I can’t believe that today is already here… I more can’t believe that it is almost past!  It is nearing 10pm here in PEI.

Today turned out great!  I have been looking forward to CYAID in PEI since I first got word that I would be speaking here.  I am pretty sure it was the beginning of the school year.  Today has been absolutely awesome!  Did I already say that?  No I said it was great and now awesome… grawesome! 

I woke up feeling good this morning– a bit tired – but good.  It was technically 3:30am when I woke up.  At least in BC that was the time.  Still I got myself ready and was ready to rock by the time I entered the hall.  A cool New Brunswick student named Scott escorted me to the hall where I met Colin, my sound and AV guy.  The stage and set up was perfect.  Best of all I had a full two hours to myself today.

I took my time through the presentation and showed my slideshow at the end.  Before I even showed the slideshow I got a standing ovation from the audience.  I then got another one after it was done.  That was pretty cool!

After the presentation was over I had lunch with some of the organizers.  Right before lunch I did an interview with a local newspaper reporter here in PEI.  When lunch was done I headed for my room and relaxed for a while and got caught up on emails for the moment. 

3:30pm was the start of the Expo in the hall.  I had post cards and handout s from Cara and Jason to hand out.  I brought my laptop and IPod Dock so I had tunes and the journal given to me by Queen Margaret’s school in Duncan, BC for people to sign.  The exhibition went awesome.  I got to meet a ton of people from all over Canada.  I signed a ton of autographs and handed out a bunch of info.  I am really hoping to visit some of these great places I have been hearing about in the fall of 2009. 

After the Expo I retreated back to my room again.  I chilled out and got changed and waited for dinner.  Dinner was good.   The food here at UPEI has been really good.  I sat with a table of students and a teacher from New Brunswick.  It seems like the majority of the people I have met here today are from New Brunswick.  After visiting and some more visiting me and an entourage left the dining hall for the theatre.  We watched some cool video’s made by a school in New Brunswick and by David Thompson Secondary in Invermere, BC.  Sorry I don’t know the other school’s name.  I know Invermere because I have spoken there before.

Well now I am back in my room and just taking it easy.  My eyes feel very tired.  I am pretty sure I could just fall asleep right now.  There is a big dance going on that I might pop into a bit later.  For now I am going to wrap up this blog and read some more of my Sid book.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks especially to everyone from today!  You were great and I have enjoyed every moment that I have been here at UPEI!  I hope to speak in your schools in the near future…  we be talking!

Thursday May 28^th 3:00pm – Vancouver BC
I got home yesterday afternoon.  I made a little pit stop by Costco in Langley on my way.  I am there weekly these days. 

I was busy getting settled right until Melissa showed up with dinner.  She brought BBQ hamburgers and all the fixings.  I just had to man the BBQ.  It was super nice to see her last night.  We had a good hang out and an awesome dinner. 

Earlier in the day I woke up in Kamloops.  I spoke first thing in the morning at Merritt Secondary School.  I have spoken at Merritt a couple of times over the years.  I feel very comfortable and familiar with the gymnasium and students there.  I was feeling like it was going to be a good one, and sure enough it was.  I was feeling pretty tired in the morning, so I stopped at the drive-thru Starbucks down the road from the school.  I got a triple Iced Americano (3 shots of espresso) and was flying high.   

I learned quickly after arriving at the school that I would only have an hour to speak…  Sweet!  I love trying to cram 75 minutes into an hour.  The caffeine buzz should help I thought.  I warned the audience that I would be talking in turbo mode.  Nobody seemed to mind or miss a beat.  I got through my entire presentation, minus slideshow, in about 65 minutes.  The audience seemed pretty stoked on it and were completely respectful and quiet throughout.  It ended up being a sick presentation!  3 for 3 in Merritt!!!

 Friday May 29^th 6:45am, Richmond BC
My next stop Wednesday after speaking at Merritt was Logan Lake.  Logan Lake is a small community possibly north / east of Merritt.  I say possibly because I am guessing.  I drove along a sleepy country road to the school.  It was a nice change from the mega lane Coquihala Hwy I drove to get to Merritt.  I guess the Coquihalla has some nice scenery minus the blatantly clear cut ex-forests along it.  One thing is for sure; BC has some of the most beautiful country roads I have ever seen.   

I arrived at the school with plenty of time to relax and set up.  I felt very welcomed as I was warmly greeted and apparently recognized from my previous presentations years earlier…  

Friday May 29^th 6:00pm ET, somewhere over the Atlantic ocean
I am going to add that I have now written this blog in three different locations at three different times…  Good thing I told you because the dates don’t give it away right?  I started this blog in Vancouver waiting for some medical supplies in my truck yesterday afternoon.  I wrote a couple of sentences this morning while waiting for my flight at Vancouver International Airport.  Now I am 37967 feet above the Atlantic Ocean in an airplane on my way to PEI.  I think there will be at least one more instalment, as we are starting our descent and hitting turbulence as I struggle to type in a shaking airplane. 

…  Logan Lake…  I love it when students are polite and open doors for me and smile at me in the hallways and make me feel welcome.  This was the feel at Logan Lake.  The principal seemed equally pleased to see me returning to the school to speak.  He told me that they were the first school to book when ICBC started to make their rounds through the Southern Interior advertising Kevin Brooks (that’s me) as the keynote speaker for this year’s road sense campaign.  He again mentioned this in his introduction immediately before I took the mic.  It was a perfect segue for me to let everyone know that the first school to book was also my last stop on the Southern Interior tour. 

The presentation was absolutely great!  Afterwards, I spoke with a bunch of students outside in the parking lot.  We chatted about the presentation, life in Logan Lake, life in general, and one dude even was showing me sick magic tricks!  When the lunch bell rang for people to get back to class the crowd dispersed and I headed for home.  The drive home was nice.  The weather in BC has been so awesome the past little while.  I love driving on sunny days…  I love laying on the beach more, but driving on a nice day beats driving on a crappy one. 

Friday May 29^th 8:36pm ET, Charlottetown PEI
So now I am actually writing from my room at the University of PEI.  You might be able to gather from this blog that things are pretty crazy busy right now. 

As I said above Thursday night was a nice quiet night with Melissa.  We had BBQ burgers and homemade potato salad and then relaxed for the night before bed. 

I was up pretty early Friday morning, but not as early as I had intended to be.  My alarm didn’t go off and I slept in about 45 minutes.  Thankfully I woke up.  The only reason I did is because I am so accustomed to waking up early these days.  I got ready as fast as I could and actually made it to my morning presentation when I wanted to be there originally. 

I spoke Friday morning at LA Matheson in Surrey.  It has been probably 4 or 5 years since I last spoke there.  I was welcomed by members of the Counter Attack Club and staff and led to the gym.  We got everything set up in time and waited for people to show up.  I spoke to the grad class, and the gymnasium was quite full.  It felt awesome because nobody in the room had seen me speak before or probably even heard of me for that matter.  The element of surprise was on my side… I love that! 

I did something I had never done on Friday.  Instead of just having one chair beside me for Brendan, I put three.  There was one for Brendan; one for Jordan; and one for Chris (my buddy who just passed away).  I hope it had an effect on the audience because it definitely had one on me.  I looked beside me at three empty chairs and noticed that I have lost a buddy to each of the three huge killers of young people: Car Crashes, Suicide, and Guns / Violence. 

Being back in the mainland I felt I had a responsibility to talk more to the issue of gangs, drugs, guns and violence.  These issues have has plagued the area so abruptly and tragically over the last little while.  I knew very well that there was a good chance people in the gym yesterday could be either directly or indirectly involved in this new fad sweeping across the lower mainland.  It is so prevalent that I am pretty sure violence is going to be the new number one killer of youth in BC.  It is sad because this is just another senseless way for young people to have their lives cut short.  Sure it looks like a glamorous life driving fast cars, having loads of cash and hot women, but is it really worth all of the pain, destruction and fear it is causing?  Is it worth dying young for?  I don’t think so.  None of those things that come so freely and easily mean sh*t when you are dead. 

I feel the three issues (Car Crashes, Suicide and Violence) are all similar in the sense that young people don’t quite understand the consequences each has, so we take the risks.  SO WE ARE DYING YOUNG AND KILLING PEOPLE AROUND US AND HURTING SO MANY MORE.  These consequences reach far past the individual or individuals making the poor choices.  They affect so many people around us.  It in a sense it affects everyone in one way or another.  They all are preventable too. 

