SSAB - February 20, 2026

What did you think of the Substack article? Written in a much more modern way, innit? That is, shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs. Contrast that with my typical writing style of lots of words bunched together in a paragraph. Which one is better? These AI-edited articles don’t really lend themselves to a book, but they do lay the foundation.Reading Pico Iyer’s The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise, makes me think of travel: what is it for? What if I travelled without a camera? Podcast set up?Met a social media-ite, that is, someone who works for an agency, she asked how to get into teaching ESL, ie, what are the qualifications? Her rent is up in June, she can work online, so where should she go? (Working holiday visas, teaching English, own vlog/podcast, etc.)Caught up on my Chinese characters! Can we do a Chinese check?And how did Canada do in the Olympics? Women’s curling = lost to Sweden. Men’s hockey? A win against Finland! 2-1! Canada will face Team USA in the fold medal match on Sunday morning! How will we get to church on time?Donate to the show! PayPal link below!https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA***Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.comAnd on Notion: https://stevensirski.notion.site/SSAB-The-Audio-Blog-of-Steven-Sirski-00acfe344e164bfab191d3cddf6952b2?pvs=4Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.comLanguage vlog on http://www.youtube.com/@stevenslanguagevlog00:00 Cold Open: Notes, Substack, and a Quick Chinese Check Tease00:33 Intro & Date Stamp: Life as a Canadian Expat (and an Eventful Week)00:53 Automation Progress + The TikTok Ads Dilemma02:44 Turning Podcast Transcripts into Substack Essays (and Why Editing Sucks)05:35 AI as Your Editor: Prompts, Workflow Plans, and Finding Your Voice08:38 Can These Essays Become a Book? Enter Pico Iyer11:16 Old-School Travel Writers vs Modern Newsletter Style16:28 The Reality Check: Travel, Funding, Marketing, and Doing It All Yourself20:44 Coworking Space Chat: Social Media Agency Pricing & Career Paths22:24 How I Got Into Teaching English + Advice for Going Abroad29:06 Expat “Directions” Theory: Asia vs South America vs Europe (and Visas)32:26 Chinese Study Update: HSK Words, Language-Check Videos, and a Niece’s Challenge35:29 Olympics Roundup: Curling Heartbreak & Hockey Drama vs Finland40:16 Wrap-Up: Where to Find the Show + Support Links