I just had to incorporate the word “Leap” in the title somewhere. Happy Leap Day everyone!
Yesterday was my Wife’s Birthday. I’m not gonna say how old she is because well, I know better. I guess it’s safe to say now what I bought her. I bought her a Birthday Card, and a $20 gift card to Chapters, which is a bookstore here. I also bought her the movie, Music & Lyrics. I’m taking her out to Dinner tomorrow night too.
We spent the night at her place and had nice relaxing time together.
Besides Dinner tomorrow, I don’t have any other plans this weekend.
I woke up this morning with Stomach problems. I’m not really sure what’s going on. My Diet is pretty consistant, so I have no idea what’s happening.
Today is my Wife’s Birthday. We were supposed to go out for Dinner tonight, but I wasn’t able to get a ride. Perhaps that’s a good thing considering the way I’m feeling today. We’re gonna try again on Saturday night. Hopefully it’ll go better then.
Tonight’s the first game for The Ottawa Senators since rehiring Brian Murray as the Head Coach. The game is being broadcasted on Pay-Per-View, so I won’t be watching it. If I’m home, I may listen to it on the radio or just go to nhl.com.
In other news, well not a whole lot. I’m not feeling 100% so I think I’ll end this post right here.
Requests are still coming in from different Local Charities for me to perform. So far, I’ve said yes to all.
It’s freakin cold here. If Global Warming exists, it’s certainly not here. Apparently, I’m living on another Planet, which explains ALOT.
Paris Hilton annoys me. No, it didn’t just pop in my head. I generally have that thought in my head often. She’s like Herpes, she never fully goes away.
In other news, my hometown team, the Ottawa Senators fired their Coach, John Paddock and rehired Brian Murray. I think Cher should sing “If I Could Turn Back Time” at an upcoming Sens Game.
I read today that the Health Minister of Ontario wants to try out Adult Diapers. Apparently, Nursing Home Residents aren’t receiving good care and left sitting in soiled diapers. He wants to see how absorbant they are. Politicians really are full of shit I guess.
My Wife suggested that I send the link of my interview to Local Media outlets. I have several good friends that work in Media. As luck would have it, just after sending the first one, I got instant response and the possibility of being on the news soon.
I also asked to be part of local fundraising events and they have expressed interest in having me perform. If you hear of any upcoming fundraising events in Ottawa, there’s a solid chance that I’ll be performing.
For those of you that haven’t seen the video, here it is
It can also be seen at my own YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/ryanlythall
More videos will be posted there soon, so feel free to add me.
My day was pretty much spent communicating by email about that.
In an odd way, I’m glad that I didn’t win the Contest last week. Now I have more time to focus on other ventures involving my Comedy Career.
I more or less watched The Oscars last night, but with the sound off. I hadn’t seen any of the nominated movies, so I wasn’t really interested. I find the whole ordeal to be fake and superficial. Even after all these years, I don’t see the need for big award shows. At the end of the day, they still get a massive paycheck.
This week will be quiet for me. No appointments, no Boccia, no shows. About the only thing happening this week is my Wife’s Birthday, which is Thursday. We’ll probably go out this weekend.
Sorry that this wasn’t more exciting, but everyone needs a break sometime.
I spent the afternoon with my Wife on the Rideau Canal. This was my first time there in ten years. The reason that it had been so long was because I can’t stay out in the cold very long. Luckily, it was just above freezing, so I took full advantage.
I put on three layers of shirts. I had a hard time moving my hands, but I managed.
We called for an accessible taxi and 20 minutes later, we were on our way. In order to get on the actual ice, I cut through the National Arts Centre and got to see the backstage area.
We headed to the Chalet so my Wife could put on her skates. After that, we were off.
We didn’t go very far. We mostly just went up and down the ice for a solid hour. I pulled her on the back of my wheelchair.
I ate Taffy that was spread on snow and it was so good. I could have that more often.
We left shortly after and headed home.
It was a really fun day and got tons of fresh air, which is always good.
I went shopping today for my Wife’s Birthday Present.
I can’t say what I got her because she reads this sometimes.
Besides that, it was a beautiful day here in Ottawa today. The Sun was shining and it was warm for this time of year.
The Boccia thing for tomorrow got changed to a different time, so I’m s.o.l. on that. I may try to head to the Rideau Canal for a bit instead.
Speaking of Boccia, one of the players came over last night and we played a few games in the Basement. My Wife got to watch and even helped me in a game. I’m happy to report that I won one of the four games. It’s good because the guy I beat competes Nationally, so it’s a pretty big win for me. I should point out that my Wife didn’t help on that game.
I should point out that roughly every hour or so, I require suctioning. Suctioning involves putting a tube in my trach and literally sucking out mucus that’s in my lungs. It doesn’t hurt me at all. I’ve been doing it for all 33 years of my life. One could say that my life sucks, but truthfully it doesn’t.
