Welcome to our first blog.

Well, somewhat first. We’ve written a lot over the years:
Articles, commentaries, reports, short stories, poems, flash fiction…
And even books.

A trilogy, actually.
Well… part of one, to be accurate.
Books 1 & 2 are already out… and doing really well.
Definitely inspiring us to write more.

That third one is being written as we write (relatively speaking, of course).
It is still in, let’s call it, “creation mode”
(in our heads and ready for ‘download’).

So yes… we’ve written a lot.
And yet, this is our first blog.

Oops.

A quick search confirmed something we weren’t expecting.
One or both of us had blogged before.

Just not for long.
And not together.

Definitely before we fully understood what “blogging” meant.
The point being: this is our first blog… together.

Here. Right now.

Okay, now that it’s clear these words are written by two people…
the two of us, Jef and Mindy!

Hi.

(Also, Mindy and Jef, though that’s not how it’s usually said).

So, let’s begin by talking about why.
Not just any why. Our why.

Why now? Why this matters?
And why you should care?

Well, not sure you should care, but you may find our style interesting.
Meaning, our story is rare. It’s unique.
And potentially intriguing.

Let’s start with why we are jointly doing this.
As reality has it, we’ve been together for what feels like ‘ever’.
It’s been over 25 years!:

Husband wife team, business partners, closest of friends, co-authors and… yes, bloggers.

We got married in 2000. Strategically.
(Anniversary math made simple.)

Our first meeting, in 1999, was more than happenstance.
True… happenstance.

(A word, it turns out, that was foreign to both of us… until we heard someone say it.
Meaning, we each thought he made it up.
Discovering he hadn’t, we adopted it. It’s pretty cool.)

Never mind that matter, though.
What matters is this:

From our very first meeting, a few things happened quite naturally.
Not necessarily in this sequence, but most likely:

1. Love at first sight.
It started in a driveway…

2. Jef told Mindy about The Ridiculous.
“How could I not?” was his reasoning.

“Here with me is the real-life version of my book’s character… whoa!”
(More on that later.)

The point being that from day one,
The Ridiculous was intermingled in our lives.

For Jef, it started back in his mid-teens after reading, quote…
the funniest books ever: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

The kind of series that, if read in class, could lead to detention…
Mostly due to outbursts of laughter, which did happen.
Still, Jef devoured each book until they were… done.

Done?! Yep. Done.
The five-book series came to an actual end.
Its style of humor to drive insight through absurdity…was over.

Jef was not happy about that. Not one iota.
“That can’t be. It must continue. But how?”
A realization followed, or an in head declaration:

“Me. I’ll do it. I’ll honor Adams’ style.”

That’s when and why The Ridiculous began.

His words flowed. He laughed first in his head.
He laughed when he wrote them down.
Again when he read them out loud.
Again… and again.

His friends laughed too.
More detentions, sure, but everyone was smiling.

Writing was always Jef’s thing.
Likely helped along by his English teachers…
the ones he’d hang with after getting kicked from class.
They’d trade memorable lines from British comedies like Monty Python,
The Benny Hill Show, On the Buses… and of course, Hitchhiker’s.
Then something happened… Life.

Meaning the writing went on hiatus.
Yadda-yadda-yadda…

During the next phase of life, our lives came together.
As a couple, we built a prominent fitness movement.
Our expos, TV shows, world tour, publications, and brand collaborations created community, connection, and niche cultures still active today.

Our platforms ended up empowering millions worldwide to be bodyproud:
to love better how they think, function, feel, act, look and dream.
(Topic for another blog.)

“Ordinary” people became their “extra” ordinary:
As their own superhero, fitness star, physique model, and athlete.
Many are wellness icons and among social media’s first influencers.
It became our quest to learn their gems, and study with thought leaders.

Plot twisty.
The world paused.

And just like that… The Ridiculous returned.

Mindy encouraged Jef to get back to it.
To do something else he loved.

So he did… with her help.

First, as his cheerleader.
Then as his development editor.
Appreciative and impressed, Jef invited her to co-author.

That’s when it stopped being just his…and started becoming ours.
Our hearts aligned on this as a passion project.
At the same time we were still fuelled to fulfill a purpose-driven career…

So guess what?
We combined it all.

Empowerment, wellbeing, and self-reflection are all in there.
Embedded right into the story.

The gems and nuggets we learned along the way.
Subtly mixed with comedy.

Oh… and science fiction.

The science fiction aspect sure makes writing easier in a way.
With it, the doorway of creativity is wide open with possibility.
Meaning, when in doubt, we get to make things up.
That’s part of the fun (thanks Hitchhiker’s).

It also lets us layer in aha-worthy concepts.
Notions that may shift something in you.

