Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - AJ Andrews: Toronto Mike'd #904

Episode Date: August 22, 2021

Mike catches up with AJ Andrews who updates us on her personal journey and reveals her name for the first time.

Welcome to episode 904 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery and the GTA. Online for free local home delivery and the GTA. McKay CEO Forums. The highest impact and least time intensive peer group for over 1,200 CEOs, executives, and business owners around the world. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta.

Tables, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. And Mike Majeski. He's the real estate agent who's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. Learn more at realestatelove.ca. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me on a very hot Sunday afternoon is AJ Andrews. Welcome back AJ.

It's been a while. It's been a while. I know I basically agreed to do this podcast just to update the photo on the website that you have of me, just because that's slightly out of date. And that hat. Have you worn the hat since? I have. I have, but I did not have the room in my carry-on to bring it this time. It's a big hat. And besides, it would have messed with the

headphones i'm i'm fine i gotta i gotta show off the teal locks no you look great and it's great to see you uh you were on i got all the details here you were on episode 511 and the description was quite simply mike chats with blue jays writer aj and Andrews about her decision to come out as a transgender woman. And that was about, yeah, we did about an hour and a half. And I guess I'm so excited to just find out how things are going on your personal journey. But maybe off the top, we can just remind everybody, just in case somebody's actually listening

who hasn't listened to episode 511 which is terrible to even consider but do you want to remind us? Because I know Scott MacArthur was on the show and Scott talked about you being an inspiration. You inspired Scott MacArthur to come out as a proud gay man. Yeah.

So fill us in on the, just remind those who might not remember episode five 11 about, uh, where you've come and where you're, where you're going. Yeah. So, um, sorry.

Um, yeah, I, uh, as you said, I'm a, I'm a, well,

I'll use writer in quotation marks now because I'm more of a podcaster at this point. Oh, you're on my turf. Get off my turf, AJ. Hey, hey, hey. I'm sticking to the Blue Jays. Don't worry. That's right. But yeah, I posted a coming out article in June 2019 on jaysfromthecouch.com.

And, you know, it made its way to Scott. and, you know, it made its way to Scott, and for a little bit before he came out, he was just talking with me and, you know, just trying to get a gauge on how things were going and the reaction to, you know, a member of the queer community being a media personality, even like a Z-list personality like me. No, no, I'm a Z-list. You're a little higher, a T-list. Oh, all i'm a z-list you're like you're a little higher t-list

oh all right i'll take t um r um but yeah uh so i was talking with him a little bit um and then yeah he he came out name checked me in the video which that's the first time like anyone actually used aj referring to me that wasn't me so that was kind of cool for sure um and then yeah he was he was on your podcast and he named check me and um that's when I got in touch with you I'm like I'll be in Toronto visiting uh my good friend Keegan Matheson okay Keegan great FOTM much like yourself so shout out to Keegan, great FOTM, much like yourself. So shout out to Keegan. And that's the maritime connection, right? Yeah. And Chisholm is also Maritimer, right? Chisholm's Maritimer. Madani is Maritimer. Right. He's from Truro. Yeah. Because I used to call him Truro Arash.

I was, I'm Truro too. So. Wow. I had a pizza in Truro once We were driving through And I believe Arash Madani Recommended a pizza joint I can't remember the name anymore I can't remember If you name some I might remember It was fantastic There's Pizza Delight, there's Greco

There's Pizza Farm Pizza Farm I know where that is Shout out Pizza Farm on Arthur, yeah, Pizza Farm. Yeah, yeah, that's, I know where that is. Shout out Pizza Farm on Arthur. So I've been there. I don't know if my picture's on the wall. I don't know. Straight Talk, I haven't been in there in a while, so.

Straight Talk, we call it Real Talk on Toronto Night here, but Straight Talk works as well. Okay, so, okay, so you're, but how often, like you're a maritimer how often do you find yourself here in the big smoke toronto well this is actually the first time i've been back since recording the podcast with you because you know pandemic and all that all that gross stuff but um yeah i made i made sure to. I spent a whole week here this time. Okay, good.

Just being able to, like, meet up with people and, like, visit some of the spots in the city that I miss. Okay, and we won't, like, we won't be specific with the street name or anything, but you're actually staying, like, is that a five-minute walk from here? Is that about right? Ten-minute walk. Oh, ten minutes.

It's a radius a little bit. So that's a much better commute walk. Oh, 10 minutes. That's a little bit. So, uh, that, that's much better commute for you than the last time. Yeah. Yeah. A little bit better than the,

uh, the hour street car from queen and Strachan last time. Strachan, uh, is the sports journalist. I believe it's strong. Is it, is it Strachan?

I'm, I don't know. I, I, I'm going to go with strawn on that one but i bet you i bet you now that you say it because i'll strachan because i always thought it was yeah i think it's drawn but uh you're right uh strachan strawn tomato tomato we got we got um con cannot and con it in halifax that i I got so much crap for saying cannot for so long. Yeah.

Like, I don't know. So don't, don't trust me on, on the, on the hard Scottish pronunciations. I'll tell you this right now. You're on a program hosted by a gentleman.

That's myself. I'm calling myself a gentleman. I don't care if it's true or not, who mispronounces every other word. So like you're in good company here is what I'm telling you. So, okay. So there's so much to cover here um again uh fantastic that scotty mac uh name checked you

uh both in his coming out video and when he appeared on toronto mic yeah and i was really honestly uh so excited to have you on your big hat and all like you're right it didn't work well the headphones but i thought it looked cool no i'm like like that that was um you know it's funny that was so early like like in the whole process like i'm at that point i'm still trying to figure out okay like what is my actual aesthetic like how do i actually want to present myself out in the world so you know that that part was like a lot of experimenting and stuff like I showed up in that like like heavy black dress and and like just just trying to trying to figure out and then you know during a pandemic I've had the opportunity

and be like yeah no I'm definitely more a just denim and and well I wore the classy top that i brought today but you know we we're meeting up on um on lake shore you're probably seeing me in like a tank top and shorts okay now uh is anything out of bounds like can i ask anything because i'm just curious like i mean i'll i'll i mean obviously obviously uh you don't have to answer all of my personal questions here. But remind us, did you always know you're a woman? Well, yes and no. Because, like, looking back, there would have been enough signs that, you know, you can have been like, okay, this kid is probably going to grow up and be a woman. But at the time, I had no idea about any of that. Like, that's not something that was covered in CEC, like, to actually give a name to it.

Like, I didn't actually figure that out about myself until like late university like because then you know i had the internet access like i would be able to read things but like but yeah that's like and that's that's why you see more people nowadays being able to say that i'm non-binary i'm i'mender. There's so much information out there now that people can find. It's so much easier to be like, oh, this makes sense. This applies to me as opposed to... Again, if I read between the lines, it's almost as if you now have the awareness

that you have the option to present as the gender you believe that you really are. Like regardless of genitalia or how you were raised. And again, you were raised in the backwoods of northern Nova Scotia. My mom got so mad at me when I said that. And I'm trying to think of my Nova Scotia. I went, I did the Cabot Trail. I'm trying to think of.

