... Minto born and Barbados raised.

In the past few years, really since the advent of Facebook, I've had to try to find a pithy way to distill my entire life down to a quick sentence. Facebook was the catalyst in this because it was the first time that people from many different aspects of my life all came together in one time and in one place, a generation lost in space. Since I'm nothing if not pithy, I came up with the following quick bio.

Minto born, Barbados raised, Halifax educated, Toronto employed, Moscow paid

In the next little bit I'm going to go through those parts of my life and try to explain what they each mean. Will anyone care other than me, probably not. Will it give me something to write about for the next week other than how in the hell is Lady GaGa popular...I mean come on, her first two singles have gone to #1 in Billboard, which means that she has TWO MORE NUMBER ONES THAN BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, BOB DYLAN, PEARL JAM AND CREDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL COMBINED...ummm. yes

So let's start with: Minto born

Minto is a small village pretty much in the smack dab middle of New Brunswick. It's about 45 kilometers east of Fredericton, which really only helps if you know where Fredericton is. Fredericton, so you can get your bearings, is 45 kilometers west of Minto. You're welcome.

Minto is small village, about 1900 people when you get right down to it. It started out as a coal mining town, and has stayed pretty true to those roots. The best shorthand I've come for describing it is Springfield from The Simpsons mixed with a little Twin Peaks: funny, quirky, and its own little universe. Minto even has its own Shelbyville in the village of Chipman, which is about 20 kilometers east of Minto (to get your bearings, that means it's about 65 kilometers east of Fredericton).

I was born in Minto and went to school there. I was an altar boy (first joke you make is your last), learned how to play baseball poorly, and basically did all the things normal kids did from birth until Grade 6 (you know, read about tectonic plates, memorize Trivial Pursuit cards, be a general geography nut). There was me, mom, dad, my sister and my brother. My sister is ten years older than me, and my brother was eight years older.

Barbados raised

On his 17th birthday my brother was in a car crash that took his life. This really shook our family up.

My father, a pharmacist with two stores, one in Minto and the other in Chipman, pretty much decided that life was too short at this point and sold most of his interests. That year the association of pharmacists had their annual package tour, and this year it was to Barbados. Since they had never really taken a vacation, mom and dad went there. They intended to stay for one week, would up staying for two, and then bought a time share for four. We did a couple of Christmases there and they then decided that this might be a good place to live. So in the equivalent of grade 7 I started school at Presentation College in Barbados.

When The Beatles were asked about their first tour, they described it as "A car and a room and a car and a room and a car and a room". Barbados was kinda like that. Up at 6 AM to get ready for school, get my uniform on. Catch a ride either by car or by bus to the other side of the island for school, which started at 8:30. It went until about 3:30, when I would catch a car or bus back to the other side of the island again. Home by 5, take a quick bike ride or a surf (yes, I used to surf, and no, not well) and then have dinner and start homework. End by about 7:30. Watch TV until 8:30 when the heat of the day left you exhausted and then go to bed. Repeat. Do this for three years, three school terms a year, and the best part is that the Christmas and Easter breaks were 3 weeks long each. It was beautiful, it was hot, the water tasted great, and it was just living.

Oh yeah, and did I mention this was an all boys school, and that for about three years I didn't talk to a girl on a regular basis?

We did this for three years, until my sister got married. At that time with the planning of the wedding, and me getting ready to think about university, we moved back to Minto, and I finished my high school there.

Next time, Halifax educated.