If not, at least there’s a laugh…
sometimes when least expected.

Laugh First. Think Later.
That was book 1’s tagline.

Laugh First. Think Deeper.
That tagline belongs to book 2.

Why? Because comedy does that.
It opens the door to seeing things differently.

And… seeing things differently is where change begins.

What are we seeing differently?

Anyway, back to why we’re here:

We have one more book left in the trilogy.
Our gamified ecosystem is underway.
And, sharing by blog felt like a next logical step.

‘Where’ sure is an interesting concept.
Looking at that word brings questions to mind.
Like, where what? Where from? Where we live?
Where would we choose to live? Or even… where do we begin.

Where, where… where?

And ‘where’ what or who?
Should we focus on our whereabouts…
Or that of our characters too.

Maybe we’ll just cover the gamut. Maybe not.
We are writing in real time here, so the outcome is not yet known.

Where shall we start? (See?)

The middle of the forest, on a lake. Muskoka.
Cottage country. That seems like a perfect spot to begin.
The area most special to us. It’s where we grew individually and as a team.
Also where we embraced every season as though summer.

Montreal. Jef’s birth place. He stayed there for 9 years.
That’s where he saw both Star Wars and Greece. He didn’t mind subtitles.
Enjoyed many an orange julep as well.

Toronto. That’s where he moved. Spent most of his life there, actually.
Plus, it’s Mindy’s place of birth… and likely why we met.
Meaning, it’s where we met.

And where we spent a few years of our lives together.
Yorkville. Our first city home and full office.
Right across the street from each other.

Convenient yet also scary.
Turns out, the office building had ghosts.
An article in the newspaper years later said so!
Never mind that matter though…

Harborfront, The Annex, Queen West, The Beaches, and Junction Triangle.
We did them all. Thanks Airbnb. Was an adventure.

Hawaii. The place we began our journey as husband and wife.
Interestingly, it turned out to be where we finalized our first TV deal.
It was with TSN for the Fitness Canada Pageant and Musclemania.
Hawaii also where an active volcano melted the soles of our shoes. Oops.

Sharon. A tiny town boasting a street of its own name…
Yes, it was the very street on which we lived. Our first home after we wed.
We painted it ourselves. It was very, very colorful. Very.
In one room, we just used all the remaining paints. (Mistake.)

Lots of wheres. Tons of places. Great experiences. Many memories.
All ours.

Being authors, the other ‘where’ worth mentioning…
is where we actually wrote The Ridiculous series.

Well, that answer starts simple.
Class. Yes, thanks to teenage Jef.

That’s where it began, but not where it ended.
It travelled everywhere with him. Loose papers in a duotang of some sort.

The Ridiculous returned to life and lived in Muskoka on Gibson Lake.
Then to Huntsville, Port Carling, and atop Huckleberry Point.
(Psst: that’s a nod to Ridiculous readers to be exact).

It got enhanced in Mexico and Puerto Rico… while on a 13 month getaway.
More on that another time though.

A lot was written right where we are now… Toronto.
So that’s the where of it. But not the where of it all.
Because there’s more.

That was our where… as humans, and human authors.

Allow us to introduce another layer… the characters.
The very ones we dreamt up, and are still imagining.

Where oh where are they from, we hope some of you are wondering.
Serbinand. He’s from Placellner. It’s often mistaken for a star.
Devoid of trees. (Long story, although the short of it is in the series.)

Jime. Well, he is simply known as being from Earth.
We would like to think Muskoka. Truth is, it could be anywhere…
Although it most definitely is Muskoka.

If you are familiar with its hood, let us know if you recognize scenes.
(Pssst. Anything goes… mountaintop to the burger shop.)

Godfried. It, well, he, has origins that are unknown.
That’s primarily because he was gifted to a character as a gift.
Legend has it he was a very, very, very ancient being. A powerhouse one.
Actually captured itself within a computer superchip, making it portable.
Mostly though, it came to exist as the controller of a super spaceship.

Orville. Not sure how to say this… but, he’s from, ummm… a…cage.
A nice wire one.

Being a budgie, these authors thought that was fine.
However, reading that sentence as it flowed, makes us question even that.
Hmmm. Let’s not mind this matter though. At least not right now.

Besides, as writers, we remedied that easily.
With the stroke of our pen, errr, the punching of our keys…
we were able to relocate Orville.

With Jime’s adventures about to begin,
it made sense to let his best buddy travel with him.
Meaning, his where now is flying free. On Earth, more specifically.

Finally, there is Free. Where she came from is quite unique.
She was created from Jime’s thoughts… and his heart desires.
Through his imagination, he envisioned his perfect partner:
A soul mate, his bestie. But where did she originate from?

