Paul Vieira

I have four kids. My youngest two are twin girls who are 3 years old. My girls are taking their cues from their older brothers. They don’t play with Barbies like the other girls their age. Their dolls of choice are Superman and Batman action figures.

The other day, one of them accidentally tripped and fell on the ground. She let out this big cry and yelled, “Ouch, my balls hurt!”

In past posts I`ve mentioned that I teach English to new comers to Canada. At the end of each session, I often do a mini-concert for my class. One of my students recorded this quick clip located on my blog page .

I love writing songs and performing them. This is one of the passions that I allowed religion to steal from me for over 15 years. I should have never allowed this to happen. However, it happened and I`m dealing with it. Over the past three years, the songs having been flowing again, and I`m doing what I can to be ready to start performing on a regular basis. I would love to get my stuff professionally recorded, but it will take a while. In the meantime, my students provide me a lot of great feedback and encouragement to continue with my music.

Something funny happened to me the other day. It was Friday afternoon and I was on my way to the dog groomer to pick up Spencer, the furriest member of our family. As I drove, I remembered that I needed to stop at a bank machine to take out some money to pay for the grooming. While looking for a bank, the song Mr. Brightside (by The Killers) began to play on my car radio. There is something sticky about this song. The energy in it is intense. I like it.

So I spotted a bank, parked my car and proceeded to enter the entrance way where the bank machine was located. I put my bank card into the machine and looked into the main area, where the tellers are. It just looked like the bank was closed. I didn`t see anyone and it seemed like the lights were off. So I took this as my opportunity to sing. There was a bit of an echo in the entrance. There I was, punching in my numbers, attempting to access my account, and all along I`m singing at the top of my lungs. “I`m mister Brightside!” Suddenly, I had this strange feeling that I was not alone. I looked over my shoulder to see three bank employees pointing at me, smiling and talking to each other. Oops. I guess the bank was open after all. Before leaving, I quickly poked my head in and sheepishly explained to them that I thought I was alone. They reassured me that they thought it was great. How gracious. I told them that I would let them know when my CD comes out.

Actually, I am working on a record. I have a producer that I feel great about, and it should be available this fall. I will keep you all in the loop.