Anyways, at one point, I wasn’t able to breathe at all. There was a blockage that was pretty big. Thankfully, it came out pretty quickly and all was back to normal.
I’m a pretty tough guy that’s seen it all, lived it all, and experienced it all, but stuff like that really freaks me out. The hard part is that very few understand what it’s like.
This happened just before 1 this morning, not long after saying goodnight to my Wife before I headed home. I debated quietly whether to wake her up and inform her. I chose to call her to let her know because I love her and she really cares about me.
She was supposed to go to Montreal today for the weekend, but she canceled. I truly feel bad about it, but obviously the incident was way beyond my control. Let’s face it, there’s nothing that I can do about it.
In the past, people have said that I share way too much about my life when I blog.
First of all, I do it for therapy. It may sound odd to some, but I find that it helps my sanity by writing it down. One can argue that I could make this blog private and just write for myself. Nah, I prefer to make it public. Not only does it teach people about what I go through, but it also helps those that have the same condition as me or the same experience.
You’re not alone.
Enough about that.
It’s the weekend now, so let’s discuss that.
I’m going Shopping tomorrow for my Wife’s Birthday present. Her Birthday is this Thursday. I don’t really know what to get her, but I’m sure that I’ll find something good.
On Sunday, I’m heading to the Rehab to meet Team Ontario for Boccia. That should be pretty neat.
The night started off good especially when I saw that it was sold out. They were even turning people away at the door. I’m not sure how much of a hand/if any I had in it being sold out. Word of mouth/advertising is a very powerful tool. All I can say is that I promoted the hell out of it. Everything from the video interview, here, myspace, many local facebook groups, and even put signs up in my building. So who knows what happened.
As I mentioned yesterday, if everything went well, I’d have a video posted today of my set. Well, all didn’t go well. I had a plan to put the camera on my tray and elevate it to a certain height. Someone in my entourage thought that it was a bad idea because it would be a distraction. On one hand, I kinda understood their point, but didn’t 100% agree with their logic.
As it turned out, one of my Comedian friends stopped me in the Hotel Lobby and offered to filmed me. Naturally, I said yes and figured everything would be fine. As it turned out, the Manager didn’t let him set up his equipment due to a lack of space. The Bartender was supposed to inform me, but nobody did. That’s why there’s no video from last night. It’s the thought that counts though.
The show itself was pretty good. The Crowd was hot all night. It sure helps everyone involved when there’s tons of people there. Personally speaking, I tend to feed off the crowd’s energy and just deliver a better show usually. Everyone on stage seemed to follow that philosophy as well.
I was the last competitor to perform. I was happy with my set and the reaction from the crowd. Two other non competing Comedians performed after me while the Judge made his decision. I was not one of the names on his list.
I left right after the show mostly because I really had to pee. The Bathroom in the Bar isn’t very accessible, plus there was no way of me getting out because there was no room. By the time I was done, most had left the Bar.
After that, we had to wait an hour for my ride to come. I did manage to see part of the Eclipse though, which was pretty neat.
I have to admit that I’m still frustrated from last night. I’m not frustrated because I lost. I have no problem with that, to be honest. The reason why I’m frustrated is because I’m missing something. Something that every type of Entertainer has. Whether you’re a Comedian, a Singer, or even a Magician, they all have one thing, one very important thing. The thing that I’m referring to is a Stage to perform on.
Because I’m disabled and my Chair weighs over 500 pounds, I can’t get on Stage. Actually, let me rephrase that, they won’t let me get on Stage. They’re afraid that the Stage will break. When I performed last night, they had to ask a guy to move so I could perform. It was literally like I was having Dinner with him, but I had a microphone for some reason.
The annoying part is that I’ve seen at least 5 guys up there at once and have seen the combined weight of 500 pounds up there a few times and nothing happened. Hell, I’ve even seen a few people jumping on Stage at the same time and nothing happened to the Stage at all. For whatever reason, they’re either afraid or not willing to help with my needs.
The only Local Venue (at least in my experience) that has a wheelchair accessible Stage is Algonquin College. Luckily, they realized that this is no longer the 40’s or50’s and there may just be Entertainers in this world who are physically disabled.
Forgive me if I sounded bitter in the above statement. I’m truly not a bitter person. I just feel that I’m entitled to something that any and every Entertainer/Performer/Speaker gets. I may be a Minority, but that’s no reason not to include me with the Majority.
Before anyone asks, I still plan to keep doing what I do.
I spent over two hours last night trimming and practicing jokes and even filmed it. The video will never be posted online. A few hours later, I walked away feeling better about my set. I think it’s damn good, but I’m a little biased.
My Afternoon will be spent memorizing my set and remembering my set. The show starts at 8:30 tonight.
If everything works out, a video will be posted tomorrow.
I’ve been wanting to post for the past few hours, but it wouldn’t let me on the site. Has anyone else had this problem today or just me? Please let me know.