Well, like I said, I grew up in the Truro area. So I'm in that patch of nothing between Truro and New Glasgow. So I'm kind of the rural bridge between Arash Madani and Keegan Matheson. Okay. And I do believe FOTM Jonathan Torrens is from that neck of the woods as well,

I think, if I'm correct here. Okay. So you, and again, internet, what a wonderful resource that didn't exist for generations before. I wasn't going to be able to find that out on the crappy dial-up I grew up with. Yeah, because I'm sure in the, again, I'm quoting you here before I get in trouble, but the backwoods of northern Nova Scotia, that it would be quite a simple binary approach to baby born has penis,

approach to uh baby born has penis baby is boy yeah boy becomes man and this is sort of the only option that would exist now am i correct me though no and like that you know like i said if i had the knowledge back then that i got as I went on I probably would have been able to say to my parents like like I this does not work for me like instead I got so worried about why I wasn't normal like the other kids because that's that's how you thought in like the early 2000s and I tried so hard to be normal I just end up repressing so much of myself that, you know, I was barely a person. I was just a walking, like, Google apparent, like, you know, you ask me if you want the answer to a trivia question or a sports opinion,

but you ask me, like, how are you doing? I'm like, like, there was no allowance for personality like, like there was no, there was no allowance for personality or, or any, anything that I thought would put me out of line. And, you know, it, it took like a lot of, of personal growth just to get to that point where I'm like, okay, let's, let's just actually do this. Let's just say, you know, nuts to whatever other people think and just just be you and like you know i i get that a lot from like you know even my parents like since i came out to them like they know like okay this is a kid we actually should have had from the beginning as opposed to the the the one that just hid out in their room all the time

um but yeah it's just so it's so much more freeing like being able to be myself and being able to like have others see me as my as myself like like i mean you saw me two years ago i i i was still in that kind of cocoon stage i had the giant ass hat um and and like i still didn't know what i was doing and now like i've i've had so many random women on the street like complimenting me on my hair and stuff i'm like three years three years ago aj would have would have been like that's never going to happen let me pull this toque down further over my head. And I mean, in addition to Scott MacArthur, who's the famous, the famous person,

who's on, you know, local morning radio in this city, the famous person, I'm sure that just your, like, having the courage to come out and say, this is the true me. I am AJ Andrews. Like, that whole decision you made um must have inspired many others who have that same I know I'm being I'm getting again I was raised as a boy too yeah but like imagine being raised as a boy when you know inside you're a girl like I can't imagine

so the the first step towards like like or freedom or happiness is being your true self. So do you want to help fill in some of the cracks? Like so it's been two years. So that's right. Two years since you've been here. Yeah. So I'm dying to know like as many details as you're willing to put on the record here. But like what have the last two years been like for AJ Andrews?

Well, pandemic. So it's been a little difficult. But yeah, prior to the pandemic was the first time I felt like I was actually out living as opposed to, like I said, just locking myself in my room staying on the internet and you know reading too much junk about everything um but yeah so um you know that that was a big part and then and then like I said pandemic shut everything down and I ended up like cocooning and stuff um and now that things are starting to get opened up again um it's it's been nice to be able to like get out and actually you know like i said resume living that that life that you know

it's it's a little frustrating because because if i didn't allow myself to get sucked into that that need to be normal this is a life i could have had like long ago yeah so uh and i don't i would guess i know you're quite a bit younger than me but i do so but but you're almost making up for lost time right like this is these are years that you've been deprived being out being yourself like uh and now i mean that pandemic i mean there's no good time for a pandemic no there's an old real static song i think it's a bad time to be poor or something like that and it's like there's no good time to be poor but there's no good time to have the you know and we're still coming out of this thing as you know but like 18 months of of shit there's no good time for it but this is for you particularly

frustrating because you only just started living in some sense yeah and and you know it's it's kind of interesting as well being able to talk to other women online who are just discovering themselves during the pandemic because that that's a whole thing like like so many people coming out um and just being like oh yeah i'm actually you know queer like like just they had that time to to self-assess and self-discover and and figure that out about themselves so you know it's a whole thing online like like all i got from this pandemic is i changed my gender um right so like and and talking with some of those it's it's weird like um because like when i was on here i was just like two months out i was a baby right like like i was so fresh and now now it's like

yeah it's like i'm so i'm soaring up there i'm soaring in the sky like watching over these other other babies i know you probably can't see it because the foilage as people say but but there that's the lancaster bomber so because we're so south, right, so it does this lake waterfront kind of thing, and it goes back to Hamilton where it lives. But I believe that's the only Lancaster bomber still in operation in this country. Like, that's the only one that still flies regularly. So it's actually kind of neat, and that's why it was kind of low. I'm sorry I couldn't see it for the foliage.

I know, the foliage. So Peter Gross, we'll get back, we do a little tangent here, but Peter Gross was here the other day and there was this beautiful red cardinal at the base of this tree and I have this view of, I'm watching, I'm like,

Peter, Peter, we're in the middle of the recording. I'm like, do you see this beautiful red cardinal? He's like, he said, Mike, I can't see anything. There's the foliage and I'm like, that's what I should call that tree that's foliage that's so much classier than like these leaves are in the way so exactly the green the green stuff i can't see through the green stuff all right now uh so much to cover here aj uh but i do want to remind people that uh you've been like the jays from the couch

like that you've been you've been blogging and noways from the couch, like that, you've been, you've been blogging and now you said you're kind of moving into more podcasting. I've been podcasting a lot more on the, on the Lockdown Podcast Network and I've been hosting that show

for like three years, over three years now. Okay. And, and like admittedly, pandemic has taken a little bit of the toll. Like I haven't done it as much as I would like, admittedly, pandemic has taken a little bit of the toll. Like, I haven't done it as much as I would like.

But it's still a way for me to be able to, like, get my thoughts out there and, like, interact with people, both good and bad. And, like, even more so now because somehow someone convinced Twitter to give me a checkmark. Oh, my, you know, I can't get one. So you're miles ahead of me there. I have no idea. I have no idea what they said. So did you apply for it or did it just happen? No, the network did.

Oh, the network. So, yeah. Second, they turfed me from the network. I'm just like, no more checkmark. You never know. Let's hope that doesn't happen but uh yeah like you know for for someone who doesn't really take twitter that seriously and and just prefers to go on there and just like shoot whatever um it's been a little eye

opening just how much that check mark actually like draws them draws the magnifying glass on you like well it's like edification like i know they literally call it verification but basically it's like this third party entity this twitter has deemed you aj like this like uh like uh a valid like piece of the journalistic pie is that that my, you know what I mean? I have no idea. I'm like the crumb that falls off the pie. Well, yeah, but it's a delicious pie, apparently. So a crumb is enough. But yeah, it's been a whole new world.

Like, I'd, like, cheese. Before, I'd send a tweet out and, you know, if it's a good one, I'd get like 30 likes or something. Okay. Now I send a tweet out and, and like, I actually have to think about things really hard. Right. Because here's the thing. I didn't do that during the Mariner series.