The presentation at LA Matheson was awesome!  I kept the students just a little into lunch, but nobody seemed to mind.  Nobody flinched.  Afterwards I was approached by tons of students to say thanks and shake my hand.  I ran out of post cards early on.  It was a huge success in my books!  Thanks to everyone from yesterday.  You were a great group and I hope that you are all wiggling your toes and thinking about our story and how it might parallel your own lives and life choices.

 My afternoon presentation yesterday was at Byrne Creek in Burnaby.  It was also to a grad class.  I have spoke to the grad class at Byrne Creek the past three years now.  Each year has been organized by an awesome school counsellor named Wayne Best.  It is always great to go back to Byrne Creek and see Wayne and talk to the grade 12s.  The school had suffered some tragedies of their own this past year.  I knew this going in and knew my presentation might be hard to take for some in light of what has happened in their own lives.  Still I hope that it was relevant and that maybe, just maybe my presentation even had a healing effect on those who are still grieving the loss of their own friends.

The audience was absolutely awesome!  They always are at Byrne Creek.  We set up a stage last minute which made me super happy.  Last year’s visit had me speaking on the ground with a couple of hundred students in chairs in front of me.  This is the worst set up because most people in the audience can’t and won’t see me.  They just hear my voice.  The only option is for me to roll around the room, which I do in this circumstance most times.  The problem with rolling around is that it adds time to my presentation… and as anyone reading this that has seen me speak knows… time is an issue for me.  I never have enough as it is. 

I finished the presentation a little over time… hmmm did I just say something about my timing???  I didn’t get to show my slide show.  In fact I didn’t show it at either school yesterday.  I did put the three chairs beside me again though.  I am pretty sure that is going to stick.  I had forgotten that the principal at Byrne Creek is a close friend of the Fisher’s, my buddy Jordan’s family.  She had known Jord since he was a little guy and up to the day of his untimely death.  When I finished she pointed out to the audience that the middle chair was for a dear family friend of hers.  I think it made the story sink in that much more.  If there wasn’t grad planning events going on after my presentation yesterday, I bet I would still be in the gym hanging with people.  Almost half of the people in the audience made sure they came up to me and thanked me personally and shook my hand or got a hug…  I even signed a few autographs.   

I had two awesome presentations yesterday!  Thanks to everyone at Byrne Creek as well as LA Matheson. 

I was absolutely spent when I left the school.  My throat was killing me and all I could think was I have a ton of stuff to do.  I had to drop off my two pieces of bike; pick up medical supplies and also more post cards from downtown Vancouver.  I also was hoping to meet Melissa at Metrotown at 4:30pm on her lunch break.  I knew that there was a slim chance I could do all of this stuff.  Thankfully my buddy Danimal works downtown for the schools that sponsor me and hook me up with the postcards.  I called him and asked him to bring me the cards and he was down to help out.  I managed to get everything else done and have a nice visit in the sun with Melissa before I left for the other side of the bridge… where I live – SURREY. 

I got home and was so tired.  I just wanted to go to sleep but instead made a quick dinner of leftovers from the night before.  When dinner was done, I started plugging away at everything I needed to get done before this morning’s flight to PEI.  It was a busy night.  I got to bed just after 11pm and was awake to my alarm at 4am.  That is the earliest I have woken up in a long time.  I was thinking as I left my condo this morning that I am more used to coming home at 4am than I am leaving… well maybe not lately but in the past for sure.

 I noticed something this morning that doesn’t usually come with a hangover and that guilty feeling from staying up until the darkness turns to light again…  There is a beautiful peaceful tranquility around sunrise.  I liked waking up early.  The streets aren’t busy, the birds are waking up and chirping and the skies haven’t yet been hazed over with smog.  I quite enjoyed this morning’s drive to the airport.  After spending so much time in the past months commuting in areas like the Island and Southern Interior the traffic in the Lower Mainland seems unusually hellish.  This morning the stress was all but gone.  It takes a lot less time to get anywhere when the streets aren’t busy, so I made it to the airport a bit early.  I also enjoyed not feeling rushed or stressed there.

 The flight was good.  I stopped in Toronto (the crappiest airport ever! – yeah I said it – I can’t stand Pearson Airport – Love Ontario and the people are great but the airport there SUCKS!)  Thankfully I was out of there quickly, but not without the usual incompetence and disorganization that frustrates me with every visit I make to Pearson.  Needless to say I was happy to be in the air again and headed for the east coast.

 It didn’t take long for the skies to become overcast once the plane left Toronto.  It had been clear skies all the way from BC.  I read my book for the most part.  It is a bio on Sid Vicious, the late infamous bass player of the seminal punk band the Sex Pistols.  I also chatted with my neighbours on the flight, an elderly couple originally from Ontario who retired and now live in PEI.  I took my laptop out at one point as you probably know unless you read from the bottom of a page to the top or else have a really bad short term memory.  I only got a few sentences down before I shut it.  As we descended, the plane dropped below the cloud line and I was able to get my first view of the East Coast and Atlantic Ocean.

 I was taking pictures like crazy out my window.  It felt so cool to think just hours ago I was in Vancouver and now I am all the way on the other side of Canada.  The country here is beautiful.  What I noticed most is that it is very green and seemingly quite flat from the air.  The soil here is a reddish colour.  You can see it everywhere from above. The beaches are red, the shoulders along the side of the highway are red and even the farm land is red.

 I was met at the airport by Jodie.  She is one of the people in charge of CYAID and PEI SADD.  She is super nice and so is everyone else I have met here so far.  On that note I think it is time for me to quit being a hermit and go visit with everyone here for the conference.

 I have a wireless connection in my room and will be posting again this weekend!  Thanks for reading!!

Kevin

PS. I just got the password for the wireless here.  It is now 12:34am ET.  I’m tired but not still have enough energy to post this….  My jetleg isn’t all that bad tonight.  I’m thinking it’s because I can’t feel my legs…. ohhhh…. a new one!

Well today started as a good day…

Actually for the most part today was a great day. I spoke at two of my favourite schools here in the Southern Interior. It was an awesome double header. I was thinking it reminded me of when a sick band comes to town and has a sick opener too! I love that! I loved today speaking at Princess Margaret in Penticton and Westsyde in Kamloops.

I definitely could have kept on sleeping today when my alarm went off at 6:45am. Although my hotel in Penticton wasn’t the most accessible I have stayed at, it did have a really awesome bed. I had a great sleep last night and woke up to my usual punk rock song coming from my Blackberry.

It was pretty overcast his morning and actually started to rain as I pulled up to PMSS. The presentation was in the gym. I think I had grades 10 – 12. I had spoke at PMSS a couple of years ago and remember it being so rad. I had high expectations for today, and they were definitely met. I went WAY over time… but in my defence my schedule said I ended at 10am. The bell went at 9:45am… I have no defence as to why I lasted until 10:10am though…

Teachers and admin didn’t seem to mind, so I showed my slideshow at the end. I love showing the slideshow as the closer. I feel it really wraps things up nicely. I can talk and talk about how I used to do this and that, but I think pictures really drive home the harsh realities of the story. As it was playing I left the gym for my truck to get more postcards… I could tell by the response that I would be needing a bunch of them. I got lost and ended up rolling around half the school. I was rolling as fast as I could so the slideshow didn’t end and everyone just sit there in darkness with no speaker. I made it back just in time.

After the presentation, I was approached by a ton of students. It was great talking with everyone, shaking hands and hearing their comments. It is so awesome for me to hear that people appreciate what I do.

I left Penticton with enough time to get to Kamloops. The drive was nice. The sun was shining and traffic was pretty mellow. I got to Kamloops exactly when I wanted to – a half hour before start time.

Much like PMSS, I have very fond memories from my presentation two years ago at Westsyde Secondary. I wasn’t totally sure which school it was looking at the name on my schedule, but as the GPS led me closer I realized that I was speaking at another sick school. AV was all set up for me when I entered. Actually I lucked out today because both schools were totally ready for me. All I had to do when I showed up was plug in my lap top. This makes for a nice relaxing start… so often I am scrambling … well more whoever is setting me up at the school of the moment is scrambling to find equipment and get things working. I have stopped letting it stress me out, but it still sucks when that happens. So today was a real treat X 2!!