So tomorrow’s my big show at Yuk Yuk’s. I plan on practicing my set tonight to fine tune everything. Personally, I’d rather warm up in front of a crowd like the other Comedians are able to do. I don’t have that luxury because most of the other Comedy Venues in Ottawa aren’t wheelchair accessible. I must admit that it doesn’t exactly motivate me, but I’m very well known for defying the odds.
The important part is knowing that I do have my supporters/fans out there. Some involve local celebs, disabled people, regular people, and of course, my Family and friends. I also know that word is slowly seeping out to people that aren’t local. All you people mean a lot to me and I truly appreciate it.
Other than practicing, it’s just been a normal day. I made some calls to order my medical supplies.
I really like this site and have slowly started browsing and subscribing to blogs that intrigue me. There’s so many diversed topics on here that I could sit for hours going through them.
Anyways, as most of you know, I have a show this Wednesday night.
For those located in Ottawa, it’s at Yuk Yuk’s which is located at 88 Albert Street. The show starts at 8:30 PM and it costs $6.
Here in Ontario, it’s Family Day today. A day designed so that people can be with their Family instead of work. This is the first year that it’s been done.
The odd thing is that my Wife had to work. Yup, we’re celebrating Family life together.
These days the term “Family” takes on many many different meanings. For example, same sex couples fall under that umbrella and so do single people with an adopted child. The list goes on and on and some people even refer to their pets as family.
It’s virtually impossible to include everyone on that list and give everyone with “family” the day off.
The problem is that the Ontario Government rushed through the process of making today a holiday and seemingly forgot about certain people and businesses.
For example, here in Ottawa, there’s a major Mall closed. The Rideau Centre has been named a Tourist Attraction for a number of years now. They’re open on Canada Day and any other holiday, but with reduced hours. Because of the lack of thinking, businesses such as the one listed above will lose tons of money.
This was clearly a ploy by Dalton McGuinty to get more votes in last October’s Provincial Election.
Seeing as this is the first year for Family Day, mistakes were bound to happen. The mistakes made caused confusion, misunderstandings, and loss of tons of money.
Come to think of it, it’s like being with your family after all.
To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
If you’re looking for a romantic comedy that’s not filled with cheese whiz, check out the movie.
I’m supposed to go see wrestling tonight, but there’s a storm on the way, so I’m taking a wait & see approach. I really want to go and I refuse to pay $40 to watch it at home.
Well that’s not totally true. When I got up and realized that my interview video was online, I basically whored myself out. I sent it to my Wife, my Mom, my Sister, all my friends/fans in my facebook group, and of course, here. The response has been amazing and it lit a fire under my ass.
There’s definitely an international audience, or at least interest. The World’s full of interesting people and I guess there’s just enough room for me as well. There will indeed be more videos of me in the near future. The next ones will be 100% my brainchild and done by me, so they’ll be special. I’m like a creative genius trapped inside the body of a kid in a candy store whose Mother won’t buy him anything fun.
As most of you know, yesterday was Valentines Day.
Up until I met my Wife, I hated Valentines Day, even when I was in relationships. I just never understood why we needed a day to make your loved one feel special. Shouldn’t people be doing that more often than just once a year? This is where I should point out that I was dumped one year on February 14th. Even to this day, I still am not a total fan of it, but each year it gets a little easier for me to swallow.
The night started with me entering her place and seeing lit candles and rose petals all around us. We had Wine and Chocolate while we opened gifts. I got her red pjs, and she got me sexy underwear, boxers and Coffee. Yes, I’m odd, but Coffee and sexiness go hand in hand.
From there, well, I can’t/won’t mention the rest. It was truly a special night that I won’t soon forget, if ever.
The romance continues tomorrow night. We have plans to go see the movie, Definitely Maybe.
On Sunday night, I’m heading back to another Movie Theatre to watch wrestling. That’s if the “supposed” snowstorm doesn’t happen.
I filmed my first ever Comedy related interview. It was done for someone that goes to my old School, Algonquin College. I had a fun time answering questions about my career and life so far. The video should be released online sometime on Thursday. If I figure out to post it on here, it’ll be here asap.
Later on Wednesday, I went to the Rehab to play Boccia. It was fun as per usual.
It’s almost Valentines Day. My Wife & I are gonna have a nice romantic evening together.
I’ll be back soon with (hopefully) the video of my 1 on 1 interview.
I haven’t written here for awhile because my wheelchair joystick’s been acting up.
You may be wondering what it has to do with my Computer.
Well, I use the same Controller to move the mouse. An onscreen keyboard pops up on my screen and I simply point the mouse to the letter that I want.
Luckily, I have a back-up Controller (using it now) but it keeps cutting out on me.
The back-up one is actually an old Nintendo Controller.
When I go out with that Controller, people always comment on it and wonder how it’s able to do that.
I came up with the idea about 7-8 years ago and my Tech guy loved the idea and rigged it up. Instead of using a really expensive Controller, the Nintendo costed $5 at a pawn shop.
