Paul Shore's Blog: Uncork Yourself

Writing has reminded me to how important it is to always KEEP AN EVEN KEEL! Whenever you put yourself out there by taking risks and pursuing new endeavours, you open yourself up to encouragement and praise, and to criticism too.  When I saw the book review below, entitled "NOT MUCH MEAT", pop up on the Amazon book page of my travel memoir Uncorked, I have to admit that it hurt to absorb it.  Though seeing it sandwiched by so many great reviews from people who find my writing entertaining, inspiring, and touching, quickly shook me out of that funk (2 most recent examples below).  And looking at the ugly review from a glass-half-full perspective, I thought to myself "any form of art never appeals to everybody ... 3 out of 5 is still a passing grade...  and the same reviewer gave a Bill Bryson book a 2-star rating, so I'll accept the 3-star rating and move on".No matter what you do in life, never let the flattery bestowed on you get you too high on yourself, nor let the criticism thrown at you get you down!  KEEP AN EVEN KEEL! Cheers,Paul.

 

3 STARS:  Not much meat.

Pleasant enough read, interesting history of Petanque, The rest seems a tad sophomoric. Best for Mr. Shore to keep his day job.

 

5 STARS:  Delightful - Avec beaucoup pour dire à la condition humaine...De même le français: smiles peppered throughout

Recommend for the delightful story Paul Shore tells which is written well, but additionally for the ways he shares his breakthroughs with the "hard to crack" or "be accepted by" French! Lastly, enough French entwined to enhance language learners, yet not so much for anyone not interested in French language acquisition.  Hated to see it end! That says volumes. Viva la France!

 

5 STARS:  A different sort of travel book

Charming, lovingly assembled, and endearing at every turn. Paul Shore lands “plop” in the center of small-town French culture and manages the seemingly impossible feat of integrating his new world energy with the old-world stodginess he dearly loves and deeply respects. Don’t expect a tour book, but DO expect a peek at the depth and intricacy of French culture. Splendid!

What I Uncorked (learned) this year from writing and self-publishing...

 

#10.  Being a "struggling artist" is a very real thing!#9.  Ten people at a book reading is a "huge crowd".#8.  Five sales at a book reading is a "massive sales event".#7.  "Don't take 'no' for an answer" applies to this pursuit too!#6.  What Petanque lacks in world-wide notoriety it makes up for in intriguing quirkiness and charm.#5.  We all need a dose of France and a glass of red wine from time to time!#4.  Referring to any art as being "potentially frivolous" can earn a tongue-lashing from a wise cousin.#3. Each reader who posts a review about being touched by or entertained by your writing, makes the work feel worthwhile all over again.#2. If you win an award, you are an "award-winning author" ... so say it. And the #1 thing I learned this year from writing...#1.  The process is healthy and rewarding in many unanticipated ways... so if you have ever dreamed of writing, WHY NOT TRY? Happy Holidays,Paul. 

What I learned this year from writing and self-publishing...

 

#10.  Despite many victories, being a "struggling artist" is a very real thing!#9.  Ten people at a book reading is a "huge crowd".#8.  Five sales at a book reading is a "massive sales event".#7.  "Don't take 'no' for an answer" applies to this pursuit too!#6.  What Petanque lacks in world-wide notoriety it makes up for in intriguing quirkiness.#5.  We all need a dose of France and a glass of red wine from time to time!#4.  Referring to any art as being "potentially frivolous" can earn a tongue-lashing from a wise cousin.#3. Amazon is indeed truly scary-powerful.#2. If you win an award, you are an "award-winning author" ... so say it. And the #1 thing I learned this year by writing...#1.  The process is healthy and rewarding in many unanticipated ways... so if you have ever dreamed of writing, WHY NOT TRY? Happy Holidays,Paul. 

Playing mind-games and trash-talking tend to be required skills in almost any competitive game. Yet I never expected to hear the words "Canada Dry" used to rattle me, while playing boules in the South of France!Enjoy this release of an audio excerpt from Uncorked.

 

 And...The Whistler Writers Festival is coming up this week.  I am honoured to have been named an award finalist, and to be doing a reading at the Whistler Public Library at 6:00pm Thursday.  I hope to see a few of you there!

Dodging smoke exhaled into your face, when you say something silly, is part of being welcomed into French culture. The risk of a smoke puff in the face never stopped me from asking questions and taking risks during my year living in France.

 

Enjoy the first release of an audio excerpt from Uncorked below.

 

 

Incidentally, pricing for Uncorked will be increasing for both the print book and the ebook in October, so please take advantage of the current introductory prices soon.