I did my thing at Westsyde. Once again I felt I had a strong presentation with a great response from the audience. Both schools have a lot of cool people I could see myself hanging out with, so it is really easy to talk to them and have them relate to me. The presentation went right until the end of the day. Students crowded around me when I was done. I was getting a lot of hugs today. I could tell that I had struck a chord with many. I showed the slideshow, but only a couple of handfuls of students stayed to watch. Still overall I was stoked! I can’t expect an entire gymnasium of students to stay 6.5minutes after the final bell rings…

I talked to a bunch of different people as I made my way out. I even talked to some more in the parking lot. The interactions afterwards are a great way of me seeing the effectiveness of my talk. I love it when people come up to me and shake my hand or tell me what they thought… better yet that I changed their lives or their crazy ways.

The sun was shining as I left the school. I drove to the Four Point Sheraton here in Kamloops. It feels a lot like home here after staying here at least a dozen times in the past couple of years.

I have been eating quite light and healthy for the most part over the past couple of months but decided tonight I was going to have a feast. The Ric’s here at the Four Point Sheraton in Kamloops has been the supplier and provider of some of the BEST steak dinners I have ever eaten.

I figured I would have a big classic steak dinner and then go ride it off after dinner. I had been asking students today at Westsyde of any good trails to ride in town. I got some great suggestions. The best was an apparently lengthily paved path along the Thompson River.

I had my great big dinner. Leah my friend who works here was serving me. It was great to see her. The Pittsburgh game was on TV, but to be quite honest since the Canucks have been out of the playoffs I have stopped really caring.

Sure enough as soon as dinner was done, I loaded up my truck and headed for Riverside Park. I actually had only a vague idea of where I was going and Riverside Park randomly became my final destination. It was an AWESOME score!

The pathway at Riverside Park is yet another awesome ride. I rode from my truck in the parking lot behind the arena in town along the river and across a big blue bridge into North Kamloops. I rode along the river at a decent pace. I was feeling pretty sore from yesterday’s 20km journey around Penticton, so I was struggling a bit. My belly was pretty full too.

I was thinking that I would just do 10kms today, but I would try and go hard the entire way and get a good cardio workout. It took me a couple Kms to get my rhythm going. Before I knew it I was on my way to a 15km ride. At about 6.5kms I came to a crossroad. My option was uphill or straight down an unfamiliar road. I took the unfamiliar road… in fact the hill was unfamiliar as well, so the flat road was an easy choice. The road ended up being a cul-de-sac, so I turned around at the end and started my way back to the truck.

I was totally enjoying the ride gazing at the scenery kind of half day dreaming when all of a sudden SNAP!

My f’n bike snapped in half. It just broke. All I was doing was riding down a road… no jumps, no curbs, no bumps… just flat street and then SNAP!!

I was shocked and immediately went into problem solving mode. This is a good example of the how life is different for me now that I am paralyzed. If I was still walking I could pick up the bike and walk the 7kms to my truck, but that wasn’t an option tonight. I was totally stuck. I tried to ride the bike but the frame was dragging on the ground below. I was up sh*t river road without a handcycle…

I started thinking who do I call? I thought maybe a taxi; maybe the police; maybe the fire department; maybe BCAA? Just as I was wondering WTF a nice man rode up on his bike and asked if everything was ok. I said no this kind of sucks my bike broke. He asked me how he could help and I explained that I was paralyzed and unable to walk so things weren’t going to be easy.

Right away, Matt, the good Samaritan asked what can we do? I told him that my truck was far away. He suggested grabbing his vehicle and driving me to my truck. I explained the biggest problems I saw was that I have never gotten from the ground into a vehicle before. That and I was strapped awkwardly into a bike that had now completely snapped in half and was in two pieces. He said that his van was lower than his truck, so I said go with the van then. I know this sounds bad… a strange guy I met on some random road going to get his van to give me a ride… don’t try that one at home kids. However, I had a good feeling about Matt. He appeared to not be a psycho serial killer… lucky for me my instincts were right. There is that good old gut feeling again…

Matt said he would be back in 10minutes and rode off… I was still sitting there looking at my bike in two pieces thinking WTF? In the mean time while I waited for Matt, I took pictures of my bike. My thinking was I need evidence that I wasn’t doing anything crazy in the bike. It just broke and it wasn’t my fault. The dealer should be responsible. Thankfully I brought my camera tonight. I don’t usually bring it me on my rides.

It was way less than ten minutes when Matt pulled up in his minivan with his wife Rita. They got out of the van and started strategizing. I suggested lifting me under the arms and legs and putting me in their minivan…. not awkward at all having two complete strangers lift my ass into their minivan. But really what were my options at this point? Before we started Operation Lift My Ass (OLMA), I asked Rita to take some more pictures of me and my broken bike. After Rita took a bunch of pictures she passed me the camera to make sure they were good. Yep we were all good. Now the fun part – lifting me into the van. Honestly, it wasn’t even that awkward. They were so cool about it!

Once I was settled in the van, Matt put the broken pieces of my bike in the back. We chatted small talk as they drove me to my truck. Matt said he had bailed a few times on his bike and had been given random rides home by strangers himself. This was life coming around full circle. It reminded me of the ambulance attendant story I tell in my presentation. Amazing the way that life works… Sometimes it seems like things are meant to be and that people are supposed to cross each other’s paths!!

They drove me right to my truck and helped me out of the van and put the broken pieces of my bike into the back of my truck. WHAT AN ORDEAL! Thank God there are good people out there in the world like Matt and Rita. I got their number and their address. I plan to send them a thank you card and a gift certificate or something to express my gratitude.

Matt and Rita saved my ass tonight. I was so stuck on that road I don’t even know the name of… Kamloops gets another BIG bonus point for Matt and Rita!

As for my bike, I still feel a little in shock and am definitely pretty bummed. In the past 6 difficult weeks my bike has been my saviour during the many tough times. I have rode more in the past 6 weeks than I have in the entire two years I have had the bike. However it is just a bike and it is replaceable; and it better be replaced under warranty. I am really hoping that Advance Mobility, who made the bike, warranties a broken frame, especially when I show them the pics. I could’ve been really screwed today if I was in a remote area or in the middle of an intersection or going down a hill… If they don’t warranty my bike I will be sure to start a Facebook Group expressing my frustration and inviting all 4000+ people from my Facebook and all 10, 000+ people from The Shizniz page… I will think positively though…. fingers crossed… WARRANTY WARRANTY WARRANTY.

Yeah so that was my night. My ride was cut short and as of now I am bikeless… Man life just throws these curve balls whenever and wherever… I can laugh at this one at least and it gives me a new story to tell tomorrow in Merritt and Logan Lake.

I am done for now.

Thanks for reading…

PS. Thanks to everyone from today!! You were so RAD!!

Kevin

I am so glad I brought my bike to the Okanagan!

I just got back from a 20km ride around Penticton. I started at my hotel, The Best Western, and rode along Skaha Lake to the canal. I took the canal all the way to Lake Okanagan then did a pretty good little tour around the lake and back to the Best Western. The sun was shining! It was sick! I passed the skate park here twice. It is AMAZING!

I started my day in Grand Forks. I stayed there last night. I drove to Grand Forks after Whitmee’s funeral. The funeral was pretty sad. There were so many people at the service. I followed a cavalcade of tattooed guys on bikes to the funeral chapel. It was pretty amazing to see. The funeral was like a reunion, but strange. It was great to see a lot of the people I saw, but not under those circumstances. The harshest part was when Whit’s daughter got up and spoke. She shocked everyone I’m sure when she started throwing down jokes. She is the toughest little girl I have ever seen.

I was feeling pretty bummed on my way to Grand Forks. The drive gave me a good chance to sort through everything in my mind. I felt ok with Whit’s passing only knowing that he had a wild and action packed life…. I just couldn’t get over the idea of his little girl growing up without a dad. The whole thing is just wrong. Guns are for cowards – I’ll say it again.

Anyways, this morning was pretty rad. Grand Forks is a cool little town. There are a lot of skateboarders and punkers there. Relating to the audience was not an issue today. Needless to say, I think the message was loud and clear. I left Grand Forks feeling stoked. But I couldn’t get too stoked because I had to focus on the drive ahead. I did not have enough time to get to Penticton for my second presentation. I had called the school and left a message with the principal that I would be rolling in at start time or even a bit later and to have the AV set up. I asked him to call me if things changed and leave a message. He called but no message, so I assumed all was good.