That’s the question.
Well, that answer is best revealed inside the pages of the book.

Let’s just say she looks of Earth but acts not of it.

Excuse us. We spoke too soon. Free was not our final character.
There are a bunch more. The extras, so to say. The minor role ones.
But just like in movies, we’re not mentioning them.

Let’s just say they came from the ethers… and into our minds.

So that, all of that, is ‘where’.
But if you look deeper, it actually boils down to here.
(Well, once you remove the ‘w’.)

Where is your where?

Before we share more blogs, stories, and snippets of our lives,
we thought it would be good to fully introduce ourselves.
You know… so you meet the “us” behind the titles Jef & Mindy.

Big question. Our ‘who’ is complex.
And we’ll give it a go.

Here we go:

There is the “Sir” & “Lady” side of us.
Yup! Sir Jeffrey Kippel and Lady Mindy Blackstien.
We were adopted by the Taino tribe in the mountains of Puerto Rico.
Christopher Columbus encountered them back in 1492. It was 2023 for us.

There is also the Minister side of us.
Yup again. Metaphysical Ministers to be exact.
Mentored and ordained by an Oracle of a chance meet.
At one point, we even officiated weddings.
Including our once brother-in-law.

What we are most known for, though, is our fitness side.
It’s where everything started for us.

Jef found joy in tennis, downhill skiing, and kneeboarding on the lake.
Mindy in horseback riding, gymnastics, and all watersports.
She especially loved the air chair… which is what it sounds like, sorta.
But also, not really at all.

Fitness brought us together. It is how we met.
And it had nothing to do with the fact that we worked at the same gym.
We didn’t even know that… until some dates later.
(At which point neither of us were there.)

Nonetheless fitness still became central to our lives.
Bodybuilder Jef and Fitness Model Mindy.
One shone on stage… and the other captivated cameras.
Well, that’s not entirely true.

We’ve both taken the stage and we’ve both been in magazines.
Just not always for fitness.

That’s because there is a coaching side of us.
Along the way, we got certified in most many things.
From Reiki, Thai yoga massage, aromatherapy to…
superfood nutrition, personal training, and non-surgical surgery.

We learned a lot… and are still learning.
In cool news, we like to practice on each other.

We studied mindfulness, human potential, and self empowerment.
That led to us speaking internationally (on stage!), teaching in classrooms,
coaching clients privately, and getting photographed (for magazines).

Then… there is the ‘writer’ side of us.
(Bet you saw that coming!)

For Jef, writing had been a passion since his early teens.
Always writing poems, thought-provoking pieces, short stories, and…

The Ridiculous.

In fact, he often carried the lot around with him…
just in case a publisher walked by.

Along the way he studied creative and screen writing in school.
He then became a reporter for The Excalibur, his university newspaper.
There he became an investigative journalist. Wrote opinion pieces that bit.
Also… the occasional sci-fi comedy news update for the galaxy.

Mindy on the other hand was never into writing.
It landed on her lap when she became the Executive Editor of a magazine.
It was then when she was trained by some greats:
Oxygen Magazine’s Editor in Chief, a technical writer for the Pentagon,
and a ghost writer for clever wellness publications.

This is starting to feels nostalgic… a walk down our memory lane!

The entrepreneurial side?

Well, Mindy launched official fan clubs for 2 WWF stars.
Jef ran the BodyBasics gym for many years.
Then the two of us created FAME… and the BodyPROUD Initiative.
Also the World Natural Sports Organization (WNSO), a sanctioning body.

That brings us to the Producer side of us: events, TV shows, contests.
We produced 100s of natural competitions globally.
Including the largest fitness expo in Canada for years.
Our TV series ranked as TSN’s #1 Rated show.
Yes, TSN… The Sports Network.

Another aspect we share is a ‘Jet-Setter’ side of us.
Often, we’re good to pick up and go. Life has had us traveling a lot.

Also key is the Publisher side in us.
Canada’s first environmental magazine? That was started by Jef.
Recover Magazine: Reduce, Reuse, Refuse, Recycle & Recover.
That was its motto.

Together we published The FAME Magazine… in two languages!
We even launched a publishing company for our first two books.
Yes, the Ridiculous ones!

Beneath all those parts is our connection.
A husband wife team. Best friends. Soulmates.
Co-authors. Co-founders. Business partners.

And co-parents.

Yep, Aura Spirit Spirit, a baby we never thought we’d want (a cat!).
That’s thanks to being dog parents before… with 3 at once.

Boskoh, Little Dude, and Stomp must be shocked!

And there ya have it. That’s us. Well parts of us.
Interesting to break it down that way.

Probably be for all of you reading this, too.
Don’t think so? Then give it a go…

Peel back your layers and let us know.

