An Introduction

Good evening everyone,

My name is Phil and this is my new blog. My wife, Meghan, encouraged me to start a blog, as I haven't had a creative outlet in a very long time. I have been preoccupied with my health. That is what lead me here. There is no aim or direction to this blog, Meghan thinks I should use it as a way to express my love for my hobbies, share my ideas, create, and document my journey through cancer treatment. This isn't serious, I am here to have fun. I want to bring my view of movies, books, games, cooking, music to other like minded people, as a way I can have a platform to create.

I have been battling cancer for years and this marks my third year of chemo treatments. That being said, why start blogging now? Well, the answer is simple, today is my second birthday. A year ago I had a bone marrow transplant. For those of you that don't know about bone marrow transplants, let me explain. I was given a series of very toxic chemo infusions over the course of a week. These treatments completely brought my white cell count to zero, making me a blank slate. I was then infused with two bags of stem cells. Basically it is like being born again. I was weak, had no immunity, and my cell count was non existent. Now here I am, a year later, my cell count is next to normal and I am in remission.

I want this to be an introduction, not a list of things to expect or what I plan on doing. Let's begin with work. I have been working hard my entire life. I had my first part time job in middle school, working for $7 an hour, under the table, for a local knick-knack and flower shop. Since then I have held several jobs from bookseller for Border's Books to second chef for a private company to overnight auditor at hotel. I majored in English with a minor in creative writing. Shortly after college I went to culinary school where I earned my professional chef degree. I used to write and cook a lot, I took pride in everything I did. Then work became overwhelming and I started to fall ill. At the time we didn't know it was cancer, but it wore me down and I basically stopped cooking and writing altogether. Now that I am regaining my strength and treatment is finally nearing an end, I find myself out of work and yearning to write again, to cook more, to take chances in everything I do.

45th Anniversary Enchanted Tiki Room Band

I am also a compulsive collector. Currently there are three major collections in my life. There is my ever growing board game collection (My Board Game Collection). It is out of control and may need some pruning. I love games and playing with anyone who will sit down with me. I also am cultivating a very fun collection of Disney Magic Bands. Yes, I am a Disney fanatic and that is OK. I have at least one magic band per Disney World park, a couple of ride specific ones, and a few special event ones. I hated the idea of magic bands, but now I am hopelessly hooked. I mean, seriously have you seen them? They are awesome! Finally, my last collection is Disney pins. I have been collecting Disney pins for 20 years now. I am always on the lookout for anything Haunted Mansion, vampire Mickey, or Indiana Jones related.


This blog is my new beginning. This is my way to reclaim what I used to be.
Thank you Meghan for taking such good care of me, especially during my lowest points and sickest days. Thank you for encouraging me to start again. And thank all of you for reading this long, self-absorbed introduction. I really hope you stay around and enjoy. Feel free to leave comments, to join in the discussion.

Cheers,
Phil