It’s my birthday this week; I’m turning 28. Sam’s parents came to town this evening and took us out for dinner for my birthday. We had a great meal at Everest and then hit up HMV where I picked up my two favourite musicians new albums; Jamiroquai and CeeLo. Everything was pointing to tonight being a really, really great night!

Unfortunately, I then got a call from my Dad who is now in the hospital halfway across the country. He still has to undergo some tests and possibly an operation, but we don’t particularly know what the details are of what’s going on. Having just gone through having my Grandfather have so many problems in the hospital this past Summer, I’m more than a little worried. The worst part of having a loved one in the hospital is that, you’re completely powerless to help. You can be there for them, sure, but you can’t do anything to improve their health, whereas most other problems you actually have some control over the outcome.

There is a high possibility that this might not turn out to be too severe and this too shall pass, however even the best case scenario could still jeopardize his trip to Toronto at the end of the month. Either way, he’s still in the hospital and the whole thing seriously sucks.

So on the flip side, it looks like I may taking a trip out West sooner than planned (there’s a silver lining in everything, right?)

Anyways the whole scenario eats serious donkey dick and is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. This too shall pass, he will get better and I’ll see him shortly.

All in all 27 has been an eye-opening year. Here’s to more ups and fewer downs for 28!

Note: I actually wrote most of this post yesterday, but didn’t feel comfortable publishing it.

Update: Had some good news from the hospital, they’ve ruled some things out and it’s looking like it’s far from the worst-case scenario which is great.

Lions Winter Ale is an amazing beer only sold between October to March. Now I know I’ve professed my love for Granville Island’s Winter Ale on this blog in the past, however I have since deleted those posts when I cleaned out my old entries.

I am a beer nut. I’m always on the search for new and incredible brews. That said, nothing ever seems to top my love for GIB’s Winter Ale.

It’s a very pure beer that has vanilla, chocolate and caramel added during filtration. While you can gets hints of chocolate and caramel, it’s the vanilla I find that really stands out and makes this beer one of a kind. Even the label is perfect, using my favourite colours!

It’s not even just Vancouverite’s that praise this beer. Lions Winter Ale won a bronze medal in the 2007 World Beer Championships!

Here is where my problem comes in. I no longer live in Vancouver and Granville Island Brewery seems to be exclusively sold in BC! Well I don’t, know if it’s “exclusive” to BC, but I do know I can’t buy it here in Toronto; so while it’s “the most wonderful time of the year,” I can’t partake this year. AARRRRGGHHHHH heartbreaking!

I know you can’t ship alcohol through Canada Post, but I think you may be able to ship through FedEx and other courier companies…. With my birthday and Christmas coming up I’ll love anyone who sends me a six pack (or several)!!!

Anyways, if you find yourself in BC this Winter make sure you track some down. You definitely won’t regret it!

Update: I think my Dad is shipping me some for my birthday!

It’s interesting, I love the fall. If I were to pick a season of preference it would absolutely be autumn. I love the smell in the air, the crisp breeze at night and everything about it. It’s this love of the fall that always makes me wanting to feel healthier too! I eat better, I cook better meals and I am way more active in the fall than any other season.

In addition to eating better, I’m really proud of myself. I joined the York dragonboat team; the York Seawolves! We had our first meeting/information session last week and I am beyond excited.

One of the most exciting parts is that over the next few months practices are actually going to be a series of workouts. I find it really difficult to ‘workout’ on my own, so having a group of like minded folks pushing me; well, bottom line I can’t wait.

I’m also looking into beginning both rock-climbing and P90x, but baby-steps first I suppose!

Now to celebrate this new leaf with a bacon sandwich and pint of Big Wheel!

Maybe.

Hopefully….

Probably!

What have you been up to the last few months? Oh, really? That’s cool!
Oh me? Oh not too much, same old, same old. Well I mean there was Vegas, which was indescribable… And then my Dad came over for his 60th birthday which was a ridiculous amount of fun… And then I started a new semester at University and moved to an incredible new house closer to the city…. And then I went to Victoria for a wedding of two amazing friends who I couldn’t be happier for! There is more news too (like changing my major), but each story is best saved for another day.

So why have I been a bad blogger? Well for starters, I’ve never been a particularly good blogger. I’ve been trying to streamline my life and I’m not sure if this site has any place in that life anymore. I recently let go of a bunch of domains and stagnant projects. It feels good to free my mind of some clutter. My focus can be spread only so thin before nothing gets accomplished. I have been writing though! I’m writing a book. It’s about me! But much like the blog, I’m always on the fence about how personal to get. I’ve also started blogging elsewhere for a project I’m very proud of. I’ll share that info soon.

I’ve been job hunting lately! My reservoirs are starting to run dry, but more importantly, I’m starting to go stir-crazy without a job – especially with Summer around the corner. I was thinking about this last week, I’ve been working since I was 7; not 17, 7. That’s twenty years of working. These last five months not working have been great, but I need some structure.