There is something neat in recognizing the various parts of you.
Makes you realize how layered one life truly is.
Also makes you wonder what other parts are left to discover/uncover.

The Ridiculous Book Series

Ya, there is more. That is why this particular blog is labeled “Part One”.

The book series, though, is what ties everything together.
So we are going to start with that… more specifically, Book 1.

This particular book, and all that follow, owes its origins to Jef
(way back when he was still known to the world as Jeff with 2 f’s).
That was when the story downloaded into his consciousness…
and found its way out of his head onto the page.

Yes, the page. It was a lot more work back then.

Handwriting the ideas as fast as they came through. Pausing to laugh.
Scratching stuff out, making a visual mess, and continuing to write.
All while praying you remember your thoughts’ plots.
(Sometimes fingers move slower than the mind.)

Then pulling out a typewriter to… rewrite it all.
Pressing those keys as fast as they would go.
Well, until a mistake was noticed or a ding was let loose.

A ding simply meant a handle push so the next word landed on a new line.
Speaking of such, does anyone else miss that sound?

The mistake, though, well that wasn’t as simple.
It signalled a pause was needed… for white-out. The liquid, globby kind.
The length of the pause depended on each applicant’s skill with paint.
If it formed a blob that would take at least 3-5 minutes.
Longer, if you touched it too soon. Then the process would start again.
Despite that, Jef continued to have fun.

That was a digress.
Back on track now.

The “what” is the story that came through.
Two very different beings from two very different origins.
Beings who then navigate each other’s world… as each other.

One was schooled from Earth and the other from a distant planet.
He travelled with his very chatty spaceship, who loved practical jokes.

The ‘what’ that happened next, though, was not planned.
Along the way, Jef got bored.

Not bored as in bored by his own story.
Just ready to do something different.

In fact, the very comedians whose style inspired him to write,
may have been the cause.

“And now for something completely different” hit home.
Thank you Monty Python Crew.

Something completely different is exactly what Jef did.
He decided to explore dimensions, realities and levels of consciousness.

Then he had his characters do the same thing.
Well, kinda. Let’s just say a sorta soul-swap happened.
More specifically, a couple bodies no longer belonged to the being born in it.

A fresh set of eyes, so to say.
The characters, though, were none too pleased.
Their demands could have ended the series.

Note: Book 3 is currently in the works so rest assured that it all worked out.

Anyway, while Jef was busy writing, Mindy was not.
She was not even a fan of science fiction.

Yet she continued to date 2F Jeff even though the book became a topic…
on their very first outing. A time when she hadn’t read or watched any sci-fi.
To this day, thanks to Jef’s encouragement, she has seen at a few movies.
Or more specifically, parts she stayed awake for.

Despite that, she loved Jef’s passion and saw potential for his story.
She laughed when she read it and even had chuckles escape out loud.

Non-interest in sci-fi aside, Mindy recognizes that laughing relaxes the mind.
“I always thought sci-fi meant fighting, crashes and nasty scenes.
Didn’t know it could be meaningful, even heartwarming.”

With that, she also realized that some of the behind-the-scenes gems we discovered
(from our time contributing to the fitness, empowerment and wellness cultures)
could actually be embedded into the pages of The Ridiculous series.
And no one would know. Well, some may. Others likely will.

Mindy hoped it could help others love better how they think, function, feel.
So she jumped right in… and became co-author.

Well, only after Jef invited her.

As co-authors, we’ve had some “wow, that’s cool” moments.
We saw The Ridiculous rank #1 on Amazon in 4 very different categories:

Comedy.
Science Fiction.
Self-Help & Psychology Humor.

And possibly the coolest one…

Happiness.

Mindy squelled realizing we shared the top 20 spotlight with Jerry Seinfeld,
Stephen Frye and other comedic greats.

If you are like Jef, a fan of classics like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Monty Python, Spaceballs, Red Dwarf or Discworld, good news…
You will get more of ‘that’ in The Ridiculous series.

If you’re like Mindy, and prefer to avoid filling your mind with violent scenes,
and horrific deaths… Take note that that is not the case here.

If you are like our cat, Aura,
who hasn’t watched any of those classics mentioned,
yet are open to new experiences, check The Ridiculous out.
If “Laugh First. Think Deeper” resonates, so will our series.

If you enjoy nostalgic references, quick, and smart humor…
with hidden deeper meanings… then, this is going to enamour you.

Or…

If you want to experience something “completely different”,
we encourage you to let The Ridiculous be it!

It is fast, quick dialogue known to cause lols, ahas and even wtfs.
And it is available everywhere.

Search Amazon or go to your local bookstore.
If it is not yet there, we have it set up so they can order it.

Happy Readings.