 

 

How in the world does a long-time high tech professional end up directing the operation of one of the most unique and stress-inducing sporting facilities on the planet?... a bobsled track! And how during that journey does said techie co-author a children’s book with his wife based on that exotic sport?Answers to both questions begin with my favourite mantra… “WHY NOT TRY?”With Vancouver bidding for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games back in 2001-2003, and with me growing restless with my life near the epicentre of the high tech world, I decided it was time to pursue a career change. I am a lifelong sports fan and weekend warrior, who loves the impact that sporting events can have on the pride of the communities and nations who host them. So after volunteering for the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation for a couple years, while holding down a demanding tech job, I decided in 2007 that it was time to quit my tech career cold-turkey and focus on landing an Olympic job… “why not try?” By late 2007, I did land that job, just as our first child was about to be born… there is nothing like daring to change up one’s life in several major departments all at once!The job was a business development role, working to try to ensure that three new sport venues being built in Whistler would not end up as unused, or financially failing, white elephants after the Games had come and gone. It was a fascinating job, filled with high-highs and low-lows, that taught me a ton about the amateur sport world and about the Olympics and sport event hosting. The tragic fatal crash of young Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, during a training run on the day of the Opening Ceremonies of the Games, cast a shadow that will never leave those of us who had poured our hearts into bringing the Games to our region, and even more so on those of us who had helped to bring Whistler Sliding Centre to life. And yet somehow we carried on, and hopefully honoured young Nodar, as we worked hard and witnessed dramatic victories by Canadian athletes, and wonderful stories of American, British, and German triumphs, over the two weeks of Olympic competition on the track.The year before the arrival of the Games, my wife, Talya, and I penned a children’s book, during the naps of our two year-old daughter during a getaway vacation. The book, titled “Bobsleigh Jellybeans” would be illustrated by, Chris Ripley, one of the bobsleigh athletes from a Canadian development team of four young men, who we billeted in our basement when they came to Whistler to train. The title and plot having been stimulated by them once mentioning that their red speed suits made them look like big, red jellybeans. It is a story of friendship, teamwork, and following dreams, and the book’s proceeds went to assisting with training expenses of our new speed-demon friends. We all had a lot of fun with the somewhat accidental project; book readings in schools, a few media appearances, and some solid book sales. And we all learned a few things about becoming self-published authors, illustrators, and marketers.  Once again, “why not try?”… good things can happen when you put yourself out there.Becoming the director of a bobsled track, soon after the close of the Olympics and just two years into a sports world career, has got to be the most bizarre of my unorthodox professional endeavours! Although I only stayed in the role for a year, I learned a lot, including about my own ability to employ personal resilience, adaptability, and team building skills --- and that being a test dummy for tourist bobsleigh and skeleton sliding programs is both exhilarating and pretty hard on the spine!The entire Olympic and sliding sports world experience was a wild ride and one that I will always cherish, despite some very trying times along the way! Yet again, it demonstrated to me that trying new things and not listening to naysayers was both a challenging and rewarding way to live.Santé (to health),
Paul ShorePS: Bobsleigh Jellybeans is still available today --- including as both a paid print book, and a FREE eBook, on Amazon --- reviews on Amazon much appreciated!www.amazon.com/author/paulshore

I feel honoured to have been asked to review Grant Lawrence's witty and edgy new book Dirty Windshields: the best and the worst of the Smugglers tour diaries for the Whistler Writers Festival.Grant and I certainly seem to share a belief in a "why not try?" mantra!  The story of his determination and creativity, in Dirty Windshields, further inspires me to ignore notions of artistic pursuits being potentially "frivolous", and to TRY NEW THINGS in the face of what appear to be insurmountable challenges!The full book review can be found HERE, and below are a couple snippets from it...What struck me the most about Dirty Windshields was the sheer mental determination and physical stamina it took to do what these young musicians did for so long: their physically demanding style of performing; the DIY-style of travelling thousands of miles in shoddy tour vans without any local assistance at all; and the hustle required to book gigs and scrape together enough money to keep tours going. Just the thought of the energy required for the day-in and day-out life of an indie musician exhausted me.I suspect most of us have romantic images of what it must be like to be a touring rock musician — the freedom, the adoring fans, the partying, the glamourous cities and famous venues, and of course the money. Grant bursts that bubble nearly completely as he tells the tales of The Smugglers touring struggles that touched three decades, yet conveying a fondness for the lessons learned, life-long friendships made, and stories collected from living wild times at the fringes of the music industry.Oh and the Canadiana that Grant weaves into his story-telling is worth the read alone!  Here's another snippet from the review...A band-versus-thugs car chase in Saskatchewan involving shots fired at high speed, in which the ammunition is stale cranberry muffins instead of bullets?… priceless!  OPEN LIVES:  If you happen to be in Whistler on May 5th, come laugh with us both as we do readings from our new books, along with two other inspiring authors at the Whistler Writers Festival's Open Lives event.And in the meantime, get out there and UNCORK YOURSELF a little!Santé (to health),Paul.

