I wonder a lot about my own passion and read often about the joy and success that can come of pursuing your true passion. But, how do we know what that is?

I like this one from yoga coach Jes Allen.…

This is interesting. A team is working to resurrect Sci-Fi author Philp K. Dick, who wrote the book that launched the movie Blade Runner. 

I hope he starts writing again ;-)

It is with bittersweet feelings that we watched David Letterman sign off in his last show last night. In a tribute to his long career of helping us end our day with laughter and grace, I thought I would post this Top Ten list of the Best Things That David Letterman Gave Us:

[...Drum roll...]

10.  Something to watch besides infomercials after 11:30 at…

I find that Mothers’ Day gains more and more importance to me as time goes on. This spring, I had the great pleasure of traveling and staying with Mom over a 4-day period as the weather was warming up after a long and cold winter.

As we drove together, we talked about how this time of year was always a busy one for us as we prepared for the Spring Bear Hunt and…

I have the great fortune of being a member of the Advisor's Circle for the World Travel & Tourism Council, a global organisation which advocates the significant social and economic contributions of the sector and presses for changes needed to make travel and tourism accessible, easier and sustainable. Every year WTTC holds an annual general meeting which I have attended for the past several years. This year's event was held in Madrid, Spain. 

The business schedule was intense and…

For the first time in my career I was invited to speak at a conference, in this case "Global PR Trends" held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Cairo, Egypt. The presentation went swimmingly as I talked about Dubai Airports' communication strategy and how it delivered value to the business. If anything I could have shortened it a bit, but I digress. Over dinner that night the conference organizer, Kosta Petrov who hails from Macedonia, insisted I take full advantage of a very rare opportunity…

Well, since this is my very first book, I’m not sure any advice I give would be based on any kind of profound experience. Yet, I can tell you that the thing that kept me going was having someone interested in what I was writing. I spoke about it to a few selected people that I knew were supportive and encouraging. And their responses and questions like—how much I’ve written, what am I writing now…—kept me wanting to keep writing so I had some more to share. It was kind of pushing me as…

Perhaps this Winter-Spring season more than most, we in North America at least, joyously welcome the arrival of Spring.

It is often said our minds are like gardens where anything can grow. This Spring, be sure to plant beautiful flowers there to share and not weeds.

Welcome…

I must admit, I don't have the worst job in the world. Yesterday, my job was to entertain some customers in the Barcelona area as we prepare to meet with them formally at Mobile World Congress; the largest mobile and telecom show globally. As part of the tour, I got tickets to see Basilica Sagrada Familia Cathedral, the exterior of which is shown in the photo below.…

I was so fortunate that I didn’t have any pressures or real hard deadlines to meet, so when I did have a block I could wait it out. I think most of the time when I did have a block, it usually came from outside distractions—I allowed myself to become distracted. Sometimes an audition, a talk I would have to give or conceiving a new workshop…would take a lot of my concentration. But if I was being 100 percent honest with myself, I would have to say I allowed those distractions to block me. It…

I was saddened to hear the news yesterday of the passing of Leonard Nimoy who I followed indirectly because I always loved the shows he was in from Star Trek to his work only a few years ago in Fringe.

I was spending some time on Linked In today and came across this truly great article written by John which points out why many of us liked (loved) the…

I wanted to take a few minutes to share a Kamazooie moment from the weekend that involved the bass player from my second band The Tundra Rick March. Rick is a seasoned musician who plays with a couple of bands in Dubai as well.

During a mid-week email conversation he shared a couple of songs that he, and a former band member Paul Stanton, wrote in 1992. They were very catchy and on Saturday we decided to give one of them a go. The song, Talk Too Much, is quite catchy and we stayed…

Unfortunately, I didn't.  And I say unfortunately because it would have been easier to follow an outline...although writing without one was quite creatively stimulating.  I did have the main characters pretty well thought out in my head: who they were, their struggles and how I wanted them to conquer their battles...But many story elements—things that help drive the story were actually thought of during the process—like the chapters with Seema and Robert and the journals, they were all…

Greetings Kamazooie Memebrs!

In our short history, Kamazooie has developed a few very faithful followers and contributors.Of course, while all of our members are important to us, the ones that contribute give us the content to keep coming back to the site and the inspiration for us to share stories our own experiences within the Kamazooie community.

Lorne Riley, is one of these special members; in his…

I think it was one of the greatest artistic experiences I have ever had. I spent the majority of my life as an actor and a director in theater and film. Rehearsal has always been my favourite part. Although there is a wonderful satisfaction that comes with being in front of an audience and performing, I truly love the creative process and feel that once I am in front of an audience...well, at that point I am…

As I mentioned last week, I wanted to post some updated photos to chronicle the recording of Mileage 51's upcoming CD as well as provide some shots of the jam with my second band The Tundra. On Friday/Saturday Mileage 51 gathered at Roy's apartment aka studio to lay down some instrumentation and vocal call backs as we start to complete and refine songs bound for the CD. Roy has a great…

It has been far too long. Sadly with work, vacation, travel and other commitments my blogs have fallen by the wayside. Accordingly, I feel compelled to provide an update on what has become a recurrent theme...music.

Let's be clear, there are other things that go on in my life...it just seems that Kamazooie has become the vehicle for sharing my hobby. Mileage 51…

Ah...what an adventure that was! Finding a title had become a fun Sunday morning adventure. My wife and I would sit with our morning drinks and come up with so many ideas....then we would pass them through the boss: our daughter! She is an avid reader and she was the one that kept telling us if it was a good title or not. Mainly NOT! Oh, it was quite the stimulating adventure...and fun and hard. It is so difficult finding that title because once you have a title, it really represents the…

My dad, Bill Ritchie, was a great story teller who never seemed to be at a loss for a relevant story to drop into the conversation whether it was around a campfire or the dinner table. In the shot below, taken by my brother Al on one of our family moose hunting trips, it seems to be a funny story, likely of some misfortune that happened to him as he was often the brunt of his own humorous tales.…

This is such a touching video and this rescue dog mission is such good cause.

My heart goes out to her and her little friend.