Nov. 17: I’m trying to find some inspiration.
Trigger: I was reading in the Edmonton Journal
on Nov. 14, 2013. It mentioned how the Metro Cinema is playing
the movie Trigger that spoofs 80s action movies. It was made in Edmonton
by Edmontonians:
Trigger
Canada 2013, 118 min,
Dir: Sam
and Ethan Sir
The year is 2034 and the United Empire of Canada is ruled by a ruthless
dictator. Hell bent on world domination, President Scragg is all but invincible
through the breeding of his genetically engineered Super Soldiers.As the masses remain oblivious to the Presidents devious plans, no one dares stand in his way... no one but Trigger. The mysterious police officer and his rookie side kick find themselves in the middle of a web of lies and deceit as they fight for the freedom and justice of the entire world.
14+
Nov. 22 The Book of Awesome: This could be put into
my fun or my writing email, but it’s about what I aspire to be, a published
writer. This is how one writer went from
a blog to a book. I bolded the parts I
liked.
Finding life's little moments of happiness
From blog to books, Pasricha nails down what makes each day awesome
Valerie Berenyi, Calgary Herald; Postmedia News
Published: Sunday,
May 22 2011
Neil Pasricha's life was ticking along nicely in his 20s.He'd grown up in a loving immigrant family. He had a good job as a human resources manager at Walmart Canada. He'd married his sweetheart in 2006.
But by 2008, things began to sour. The news everywhere was bad: recession, war, climate change, pirates on the high seas. His wife told him she didn't love him anymore and their marriage fell apart. A close friend battled mental illness and committed suicide.
To pull himself out of a downward spiral, Pasricha started a tiny blog called 1000awesomethings.com. Every weekday he wrote about one small thing that cheered him up: opening and sniffing a new can of tennis balls; wearing underwear warm out of the dryer; when a deadline is extended unexpectedly.
To say his blog caught on is a colossal understatement. People loved his quirky entries about the simple, universal pleasures in life, such as bakery air or when you pay for one item and two fall out of a vending machine. To date his blog has received more than 31 million hits.
He's won three Webby Awards and in 2010 he published a bestseller, The Book of Awesome.
Last month, his second book, The Book of (Even More) Awesome came out with a new collection of small joys: the sound of barely frozen puddles cracking when you step on them; car dancing; seeing cream go into coffee.
Postmedia News caught up with the 31-year-old Torontonian by phone after he got home from his day job as a project manager in human resources at Walmart Canada in Mississauga, Ont.
Q: Where do you get the awesome ideas for your blog and books?
A: When I started my blog, nobody read it, except for my mom. My mom forwarded it to my dad and the traffic doubled.
I'd made a little list with maybe 20 things on it that I thought were awesome: finding money in your own coat pocket, the smell of bakery air, and broccoflower, that strange mutant hybrid of cauliflower and broccoli.
These days, I get at least a couple of hundred submission ideas, comments and e-mails a day. There were a few posts last year where I literally got 5,000 or 6,000 comments. The ideas come from all over the place. I'll say, "That's a good one," and expand it into a full blog post.
I feel like the Pied Piper of happiness. I've thought about changing the website to One Million Awesome Things. It feels like a million awesome things already from all the comments, suggestions and stories from other people sharing their experiences. But I can't write a million because it would take several lifetimes.
Q: What's changed in your life since you began your blog?
A: Not much. I still have the same job: I'm a boring guy working at a cubicle job in the suburbs. I drive an hour through traffic jams. I still have a sink full of dirty dishes. I'm about to eat a frozen burrito for dinner.
On the other hand, a lot has changed because I can't go without a day of seeing and writing down three or four awesome things in my life. It is impossible not to notice the simple pleasures in life. I'm always looking for them, and in a way we all are and we can.
Q: Do you ever get tired of writing awesome entries?
A: Yeah, sure. I never considered myself an optimist or as someone who sees life through rose-coloured glasses. I just started 1000awesome things.com because I was looking for a way to cheer myself up. It was often hard to write. Like everyone, I get pissed when I drop a hammer on my toe or walk into a spider web.
Some were very challenging entries, but I've tried to the find positive in the negative, like the weekend I found out my marriage was ending -I literally cried all weekend. It was such a foreign physical feeling. I was 28 then and I hadn't cried in 10 years.
At the end of crying on Sunday I felt better, in a way. I researched the act of crying and found all these positive things about it: Apparently, it's good for you. It helps straighten out your inner chemistry; it draws people to you who are more likely to hug you. If you go to my blog, post #854 is called crying. It was written on the Monday after all that crying.
Q: Puppy breath and when that social event you didn't want to go to gets cancelled -I love those entries in your new book. What's your favourite awesome thing?
A: It sort of changes by the day. If you'd asked this morning, I'd say, "Oh, rubbing someone's newly shaved head, or seeing old people holding hands. Or, fixing electronics by smacking them."
Q: Are you stunned by the popularity of your blog and books? What accounts for their popularity?
A: I'm so stunned that I'm not even stunned yet. Today we're on the front page of the Huffington Post and next month I'm on the Today Show. It's so surreal. I think it's a sign that so many of us are looking for happiness right now.
It's just as dark now as it was when I started the blog, whether it's the tsunami in Japan, gas prices, another election or the unemployment we don't talk about.
Among all that, it's such a relief to come home and say, today for five minutes, I'm going to remind myself how much fun it is when there's a snow day.
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