 

www.pshore.com

I have a history of having followed paths less travelled and of taking some fairly large and unique risks, so why did I self-deprecate so much when telling people that I was embarking on writing a book?  It was like I sensed that I had to protect myself from possible failure.  Thankfully my wise cousin Pam Cy brought me back around to my own "why not try?" attitude.  When I self-deprecated while speaking with her about my writing potentially being "frivolous", she playfully ripped into me, saying, “EFF FRIVOLOUS PAUL… DON'T JUDGE THE ART MAN… JUST DO THE ART AND PUT IT OUT THERE!.. ESPECIALLY WRITING… NOBODY WOULD EVER WRITE A WORD, IF THEY HAD TO TRULY ASSESS IT AS BEYOND FRIVOLOUS!”Actually she didn't say "eff frivolous"... I'll leave it to you to guess if she said "forget frivolous" or if the "eff" is a place holder for a more emphatic word.What amazing advice for anybody trying something new, especially something new that can be considered to be within the realm of being "artistic"!  Pam's words motivated me to refocus myself for the final push of getting out my first self-published book.  My little piece of art is titled "Uncorked : My year in Provence studying pétanque, discovering Chagall, drinking pastis, and mangling French".It is my hope that "Uncorked" will touch and amuse, spark wanderlust, and evoke fond memories of travel to fascinating places!  Though what I also hope it does for many people is trigger reflection on the importance of taking risks when afforded new chances in life.And it is Pam's words "Eff Frivolous" that have motivated me to blog too... to share some additional stories of wonderful experiences that have come from taking risks and having a "why not try?" attitude.  I was going to title my blog "Eff Frivolous", though I've gone with "UNCORK YOURSELF" for starters, since "Eff Frivolous" just may be a little too rough-around-the-edges ... time will tell... let me know what you think!  My next post will be about working in the world of bobsledding... yes, you heard that correctly... I did really do that and it was a "wild ride". If you decide to search Amazon for "Uncorked Provence" and to read my whimsical travel memoir, I hope you will enjoy my storytelling even half as much as my new friend Grant Lawrence did..."Like a wry cross between Bill Bryson and Dave Bidini, Paul Shore’s funny, self-deprecating and wholesome recounting of a year spent in the French Riviera will ring très true for anyone who has made the trip to this special but highly exclusive part of the world. Shore captures exactly what it’s like to be a foreign national trying to bust into the local scene. And if you haven’t been to the South of France, Uncorked will have you looking up AirBnBs in places like Saint-Paul de Vence or Villefranche-sur-Mer while you practice your pétanque rolls. One part travelogue, one part self-help guide, one part memoir, Uncorked is just like a good French wine: light, delicious, and full of flavour."-- Grant Lawrence, CBC broadcaster and author of Adventures in Solitude: what not to wear to a nude potluck and other stories from Desolation Sound Get out there and UNCORK YOURSELF a little ... eff frivolous!And stay tuned for my upcoming post about my time working for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and daring to become involved in bobsledding (and skeleton and luge too).Santé,Paul. 

“Paul, we know you love your lifestyle here, but we would like you to move to Nice to start our European sales and marketing office; on your own”, said the founder of our little Vancouver software start-up back in the fall of 1998. “Why Nice and why me?” I replied. To which he exclaimed, “because our partner Texas Instruments has its European headquarters in Nice; we need to hitch out little wagon to their big horses; and you are young and don’t have any dependants like the rest of us do.” Directness was never a quality lacking in our leader!

“WHY NOT TRY?” I thought to myself, as I blurted out “ok, I’m up for a challenge, how do I get started?”

A year earlier, I had been on a business trip to Europe, which had culminated in a stop in Nice to work with our partners there. As my flight back to Canada gently climbed out of Nice on a gorgeous summer evening, I finally managed to focus on the beauty of the region. I looked down to the blue-green waters of the Mediterranean with its rocky cliffs and beaches, the yachts dotting the water, the city and the little perched villages in the surrounding hills, and beyond the foothills of the snow-covered Alps. I fell into a trance, mesmerized by the image below me that appeared more like an impressionist’s work of art than a real place. Once we passed the Alps, I snapped back to the reality of my high-tech life thought to myself, “Hell, if we ever open an office in Europe and choose to locate it here, they can count me in for that job.” Remarkably, within a year I was now learning that dreaming big can pay off, as being tapped to create an outpost in the Nice area was becoming a reality. Provence, here I come!

So began a magical year living and working in the south of France. A year that had profound impact on me, both as I learned about doing international business with a variety of European cultures, and as I learned to put more value in slowing down and appreciating the simpler joys of life. It seemed everything that year had to be tackled with a “why not try?” attitude… why not try to live in a cave-like apartment in an ancient walled village named Saint-Paul de Vence?… why not try to improve my terrible high school French?... why not try to do business in 8 countries in 5 days?... why not try to navigate a sporty car through roundabouts with the confidence of Grand Prix driver?… why not try to drink pastis at 9am?... and best of all, why not try to become accepted into the fraternity of the game of pétanque?