Okay. And like, you, you remember that game where the blue jays like they had the bases loaded and they sent out brad hand yes of course yes jared kelnick yes as i've learned his name is pronounced and kelnick did not swing the bat won the game with with four balls from brad hand and he celebrated like he won the world series right And that bugged the hell out of me. Because, like, I just watched Tim Anderson celebrate his walk-off home run. Like, that's what you do, Tim Anderson going off. Right.

And Kelnick's there, like, leaping around and, like, doing pirouettes in the air. And I'm like, dude, you didn't do anything. You got a walk. Congratulations. So I sent that out, and the mariners fans were so like because you got that check ravaged like like it hurts now it hurts i mean i i did not say that properly like when i tweeted it out i should have said you know don't celebrate a walk like you celebrated a home run you're a 160 hitter that's the only way you were going like like that they didn't like that i brought up he had he was hitting 160 at the time um that's right

but but the thing about that is like yeah i got roasted for that tweet but i also got to have some interesting conversations with some of the mariners fans who were you know i was willing to engage with because they actually said more than just, you know, a crying emoji. Right. And, and, you know, I even got some of them, like, I just read your, your article that's pinned on your, on your account. It's a wonderful story. And like, you know, it does allow me to, to, to do that and like spread that out a little more, which is nice. So I guess, I guess it's a give and take with the whole, you know, checkmark lifestyle. Well, you're in the big leagues now, okay?

Listen, I can only dream. And I've spent, what, every one of the last 75 weeks hanging out with the what title does he have over there? Director of Communications at Twitter Canada. That's not a joke, okay? And I still, although he doesn't either. And that's the interesting, he doesn't have it either. To be fair, some of the people on the network are still waiting and it's just like,

yeah, I don't know why I have one and you don't. So I'm happy you have it. And I'm glad it's going to bring more like attention and validity to what you do. But I will say I've convinced myself that not having the check mark is really, that's punk. Yeah. more like attention and validity to what you do but i will say i've convinced myself that not having the check mark is really that's punk yeah like i've so i've convinced myself like i don't want that check mark do you remember when when like bill gates's account got hacked and

then they locked down like every check marked account i do remember that yes oh my god glory days glory days on twitter i'm just i'm just on there just like we're free we're free of the check mark tyranny what do we do now and now i'm part of the establishment i'm like what do i do now who's the captain now that's right so you you're you're still uh jays what's the name of your podcast again uh locked on blue jays right locked on blue jays and you this is your first trip outside of uh the Maritimes in, since you were here last. Is that right?

Correct. Okay. And I did see you at the, you were at the Jays game. Like, like, so how was the experience? Cause I,

I did go to a TFC match, but I haven't been to a Blue Jay game yet. And I'm going to my first concert next weekend. Oh, nice. But how was it going to a Blue Jays game? It was lovely up until the point where the Blue Jays bullpen got involved. This is the game where we did everything.

This is the game of the, is this the game that Robbie Ray pitched the gem? Yeah. Okay. Eight innings, struck out 11. Right. The only run scored on a,

on small ball tigers. That was a terrible loss. Like that was awful. That's one of those. Yeah, that was, that was brutal. And yet we knew it was going to happen like i went there with my friend leslie right um she is a lovely person she got us the seats um and and was just you know enjoying being able to

watch with her and getting to interact with some of the fans that came up and like the whole time we were sitting there like like she didn't even get to see the Blue Jays score run because she was up getting water when Vladdy went yard. Don't get water when the Jays are up. That's a rookie mistake. I know, I know. You always get your water or your food when the opposition is better. Exactly.

Like, I timed that pretty well. But, you know, we're just sitting there and, you know, just as Trevor Richards came in, he gets those two strikeouts and we're like, okay, maybe we can survive this inning and take another shot. And then, nope, the exact same thing happens that it always does. And I did watch, I watched a lot of this game and I did see the sacrifice bunt attempt. This was the big play, right? And then they did.

That they sent Breivik Valera into pinch hit. That's all he was in there to do. Yeah, clearly. Did not do it. No, but it was a hell of a play to get the runner at third. It was really, honestly, I thought that was an amazing defensive play to get the runner at third.

It was made a little easier because Scope's a second baseman so he's so he's more mobile right hell of a play though like i just credit the scopes there but um the runners weren't able to get the jump that they should have because there were two strikes right and valera had to actually try try harder to make contact with the ball instead of just deadening the ball in front of the plate and when when you're in that situation the bunt is far less effective because you can't actually place it but um yeah that's more a microcosm of the problems the blue jays have had than the bullpen like i know the bullpen gets all the attention but the offense literally has done nothing from the sixth

inning on to allow this team to win games, to put this team in a position to win games. They keep forcing the bullpen to be perfect, and no bullpen is perfect. Otherwise, the bullpen guys would be starters. So do you think there's a snowball's chance here that the Blue Jays play postseason ball? That is playoffs, like yeah you play the though it's a one game right yeah okay you have to be top five in the league though and i don't think the blue jays are a top five in the american league team

right now especially with springer injured again right right so uh slim to none and and slims on a train heading out of town. No, but that is why they made deadline acquisitions more geared towards next year as well. Like Simber's under control. Trevor Richards is under control. Jose Barrios is under control. So the only rental that they got was Brad Hand. And I know Blue Jays fans are like, why the heck did we get Brad Hand?

Especially after Riley Adams torched them in those two games in Washington Alright so let me every week I co-host a sports podcast with Mark Hebbs here so he's you know let me ask your opinion on this Charlie Montoyo

is he back next year or he's got to go or what do you think he's back he's back okay he's back next year but the's got to go. Yes. He's back. He's back next year. The eyes are going to be on him. If you can say one thing about the bullpen, you can say Charlie Montoya's management has been a little questionable in that

I don't know if this is more the Blue Jays just being like, we made the playoffs when Gibby was here. We need Gibby back because he managed with his gut. He wasn't analytics all the time. And getting a feel of the game is something you learn. It's not just inherently in your player. You have to watch your players.

You have to learn when they're showing signs that they're about to struggle, when you need to make that move. And I still feel Montoya's learning that. Like in the game that Ryu got pulled against Seattle. Right. And then Richards came in and gave up home runs, which thank you, Trevor Richards, for giving up that home run to Jared Kelnick

and setting off round two of that tweet. Freaking lovely. But, yeah, that's a situation where, you know, if Hyunjin Ryu's your ace, you kind of let him pitch out of it as opposed to bringing in the guy cold, right? So there are moments when it feels like he is managing by the numbers instead of managing by the game. And I feel if you want to be a successful manager, you have to be able to do both.

You have to be able to take the numbers in, but also know when you need to make that move with your gut. The numbers are just a tool. They are not the Bible of managing. are just a tool they are not the bible of managing they are a tool to be used for managing and that uh last season we had the the two game what was that called the uh two game uh postseason right yeah the first round where we just got rocked and that's the one was that the one where they brought in Robbie Ray? I'm trying to remember somebody was pitching a jam and got pulled early or something.

