I have just said spoke about them and who they were a lot more than speak about an investigation.

So to all the graduates of 2009 may you live life to fullest, dream big, fulfill those dreams, and enjoy your success.

Later

R

“If music be your breath of life, then play on”

We Don’t Want Your Stinkin’ Money!...

Is what the NHL is saying to Jim Balsillie. If you don’t know who that is Jim B. Is the CEO of Research in Motion the creators of Blackberry. Jim is worth billions of dollars and is in his third attempted to purchase a NHL team, but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman keeps rejecting him even though Jim is constantly waving his well padded wallet around. Why you ask? Because Jim B. is a proud Canadian and is devoted to bring a seventh NHL team to Canada. Gary is a proud American and is devoted to keep any team in the US whether it’s bankrupt or not.

Jim’s attempts:

1 – Jimmy tried to purchase the new Stanley Cup champions Pittsburgh Penguins a few years back but was rejected because there were rumours that he wanted to move them to Canada.

2- Jimmy tried to purchase the financially hurting Nashville Predators but was rejected because he made his intentions known (about moving the team to Hamilton, Ontario) and began selling season tickets to the people of Hamilton before the sale ever went through.

3 – Jimmy puts a $220 million conditional offer to purchase the “bankrupt” Phoenix Coyotes. Condition being that he’s allowed to move the team out of the F%$KING desert to a more suitable hockey market.

I said “bankrupt” because the team’s current owner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after the league gave him a payout to help through this past season. After the NHL handed over something like $30 million to him to pay off some creditors the league felt that he was no longer in control of the team therefore he was in no position to file for bankruptcy or make a deal with Jim B.

The league has said that they will take the money to keep the team in Phoenix because they feel that the team can still exist there. Phoenix Coyotes use to be the Winnipeg Jets and this hockey team hasn’t made a profit since moving from Canada in 1996. But hey maybe the 14^th season in Phoenix, Arizona is the charm. Now why would the NHL ignore a billionaire wanting desperately to own a team and would pay any price to get one? Beats me. You’d think they would want what’s best for the league, and what’s best for the league is to consider allowing more team move to Canada (i.e. Atlanta Thrashers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Nashville Predators) because people are crazy about it, the thing I hate about summer is that there is no hockey to watch.

The NHL board of governors I feel needs to evaluate Gary Bettman’s position and track record. This man needs to get off his high horse and realize that moving the team from Winnipeg to Phoenix was a shitty idea, and leaving the team there is an even shittier idea. Wake up Gary! Canada is calling and willing to pay to see more hockey...

Or you can continue being ridiculously stupid and put a team in Las Vegas like you’ve always wanted.

There’s my rant for the day,

R

Oh and to support another team in Canada Balsillie put up a site called "make it seven"...

Show your support

4 more sleeps

Ahhhh...relaxing at its finest. Sitting back in a canoe, on a warm sunny day, surround by great people and a beer in hand. What more could you ask for?

A beer in both hands! Oh yeah!

Yep. This Saturday is our Canoe Trip, the 21^st Annual that is. Every year we get family and friends together, grab some canoes, fill em with beer and food and head down the river for a relaxing day of joke telling, song singing, food eating and most importantly beer drinking. Depending on how hard you want to work, from our usual starting point you could spend anywhere’s from 5 hours to 8 or 9 on the river. Once out of the river we meet up at my Uncle’s place for an evening of partying, swimming, more eating, more drinking, washers tourney, and guitar playing with more singing. The day of the canoe trip is always an incredible event, I’ve got goosebumps just mentioning it now.

For me and a couple others who go down the river with us it’s not just a day of everything I mentioned above but it’s the day where we consume a shitload of alcohol and try to reach certain goals pertaining to alcohol consumption. Last year I had set a new record of 25 beers. This year’s beer goal for me is 30, but I won’t just be taking beer with me because I have recently found a new love of Spiced Rum + Coke. So we’ll see how the day turns out and hopefully I can achieve my goal.