Of course I get to the school at start time and nothing is happening. The principal says it will work out, so I hang out with a school counsellor for a while. She said it will happen after lunch. I got lunch from the school cafeteria, which was awesome and then heard an announcement that there would be an ICBC presentation at lunch. I knew that nobody would rather go to an “ICBC” presentation than spend their lunch hour in the sunshine. Lunch passes and nothing. So I am told we are doing it after lunch. Then I am told it is cancelled. Then I am told I will be speaking to a Psych 12 class. It was all over the place. I just chilled, but was really hoping to have an audience.

In the end I spoke to the Psych 12 class and another class. It was my most punk rock presentation ever… very raw. Me and a classroom full of students. I enjoyed the randomness of it and feel it was a good presentation. There was definitely an intimate feeling in the room.

I finished the presentation and headed for the mall here in Penticton. I noticed this morning that I forgot my hair gel / wax/ whatever at home…

Luckily my Mohawk looked pretty much perfect when I woke up this morning, so I just ran it again. I was running a bandanna again too. I had been wearing it yesterday to honour Whit. I still had bandanna head this morning, so I rocked it again. I must’ve looked like such a punk to the teachers and admin when I rolled into the schools today.

The Best Western here is decent. It’s not very accessible at all. Fortunately I am pretty good at jumping up curbs. There is one to get in my room and also one to get in the lobby. I had the maintenance guy take the bathroom door in my room off the hinges, so I could fit in. It is kind of frustrating considering it is 2009… Meh… When the maintenance guy was done with my door I went for my ride.

As said earlier I rode 20kms. I was thinking today was Tuesday by the end of my ride. Just so much has happened today that it seems like Monday was yesterday. I think I need a good long sleep. I am stoked to get a full assembly at Princess Margaret here in Penticton tomorrow. Westsyde in Kamloops will be rad too! If the weather holds out I plan for a big ride around Kamloops tomorrow. Well that is about it for now.

Thanks for reading.

Kevin

I am home today, Sunday… Before I pack and hit the road again I wanted to write a blog.

Friday was a great day! I did the three presentations with only a minor brain fart during the second talk.

The morning started out great waking up in Rossland on a sunny day. Have I mentioned I love the bed at the Prestige there? Surely I have in previous blogs. I have the best sleeps in that bed.

My first presentation was about a half hour drive away in Castlegar. As I drove I thought about the name Castlegar and how cool it sounds. My mind goes all over the place to keep entertained while spending so much time alone. I started to say Castlegar with a pirate accent… Castlegaaaaarrrrghhh…. Sounds Way better! That was my opener for the presentation.

The presentation in Castlegaaaaaaarrrrghhh almost didn’t happen. The admin at the school thought it was tomorrow I was speaking. I was scrambling to get a hold of ICBC and confirm. It wasn’t the best start to the morning. It didn’t look too promising either because the room where I usually speak was occupied by two dudes in karate suits. They had their own presentation, and I wasn’t going to mess with them. My kung fu is not that good!

It did happen though and the presentation was rad! It was very impromptu from the beginning. It had a relaxed natural feeling that I always try to have when I speak. But on this day it just came all the more easy. The students were super cool and hearing my message. They heard it so much so that a dude in the back yelled out “YEAH” right in the middle. I thought that was sick.

I probably got the VP in serious sh*t as I went overtime. I even ignored the announcement over the school PA for the students in the assembly to get back to class. I was almost finished and how could I just stop and cut off the end? I finished a little over time and was stoked on all of the students who approached me and gave props.

I left Castlegaaaaaarrrrghhh feeling awesome! I didn’t have much time to get to my next presentation in Rossland, so it was all business from there. I had called the principal in Rossland in the morning thankfully asking for everything to be ready and set up so I could just roll in and plug and play when I got there. I’m glad I made that call because all was ready to go when I got in the gym with maybe a minute or two to start time.

The presentation in Rossland was awesome too! I was in such a great mood. I was throwing down random jokes all over the place and people were laughing. One started because a student in the audience was dropping change and playing around with some hole in the bleachers… don’t ask me what was up there… I have no clue. I also started on a tangent about the Subway in Rossland. I was going off about how it has one stair to get inside… just enough to make my life tricky. It was fun, but in the middle of the Subway story I lost track of where I was and there was the brain fart. Thankfully the students were onboard and paying attention. A guy in the front helped me remember where I was… Tubes… oh yeah I was talking about tubes and comparing them to Subway straws and then WHAM Subway Rant!

I ended the speaking part of the presentation right before the lunch bell. I gave everyone the option of hanging out and watching my slideshow and they all were down. The day just kept getting better. I love it when that happens. I didn’t have much time to get to Trail as everything wrapped up, but I did manage to chat with quite a few students afterwards. Another rad experience!

I got to trail with literally no time to waste. As I was getting out of my truck in the parking lot I could hear the announcements going for students to head for the gym. I was a bit panicked. I had called the school to ask the principal to have things set up, but I never talked to her and just left a message. Thankfully she didn’t answer because she was in the gym setting up.

A female student escorted me to the gym, since I had no clue where I was going. Our entourage grew as we went through the halls. We ran into one dude named Joey. Joey didn’t want to go to the assembly. He said so. I am guessing he didn’t know I was the speaker when he said it though. I told him he should come because I was the speaker and it was going to be good… it was gonna kick ass! Joey made it. I spotted him in the back and even mentioned how he might not go in my talk. I never said his name though in case a teacher gave him crap. If Trail teachers are reading this please don’t give Joey crap. It was a sunny Friday afternoon. I can’t blame the guy for wanting to bail early on school… I would’ve done the same. That and he did end up going. Thanks Joey!

I entered the gym and could hear everyone already. The place was packed. It was a pretty panicked set up for me. On top of it all I learned I had less than an hour to do my thing. I am pretty sure I said HOLY SH*T right then and there. What a way to introduce myself to the principal and students setting me up.

I gave’er in Trail. I had just enough energy left in the tank to talk fast and condense on the fly in order to finish on time… On time in my books is five minutes late by the way. The students were really down with the talk. I think some had seen me before a couple years ago, so they were into it before I started. There was a ton of energy in the room being the last stop before the weekend and freedom, but everyone was awesome!

I did finish a little late, but nobody seemed to mind. I told anyone who wanted to hang out they could as I showed my slideshow. A good number stuck around. I was stoked, especially considering it was Friday and school was done. Some stuck around even longer to watch my skate video and then hang out and chat. A couple of the guys were in a band and gave me their demo CD. It is pretty darn good. The band is called Speak of the Unknown.

Trail was an awesome way to end a crazy day! I was stoked and so energized leaving the school. It was a good thing too because my GPS was telling me I had a nearly 7hr drive ahead to get back home.

I drove out of Trail and through Rossland over the mountains down through Christina Lake and into Grand Forks. I was having dinner here, but the Borscht Bowl was closed! Crap… I was almost drooling thinking of their Borscht. Subway was the compromise. I like Subway… I am the four wheeled Jarrod these days remember… Only if you’re a Creeper would you know that. I ate and grabbed gas before I headed on for the remainder of the long journey.

I had the window down and no tunes as I drove through Grand Forks, to Osoyoos. Osoyoos is so rad! I was thinking I could live here as I drove through. Past Osoyoos came Enderby, Hedley, Princeton and then Hope. I saw so many dear between Princeton and Hope. The scenery the entire drive was beauty!!! I took it all in knowing that very soon I would be driving these same roads, only heading the opposite direction.

I got home pretty late Friday night. I stopped at a car wash in Langley before I got home. My truck was filthy. Even the super powered jets in the car wash couldn’t take most of the bug kill off my bumper and mirrors.

I checked my odometer at home. I drove over 1500kms in three days and did six presentations in that time! It was another busy week! I actually started to think I have become a machine. I can remember when things just started going again in the New Year. Back then when I did a couple presentations in a day I would be wiped out. I was a bit worried about my stamina. Thank God it came back!!!

I did the normal routine of settling in and showering before bed. I ended up watching some TV too. I watched the Bob Saget Roast that I had PVR’d off the Comedy Channel. Wow that is some filthy stuff. It was HILARIOUS!

I had a good sleep, but not a very long one. I woke up pretty early because I had a meeting planned with Cara, Jason and Jackson. Cara and Jason are my new agents and Jackson is their son. They came over after I had showered and ate breakfast. We chatted and sorted out some details for next year. Once all of the business was done we got into some Guitar Hero World Tour! It was super fun! Cara and Jason were alternating on vocals, I was on guitar and little Jackson was hammering the drums. I love how easy the beginner mode is on GHWT. Anyone can play!