We all know how common it is for people to inadvertently convince us not to try new things. Far too often we hear things like, “you will probably fail”, “that won’t work”, “that’s a bad idea”, “you don’t know how to do that”, “nobody is going to help you”, “you can’t make a difference”, “you could be laughed at”. Somehow I was lucky to learn fairly young to say to myself, “bs, why not try?”, when I hear these sorts of cautionary bits of advice.

Your “why not try?” moment may not involve moving to Provence, though I highly recommend visiting the region for more than a couple weeks at least once in your life! Yours might be to build something with your hands, write a book, learn to paint, take up a new sport, start a company, go back to school, learn a new language, or volunteer to try to change something you care deeply about.

My latest “why not try?” is writing my first book; a light-hearted story of that year I spent in Provence. It is titled “Uncorked - My year in Provence studying Pétanque, discovering Chagall, drinking Pastis, and mangling French”. Of course I hope the book will be a sales success, though I did not write it with that as my goal. Rather I wrote it for my children to someday enjoy and to see if I could actually write a compelling book, and I feel almost certain that some positive outcomes that I cannot yet envision will transpire from this new pursuit. I have always believed that if you put yourself in the right places for good things to happen, they probably will!

Pourquoi ne pas essayer?

Santé,

Paul.

“Paul, we know you love your lifestyle here, but we would like you to move to Nice to start our European sales and marketing office; on your own”, said the founder of our little Vancouver software start-up back in the fall of 1998. “Why Nice and why me?” I replied. To which he exclaimed, “because our partner Texas Instruments has its European headquarters in Nice; we need to hitch out little wagon to their big horses; and you are young and don’t have any dependants like the rest of us do.” Directness was never a quality lacking in our leader!

“WHY NOT TRY?” I thought to myself, as I blurted out “ok, I’m up for a challenge, how do I get started?”

A year earlier, I had been on a business trip to Europe, which had culminated in a stop in Nice to work with our partners there. As my flight back to Canada gently climbed out of Nice on a gorgeous summer evening, I finally managed to focus on the beauty of the region. I looked down to the blue-green waters of the Mediterranean with its rocky cliffs and beaches, the yachts dotting the water, the city and the little perched villages in the surrounding hills, and beyond the foothills of the snow-covered Alps. I fell into a trance, mesmerized by the image below me that appeared more like an impressionist’s work of art than a real place. Once we passed the Alps, I snapped back to the reality of my high-tech life thought to myself, “Hell, if we ever open an office in Europe and choose to locate it here, they can count me in for that job.” Remarkably, within a year I was now learning that dreaming big can pay off, as being tapped to create an outpost in the Nice area was becoming a reality. Provence, here I come!

So began a magical year living and working in the south of France. A year that had profound impact on me, both as I learned about doing international business with a variety of European cultures, and as I learned to put more value in slowing down and appreciating the simpler joys of life. It seemed everything that year had to be tackled with a “why not try?” attitude… why not try to live in a cave-like apartment in an ancient walled village named Saint-Paul de Vence?… why not try to improve my terrible high school French?... why not try to do business in 8 countries in 5 days?... why not try to navigate a sporty car through roundabouts with the confidence of Grand Prix driver?… why not try to drink pastis at 9am?... and best of all, why not try to become accepted into the fraternity of the game of pétanque?
We all know how common it is for people to inadvertently convince us not to try new things. Far too often we hear things like, “you will probably fail”, “that won’t work”, “that’s a bad idea”, “you don’t know how to do that”, “nobody is going to help you”, “you can’t make a difference”, “you could be laughed at”. Somehow I was lucky to learn fairly young to say to myself, “bs, why not try?”, when I hear these sorts of cautionary bits of advice.

Your “why not try?” moment may not involve moving to Provence, though I highly recommend visiting the region for more than a couple weeks at least once in your life! Yours might be to build something with your hands, write a book, learn to paint, take up a new sport, start a company, go back to school, learn a new language, or volunteer to try to change something you care deeply about.

My latest “why not try?” is writing my first book; a light-hearted story of that year I spent in Provence. It is titled “Uncorked - My year in Provence studying Pétanque, discovering Chagall, drinking Pastis, and mangling French”. Of course I hope the book will be a sales success, though I did not write it with that as my goal. Rather I wrote it for my children to someday enjoy and to see if I could actually write a compelling book, and I feel almost certain that some positive outcomes that I cannot yet envision will transpire from this new pursuit. I have always believed that if you put yourself in the right places for good things to happen, they probably will!

Pourquoi ne pas essayer?

Santé,
Paul Shore

Uncorked : My year in Provence studying pétanque, discovering Chagall, drinking pastis, and mangling French