In the latest round of exciting news, the Awesome George at homeofpoi.com ordered several boxes of my book, and they are available on homeofpoi.com as of now!

I wrote Emails from (Over?) the Edge before I got into poi, so it's not about poi. It's about life, and me, and some very special people and events that were worth writing about. The people who resonate with my sense of humor laugh a lot when they read it.

You can learn more about the book on the Nick's Book Page or on homeofpoi.com, where I'm sure many reviews will come piling in.

You can also read the first few chapters as a PDF

Thailand continues to be good. There are little challenges here and there, such as the rash on my leg (the doctor thinks it's an allergic reaction to something), the power and internet going down a lot (more reason to practice!), language barriers, etc. Makes life interesting, I say!

(New: For those coming, we've just added a THINGS NEEDED PAGE. Also, we may be heading south for a while, so make sure you get in touch before coming to where you think we are.)

So why am I here, you ask? Good question. The answer is a long story.

2.5 years ago I came back from Thailand to land in debt and homelessness, partly because the popularity of Dervishly Yers cost me over $1000 in unexpected hosting fees (a lot of money for a struggling artist). I managed to keep my life complicated, expensive, and stressful right up until I arrived back in Pai on October 9th. In that time I've put myself thousands of dollars in debt to the bank, and bailed myself out via heavy manual labour and teaching poi workshops, a total of three times. I've also been on five big poi tours, three of which I was simultaneously trying to deal with DVD production/distribution and website development... and all the while trying very hard to keep up poi practice.

Too much time, that's what I say. Oh, but we're so close. So close to my not having to spend this much time at the computer.

Definitely working hard now that I'm back in Vancouver. When I'm not on the computer or practicing, I've been doing heavy renovations over at my Uncle Noulan's house, in Deep Cove, with the help of my little brother, Ben...

The DVD is finally being produced, and we should have 1,000 copies as of Wednesday. I have to say: this has been the hardest project I've ever worked on. I don't get why everything had to keep going wrong. We finally, after so many delays, got a DVD off to the print shop, and were told that they would be finished on March 1st. Hurray! Right?

Wrong...

My littel brother Ben and I took a hike yesterday to clear our heads. We're both flinging ourselves into the Internet's latest technologies, and our heads are spinning. Not a bad place to spin, and a great place to have a poi retreat. :)

I spent the rest of the day trying to learn Drupal, the Content Management System that's going to help me roll out the new playpoi.com.

We're so close to being done!

Marc left for Mexico on Tuesday morning. We made the big push to finish the DVD and test it and make final changes... but it just didn't happen. Just as well, as it's best if I don't rush things...

Yes, it's true. Poi spinners aren't rich, expecially not ones who lack certain business instincts. I'm learning, I really am, but I really do need to figure out a way to get some dependable money coming in...

The first retreat at Flying Dreams Studio on Salt Spring Island has come and gone. It was pretty small: Three people showed up on Friday, and four more on Saturday. That was a good size for figuring out the logistics of doing retreats on the island. Everybody had fun, and the studio certainly proved an incredible space for poi research.

Tai Chi: So, here's my Tai Chi Studio. This is also where I'm teaching poi classes in Vancouver. Zang Zi Bin didn't want his photo taken so I took a picture of some of the other students practicing. I hope to get Zang Zi Bin to come teach Tai Chi at a poi retreat some day...

A weekend on Salt Spring Island, home of this winters Poi Retreats.

I've been living in two worlds lately (when I'm in BC that is). One is Vancouver and the other is Salt Spring Island. I'll be living on Salt Spring and coming into the city two or three days a week. This flies in the face of the "get some stability and rest up" plan, but as I said in a previous post, I do crazy things...

This past year I've really been struggling with being a bit of a crazy person. I do crazy things. I get big, crazy ideas and then I launch big, crazy projects thinking I can pull them off with little experience and resources. I've now decided that I should just go with it and be crazy.

Well, I didn’t blog as much as I exptected. Uploading photos to this blog program is a bit labor intensive, and I often felt too tired after catching up with email. I’m now visiting my family in Halifax, and will head back to BC next Monday.

Montreal? Also good. I begin to grow weary of life on the road though, looking forward to some R&R in Northern Quebec...

I was not expecting such a huge turnout in Ottawa. We couldn't fit everyone into the room we booked, and ended up spilling out into other parts of the dance studio. Thankfully, we decided to unwind the next day infront of the parliament buildings.