After they left, I had a sunny day for the taking. It wasn’t long before I was on my bike, sans sleeves soaking up the sun. I went for a twenty kilometre ride yesterday. It took me about two and a half hours. It was a great ride! I love my bike. I love sunny days too!!

When I got home I had a few errands to run. I was starving, so I went to Jugo Juice. My buddy owns the new Drive Thru one on 200th Street in Langley. The girl at the window recognized me from speaking at her school, Mountain, last week. She said it was amazing presentation and then made me an amazing Pom Berry drink!

I went to Fluid after that… my plan was to hit the bike shop beside Fluid for some lights and a bell for my bike. I got noticed though while I parked by Jacquie, Jackie, Jacquee, Jaquarrrrgghhhhh…Jaquey, Jackoui….? (I have no clue how to spell her name). She is rad though and works at Fluid. I couldn’t not go inside, especially after I saw a smoking hot blonde walk in there.

Fluid is a dangerous place for me. I can never leave without spending money. They give me a sick discount so that makes it even harder. I bought a pair of shorts, a rad Volcom jersey, sleeveless shirt, a sick white button down t and possibly the sweetest Volcom hat ever!!! I am a complete Volcom sl*t if you haven’t noticed. Half of my clothes I own, if not more, are Volcom.

After my shopping spree, I went into the bike shop and got my bike all ready to go. I will feel safe now when I ride at night! SWEET!!!

I headed home next and had a great dinner planned: steamed broccoli, brown rice and BBQ chicken (that I had been marinating for most of the day). Pretty healthy hey? Yes I can cook too ladies reading this… if you are over 22, send me a picture and your resume and let’s talk US. HAHA…. Well damn it I ran out of propane last night, so I baked the chicken. It was still good, but BBQ is the best.

At this point, I was thinking I might just call it a night, but I figured why not go get propane. It would be best to get it over with. I drove into Cloverdale to the Mohawk and got propane. As I left I drove past the Legacy Showroom where my buddy Chris was shot and killed a weekago. It bummed me out to think of how he died so young and senselessly.

As I thought of Chris, I drove to Chapters. Earlier in the day when I had cut out one of my errands from the list. I decided I would keep the productivity alive and go to Chapters and find a new book to read. After all, I will be on a very long flight in a week to PEI. I am going to need some good reading. On my way to Chapters, I crossed a mini van heading the opposite direction. A shaved headed, tattooed dude yelled “BROOOOKS!!!” as I passed. It was my buddy Ty, who now lives in Nanaimo.

I turned around and followed the mini van. I pulled beside at a red light and smiled. The van was packed. The sliding door opened and there were some hammered humans in the back. I knew all of them. Ty is totally clean and has been DDíng for the boys a lot lately. He said they were going to JJ’s. I said I would pop by later.

JJ is one of the craziest people I know. He is covered in tattoos and does things on a 50CC that you wouldn’t believe. His entire crew are crazy rowdies. I used to party with them years ago, but things were getting out of hand. I haven’t seen those guys in a while and haven’t actually hung out with them in at least 4 years. I wondered if I would actually show up tonight, as I drove to Chapters.

Inside Chapters I found a book on Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols. I also ordered an apparently sick book called “How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself,” by the legendary Rodney Mullen. The girl helping me in Chapters recognized me. I had spoke at her school Fraser Heights in March. She said the talk was great! Her helping me by grabbing the Sid book from the top shelf and ordering Mullen’s book was great!

I decided that I was going to JJ’s, despite some hesitation. All of the guys in the van had been with Chris when he was shot last week. I wanted to hang with them because I knew they were out honouring the late GREAT Chris Whitmee.

I grabbed gas and a six pack of Coors Light on my way to JJ’s – a big change from years ago. Back in the day I would’ve grabbed at least a 15 pack or a 24, but these are quieter days for me.

His place is awesome! Classic JJ really. As I pulled up to the address on my GPS I saw a big metal fence locking people out of the yard. Techno was blasting from the backyard and smoke was billowing from an apparent bon fire. Yep this had to be the place. Ty came around and opened the gate for me.

I heard shouts as I pulled in. I used to hang with these guys every singe day a couple of crazy summers ago. I wasn’t even out of the truck and Poole had driven a pimped out ride-on lawn mower to the my side. “Brooksy we got you a power chair man!!!” Him and Ty grabbed me each under a leg and arm pit and put me on my ride. I have great friends!

Haha these dudes are always fun. So I rode the pimped out, gold grilled ride on lawn mower for the night. That was my chair. We sat around the bon fire and reminisced about Whitmee. The guys told me about the night and the amazing day leading up to his tragic death. He had a great last day. We had a few apple vodka shooters in his honour – Whitmee’s favourite drink.

As the night wore on, it was apparent I wasn’t driving home. Most of the boys had gotten safe rides home and JJ was sleeping by the fire. It was only me, Ty and Emily – JJ’s girlfriend still awake. I called Designated Driver Stop and had them coming to get me, and then Ty offered to drive me. He was dead sober. He was going to put his street bike in the back of my truck, but my bike was in there. So Ty drove me home while the other sober one, Emily, followed. I was very grateful for the ride.

It was a night of firsts. It was the first time I had been to JJ’s new place; the first night I rode a pimped out, gold grilled ride on lawn mower; and the first night that I Dukes of Hazarded into the passenger side of my truck. It seemed the easiest way to get in from the Pimp Mower. In the process I apparently lost a shoe though, and reminiscent of the old days woke up today with just one shoe. The big difference was that I actually noticed before bed this time, whereas before I wouldn’t have remembered a thing when I woke up with just one shoe. I noticed right when I got home last night. If you are reading this thinking WOW he was hammered… No. I just can’t feel my foot HAHA and it was damn dark out there and I was wearing all black. Needless to say I had a laugh this morning. Ty being the rad guy that he is found the shoe last night and is bringing it to Whitmee’s service.

Well that is about it…

I am going to shower and finish packing then go pay my respects to the Late Great Chris Whitmee. I am going to wear all black; shorts, sleeveless, socks and one shoe until I see Ty. In honour of Whit I will be running a black bandana too, and black shades to hide the tears.

From there my next stop is Grand Forks. I speak there tomorrow morning then in Penticton in the afternoon. Tuesday morning I speak in Penticton, so I stay the night there tomorrow. I have my bike in my truck so I can cruise Penticton tomorrow when I am done speaking.

I hope everyone had a safe and fun weekend! I just got off the phone with Ty. My shoe is waiting for me…. Gotta Run or ahhh errr ROLL…. Castlegaaaarrrrrggghhhh!

~: )

Kevin

I am feeling Prestigious again… I am staying at one of my favourite hotels tonight in Rossland, BC. The Prestige here has one of the comfiest beds I have ever slept in.

Right now I am sitting (well obviously I guess) in my room with a full belly watching a TV show about Sasquatches… I also am writing my blog. How is that for multitasking, Creepers? Maybe you read my last blog… If not read it and you’ll get it. By the way thanks for the comments on yesterdays blog Reese, Jess and Oliver!!!

I am having a great day today! I was thinking over dinner about a conversation I had yesterday afternoon. A female student who couldn’t have been older than grade 10 at Chase Secondary approached me after my presentation. Her first question was “what is my favourite / best day I have had?”

I had a really tough time answering the question. I have had so many great days in my life. I have had so many great days just in the past year, or even in the past two months… Today was one of those days.

I woke up around 5:47am (approximately) this morning in Naksup, BC. Thankfully I went back to sleep for a couple of hours. It was so bright at 5:47am this morning I had to double check the time to make sure I hadn’t slept in. Isn’t that the best when you think you have to wake up then get surprised to see you have a couple more hours of sleep ahead?

The sun was shining when I woke up officially, so I wore shorts and a t-shirt today – MY FAVOURITE! I was staying not even a kilometre away from Nakusp Secondary School, so I was at the school pretty quickly… before I was even done my apple I eat for breakfast every morning in my truck.

The presentation today was SICK!!! SO GOOD!!! I had some cool students setting up AV named Joel and Taylor. They had everything going for me: speakers, sound system, mic, mic stand, table, projector and screen. I was so happy with their help that I gave them a little present… I forgot my power bar at the school. Classic! I go through at least a couple power bars a year because I forget then at schools. Thanks for your help guys!!! Enjoy the power bar.