And anyway, I, the, one of the things that I see that like old farts like me kind of complain about is that it does seem like an algorithm is coaching these baseball games. Now it does seem like it's a, okay,

no, you've hit this pitch counter. It doesn't matter. It's regardless of what I'm seeing with my eyes. Like this is now the odds are the next time through the lineup this is what's going to happen so it does seem like that i also uh always felt that uh montoya was like your caretaker babysitter manager while this team was like figuring things out and then when it was time to contend that he would be uh upgraded this is uh the impression i was always under and i mean that's now so i just think that don't you thinking he'll be back it's uh disappointing to me i know but they also brought

him in to learn with this team they figured they let him let him learn while the team was while the team was growing right and then by the time the team was ready to compete which 2022 was going to be the window like like that's what we were saying like two three years ago back back when i was on here right 2022 was the target so we're still on uh target here okay yeah so and springer wasn't even in our like dreams at that point so it's like you kind of you've spent some bucks and everything okay so now let's get back to what i find to be the more interesting story which is i love the jays and i love how you cover the J's, but I got to get back to your journey here. All right. All right. So you mentioned it that you were trying to, you were still, you know, you know you're a woman,

but you aren't even sure how you want to present. Like you were kind of working through, can you give us some insight into that process? And I know the pandemic, I'm thinking the pandemic slows everything down because, you know, you're at the dome. That's you presenting to thousands of people, like in a very public setting, but there's been very few opportunities of that nature over the last 18 months because of, you know what? So maybe, um, maybe I shut up for a little bit and listen,

but I'm just curious, like, like how you, you know, work it out, like, like your hair, for example, uh, you know, very eye-catching that you've got, uh, you know, work it out. Like, like your hair, for example. Yeah. You know, very eye-catching that you've got, you know, everyone's going to see the photo that we're going to take. Yeah. To, you know, replace the other photo. Hopefully it still looks good after I just sweat through the entire thing. Honestly, it's hot. So I say, I say sweat away.

But you tell me about like these, this process. And like, as you try to figure out who am, but you tell me about, uh, like these, this process and like, as you try to figure out who am I and you, you know, who am I and what, what me do I want to show the world? Hmm. Well, it's, um, like, it's kind of funny that, um, you know, when you come out and start transitioning, um, essentially everyone's like, oh, you're going to go through second puberty. You're going to be experiencing this whole thing. And you know what? To be honest, this is probably what I would have looked like at 15. If I was a woman, like, you know, I grew up at a time when, you know, my big musical influences were like Avril Lavigne and Blink-182 and Paramore.

So this die actually comes from Hayley Williams' die company, Good Die Young. So I'm just even more of a Paramore stan. a paramour stand um so you know it it's it's like i said it's about you know trying trying to figure out where you would have been like had you been able to experience this from the beginning and seeing what what fits for you like i like my my natural hair color is boring um uh not that you saw much of it under that giant hat when i was here but um like like that was the thing at the start of the pandemic i'm like no one's gonna see me so let's just figure out what my color is right um and i tried purple didn't really work um and then yeah a friend of mine recommended this, uh, this color and, um, like teal, teal's definitely my color.

I like, I like purple, but you know. Well, I can notice the, the, the eyes are matching the, uh, the hair, right? This is, uh, I noticed, I'm perceptive. I noticed these things. By the way, quick fun fact about that Lancaster bomber before I forget, I just popped in, somebody pointed it out on Facebook that there's literally only two of those still flying in the world. So one in Canada, the one that I saw and you were blocked by the four. And then there's one in England.

So that's how cool it is that that Lancaster bomber flew by. So shout out to the Lancaster bomber. Even more special of an episode. In the second pubertyberty can you be specific like uh for us dummies out there like like is that uh hormones yeah yeah because you are like it's the same as when you go for first puberty you're introducing hormones that your body is taking in for the first time and adjusting to and you know filling out your body in that in that shape right like so but not only does it affect your body affects your brain as well um because you know

you know how teenagers are yes i do yes yeah i have firsthand experience that is exactly so it's it's kind of like that like like i joke like joke, like I'm, I'm mentally half my age right now. Interesting. Um, but, but yeah, like I said, at, at, at first trying to figure out what, what my style was, like, I think I was still trying to play to what other people, um, wanted, what the normal still was. I think I was still in that mindset a little bit just because I, again, I didn't have a lot of experience being able to be me.

Right. And now I do. And now I know, you know, what's comfortable for me, what fits for me, what I want to be able to do. Like, I still haven't fully done everything like i mean i only have like three piercings right now i'm gonna get more how many more are we gonna get um at least three more okay at least three more that i have planned out but um nothing crazy just you know ears and i don't know if I get another nose one, but I like my nose one.

But we'll see. We'll see. But, yeah, then that. And then, like, you know, another thing I talked about with a friend of mine recently was, like, actually starting to get tattoos. Oh, that's a slippery slope, though. You know, once you start. I know. I know. oh that's a slippery slope though you know once you start i know i know and and like i i figure

i need to like actually plan it out if i'm going to go down that road anyway right um but but yeah that's like i said going through it and trying to figure out who who i really was, like, I wasn't going to be this, this, like, you know, wears dresses all the time, you know, crap ton of makeup on my face. Like, I wasn't going to be that, that level of girl. Like, I, I knew that about myself. Like, you know, if you had asked me before the process started, like, what, what would I wear? I would have probably just been like, I'll probably still wear hoodies and T-shirts and jeans. And if you ask me that now, I'll say hoodies and tank tops and shorts. But, you know, it ended up being very similar to what I thought I would like, you know, before I actually put that plan into action. before I actually put that plan into action.

And, you know, I know every girl and every man's journey is different when it comes to that whole thing. And every non-binary person, we need to get all three in there. Sure. But, yeah, I know for me, I just, you know, I found ways to, like, be able to quickly go through. Like, I found, like, an auction site where I could just get a bunch of clothes for cheap and try things on and see what I actually liked. You know, going around to, like, Old Navy and other stores like that. And then figuring out, like, I'm really happy that Torrid is finally coming to Halifax.

What is this, Torrid? Yeah, it's a chain store from the States. I bought these sandals there yesterday because usually I can only do online stuff from Torrid. So I took advantage of there being one at the Eaton Center and finally upgraded my sandals. Well, you're talking to a guy who just buys the same sandals over and over.

I literally buy the same pair of Tevas. Like I just wear them until they break or fall apart. And then I buy the same Tevas again. Well, I, that's how stylistic I am. These, these replace a pair of sandals that I got in a random consignment store off

Spadina. Okay. That like they were five-year-old sandals that i got in a random consignment store off spadina okay that like they were five-year-old sandals but like when i walked they squeaked like it sounded like i was like pied pipering a herd of mice through the neighborhood i think my grandmother uh as i recall she would tell you if your shoes squeaked it's because you haven't paid them off yet or you haven't paid for them yet. I think there's something there. I find it fascinating, this whole concept that I never considered until you said it,

that it's like you're going through, like you're a teenager again in a sense. Like that whole mindset that, very interesting way to look at it all, that you're basically now in that transition to adulthood that we call teenage land uh but you're doing it for a second time wild yeah and you have a little more insight this time around than than the previous time i mean god like i said high school me was a mess just just did not go anywhere

do anything was so freaking self-conscious like sure like just you know hold up played video games and i mean now because of the pandemic i hold up and play video games but at least at least there's there's a medical reason for that as opposed to just a sadness reason yeah you had orders to to do that but so so when because eventually this pandemic will end and we will get back to and i mean you're here now so it's already starting to loosen up uh despite what uh the delta uh is trying to do i got both my shots see that's it i i think the big wild card and a quick aside but i think the big wild card, and a quick aside, but I think the big wild card is that children under the age of 12 cannot get vaccinated.