I know it’s lame to be talking about how my I am going to have to drink this weekend but that’s all I could think to write about. Until tomorrow, this is R saying,

You stay classy Internet machine!

Peacefully at Peace

I know, I know, another pause...

So I had a four day weekend and didn’t seem to find or take the time to update and to you my neglected blog I am truly sorry. Feel free to send a swift kick in the arse my way for failing to do what I said I would do.

Anyways, today I have a couple of minor things to talk about:

- So the Pittsburgh Penguins are the new Stanley Cup Champions after beating Detroit in game 7, 2-1. Too bad it wasn’t the Toronto Maple Leafs but oh well.

- Helped lay cement over the weekend and am extremely sore...definitely hard on the ol’ ribs n’ sternum.

- Watched Friday the 13^th remake last night and wasn’t expecting much, but to my surprise it was rather watchable. Predictable like a lot of “horror” flicks but still not too shabby.

And here’s what I’m here to say today:

I have always been one who’d enjoy a little background noise to put me to sleep. When we lived in out old place our bedroom was next to the kitchen so I’d always wait to turn on the dishwasher before I went to bed (the DW was on the wall next to our BR). The sound the water made was calming and hypnotic. So last night I had the pleasure of falling asleep to the rain patting the roof, window and wet ground and it was glorious until about 2:30 when the rain seem to stop and the pain in my ribs was almost unbearable last night.

Once I was able to settle down and catch my breath from my side. I heard the most beautiful sounds, much more than what the rain was doing, rolling over noticing it was my wife. Her breathing pattern was similar to a snore but it wasn’t an annoying crunching type. It was a soft, soothing constant beating of a sound and it left me feeling remarkably comfortable and at peace. I’d compare the experience to a baby falling asleep to the sound of their mother’s heartbeat.

So that’s my post for the day, see ya’ll tomorrow

R

What took so long?...Watching Hockey!

To the Readers,

Is it just me or did the days get longer? At the end of my last post I had said “Until tomorrow”...Well after approximately 120 hours the new day has finally arrived. You’d think with the extended absence that it would be easy to think of something to write about but nope....thinking...thinking....GOT IT!

So last night was game6 of the Stanley Cup Finals (Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Detroit Red Wings for those who aren’t hockey followers) and I was able to catch the first two periods and...WOW! Pittsburgh just wouldn’t let Detroit breath. The RWs are known for their amazing puck control abilities and controlling the play but they definitely didn’t show it last night. The second a RW player had the puck over comes a black jersey to smash them into the boards or level them onto the ice. After a disappointing game 5 it was good to see the Penguins back on their feet. So after last night’s win it going down the way it should, the Stanley Cup champion will be decided in a game 7 match-up. You’d think that even though this year’s finals being a repeat of last year’s (Detroit won vs. Pittsburgh last year) that this series would be boring but let’s recap:

Game 1 (in Detroit): RW beat Pens 3-1
Game 2 (in Detroit): again RW beat Pens 3-1 and now leading series 2 games to 0

HOCKEY FACT: Heard the other night that once a team is up two games that 75% of them have gone on to win the series. Not looking too good for Crosby & the Penguins

Game 3 (in Pittsburgh): Pens beat RW 4-2, hey look at that not over yet
Game 4 (in Pittsburgh): Jordan Staal scored a shorthanded goal against Detroit and again Pens beat RW 4-2, holy shit we have ourselves a series
Game 5 (in Detroit): RW easily beat Penguins 5-0. Are you serious? After such valiant efforts in Pittsburgh you couldn’t even put one puck in the net. Don’t be hard on Pittsburgh Chris Osgood (RW goalie) has been standing on his head all playoffs.

Things aren’t looking good. Losing 5-0 and now Detroit only needs one win for the Cup you’d think that it’d be all over but the crying, right Crosby?

Wrong. Back in Pittsburgh as I said earlier they were playing some incredibly defensive, hard hitting hockey and won 2-1.