The principal this morning gave me the go ahead to take as much time as I needed… haha little did her know those are words I take full advantage of. I probably spoke for an hour and a half. The students were absolutely awesome. I moved away from the mic pretty early on making the presentation feel very personal. It was like we were all just hanging out. Everyone appeared to be hanging on every word. I showed my slideshow at the end. The presentation finished and I was absolutely stoked on my time at Nakusp. I took it as a good sign when basically every single student in the gymnasium approached me after to grab a post card with my info. I actually ran out of post cards, so I grabbed more from my truck and left then with a girl named Laura. I hope she dropped them off at the office. Thanks Laura!

I was thinking as I drove away how amazing it is that almost every day these days I tell the stories of the toughest and saddest moments of my life (read on because that is not the amazing part). The amazing thing is that by doing so I am given the greatest joy that I have ever felt. I feel no bigger rush and high then after finishing a presentation like the one I did today at Nakusp.

My afternoon presentation was in New Denver. I love New Denver, so I was happy to make the trip. New D is back towards Castlegar and Nelson from Nakusp. It is a beautiful drive with lots of amazing scenery. Tall trees lie the highway and in the distance there is no shortage of lakes, mountains, rushing rivers and waterfalls to glance at. I would love to be a passenger on these roads so I could stare as long as I wanted to. I pulled over and took pictures today because it was just so awesome.

I made it to New D in time to hit up the BEST DELI IN THE WORLD “The Appletree.” The Appletree has these amazing sandwiches… so GOOD! I always have The Gobbler: Turkey, veggies, cheese, and cranberries on whole wheat break… mmm so good. I actually took pictures of the sandwich that I will put on my website with every other pic I have taken in the past couple months. Expect this gallery in a couple weeks when all is done for my year of speaking.

So at that point in the day everything is AWESOME! What is more AWESOME is I am not going to change tones and say how things went downhill… they didn’t!

I drove a couple minutes from The Appletree to New Denver Secondary School. I had spoken there a couple of years ago. The principal recognized me and remembered I needed a chair. I thought that was cool. New Denver is a pretty small school. Students from K – 12 share the same building. I was thinking as I got out of my truck that the older students have a huge responsibility here to be good role models for those younger students. I mentioned it in my presentation.

I spoke in the library just like I had two years ago when I visited. The room was pretty full. Once again this afternoon, time was not an issue. I went at least an hour and twenty minutes. The presentation was even more candid than normal. I even threw down a few new jokes… only one of which I can remember right now. The presentation was AWESOME again! Today was going perfectly. I saw many people in the audience getting misty eyed and wiping away tears during multiple points of the story. It is such an amazing feeling to see I am having an effect on the audience. I believe that I am reaching people in a way that could very well change bad habits and prevent poor decision. Best of all this attitude and opinion changing could result in some really great young people avoiding tragedies. That is why I speak, and knowing I accomplishing my goal is a great feeling that words could never give justice.

I left New D feeling so awesome! Some students walked me to my truck and waited out the final bell while asking me questions and chatting. Most were in grade 8. It kind of shocks me sometimes to think that the students I am speaking with are the same age as my youngest sister Hayley. I only hope I can have such an effect on her. I feel that I do. Our relationship is so RAD!

My next stop was going to be the Prestige where I am right now, but I thought I would grab dinner first. My restaurant of choice for tonight was the Colander in Trail – about a two hour drive. The Colander has all you can eat spaghetti. Melissa told me about it years ago when I did my first ever Southern Interior tour. I ate there twice that trip and haven’t forgotten.

The spaghetti and meat balls are what I always get. It is very simple but so delicious. It actually reminds me a lot of my Grandma Brooks’ spaghetti and meat balls. This was my favourite meal she made. Sadly Grandma B passed away a couple years ago. She died very suddenly from lung cancer. It was so sad to see her in the hospice bed blinded by her cancer, gasping for air dying just mere weeks after she had been so alive and healthy. I miss my Grandma. She was so cool. I have never looked at smoking cigarettes the same since her death. I hate smoking and think it is the most pointless habit. It does nothing but kill people.

I used to smoke when I was in high school. I actually started in grade 7 because some of my older friends smoked and I thought it was cool. I fought through the gross taste until I became addicted. I smoked at least a pack a day for years. I would smoke two packs in a day or night when I drank. Finally I quit and never looked back. Seeing my Grandma die sucked. I think smoking is such a selfish thing to do because it is the family who gets to watch the smoker die a painful, slow agonizing death.

Wow I am all over the place tonight… back to spaghetti and meat balls. I had hoped that my Grandma would leave me the recipe in her will, knowing how much I loved that meal. Unfortunately, no such luck. Going to the Colander tonight reminded me of my Grandma. With her no longer alive, it is as close as I am going to get. I actually make my own spaghetti and meat balls now. I have made the meal twice. The last time it was really good. As I put away my empty plate after my meal that night, I looked up to the sky and talked to Grandma and shed a few tears… Mine still have nothing on hers.

I recommend trying out the Colander if you are ever in Trail… Did I mention it is all you can eat!? Well that is why I am so full. I better look out or I will start getting chunky monkey comments again! You’d have to read way back into my early blogs to get that one… Super Creeper Style.

Tomorrow I have three presentations in the area. I am really hoping I don’t have a brain fart where I lose my spot and forget which presentation I am doing. It happens sometimes telling since I am essentially the same story multiple times daily. It goes down like this… All of a sudden I look at the audience (happened in New Denver this afternoon) and wonder, “Did I already say this?”

I wonder, “Was that earlier today or am I saying the same thing twice?

“…Are they all just being nice and not letting on that I am saying this twice?”

If I ever look really confused while I am talking, this very well may be what is going through my skull. Watch for it because it happens fairly regularly.

Well that is about it for tonight. Now it is time to edit. I am pretty sure that there are a lot of typos since I was watching my Sasquatch documentary with one eye half the time I was typing this…

Speaking of Sasquatches, I am in the Kootenays and I still haven’t seen one. Maybe tomorrow…

Thanks for reading.

Kevin

I drove over 600kms today… Yep I am back in the Kootenays…

I woke up early this morning still thinking about my buddy Chris Whitmee. I was up pretty late last night reading all of the posts on his memorial Facebook page. I doubt I will forget Chris or the senseless act of violence that took his life anytime soon. He was an awesome guy. I spoke of him again today in my presentation at Chase Secondary.

I haven’t spoke at Chase in years. I had great memories from my past talk there, and I have many more from today now too. The students today were great. Mr. Gartrell, who helped me set up was awesome! He grabbed a couple students and they set up chairs and we had everything ready to rock pretty quickly. None of the students knew about the assembly, so people couldn’t plan ahead on bailing on the afternoon. Nice plane Mr. G!! I think it worked because there was a good crowd and everyone seemed into the story. I kept it to a little over an hour and only kept everyone a little past the bell. I am really glad I got to speak in Chase today.

I drove from Chase to Nakusp. That is where I am now. Nakusp is in the Kootenays for those who haven’t heard of it. It is really pretty country. To get here I drove from Chase through Salmon Arm and Sicamous to Revelstoke. Right before Revelstoke there is a right turn that leads to a ferry. The ferry crosses Arrow Lake and then it is about a 45minute drive to Nakusp.

I spent the last couple of hours in my hotel room responding to emails and Facebook messages… creeping??? Is that creeping??? HAHA… You may be thinkng WTF or WTH… depending on the person…

I have to say something about this blog and Facebook. I have heard two people say this week that it is “creeping” to look at other people’s pages, blogs etc. I think this is so funny. I wouldn’t post a blog if nobody read it. And why do people put all of their info on Facebook if they think it is creeping when people look at it? It is so interesting to me. I hope people read this blog and visit my site all the time. I don’t think it is creeping. I would call it interest. I hope people are interested in what I have to say. If they weren’t I would be wasting a lot of hours writing these blog entries almost every day. Anyone who has a comment for that one, I’d love to hear from you. Why is it creeping??? I don’t get it.

I have Family Guy on now and am just going to chill for the rest of the night. I have a pretty busy week ahead yet. I speak tomorrow at Nakusp and then New Denver (YEAH!!! I get to eat at the Apple Tree again!!! – BEST sandwiches ever!!!). Friday I have a rare triple header at Castlegar, Trail and Rossland secondary schools. I have never spoke at three schools in one day before. It will be intense for sure!

I plan to drive home this weekend and chill and rest for the big week I have next week. I speak in the Southern Interior, Lower Mainland and Prince Edward Island all in one week! It is going to be intense!!

