I used to want to be famous. When I was a lot younger, I thought fame was a sure path to acceptance, adoration and financial freedom. I believed that fame washed away insecurities and flaws, leaving behind a shiny, beloved creature without a care in the world. I assumed it was how you got happy.
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Just before everything shut down for the pandemic, one of my hearing aids went on the fritz. It still worked, but it started emitting a loud, high-pitched whine whenever it felt like it. Imagine someone screaming in your left ear at random intervals. So, I stopped wearing it, obviously.
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Voice work ebbs and flows. All freelancers and self-employed people go through this with their work. There are times when you feel like you’re standing in front of a tidal wave. Other times, you crank the tap and only a trickle comes out!
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Canadian radio lost one of its last legends this week. Nevin Grant died during surgery. Had it not been for COVID-19, he would have been preparing for a big moment. He was going to receive the Allan Waters Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Canadian Broadcasters Hall of Fame. This is the Hall which will also induct Erin Davis when the delayed event finally happens next year.
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More than a dozen years ago, when I was at 680 News in Toronto, we had several meetings about what the company – Rogers – would do in the case of a pandemic. SARS came, sickened thousands and killed nearly 800 before it was stopped. Our plans to work from home, and perhaps put 680’s Vancouver counterpart on air, were never put to use.
…Happy New Year! May 2020 be the year of YOU. I wish you hope and purpose, as well as love. I’ve come to realize that happiness isn’t something you get, it something you decide on. So I hope you decide to be happy!
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My past year-end posts have tended to be about achieving goals and accomplishments. This year, it’s about just being grateful.
…Betty White, my spirit human, will turn 98 in January. She’s on Twitter (@BettyMWhite) but she doesn’t tweet very often. She’s The First Lady of Television, with a career that spans 80 years. How has she done it?
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Leaving CJBK, and radio, took a lot of time to decide on. Except for a couple of brief instances here and there, for more than 30 years I’d always had a full-time, steady paycheque-with-benefits kind of job. Did I have what it took to be an entrepreneur?
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Today, and for the rest of this week, I’m going into reruns, in order to free my mind and soul (and fingers and knees!) for the task ahead of settling into our new/old home. If all goes as planned, as you read this we are watching the unloading of our first shipping container of possessions. So, please indulge me as I share my most-read posts from the last few years.
…When Scott Taylor and I started White Hat PR, we knew we’d have to prove ourselves. We both come from journalism backgrounds so it’s really a matter of flipping what we know around and using it to our clients’ advantage.
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When you see me, you’d never guess that I’m disabled. But, with hearing loss and by wearing hearing aids, I have a disability. It doesn’t require anything from anyone else except perhaps a little extra patience when I’m having trouble hearing them.
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Eighteen years ago today, terrorist attacks that stole our confidence and launched a thousand conspiracy theories rocked the world.
…9/11 – Memories Still Fresh; The Only Video of the First PlaneRead More »
I’ll never give up my Post-It notes until they pry them from my cold, dead hands!
…If you’re not familiar, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is an international fundraising walk that’s not like all the others. In various towns and cities, the annual stroll supports different charities and organizations. In London, it’s Anova.
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Wi-fi in this apartment is as weak as a hamster sneeze. Pages load slowly and sometimes only partially. Videos don’t play and audio files definitely don’t upload.
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Our favourite show on CBC radio is, without a doubt, Under the Influence with Terry O’Reilly. It used to be called Age of Persuasion. In a recent rerun (the show is on summer hiatus) Terry told a story that was so moving and well, influential, I’m going to paraphrase for you.
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