So the stage is set and it’s time to get ready boys. Friday night back in Detroit, game 7 for the Stanley Cup. No team in this series has won a game on the road and what a story it would be for Pittsburgh if they could break that trend after being down 2 games. Well folks all things are set for an amazing hockey game this Friday so be sure to tune on CBC at 9:00.

Until next time, stay fit and have fun

R

Judgemental

Yesterday my wife C had gone to town to get groceries and to take my little girl to the park, and at the park they met another woman there with her little girl. The woman was quite friendly and began to talk to my wife C and asking about herself and how old our little girl R is and how old she is. C told the woman that R is three and that she is 22.

Once they got the intro out of the way the woman brought on the religion conversation and was asking C if she was religious, if she knew God, if she knew the way of the Lord and then handed her a card that questioned her Christian IQ. Well C answered her and told her the she was a Christian and that she did know God.

So for the rest of the day C was questioning the way that she presents herself wondering if she is doing what she should be. She was insulted by the way the woman questioned her beliefs. The woman assumed that C was another single teenaged mother with a three year old with nothing going for her, and she felt that she needed to reach out to C because she’s young and has a child.

When C first spotted this woman she noticed the way she dressed and they way her hair was and how the rest of her looked and thought she looked quite strange. C said she felt bad for feeling like this so she instantly felt remorse for what she thought.

It turns out that the woman wasn’t strange but very condescending and judgemental towards people she doesn’t know and if she was following Christianity the way she should then she wouldn’t have attacked C personally and religiously.

Until tomorrow...Thanks for reading,

R

The Hospital

There is happiness
There is sadness
Laughter & tears
Special moments & bonding
and also realizing your worst fears

There is illness
There are cures
Machines made to examine
and also courageous battles so hard to imagine

And YES there is death, so hard to swallow
but right behind it LIFE is sure to follow

Good morning Reader(s),

So far off to a good start, 2^nd day of the new blog and second entry...but with more substance. Today I’m going to speak about my current situation.

I am a very sporty person. I love hockey, football, baseball, golf, foxy boxing and Rugby. I enjoy other sports as well but these are my top 6. For the past three years I’ve been telling myself that I should play rugby again (haven’t played in years) and finally I convinced myself to join my local rugby club. Season doesn’t actually start until the end of summer but we started training about a month ago. For the first 3 weeks we focused a lot on fitness whipping us into shape and finally a week ago we had a full contact training session. We had a full-out scrimmage and everything was as fun as I remembered until I went into a ruck and felt a blow to my right side. I knew something was wrong immediately but shook it off and continued to play. Once we were done I was having a hard time breathing but thought nothing of it. The next I tried to get myself out of bed and had a difficult time doing so, I was unable to support my weight with my right side. Finding a lump in my rib cage I had determined that I broke a rib or two. I was unable to take deep breaths, couldn’t stretch, yawn, laugh, couldn’t run, walking was hurting, and I have never been so afraid to sneeze all my life. So after a week and trying to get by using only Advil I continued to take it easy but I was at work and along came and huge sneeze and I thought I was done for. I felt a sharp agonizing pinch in my chest and thought I had better get this looked at. After hours at the hospital and countless X-rays they had determined that I severely bruised 2 ribs, fractured 1, and separated the cartilage that connects my ribcage and sternum. Apparently it could take anywhere’s from 6 weeks to 3 months to heal up. How messed is that? So now I’m on pain medication because that’s all they can do for this injury but the meds don’t make the hurt go away, they just make me a little goofy. So anyways I think this is a pretty lengthy entry. Tune in tomorrow when I’ll be talking about........

Thanks for reading,

R

My New Blog

Dear Reader(s),

Today is the day for the new blog. My old blog didn't work out the way I wanted it to, meaning that I didn't write as much as I would like. So my goal for the is to write daily if time permits. I'd like to add more photos than I did before, more art work, links, stories, vid clips, and more importantly my thoughts. Hope you enjoys what I have to say.

Thanks,
R