Mr. Besilly's Blog

Uncovering Victoria in 36 Hours

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada was storybook charming as much as it was beautiful and inviting. I set off on an adventure on the first weekend in August with my wife Terri, to uncover this jewel of Canada inside of 36 hours and I have the pictures to prove it.

There is so much history in Victoria with homes dating back to the early 1800's. If you love breathtaking views, British history and great architecture you might consider Victoria as your next stop when visiting the Northwest. You will return transformed for the better.

The Sugar Shack, Hiding In Plain Sight

There's a unique little restaurant called "The Sugar Shack" hiding in plain sight on Main Street in Surf City USA. I found this local hot spot during my last trip down to Huntington Beach, California determined to make an encore appearance to sample another amazing breakfast on my trip this week to So Cal. The Sugar Shack is located just blocks up from the Huntington Beach Pier featuring perfect outdoor seating, serving breakfast all day long from 5:00 am to 4:00 pm along with sandwiches and huge omelettes. I hear tell that they serve a special Turkey dinner only on Wednesday nights, but I'm not certain if that's folklore.

Old Friends

I never imagined us growing older together, we were so caught up in being young. Our hearts were strong, our heads were even stronger. There was no way to convince us that we didn't know it all. The hours we shared pushing ourselves so close to empty will forever be etched upon my heart. The most memorable days of my life were spent running side by side with you, my friend. 

Old friends are like pickup trucks, the older they get, the crankier they become, still you would never try to part with them. Not for anything in this world.

About Life

"Life is funny, I’m finally getting the jokes and learning to laugh out-loud." Ray Basile

Life is a four letter word.
Life is what I'm living right now.
Life, worth everything I put into it.
Life is what I wake up for.
Life, one change at a time.
Life, catch up if I start moving too fast for you.
Life, I want more of that.
Life don't fail me now.

Today a friend who works as a life coach lead me in a fun exercise she uses to get a glimpse into a persons belief system. It's a spontaneous way of drawing out how we view life.

Tracing Back Scars

Today I found myself tracing back my scars, recalling the events that left a lasting imprint on my skin, sticking out like a road sign pointing me back to my childhood.

Those of us who grew up with siblings understand the kind of flesh wounds that can be inflicted from the summers of our youth. Each scar carries with it a memory, some memories are painful while others bring back the laughter. Most important are the learned lessons from each scar that I dragged with me into my adult life.

"The most valuable scars I carry are the ones left behind by the errors of my siblings. They will remain for me the most precious of them all." Ray Basile

I Heart The Blogosphere

Taking inspiration from Seth Godin's post entitled Ego, I have chosen to place a handful of my readers front and center on One Man's Highway for a much deserved mention. This is not a ploy coaxing you to stand in the middle of the highway to be splattered by a semi truck. It's my way of expressing appreciation for your valued readership. While I cannot place every reader's name in this post (because I don't have info on who they all are) I can highlight the last 28 blog crawlers that have taken time to leave a comment on one of my posts. An act of kindness that will not go unnoticed. 

My Great Chocolate Typo Disaster

How many websites does it take to spell the word chocolate wrong? The answer is 42,800 according to Google. If you search for dark chocloate you will find 12,000 websites that contain a typo of the word chocolate spelled incorrectly as chocloate. I am sheepishly willing to admit that you will find Mr. Besilly neatly nestled in at number (4) four in those Google search results for dark chocloate. Had I spelled the word correctly in my post back on March 26th, you would have never discovered my article buried somewhere around the eight thousand mark. My misspelling of the word chocolate quickly placed me at the front of the entire cyber classroom with chocloate egg on my face wearing that big pointed cap.

The Emperor's New Robe

I'm certainly not an Emperor, but I do feel like royalty in my new Hotel Living bath robe. I'm wearing it right now as I write this post. Frightened yet? Please indulge me for a brief moment as I pontificate. Twice in the past few months I have had the opportunity to enjoy a day spa experience, once on Valentine's Day which included a hot stone massage (my wife Terri's idea) and the other was on a recent trip to Las Vegas. In Vegas if you want to use the hotel gym expect to pay a premium to use the facility. At Treasure Island the facility is called WET which includes the workout gym along with a day spa, jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, fancy showers, fresh smoothies, mini muffins, apples and the use of a plush white spa robe. All this for $22 dollars a visit plus free bottled water. The list actually goes on a bit longer, but why get caught up in the minor details? Here's the real story.

Support Your Local Lemonade Stand

On my way home today I passed my local lemonade stand operated by the neighbor girl at the end of my street. There she was with her best-est friend holding up their big signs, with big smiles and even bigger energy. I was witnessing the American dream in it's most simple form through the efforts of two eight year old girls. The lemonade stand is a classic wage earner for even the youngest entrepreneurs. Topping the list ahead of "raking leaves" and followed by the classic "mowing lawns" work release program. This is the time of year when a lemonade stand can really prosper. Do you support your local lemonade stand? George Clooney does.

A Blowing Bubbles Day

I was returning from an afternoon walk heading down an out of the way trail that passes by a small baseball diamond. I saw children in the distance and I could hear that distinct wall of noise that comes from a little league game. As I glanced over into the tall grass alongside the trail, I was taken by the shining face of a smiling little blonde haired boy that appeared from behind the grass. He could not have been more than two years old. He was wearing the most adorable smile that clearly outweighed his tiny little frame. He had perfect bangs covering his forhead helping to enhance his bright star filled eyes that by now were firmly fixed upon Domino my Jack Russel Terrier. The boy seemed to be moving in slow motion as we passed him by.