The 2017 100 Wrap-Up: 31 Successes.

Last updated on April 30th, 2021 at 04:56 pm

Several weeks, a few dozen photos and four thousand words later, we’ve finally made it—the Casey Palmer, Canadian Dad 2017 wrap-up, filled with stories aplenty of 365 days spent in my not-so-orthodox life.

After wrapping the year up on a quiet note (because two sick children under five will do that to you), I still felt it necessary to do this. These year-to-year changeovers offer a lot of perspective for me—with so much happening all the time, I often forget what I had for breakfast, so I write everything down. And if the height of the pile on my desk is any sign, 2017 was quite the year. But it’s also the time where I’m the most transparent, looking back objectively at everything I’ve done and celebrating successes, owning up to failures, hoping all the while that I’m somehow growing from the process.

But yeah—let’s do this as we did in 2016: look at the year in excruciating detail, figuring out what’s worth taking with me into 2018 versus what doesn’t feel part of my world anymore.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me present—the 31 things I did well in 2017! Let’s get it!

Buffalo Wild Wings | World Cup of Hockey

Last updated on November 6th, 2020 at 01:55 am

It’s an undisputed fact that Canada’s Hockey Nation. I didn’t grow up with it myself, but Canada deeply respects its hockey—it even runs through the veins of those who’ve never touched a rink! And so, one should never underestimate our sporting culture and how rabid our fans can get when it comes to the fastest game on earth!

Which is why you shouldn’t watch it alone.

The Fastest Game on Earth Brought to You by Buffalo Wild Wings!—World Cup of Hockey at Buffalo Wild Wings—Buffalo Wild Wings Oakville Location

To celebrate the sport that whips us all into a frenzy, Buffalo Wild Wings invited me to check them out during the World Cup of Hockey.

But I couldn’t make it—being a family man means carving out family time, so I wasn’t leaving on a Saturday for anything short of the Rapture ????

Good thing I knew a hockey fan or two willing to take my place!

Casey Palmer: Man in the Mirror

Last updated on May 18th, 2021 at 02:46 pm

“Brrrrrrrr. What happened to that boy?”

–Birdman (featuring The Clipse), “What Happened to that Boy?”, Birdman, 2002

I decided to stay away from blogging until I had something worthwhile to say. I’m not just an event blogger. I don’t just take photos of food and share stories from my past.

I used to draw. I used to write novels. I used to spend months on projects instead of trying to crank content out to keep—what, relevant? Popular? To show how good I am at social media?

Whatever the reason, I was lost. I was blogging out of control with no end in sight.

This wasn’t the way it meant to be.

An Epiphany

After two solid years of spending the lion’s share of my time on social media and events related to it, I’ve figured out that I’m far happier investing time in creating quality projects than I am doing lots of little things daily to keep fresh in everyone’s mind. I wasn’t doing anything for myself anymore—I was starting to do things because of so many other obligations, and not simply because I could. It was like being 16 all over again.

We might be the sum of our experiences, but we are measured by the sum of what we put out into the world around us—and if we put stuff out that we can’t always stand behind, then what does that add up to?

Christine recently asked me a question that caught me dead in my tracks. It was so alarmingly simple that I’m surprised I hadn’t thought on it before, but the more I thought on it, the more I realized that I’d lost my way and needed to stop figure out what exactly I was doing. It was only four words, but they captured much of what I’ve felt lately—and that question is this:

“What are your goals?”

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