And I feel that once we do start vaccinating, because I have two of those inside. Yeah. And once we can get children under 12 vaccinated and get them to kind of where we are with, you know, people above 12 now, that the game will change. Like that'll be like the next step where we basically learn to live with this thing yeah and uh we defang it with the vaccinations and uh we basically have a whole bunch of stuff where you have to be vaccinated

unless you have a medical excuse not to and we we proceed like yeah treat that it's been defanged sort of becomes like one of those like like a flu, essentially, where, you know. Yeah. You know, you get the flu, you don't go to work. Yeah. And shut it down so you don't, you know, give it to others. But, I mean, we're going to get there. I just think that that big blob of under 12s.

Yeah. We have to wait. We have to basically drag this out and wait until we can get them. Yeah. I saw Melissa Joan Hart, a.k.a. Sabrina. She just posted that actually that she got a breakthrough case of COVID, but she figures she got it from her 10-year-old who was unvaccinated and at school without like masks on and stuff so did her 10 year old uh

test positive or you don't know um i she didn't mention in the post but she um she said she was positive for it um and i don't i don't know how deep into detail she went with it but she did say she was certain she got it through her kid because you know her and her her partner very very vigilant both vaccinated right the two older children were vaccinated is just the youngest who's under 12 yeah who wasn't but yeah as as someone who lives with someone who's immunocompromised like like i i know like the the best way we can protect them is to get the the vaccination rate up get the herd immunity up so i can i can be out here a little more often than once every two

years so what happens uh that's exactly where i was going with this is once we can move past covid19 uh like basically you're just you're gonna be bursting out of your shell basically like here comes aj like what do you have in like what do you have planned like when you when you daydream about this um eventuality well it's a little hard right now because the immediate thing and i know we talked about this last time i was on um the immediate thing is surgery okay again as specific as you're comfortable being uh when is this planned now is it scheduled i i actually have it for september 29th wow okay it's part of the reason why i wanted to come out here because i don't know how much traveling i'm going to be doing after that in the immediate future so i'm like i need to get

out of the province now and be able to visit some people and do some things before I start focusing on recovery okay so this is yeah you're we're almost uh we're at 22nd of August so we're a bit like you're about six or seven weeks away or whatever that is September 29th so uh what exactly can you share with us what happens in the surgery? A little bit. First of all, fun fact, I can't eat garlic. Because you're a vampire. Because you're a vampire. Apparently, you know, all transgender people are vampires. I'm sure.

So that's a fun fact. So everyone who gets this surgery cannot have garlic? For like three weeks before the surgery, just because garlic does something to the blood. Okay. So it impacts healing. So I'm going to be that person at every restaurant like, um, is there garlic

in this? I can't have garlic. Can you just tell them to make it without garlic? Right. Okay. That's a fun fact. I did not know about the garlic. Okay. So let's say you have no garlic and then September 29th comes. What exactly is happening in September 29th? I'm going to Montreal and yeah, just it's a very short surgery. Shorter than you think it takes like a couple hours just because they've got it

down to a science um but yeah they will be doing their work down there and then i'll be spending like a week to a week and a half just recovering in in the in the clinic in the in the uh recovery house um and then like at the same time they'll be teaching me like you know this is how you clean down there this is um what you need to do every day to make sure like you maintain the depth um get to shove so many things up there um but yeah they'll be doing that and then um after like 10 or so days i I just come back to Nova Scotia and, and start doing it at home to do the recovery there. But,

you know, I'm going to be dilating like four times a day. Like that's, that's going to be the tough part. It's like having to wake up every six hours just to make sure I, I put stuff where it needs to be. I don't know how specific you want me to be on this podcast. Honestly, it's about your comfort level because I'm always interested in-

Shoving plastic up my vagina. How about that? Yeah. I guess what I'm saying is I've always been this way about everything, but particularly about you in this journey. Like I'm very interested in the specifics, but I don't want you to feel you're sharing too much. Like I need you to be comfortable with what you say. I'll be honest. If you want someone who's going to overshare, you probably got the right person here.

Okay. So you're going to be in Montreal for 10 days. Is that what I heard? 10 days? I bet that seven to 10, seven to 10 is what they're usually um budget for recovery um and then um my mom's actually going to be there for the last two just she's she's a teacher so she's not going to be able to take the time fully but she's going to be up to you know help me help me recover at the end and get me back to the province. Well, that's good.

Because I was going to ask, how has the, because it sounds like you came out and then you shared this news about yourself. And then we've only heard these good responses we've heard from people. And I always wonder, are there any family or friends or maybe even strangers who have been less than kind about uh your announcements not really oh good like that's good and and that's that's part of what i told scott because i know i know he had the same apprehensions i did prior to prior to coming out like how like like one of the reasons why i held off after self-accepting was I wanted to try and have a sports journalism career.

And like there were no transgender people in sports. Like I could count them on one hand. Right. That's right. So for a while I thought, OK, I have to just sneak my way in using this male identity that I still have. And then once I'm established in the industry, surprise. But yeah, it got to the point where it's just like, I cannot wait anymore. Right.

And, you know, when I came out, I think I said this, one of my followers was like, I came here expecting to fist fight a bunch of people and now I just want to share a group hug. Right. That's so amazing though. Like I feel like we have come a long way in that regard. And I wonder what would have happened if you had done the same announcement 20 years ago. Oh God. 20 years ago when friends is on the air spouting the less than savory jokes about it. I think like Austin Powers, right? There's a big joke there. There's a lot.

There's a lot. Because comedy writers in the 2000s were lazy and just went to that joke up to, up to like the end of How I Met Your Mother, which, you know, you become more attuned to that, you know, as,

as you are, as you're a part of the community. Like, it's, it's're a part of the community like um it's it's like a friend of mine says like like there are so many concerns that uh queer people in general have that cis people just don't don't really um understand like one of my friends was telling her cis friends that she hates going to the drive-thru like like at a at a mcdonald's or whatever and and they couldn't understand that and it's because you know because you're talking through drive-thru your voice gets so distorted and if you're not able to enunciate better you

get misgendered yeah it'll be like thank you sir yeah sir. Yeah, exactly. Right, right. Exactly. I'm one of the lucky ones. My voice is usually good enough that I do get properly gendered in the drive-thru, and then I show up as a 6'2 woman, and they're like, oh. I'm like, you had it right the first time. Just freaking say it. Wow. Okay, so now that you mentioned the the friends and it is true that uh a lazy like 90s comedy thing would be uh like a transphobic joke i think even the simpsons has

a few of these uh and and and and it's one of those that didn't age well but another a little tangent again is i'm surprised often now like about these movies. I remember loving so much and laughing and I'll watch them again with my teens or whatever. And a couple of things. One is the use of the R word. Okay. That R word was it's it'll shock you how many movies. Oh, my God.

