Cdnsurfer profile picture

Cdnsurfer

The world is complete and achieves its end at every single moment ....

About Me


Who am I? I am who I've always been. Fifteen years without a word of prose or poetry was far too long, but sometimes life gets in the way. I have returned to the me I once was, at a time long, long ago -- so long ago that at first I hardly recognized the man. So, I began writing again sometime in June or July, 2006, poetry in December, 2006. It's funny but the people who've known me forever are the least surprised by this sudden turnabout. The rust still flakes off when I write, but I don't have to clean the keyboard nearly as often.
I am NOT a poet. I am a fiction writer.
I have no life (well, that's not really true). I have a busy corporate/commercial and civil litigation practice, mostly involving young entrepreneurial clients. I teach the bar course. I devote a fair bit of time to education and mentoring of young lawyers. I spend the rest of my time running from volunteer work between this organization and that organization, including environmental organizations. In my free time I'm usually on my bike, running, climbing mountains or skiing. Once upon a time, in my youth, I was a competitive freestyle skier; but even now I can't stay away from double black diamonds. I'm often mistaken for a bike courier commuting to work.
Ran my first half marathon on July 8. Woo hoo!
Welcome to my etch-a-sketch! Enjoy!
THIS IS MY COUNTRY WHERE FLAXEN SEAS OF WHEAT MEET WIDE BLUE SKY, UP TO THE HUMBLING PEAKS AND VALLEYS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. THE RED BRICK BUILDING IN THE JANN ARDEN VIDEO IS AN APARTMENT BUILDING IN LOWER MOUNT ROYAL, CALGARY, THAT USE TO BE A CONVENT. AND OF COURSE, FORMER CENTRAL MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL ROCKER, LESLIE FEIST. "1234" WAS INSPIRED BY HER EXPERIENCE PERFORMING AT AGE 12 DURING THE OPENING CEREMONIES AT THE 1988 WINTER OLYMPICS. ;-) ENJOY.

My Interests


Your Hidden Talent
Your natural talent is interpersonal relations and dealing with people.
You communicate well and are able to bring disparate groups together.
Your calming presence helps everything go more smoothly.
People crave your praise and complements. What's Your Hidden Talent?

Your Five Factor Personality Profile
Extroversion:

You have medium extroversion.
You're not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party.
Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences.
But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your "down time."

Conscientiousness:

You have medium conscientiousness.
You're generally good at balancing work and play.
When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done.
But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it.

Agreeableness:

You have high agreeableness.
You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly.
Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone.
You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance.

Neuroticism:

You have low neuroticism.
You are very emotionally stable and mentally together.
Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly.
Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure.

Openness to experience:

Your openness to new experiences is high.
In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas.
You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits.
A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything. The Five Factor Personality Test

I'd like to meet:

Good people with old souls. Interesting people who love life and laughter.

Your Aura is Blue
Spiritual and calm, you tend to live a quiet but enriching life.
You are very giving of yourself. And it's hard for you to let go of relationships.

The purpose of your life: showing love to other people

Famous blues include: Angelina Jolie, the Dali Lama, Oprah

Careers for you to try: Psychic, Peace Corps Volunteer, Counselor What Color Is Your Aura?

Music:

There's too many genres and artists I love. Always loved the classics, as I grew up in a house filled with Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and Vivaldi. What was formerly in my CD player in the last few months: Neko Case, Hayley Westerna, The Wallflowers, Colin James, Pilate, Jamie Greene, Built to Spill, Muse, Danny Michel, the Jayhawks, Golden Smog, Stabilo, Chantal Kraviazuk, Jim Cuddy, Wood Pigeon, Voxtrot, J J Cale & Eric Clapton, Stabilo, Tomi Swick, Joshua Radin, Colin James, Damien Rice, Matt Mays, The Wallflowers, Yusuf, Our Lady Peace, and the Editors. What's in my CD player now: James Blunt, The Refreshments, The Killers, The New Pornographers, Great Big Sea. I've always loved the soundtrack to Les Mis (both English and French). The play was awesome.