Speaking of weekends… relaxing weekends especially. I was going to write about my long weekend yesterday but my heart was in the rant about youth violence. If anyone was wondering what I got up to… here it goes…

I had an awesome long weekend. It was super chill. I spent the majority of the weekend in Richmond watching Hayley in a ball tourney. The sun was shining both days and I was loving it. After her game Sunday I took Hayley and her friend Regan to Steveston for fish and chips and ice cream. It was really cool to hang with them. They are such cool kids. Regan actually goes to Mountain where I spoke yesterday. Unfortunately she couldn’t see me speak and will have to wait a few years or so because only grade 11 and 12s were in the gymnasium.

Saturday night I went to a BBQ at my buddy Randy’s. They were partying pretty hard, but I kept it chill. I wasn’t down for partying and haven’t been in over a month now. I got my kicks Saturday with another super shopping session. I spent a few bucks earlier in the day at Fluid. I did a double header shopping at my two favourite stores this weekend. Needless to say packing for this week was really easy. My best buy of all was new Black Lakai Eric Kostons!!! SICK. SICK KICKS… That is where I got my kicks… and the cheese continues to flow… Creepers…

Sunday night I already mentioned going to Steveston with Hayley and Regan… After I dropped them off I went for a 15km bike ride that pretty well knocked me out for the night.

Monday night I made fajitas with home made guacamole for dinner and had my mom over. After dinner was done and mom went to work, I went to Richard’s on Richards and saw No Use For a Name, Only Crime and Pour Habit. My buddy Kev drove down since I had a couple Coronas with my Mexican dinner earlier. It was a nice change to be a passenger for once. The show was sick! Pour Habit put on a killer show. They are the first punk band I have ever heard of being from Compton. Only Crime was rad too. No Use KILLED IT! They are one of the tightest bands live. I’d say the highlight was Russ from Only Crime (ex Good Riddance) come out for the encore and sing the old Pogues song Fairytale of New York with No Use… SICK!! I was in the pit again. It was a rad night. All of these bands can be found on this site http://www.fatwreck.com/.

Well that is about it for now…. thanks for reading… I mean creeping… nah thanks for reading!!!

Kevin

Today is a super sad day.

It started off fine… actually great. I thought it was going to rain today, but the sun was shining bright when I opened the blinds.

My morning presentation at Earl Marriott went off like I thought it would. There are always great people in the South Surrey / White Rock presentations. I spoke to grade 10s today. It was a pretty big audience. Everyone was respectful and awesome! I am so glad I got to speak there this morning. Thank you all.

I left the school feeling great. The sun was still shining and I had a little time before my next presentation in Langley at Mountain Secondary. I made the most of my free time and drove into Mr. Lube on Fraser Hwy in Langley. It was just like the many other times I had gone here for an oil change. One of the techs came to the truck and handed me a Province newspaper which I was looking forward to flipping through. The picture on the front made my heart sink though. It was Chris Whitmee.

I met Chris in wilder days partying in Surrey. He was friendly and smiling the first time I saw him and every other time I saw him. That is how I will remember him. I will also remember the day I went to get an oil change and got a newspaper that said my buddy was dead. Chris was an innocent victim shot to death by a coward with a gun while he was trying to take a piss.

I have been going through many emotions today. At first I was shocked and saddened. I have felt angry too. It is one thing when people who are holding guns of their own or playing roulette with their own futures are killed… I would still say it is a tragedy. But when somebody who was just hanging with his friends in a bar having cocktails and enjoying some entertainment is shot down it is nothing short of a heart breaking tragedy. Chris is a dad, a son and I am sure holds many other hats I don’t even know of. He is a friend to so many, and now he is gone. His life is cut short because some jerk decides he can play God and snuff out one of the good ones.

I spent the last hour looking at pictures of Chris on Facebook and reading articles about what happened. I know many of my friends know more than I know and what is printed. Some good buddies were there with him. I don’t even want to get involved in the gossip side of it. I just miss Chris and want people to be aware of how messed up it is now in the Lower Mainland. I have been in that bar and in that bathroom many of times in my life. It is the first bar I ever went in. I can tell you now that it is the last one I would ever go in now.

I wonder where it is safe to go these days. I feel sketchy going to Earl’s, Cactus Clubs, Brown’s… the list goes on and on. How in the past year have things gone so terribly sideways? It isn’t safe to go out anymore. When did Vancouver become L.A. or D.C.?

I mentioned Chris in my presentation today at Mountain. I knew I was going to… I had to… I just didn’t know when I would. I just knew that I would. I ended up saving it right until the end. I am glad because I broke down when I started to talk about him.

I have wanted to say something about all of these young people who are dying in the streets since about January when things got so bad here. I never felt that I had the right. What do I know about all of this stuff? Well now I can say I have been personally affected, and it hurts. It hurts to think one second your buddies are having beers and laughs and then the next your friend (the smiley guy who was nice to everyone and laughing every time I saw him) is gasping for breath in shock that he has been shot. It stings to think of Chris lying there clinging to life not wanting to orphan his nine year old daughter.

Well today I spoke up. I just said what was on my mind. I doubt anyone reading this blog is involved in the whole gang violence thing, but it doesn’t mean we aren’t affected. Two weeks ago I spoke in Abbotsford. The presentation was iffy as there had been two grade 12s from Mouatt Secondary killed a couple of nights before.

At this rate car crashes are not going to be the number one killer of youth anymore…. I have been hoping for that since I started speaking. However I didn’t want it to happen like this.

This has been a rant I am sure… if you are reading this and you agree with this or disagree or have any opinion I would like to see what you have to say. Post a comment. This gang crap is affecting all of us and making our beautiful and safe place to live a dark and dangerous one.

Before I go I want to thank everyone at Mountain this afternoon. After my rant it seems weird to just suddenly change subjects, but I have to say thanks. You were an amazing audience. To those who stuck around after the final bell ending the day to watch my slideshow THANK YOU! That was so cool! Your respect shone a little brightness on a dark afternoon.

R.I.P. Chris Whitmee… Send me a message if there are skateparks in Heaven. Say hi to Brendan, Jordan and Brant. Why do the good die young?

2:57pm Thursday, May 14

I am on the ferry again. This time headed for home. I ended up making a reservation, which always means I get to the terminal and don’t need it. $17.50 down the tube, but I guess you can’t put a price on piece of mind.

My presentation today went good. I spoke to my old friends from Claremont. Many have seen me speak four times now. I hope I am to Claremont what Seinfeld and the Simpson’s are to me… just keep on watching even though you have seen it countless times and still love it the same.

I don’t have any big plans for the long weekend. I want to get a bunch of rest and ride my bike and soak up the sun if it sticks around. I am going to my dad’s tonight for a BBQ and to watch the playoffs. I haven’t seen him in a couple weeks or so. Time is flying by so fast these days – probably because I am so busy.

Thanks to Claremont and the PARTY Program for today! I always love doing PARTY. I only have one more trip to Vancouver Island left on the calendar for this school year. I trust it will be awesome, as that has been the theme. I’ll check in tomorrow. It feels like Friday to me and I keep forgetting I have two presentations tomorrow.

My first presentation is at Johnson Heights. My mom and Hayley are coming I just found out, so that should be interesting. I love how I get no warning from my mom… just we’re coming tomorrow. I am not sure Hayley knows how much I talk about her in my presentation. I do know that the parts where I talk about her when she isn’t there are tough enough. Saying that stuff and looking at her is going to kick my ass.

My second presentation is at Vancouver College. I spoke there last year and it was great. It’s an all boy’s school so the message is heard loud and clear. The teacher there Mrs. Beck is really cool. It will be nice to see her again.

I’ll finish this later…

So maybe way later…

9:41am Saturday, May 16

Well I obviously got home safe and sound from Victoria. I went to my dad’s after starting my laundry Thusday night. He BBQ’d a sweet dinner! It was one of my first home cooked meals in a long time. I overindulged a bit…

My presentations yesterday both were AWESOME! I called Coastal Riders (buddies skate / snow shop) to let them know I would be speaking in their backyard at Johnson Heights. My buddy Damon sent Scott from the store over with a bunch of Coastal gear for me to wear and some coupons to hand out to students. I am stoked on the new gear and the coupons for students. I will be handing coupons out at the rest of my presentations this year. The new Coastal Riders gear is by far their nicest and sickest clothing yet. If you haven’t heard of or been to Coastal Riders, check em out http://www.coastalriders.com. Screw that West 49 sell out crap… the real goods are in the straight up independent skate shops like Coastal and my other buddies Fluid in Langley and Maple Ridge http://www.fluidsports.com.

