As (soon to be) seen on TV

Greetings faithful readers - it's been a busy past couple of days, but as my machine is currently otherwise preoccupied this evening cranking out final renders for Craig Shouldice (of Shouldice Media), now is as good a time as any to update you on my one-man guerrilla marketing campaign:

Monday saw Stalking the Job once again hitting the streets, having finally shrugged off the worst of last weeks' late-winter cold. It was a real doozy, I should add; not only did it sideline me for the better part of a week, I also managed to transmit it to my wife Elizabeth (who seemed to get it even worse than I - sorry about that, Liz). But what really fuelled my fire Monday morning was receiving a phone call from a reporter from Radio-Canada, a fellow by the name of Stéphane who I'd met a few weeks back while canvassing the area around the CBC building downtown. He wanted to know whether I could be available for an interview for Le Téléjournal, the french-language six o'clock news broadcast.

What's that? Did I want to be interviewed on television? Well, sure... of course, the only slight hitch was that over the course of living in Toronto for the last thirty years, my spoken french had atrophied a fair amount, but I nonetheless set out for our meetup outside the Mothercorp (albeit with some hand-written crib notes that I committed to memory along the way). But really, it wasn't altogether necessary; Stéphane could sense when I was grasping for a noun or verb and he very helpfully supplied the needed verbiage. We took an extra few minutes filming some interactions with passersby up along King West, just across from the Bell Lightbox. All in all, I think I acquitted myself quite well.

Before we parted ways, Stéphane mentioned that the interview would be shown on Tuesday's edition of Le Téléjournal, and I spent the next few minutes excitedly calling around to various friends and family members to tell them the good news. It was, therefore a little disappointing the next evening to discover that my interview had actually been bumped by the big news item of the day (budget day in Ontario), but according to Stéphane it will air sometime soon - and he'll send me an email letting me know when to expect to see it.

Merci encore Stéphane - Je serai heureux de le voir!

I'm Not Down

Tuesday saw a definite uptick in the weather, although it was still chilled to freezing through the overnight periods. I was a little concerned for my lilies - I'm an avid gardener, and I've been a little awestruck at just how well they've been coming back so far this spring (which is why the overnight freezes had slightly set my teeth on edge). In another week or so I'll remove the plastic mesh I've been using the thwart the local squirrels, as they seem not to enjoy chewing on the lily-bulbs once they're fully in mid-sprout.

I took a spin up into Chinatown, heading southward from there via Spadina, across Queen to Portland, and finally down to Wellington. Upon arrival there, many happy faces appeared in the windows of TAXI, waving and blowing kisses - and you know, there's nothing quite like a warm welcome to brighten the day. I lingered for a while in the hopes that the sunny skies would prompt some patio action, but it was still just a little too chilly (even for we hearty Torontonians). I did however come upon a pair of videographers who were filming a puff piece on spring cleaning, and I happily answered a few questions for them on-camera.

Maybe it was the good weather, maybe it was just that I was feeling better, but the world seemed a happier place - and in spite of some derogatory remarks I overheard (hello? I'm right here folks... I might be unemployed, but I'm not deaf!) I was able to laugh along. Why not? After all, there is an almost absurd quality to this campaign... I'll be the first to admit that. If (as some would have us believe) we're all living our lives as though we're the subject of our own personal reality shows, we frankly owe it to ourselves to recognize that life - and how we cope with it - is more often comedy than anything else. It's healthy to see the humour in ones' own life, even if it does occasionally veer into slapstick. The trouble with taking oneself too seriously is that there's nothing to fall back on should life suddenly start throwing you curveballs.

Insurmountable integrity

How we cope with life (and all its' ups and downs) goes a long way to defining our character, both professionally and personally. Ultimately, it's those who've lead a self-examined life who are perhaps better-suited to rolling with the punches. I've known people who, when confronted with unpleasant circumstance, choose to shut themselves down or otherwise opt-out - playing ostrich in the hopes that things will change for the better. And of course, sometimes things do change for the better - but usually not before first playing havoc with their hearts and souls.

And if you've allowed yourself the luxury of becoming complacent in your successes, that same cleverness can eventually prove your downfall. A certain measured amount of guile can take you far, a penchant for flair or showmanship can work to your advantage - but neither of those can surmount integrity.

When you own the consequences of your actions (for good or bad), when you take responsibility not just for your triumphs but for your failures as well, you show your integrity. I'm not suggesting nailing yourself to a cross should things suddenly go pear-shaped; but it never goes well trying to wriggle oneself out from a bad situation. Worse, you run the risk of losing the respect of clients, co-workers or even your employers should you try that approach. Like the old saying goes, honesty really is the best policy... and not just in the working world, but in your personal life as well.

Well, I seem to have side-tracked myself a little in writing this post, but I'm happy enough to let it slide. No doubt there'll be more adventures to come in the days and weeks ahead, and I'm glad to have you all along for the ride! Truth be told, I've been somewhat stunned by the reception to date for my webcomic, The Adventures of That QR Code Guy - all I'd really set out to do was to continue telling my story, albeit humorously - but I've been tickled pink by the response (and yes, there will indeed be another installment forthcoming). Oh, and before I go, I'd like to thank Vince Vaitekunas for delivering some terrific photos and videos he took last month! I've been thinking of using them as part of a musical video montage... we'll just have to see what I can come up with, I suppose...

As ever folks, this is John Currie for Stalking the Job, and I'll be seeing you - !

Have you seen That QR Code Guy?

taken by Vince Vaitekunas, February 2012.

If you have any photos of That QR Code Guy that you'd like to share, I'd like hearing from you. I'll make every effort to provide attribution (unless you'd prefer to remain anonymous), so don't be shy!