TV shows like it is it is surprisingly prevalent and but there's so that's it so that's one thing is that the r word is showing up way you're like what the heck because it just doesn't sound right with my 2021 years it's it's very offensive yeah the other one is the f word and i'm not talking about fuck yeah okay you're you're talking about the british cigarette right the british cigarette right that is an insult amongst dudes in these comedies uh it's everywhere yeah like that's the insult amongst dudes because that was the go-to back then it's like oh you're not acting like a man you must be gay right and that is you're less of a man because you're gay right yeah which is. Which is exactly homophobia. Yeah. And and, you know, I can understand how that would be prevalent just because a lot of these writers back then only hung out with guys.

And that's how they talked. But that explains why somebody like Scott MacArthur and he explained this, why he kept it just to his close circle of friends and family for so long because and he said he would overcompensate like him and a bunch of dudes at a jays game or whatever it would be like check out the ass on that chick like yeah essentially overcompensating uh so that you know you know exactly exactly wow and like you know it's it's the same on on like every other spectrum like Like, um, like in that, uh, in that posted, um, that pin tweet, um, is the coming out, uh, episode that I did. And in that I linked, um, a portion of the first ever podcast that I did. And if you listen to that, I'm trying

so freaking hard to be like an ESPN talking head, like trying to get my voice down. I'm like, I literally can't do that anymore. Like, I just sound like I'm trying to do like a dude's impression. Right. And I actually played that for my friend, and she couldn't believe that that was me. Like, she's like, well, it sounds like you wrote a speech or something and gave it to this dude because i can hear your vocal patterns but that's definitely not you interesting

did you always know like when you started this journey uh it sounds like it was after university or in you know when did you have that moment when you realized i i had that moment shortly after St. Patrick's Day in my final year. Because I remember it was a Sunday. And I stayed in my room the entire day. It was an overcast day in Halifax. And I sat on my bed just, like, for hours just trying to go over in my head, like, what everything meant like everything that was adding up in my life to be like how how does this make sense and is this what's meant to happen right and you know I did but like I said because I wanted to be in sports journalism I'm like well I can't actually do anything about

this so I better hold off and you know like I said I ended up holding off for like five six years just because I did not think I would be able to have any success because you know you you read in the media you you don't read a lot of the good stories about about you know this transgender person is is big success. No, you read about the hardships. You read about the hate crimes. You read about so many things that paint a negative picture. Yeah. And it's like, okay, this is what you're in for. Like, it doesn't really cover the good parts of it, you know,

which is why I'm happy to talk about it and share some of the good parts. Well, that's why I'm glad you're so open and honest about all of this because someone listening to us right now is feeling what you were feeling in university or high school. And just to hear your experience can only help. And that's why I'm curious. At that time, at the end of university there like did you did you always know I guess I'm wondering when you decided you were going to get the surgery

like was that is that like was there any ever any thought about not getting the surgery for me no like and and that varies from person to person like some people are perfectly comfortable not getting the surgery some people take a different option on the surgery. I was not one of those people. I knew that if I was transitioning, I was going to go as far as I can all the way. Go big or go home. Exactly.

I wouldn't call it going big. I hope I don't go big. But yeah, and that's a personal thing. Like I said, every person is going to be different, what they feel they need to be comfortable in their body. But I knew, like, from the start of it, like, that was going to be a thing I had to plan for. And I am very thankful that I live in a place where the government understands the need for that and is covering everything. Because, like, if the government understands the need for that and is covering everything because like if the government wasn't covering this I wouldn't be able to afford it

I was gonna ask about that but uh if you had told me anything other than uh it's being covered and what is the OHIP equivalent for you uh just health Nova Scotia because I call it OHIP for everyone in this country and I always forget that O actually stands for Ontario. Like this is, everyone's got their own health. Every province has their own health thing. I have my health card. I'm not going to show it on camera.

It's not like, you don't show it on camera, but it's not like, you know, Nova Scotia would be NSHIP. Yeah, it's just Nova Scotia Health. That's all it says on my card. Okay.

It would be outrageous to learn that they weren't going to cover this because this is essentially a correction. This is not like a cosmetic or frivolous thing. Like you're essentially, to me, this is an essential correction. Should you decide that you want to proceed with the surgery? Would you have? Okay. So there's hormones you take and a surgery is coming at the surgery and what you have. So, okay. So there's, uh, hormones you take

and a surgery is coming at the end of September. Yeah. And now following that, uh, is it just a continuation of hormones? Like, I'm just wondering, uh, essentially like, like it's so, it's so weird to potentially think about transitioning in the past tense. Like, you know, for someone who saw it on the horizon for so long. And then has, like I said, been taking hormones since January 3rd, 2019. And, you know, being almost three years in and having a surgery coming up. It's going to be a lot easier for me to feel like the process is done. Right. And that I'm just a woman and that that that's gonna be so weird like like being able to just think of myself as as a woman instead of

like a woman in progress and so you don't think of yourself because you're pre-op right now you don't consider yourself a woman now oh no i do okay like i just because like but i am i'm still in the process of transitioning right like as far as as far as it goes for me and you know it it's it it is a little bit of a challenge for um transgender people to to kind of see the other side of it. Like, you know, be, being able to, to think of yourself as just a woman or just a man or, you know, a non-binary person. But, but I would think that would be a great relief that you could now, you could only, now you can focus on all the regular shit we all deal with. Do I want to focus on the regular shit though,

Mike? Like it's tough enough to be a human in this world. Do I want, do I want to think about actual adulting? I don't want to think about my pension right now. Right. Right. Cause then,

yeah, then what's left, but the rest of your life, that's all right. And like, it is exciting at like, at the same time, just knowing like,

okay, this is like, just going to same time just knowing like okay this is like just gonna be just gonna be it i don't have to think about any any other major changes unless you know you know down the line you can think about that i mean i know i know people who are considering like facial feminization surgery i can't consider that right now because my company does not offer coverage for that. Unlike some companies. Okay.

So that, that's not, that's considered cosmetic as opposed. Okay. Yeah. Interesting. It is. Okay.

Um, uh, and then like, um, you know, breast augmentation is a thing as well. Nova Scotia actually does cover that if you don't reach a certain stage of breast growth okay um okay sadly i'm past that so that's an interesting like okay the hormones don't get you to this size yeah we'll take you over the line with sir interesting

yeah i had a friend who actually had that done um early this year. Actually went to Montreal for that. But yeah, so there are instances when it's clearly not cosmetic. It's a quality of life thing. And, you know, I feel we're kind of getting there, but I also feel like FFS is basically on the same stage as like mental health right now. Right. In that no one really takes it seriously as something that's necessary to improve that quality of life.