I’ve done a lot of really cool things, run some great businesses and worked for some great companies over the last two decades. I thought it would be really fun to compile a list of the places I’ve worked. Without further adieu, here is a list of companies I’ve worked over the last twenty years:

-Royal Oak Garden Center & Florist
-Gavman co
-Passionate Gourmet
-Victoria’s Own Real Piccadilly Fruit Cart
-Sooke Harbour House
-Fairmont Empress
-Pacifica Crystals
-Thompson Marketing
-Big Dog Sportswear
-Herald St Center of the Performing Arts
-Campbells Soup
-Pepperidge Farms
-Staples
-Rogers Video
-West Call Center
-Brokenhawke Entertainment
-Toy store
-Random Temping all over Vancouver
-So much background it’s ridiculous
-CTM Talent Agency
-Rubber Ducky Films
-Border 2 Border Entertainment
-Casting Workbook
-Geotech Labs

Good lord that’s a lot of jobs! I’m fairly confident it’s complete, but I may be missing one or two entries. What’s even crazier are the number of different tasks I’ve done at each place. Many of those jobs were worked simultaneously, especially my own companies. I’m proud that every one of those jobs was a great gig with one exception (see unnamed toy store in the middle of the list).

So here I am back at the whole job search and have no idea where I’ll end up next! I think I’d like to work a bar next; the late nights would be golden.

I’m not sure the site will stay online much longer, at least in it’s present form, but thanks for reading over the past few months!

Anyways, here’s to adventures! ADVENTURES!!

The glass is half full via Exploding Dog

So amongst my new years resolution to change around my life and eradicate cynicism from my day-to-day life, I’ve decided to blog about my own life again. WHOA! I know, right? I’ve had an on-again-off-again, sometimes tumultuous relationship with blogging and it has been probably five, maybe six years since I last truly blogged. However, I do believe that a little more openness about my personal life will aid my in my anti-cynicism lifestyle. This is not to say I’m overtly cynical, in fact I really believe I’m not very cynical to start with, but I have my moments and it’s time to stop.

Last month Men’s Health had a great article on cynicism called “Why Men Fail.” I highly recommend reading it as it did nothing but reinforce that my current goals were on target.

I believe I’m a tad out of the box. I’ve lived a strange life and I’ve never believed I was incapable of doing many things. I’ve usually been fairly extroverted, confident and really creative; I’ve made it a mission to never tell myself “no.” Or at least, I thought I had! Save my great network of amazing friends and family, over the past year – maybe year and a half, maybe even a slow buildup over several years – I found myself in an incredible rut and in a very bad place. I found myself unmotivated, negative, self-defeating (much different than self-depreciating) and just hating where I was at; I think I had finally discovered the terrible cycle of cynicism.

It was really easy to complain. It was really easy to give-up. It was really easy to tell myself “no.”
The worst part was consciously knowing that it wasn’t ‘me.’

It took a while to decide what to do and how to get out of the rut. I quit my job, I applied to go back to school, I moved half-way across the country; I shook up my routine. It’s helped. It’s helped alot! I already have a really refreshing outtake on life again, I sort of feel like the person who I grew up with.

Anyways I’ll probably continue to link-dump here but expect a lot of personal updates too!

The good news is that I’m not dead! But my life looks a lot differently now than it did several months ago. I was accepted to York University and moved across the country. I have left my beloved Vancouver and West Coast to live in Toronto. After a hectic month or two I made it here in one piece.

The vibe in this city is definitely different, but it’s definitely not a bad thing. This adventure looks really promising and already I’ve thrown myself into a lot of “new” circumstances. For example, I’m no longer living in a downtown core and I’m living in a house with other people; first roommates/housemates evar!

The move has been good so far though, I’ve even reconnected with old friends in the city and have spent a lot of time with family.

I’m not going to lie, I have no idea how often I’ll be posting these days as a lot of my time is now spent doing homework and staring at girls on campus. That said I’m going to try my damnedest to get back into posting semi-regularly and maybe even finish these six unfinished posts.

I have promised myself to go to at least one con to assert my geek cred now that I’m living in Toronto. Go team!

Anyone else have a shakeup this new year?

Do you know how fantastic it feels to be writing again? To be blogging once more? Let me tell you, it feels amazing!

Over the past few years, I’ve tried to start several new websites and blogs to keep up with my writing and wordcrafting; unfortunately, they just haven’t been cutting the mustard. Whether it was discussing geeky news and new internet superstars or following the backyard filming of The Watchmen, every topic that was started seemed incredibly uninspiring after several posts.

After much soul searching, I found a topic that I can easily talk about.
A topic that can be very interesting and one that I am extremely passionate about:

…Me!!!!!!

(Oh come on, you had to see that coming!)

Well where are my manners?? An introduction of sorts seems at hand: my name is Gavin Thompson and it is a pleasure to meet you! I’m a 26 year old male living in the heart of Vancouver, loving life and looking for a new creative outlet. As it stands, I spent several years fighting my way into the Film & Television industry, absolutely convinced I wanted to produce feature films. After much introspection and re-evaluating my priorities I’m now comfortably on the outskirts of the industry and spend my days talking to Agents, Casting Directors and Actors. My ventures have been amazing and have taken me all over the globe. I’ve been on sets, I’ve worked in a Talent Agency, I’ve been to the Cannes Film Festival and I’ve even pitched scripts in Los Angeles. The irony is that the sum of all of my experiences in this industry have opened my eyes to so many other great avenues and opportunities that for the first time in many years, I find myself looking at the world with a new sense wonder.

So what am I going to talk about here at Awesome Thompson Dot Com? I have no idea yet! Anything that comes to mind:

My love of creativity and the power of ideas? Sure!
Cartoon Heroes from my favourite cartoons of the 80′s? Of course!
Wordsmithing and how to effectively combine words? Oh, most definitely (mostefinitely)!

And, of course, all other manners of awesomeness!

Love & respect and thanks for joining me on the crazy ride!

"Dead or alive, you're coming with me."