As for the actual presentations, they were so good. Yesterday was a great day! Johnson Heights was something else. I arrive really early to see my old principal Mr. Hignel walking into the school. I was not the best disciplined kid in high school. Anytime I see a former principal at a school where I am about to speak, I wonder if they are going to remember the old days and lock me out… he didn’t. Mr. Hignel was very welcoming. As we set up, we talked how life comes around full circle.

Fortunately I had the start time of the presentation down wrong in my calendar because my mom and Hayley showed up a little early, as opposed to a little late. I was getting a little misty eyed before I even started speaking knowing that Hayley was in the audience and I would be talking about her so much. I have had my mom there a few times and that is tough too, but I thought Hayley there was going to break me up.

The audience were so respectful. They were the perfect audience. I always have great crowds like that at Johnson Heights, which is why I love going there. They also have a very pro theatre set up. If you read this blog at all, you will know that theatres are my favourite venues to speak!

I got through the presentation in one piece and finished with the slideshow going only a little past the bell. It was awesome! I was so stoked to be able to have Hayley and my mom there to see what I do day in and day out. Also with Hayley in grade 8 now, it was the first time she has actually heard the entire story from my mouth. When you talk about something twice a day throughout the years, the last thing I do is want to talk about it outside of schools. I hope she took something positive away from it that could affect her own decisions in her high school years.

I left Johnson Heights feeling great! I had a decent drive ahead to Vancouver College in Vancouver… well duh I guess the name gave it away…

I had plenty of time to deal with the long weekend traffic and arrived earlier than expected. I made a quick call to my buddy Chris Carr, as I am in the market for a new Chevy Colorado. I got some bad news that the plants have shut down for a few months so no new trucks are being built. I have to wait and drive the beast a little longer…. LAME! I found comfort thinking all things happen for a reason…

I met with Mrs. Beck at Van College in student services, and she led me to the gym where I would be speaking. I met Mrs. Beck about 3 years ago at Crofton House School in Vancouver. Crofton is an all girl’s school. I remember the presentation fondly as it was great. Van College is an all boy’s school, and I also remember my last presentation there a year ago because it was so rad! There is a huge sense of achievement in keeping 300 guys at bay through an hour plus presentation.

It was really awesome right from the start yesterday. The guys gave me a huge applause before I even started. I did my full presentation and managed to finish just a little over time. I gave the option to leave for lunch or watch the slideshow and nobody budged. It made my day! I wasn’t sure at first because they were super rowdy to begin with, but they calmed quickly and were a perfect audience. I really lucked out yesterday having two unreal talks. It was such a great day! I think I said that already… oh well…

I headed home in traffic to run a bunch of errands. I have barely been home the past couple of months. I needed to buy groceries, pick up new post cards from Purolator (I have been away each time they have come by my place to drop them off) and get my hair cut. I got everything done surprisingly in time to be on time for my hair cut with my friend Lesley. After the haircut I went home and made a quick tuna wrap for dinner and went for a burn on my bike.

As I rode I thought about how relaxing this Friday night was. There was nothing inside me wishing I was dealing with the craziness of the Cloverdale Rodeo - going on this weekend. The Rodeo is a compltel gong show. I rode super hard and got home with the odometer reading 11+ kms. 11kms around home counts as double in my books when compared to say the Goose in Victoria. There is a lot hill around here and stops signs and traffic, so it feels like 20kms by the time I am done. I found a few new routes I am excited about yesterday and look forward to riding from now on.

I raced my bike home as fast as I could because I still wanted to go to Coastal Riders for a little shop and exchange. They close at 9pm Fridays, and I got home at 8pm. I made it there for 8:30pm and did my best to get out of there before closing, so they could leave and have their Friday night. I was out about 15minutes late… that seems to be my style… my presentations and now my personal life too. I bought some sick jeans, sweaters and t’s. They also exchanged the Coastal hoodie they gave me the night before for a smaller size because it was too big.

I came home and cleaned my place and went to bed. Yesterday was about as perfect a day as I have had. Even the cleaning and errand running were good because I got stuff done. It was so nice going to bed last night knowing I had nothing to do but chill all weekend! The best parts of the day were definitely my presentations, bike ride and Coastal.

Today the plan is to go to Richmond and watch Hayley in a ball tourney. I also want to hit the Auto Mall there and look at vehicles. I may have to give up on GM and go Toyota or something.

That’s all for now…

I am relaxing all weekend in preparation for the final push. The last three weeks are really busy again and mostly on the road. I just got my itinerary for PEI! Stoked on that one the most! Well the Southern Interior in late May probably won’t be too tough either!

Life is Good.

KB

PS. Man I covered a lot of ground this week… Leduc, Alberta; Nanaimo, Victoria, Surrey and Vancouver, BC. You were all so awesome! Thanks for all of the messages and sorry if my email was down yesterday. I actually get so many messages that I go over quota quite often. I never erase an email from a student, so my cache is well into the thousands. Email should be working now!

Have a safe and fun long weekend everyone! This long weekend is one of the worst for deaths and injuries and car crashes. Keep safe! Wiggle your toes and remember our story.

…So I just read my last blog. I put it up so fast I was kind of worried about it. Wow there was a lot of typos and parts that were tough to read. I made a bunch of corrections, so it probably (hopefully) makes more sense now.

I am writing from Laurel Point in Victoria on Thursday morning. The sun is shining outside, and I got a great sleep last night. I woke up when I wanted to wake up today instead of to an alarm. My alarm is punk rock so I can’t say it’s the worst thing to wake up to ever (unless you hate punk rock). It is just nice to wake up on my own. I still got up before 8am, but I feel refreshed.

Yesterday I was feeling so burned out. My first presentation at the PARTY Program at Nanaimo General Hospital was not my best ever. I am not saying it sucked or anything for those who saw it and are reading this. I was just a bit off my game. I think all of the yawns and people nodding off throughout gave it away. Still I want to thank everyone for sticking through the hour and a half presentation I gave through my cracked and raspy voice.

My second PARTY Presentation was better. I had way less time but quite enjoyed the challenge of streamlining the story to be less than half as long as my first one I did. I saw many tears welling up early on in the presentation. I felt I really impacted the second group right through the entire presentation. After finishing I started thinking that I need to tighten things up more and shorten the presentation back to about an hour…. For you and me!

I drove to Victoria after I was done. I hung around the hospital for a little while to say goodbyes for the year before I left. Yesterday was my last PARTY date in Nanaimo for the 2008 / 2009 school year. I can’t believe how fast the year went by. I hung out with Christina, Cass (from Victoria PARTY), and a couple of cool student nurses who are doing their practicums at NGH.

I was pretty tired for the hour and a half drive to Victoria… in the pouring rain might I add. I got to Laurel Point around 5pm. The weather was not very nice, so I contemplated cancelling my bike ride. I ate dinner in the restaurant here and was kind of disappointed. I know someone very close to me who always orders the same thing in restaurants to be safe. I kind of see it the other way. Once you have something so good, it is really hard for the next time to be as good, especially if you get a different cook. Anyways, aren’t I a princess now…

I decided to go for the bike ride after dinner even though it was raining and windy and freakin cold outside. I had a simple math equation that made it all clear… wings + 5 pieces of pizza + pasta = I need a bike ride. If you are wondering WTF that was… it was three of my last four meals eaten.

I am pretty sure people thought I was nuts riding my bike in shorts in the pouring rain. It was only 9 degrees Celsius outside last night and the wind must have made it even colder. I was soaked right through and dripping water from all over. I rode my normal 20km route along the Goose. It wasn’t so bad because I was going so hard I could hardly feel the cold. Well that and I can’t feel my legs… They were like ice cubes when I got back here. My friends at the hotel confirmed my suspicions when they asked me if I was crazy riding in the freezing cold rain. I guess I am…

I had a nice hot tub (insert bath between the last two words before the parenthesis) to get my body temperature back and then went to bed. It was a great night.

Today I speak at Victoria General Hospital with the PARTY Program. I am not on until 12:30pm and then I catch the ferry home. That reminds me I need to book a ferry so I am not sitting in long weekend traffic for hours today at the terminal.

I will write later.

Over.

Kevin