And, you know, if more governments actually did take it seriously and like, we're going to cover this because this is going to help your mental health. actually did take it seriously and like we're we're going to cover this because this is going to help your mental health we're going to cover this service this um this counselor this psychiatrist this this whatever because it improves your mental health as more and more people are open about their mental health i feel like that's gonna be be a thing that more governments are going to have to take notice and actually get covered or or force insurance companies to cover it because some of the insurance companies are just like, ugh. So it's fair to say that, yes, we have come a long way, but there's still a long way to go? Yeah, I think that's fair.

And as a society, when it comes to transphobia, what would you say? I mean, this is a tough question, I find, because there are so many assholes out there. Like, there's racists, there's anti-Semites, there's Islamophobics, there's, of course, there's transphobics, there's homophobics. Sometimes it's tied to religion, I notice, particularly when it comes to homophobia. And I would guess that might extend to transphobic behavior as well. Yeah. But what say you about at least this country that we live in? I'm thankful that Canada is so far ahead of some other countries in this regard.

In just, you know, being a place that is open and accepting. Like, I mean, I read the horror stories coming out of America where people are being targeted by crazy white women with cars because of the color of their skin. I read stories coming out of the United Kingdom where they are continuously making it difficult for transgender people to get the health care they need because Rupert Murdoch's media company has just decided they hate us

and just want to absolutely poison everything, which he succeeded in Britain because just the transphobic rhetoric coming out of people over there is disgusting. Oh, man. It is absolutely horrific. Some of the crap that comes out of the mouths of British people over there. And, you know, they're trying to get that same foothold in America. And I don't know how successful they're going to be. But there's a reason why you said all those things in tangent,

why you said transphobia in tangent why you said trans transphobia with homophobia with racism with um prejudice due to religion they are all linked they are all from the same vat of hatred and that that needs to eventually be drained and it's sad that some people who get the contents of said vat flung at them decide to drink from that same vat. And I feel the more people who are able to avoid, like this is going to be a very tortured metaphor, but able to avoid drinking from that vat, the better society as a whole is going to be. And unfortunately, some people just like the taste of that shit. I don't know why, but...

Probably because their parents would lead them to the well. Oh, spoon-fed them. Yeah. I'll say this. Okay, so I'm a child of the 80s, okay? And I look back at my years of primary school and high school and now as you know i have a couple of teenagers one of whom is out and one out of high school already is in second year university and another of whom has one year left in high school and i could tell you my

teenagers they have close friends who are non-binary they have close friends who are openly gay uh yeah when i i i there was nobody in my primary school who was uh non-binary like that that that lexicon like that didn't exist we didn't we didn't even know how to speak to that but i can tell you because we knew what gay was uh we had nobody in our uh primary school or high school that i knew of who was openly gay. Like we, so in that regard, I think because I think the kids today and the young people today are far more open to the,

to the fact that not everything will fit in these little compartments that we had back in the 80s and earlier. Very true. And as more of those kids come to power, I think we'll see more move on that front towards um like i said draining that vat making sure that well is not that tainted well is not used anymore unfortunately we still have some people in power for whom hate is their is their primary method of control hate is their primary method of of maintaining power you know, it's sad to

see countries like Hungary and Poland and Brazil and Russia keep falling into that trap of electing these people who need hate to rule, who need hate for power. And as long as we keep pushing and keep, you know, openly educating people about what's out there, you know, we may not be able to fully eradicate those people, but we can definitely get to the point where they are an outlier instead of a legitimate path to victory. Well said, well said. Let me just tell everybody that the woman you're staying with, and again, we're not going to say addresses or anything, but in the hood here that I live in, is getting a large meat lasagna from Palma Pasta because they had you, they put, she put up with you. Her kids are going to enjoy it. Okay.

So like I'm, that's, that's happening a hundred percent. A large meat lasagna from Palma Pasta is going to the woman you're staying with. There's some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery that's going with you as well. Excellent. Ridley Funeral Home are pillars of this community that your friend stays in. That sounds like I'm saying, hopefully that doesn't need the services. But of course, they're there if you need them and they're fantastic. There's a Toronto Mike sticker on top of the red pasta box.

That's courtesy of StickerU.com. Shout out to StickerU.com. I urge everyone who's listening to this podcast to give the CEO Edge podcast a listen. It's fireside chats with inspiring CEOs and thought leaders. And that comes from McKay CEO Forums. It's been great having them on board all summer to help fuel the real talk. And if you ever decide, I always wonder, like you're a proud Maritimer and that's where the family is. But do you ever think about moving here? do because your baseball team's here um well like i know

i know i have a special niche as the maritimer who talks blue jays actually from the maritimes instead of you know like these like these johnny come to toronto's and just fully evaporate in the culture. I know you were in Muskoka, Keegan. You're not Nova Scotian anymore. Are you kidding me? Wow. Wow. Those are fighting words.

Kidding me. Wow. Keegan's going to hear that. I know he's going to hear that. He kicks out Stan Rogers when he comes on the program. It's all an act. It's all an act. And he talks funny and he talks about...

He doesn't even know what a donair is anymore. Wow. Oh my goodness. But he's here now. Gregor Chisholm is here now. Yeah. Might you follow suit one day? That's going to be the interesting thing.

You know, because that's the other thing about being... When I, you know, get through the recovery of the surgery, that's going to probably open up some opportunities for me now that, you know, that chapter of my life is going to be complete. So I can start looking elsewhere if there are opportunities that could use my skill set. opportunities that could use my skill set. Look, if I'm reading between the lines, if you want to be in Canadian sports media, the bulk of that work is in Toronto. Yeah, it is. So I would think you'd most likely have to come here to get a gig.

I don't know. I'll make it up. Sportsnet or TSN or whatever. Yeah, unless I'm doing like remote with the athletic or something like that. But lots more opportunity here. There is. And I knew I was kind of giving that up when I moved back to Nova Scotia after I got my degree.

But, yeah, I'm not going to close the door on it. yeah i'm i'm not gonna close the door on it like i said if there are if there are people who think i they could use my unique voice and unique talents and your perspective yeah which is lacking because we can't name unless you can correct me i can't name uh a transgender woman in canadian sports media um the the highest profile one I know in Canadian sports media is my friend Tammy, who is at Bluebird Banter. She writes stuff for them, but she is the only other transgender person I know in Canadian sports media in that regard.

And Tammy is a great follow, at Tammy underscore Beth. Shout out to her um but yeah I mean that that would be that would be the thing right like and I know even women aren't you know proportionately represented like I know um uh Laura Armstrong does Blue Jays, Caitlin McGrath does Blue Jays, and then like Hazel May on Sportsnet. But you can still count the number of women on one hand as well. And if you look out at the audience at your average Blue Jays game, it's a lot closer to 50% than I think people realize.

