da_trif

So here I am. A blog. It took me years to give in to Facebook, but after hearing the harsh truth during a recent job interview, I've decided I can't sleep on this blogging thing. It was a phone interview, and the voice on the other end was sweet, polite and heart-breaking.

"Hi, Dave, this is Christine* from (Your Dream Employer). Do you have a few minutes to talk about your application for the online writer position?"

Of course I did. I've been trying to latch onto her company for years.

"So do you have any blog experience?"

Seriously? Blog experience? Well, I've been a writer and editor for 13 years, crafting informative, personal, entertaining journalism for a half-dozen or so local and metro Canadian newspapers.

"Yes, but do you have any blog experience?"

"Technically, no."

"OK, well, we'll keep you on file ... "

Grr ... but you can't get mad, can you? So here we are. Creating a blog among them many tens of thousands on the web. But that begs the obvious question. What to write about? Oh, boy. Well, to get me going, it'll be something I've had to live with, and something I've subjected many of my friends and relatives to over the last 4 1/2 years: Lulu. After more than 40 hours of instruction with almost a half-dozen or so dog trainers, maybe I can offer some insight -- or at least some measure of entertainment to the masses.

And I live in the Okanagan Valley, a bastion of golf, wine and outdoor adventure. People love reading about adventure, right? At least this way, I'll be prepared for that next job interview.

Twitter, here I come!

Dave was born in Saskatoon, and raised in Ottawa. After a few failed attempts at finding a career, he stumbled into journalism. From there, it was newspaper jobs in Humboldt, Sask., Lloydminster, Alta., Thunder Bay, Ont., and Kelowna, B.C. He's now a fulltime freelance writer and editor. Along with wife Erin, they are busy turning their house into a home and anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first child in August, 2011. For now, they're busy raising Lulu, their 5-year-old husky/shepherd.