Movies:

Too many as well. Some of my favs include Pan's Labryinth, Art School Confidential, It's a Wonderful Life, the tri-colours (Rouge, Bleu, Blanc), American Beauty, Amelie, After Hours, Chocolat, 12 Monkeys, The Fisher King, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Chasing Amy, Casablanca, La Dolce Vita, Bedazzled (the original Dudley Moore, Peter Cooke and Rachel Welch movie), Big Fish, Heathers, Bladerunner, Pleasantville, Sixth Sense, and Millions. Usually, it's something with a fairy-tale, fable or mythical feel, a heart, and some sort of meaning.

Books:

Currently Reading: Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow; Annie Proulx, Bad Dirt; Eco, Foucault's Pendulum; Caron, Marathon and Half Marathon: The Beginner's Guide; Robbins, Wild Ducks Flying Backward; Johnson, New Rhyming Dictionary and Poets' Handbook; Lam, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures; Martel, Self; Kane, Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies; and of course my close companions, Strunk and White, Gardner, Burroway, and Swain.

Heroes:

Anyone who makes a difference and the world just a little bit better.

My Blog

Plugging the Local Talent

*** *** *** ***Well, as you know I'm always plugging the local talent. I don't really need to say much about Leslie Feist, Nickelback or Jann Arden, who've become ...
Posted by Cdnsurfer on Sat, 17 May 2008 02:12:00 PST

El Orfanato

***Just watched Del Toro's El Orfanato. Wow! What a beautiful story. He is a master of storytelling. I love the way he weaves fairytale into a ghost story, a story about a mother's...
Posted by Cdnsurfer on Sat, 10 May 2008 09:30:00 PST

Tom Thomson

*** Tom Thomson   You surfaced a week after you disappeared, rolling with the waves like a Jack Pine cut at its prime, afloat just beneath calm, cold Canoe Lake, under a hot ash sky as red as A...
Posted by Cdnsurfer on Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:42:00 PST

Out of the Blue

Wow! Talk about right out of the blue. I’ve been invited to read one of my poems from the Writing the Land Anthology for CBC Radio, for National Poetry Month, April, 2008. Yeah, I’ll do it...
Posted by Cdnsurfer on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 06:02:00 PST

Spring Cleaning

  *** Spring Cleaning Pigeons skim over the mall, then scatter,break like a rolling surf over the crowds below,hawking in dry wind slipping down from the mountains,swarming up to nest in the...
Posted by Cdnsurfer on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:36:00 PST

Whats Up?

Well submissions sent off for the Short Grain Contest. See how that goes. Will be working on another flash fiction piece for Geist's contest. Seems to keep my mind occupied. Please check o...
Posted by Cdnsurfer on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:58:00 PST

What If you had Flown? (final)

  Flash fiction. 2nd person POV. 492 words (must be under 500 words). All commentary appreciated while I work this one out, especially comments on whether the 5th (2nd last) paragraph...
Posted by Cdnsurfer on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:52:00 PST

A Letter from Guernica

  Well, a 1st draft of a 500 word project. Exactly 500 words. Needs work. Painting: Picasso, Guernica (1937)    ***            &n...
Posted by Cdnsurfer on Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:02:00 PST

Novella, done, but not

Well, I just finished a novella for a contest at 4:30 am this morning. The deadline is today. I should've planned this out better, trying to get it done about two weeks ago. I'm sure there are some re...
Posted by Cdnsurfer on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:40:00 PST

Lady Jane, Part I

Just an exercise/character sketch to prevent myself from getting too rusty. *** Lady Jane, Part I   Tragic puppet girl, born from Suffolk snow, wet-nursed on icicles, God's grace ne'er kiss'd...
Posted by Cdnsurfer on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:49:00 PST