No, I believe you are correct. Women are underrepresented. But think about this for a moment because my wife is a Filipino descent, so Hazel May is a Filipino descent. Name a second Sportsnet on-air person who is a woman of color. I can name one in Canadian media media because kate oh no sports net yeah sure that's tsn though yeah um no it's there's a couple of tsn because

nikki reyes is also uh does things with tsn but at sports net i can actually only name uh hazel may yeah yeah which is that's a that's that's a problem it is it is and it's a lot of perspectives that are not being realized and like i've i've had the opportunity to meet hazel and she is lovely um and i appreciate the fact that she's on there and is able to give her voice but yeah you look at a lot of the voices on there like it it's coming from a similar place and i that's that's part of why i'm happy i at least get to put my voice out there and have a platform to do so is that i do get to you know give this alternate perspective that i i feel unless people are looking for it they don't find okay so before I get too far away from this point,

when you do decide to move to the big smoke here and get that dream gig, wherever it is, TSN or Sportsnet or wherever, the man to talk to is Mike Majewski. He's in the know in Mimico, as we say. But I say Mimico. I feel like I limit him. He just sold a place on the Danforth. So he's not just doing Mimico, but he is in the know and Mimico. And if you go to realestatelove.ca, you can find out how to

contact Mike Majeski and just tell Mike that Toronto Mike sent you. All right. AJ. So we now know what's next. And it's you've got to take care of yourself with the surgery. So this is happening end of September. Keep us posted here. There's some recovery time there. I hope it all goes smoothly. I will be bored and just on Twitter half the time. Tweet at me if you like.

That's right. And when this is all, when the healing's done and everything went according to plan, then you can focus on the rest of your life. And this, I'm excited for you. Thank you. Like, that is the things, like, your career. Like, all the things we all deal with. Like, you can actually focus on those things.

Yeah. And that's exciting. And then at some point when you return to Toronto, you can come back here and you can keep updating us on this journey. Like you're giving us this great view, this great perspective of your journey. And I just want to say I appreciate it because I learned so much today. I had no idea about it. The garlic thing. There's so much more.

I had no idea. That was a shock to me, too. No garlic bread. No. Oh, my God. I'm going to be like starving. It's just going to be like peanut butter sandwiches for like three weeks. I actually like peanut butter sandwiches.

I do too. I just don't. I can't eat like four of them a day for sustenance. When do you go back? When I say that, when do you leave Toronto to go back home? Tomorrow. Okay, tomorrow. That is bad timing because I was hoping you could come

to TMLX 8. TMLX 8 is Friday. That's the 27th of August. And everyone listening is invited. It's at Great Lakes Brewery. There are fantastic hosts and they're going to buy you your first pour of fresh craft beer.

So that is your first pour courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery. The hosts, this is again, Friday, August 27 from 6 to 9pm. Palma Pasta is going to feed everybody. I have a call with Anthony Petrucci on

Monday to sort out these details, but they are stepping up to feed everybody some authentic Italian food. Delicious. And we're going to record the finale of Pandemic Friday. So that's me, Cam Gordon, and Stu Stone. And it's going to be great. Because we have to leave the premises by 9 p.m.,

we're all going to have like a post-mortem. So there's like a pandemic post-mortem happening at a local park, Queensway Park, which is near Royal York and Queensway. And we're all going to go there after we pack up and leave the patio at nine o'clock sharp. So it's going to be a big night for everybody and we're excited

so i hope to see everybody at tmlx8 but aj i'm sorry i will not be seeing you i'm sorry i'm not there for for pasta and pasta beer yeah can you what's a better night uh the only thing i can't control because it's an it's a rain or shine outdoor event yeah that's a mainly a covet thing and uh i mean i'm hoping it's not a rain event because i feel that would dampen things but i mean we're going we're doing it regardless so get an umbrella and get out there is what i say any final thoughts or anything else you want to share with us as we follow along in your fantastic journey i do have one okay um so So I know the last time I was here, you asked me what AJ stood for. Right.

And I said I wasn't going to reveal that at the time, but that if I ever did, I would do it on your podcast. And I've been true to my word so far. I mean, granted, Jeopardy called me. Oh, I'm using my actual name. Oh, I thought they were going to ask you to be the host. I could apply. It is open. Because it really should be a Canadian.

I feel like it was a Canadian for many decades. It should be a Canadian again. I think I need to get on there first and get myself a nest egg. Then I can go behind the lectern and host aj are you about to reveal for us for the first time here like i'm so excited uh i feel like playing a drum roll or something but are you going to reveal what aj stands for well well you have to now you sort of teased it like it would be really mean if you didn't you you don't know my persona online, do you, Mike?

I follow you on Twitter. Yeah, no, it's fine. Since, you know, officially second episode, I think that makes me a friend of the show, right? You were an FOTM halfway through the first episode. And it already clicked in. So now you're just a repeat offender. All right.

Well, good friend of the show now. So good friends get actual name privilege. Oh, wow. You can call me Ariana. Ariana. Yeah. Okay. Now, are you going to change the name in the Twitter bio?

Or are you going to keep it AJ? Well in the twitter bio are you going to keep it aj i well i can't change my twitter now because it's got a check mark and if i change if i change the actual handle i lose the check mark um so when i promote this show am i promoting an episode of they're gonna know aj they're gonna know aj because that's the online brand like that that's essentially what i figured out what i've figured out since my AJ because that's the online brand. That's essentially what I figured out. What I've figured out since my time here. AJ is my online brand. And Ariana,

would your friends call you? What would your mom call you? AJ. That's my mom. Ariana or Ari. Ariana. Okay. I feel like honored that you disclosed this on my program. I feel like honor that you, uh,

you disclosed this on my program. Hey, I'm a girl who keeps her promises. I told you two years ago, I would reveal it on here before anywhere else. And I do love that name. That is a, it's a beautiful name.

And, uh, thank you so much. We're going to take a, take a photo. Uh, so no hat required for this one. It's the,

uh, but Ariana, I got to say, uh, privilege, a great thrill, just like the first time. And I wish you nothing but tremendous luck for the surgery at the end of September. And I can't wait to find out how successful it was. And then we'll get you back. Maybe it'll be next summer when you come to see a Blue Jay game or something. You'll waltz over here when you're visiting that person at that street nearby. And we can get an update.

But thanks for being so honest and courageous and nothing but much love from all of us. Anytime, Mike. Thank you for having me on again. And thank you for the hospitality. And that brings us to the end of our 904th show. Your area code in the Nova Scotia is 902. Yeah. Missed it.

Just missed it. So close. So close. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Arianna, how do we follow you on Twitter? It's A underscore J underscore Andrews. The underscores are there because Twitter is dumb as proof by the fact that I have a check mark.

Even, that is, that is, no comment, no comment. Cam Gordon, who can't get me a check mark or himself, also has to live with an underscore. So you're in good company there. Great Lakes Brewery, they're at Great Lakes Beer. McKay CEO Forums are at McKay CEO Forums. Palma Pasta's at Palma Pasta. Sticker U's at Sticker U.

Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley FH. And Mimico Mike's not on Twitter. He's on Instagram at Majeski Group Homes. I hope to see you all at TMLX 8 and I'll be back tomorrow where my special guest is Michael Farber. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Rome Phone. Rome Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls.

Visit RomePhone.ca to get started.