I always win

I'll love you forever . GM , you suck. You left the brand to grow dusty on the shelf, where it atrophied and ultimately died.

Roth's hometown ( Morrisville PA ) is not in the southern US. The last time I checked, if you're north of the Mason-Dixon line , you're in the north. (The article can be found here .) Whatever. I still cringe when I hear "I Love College" — just as I cringe when I see/hear/ read about Eminem . Despite Roth's claims in ILC ("I love women" and "don't have sex if she's too gone"), the video has a fair share of misogynist imagery . And I've read enough about his other songs to conclude that he has a lot to learn about how to treat women with respect. Oh, and Asher? Putting two condoms on is not * an effective means of protection. * http://www.nyu.edu/shc/promotion/condoms.dental.dams.html http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/1139.html

I went on a spending binge this week: $683.54 on credit. To put things in perspective, I have no income at the moment. My entire severance went into an RRSP back in December. Since my layoff, I've been living on my vacation pay payout, a non-registered mutual fund, income tax refund, and credit. My EI benefits will kick in next month; until then, things are pretty lean. Why, then, am I spending like a drunken sailor in port? I'm a gay man, so shopping is pleasurable. Groceries are a necessary purchase; many items were picked up at sale prices. The "personal care" category was high this week — I needed sunscreen, which isn't cheap. I broke my Ray-Ban Aviators , so I replaced them with a less-expensive house brand. Justifying the rest of it becomes difficult. Could I have waited to buy the new Tori Amos CD? Probably not. But I also bought CDs by Alphabeat and P!nk , and the new Stevie Nicks concert DVD. I washed my car twice — I'm conv...

Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" and who won a Tony Award for the musical "Mame," died Saturday. She was 86. Rest in peace, Bea. My adoration for you will live on.

downtown Seattle from the ferry dock at Bainbridge Island, March 31 1999 On March 30 1999, I flew from Toronto to Seattle to start an exciting chapter of my life: an internship at the head office of the company I worked for. It was a big deal for me. Not only was I hopeful about where the internship might take my career, but I had always been envious of my high school friends who bravely went on student exchanges. Here I was, jetting off to a city I'd never been to before, and living with people I had never met. My company's legal department determined that I didn't need a work visa. Instead, I'd apply for entry under a provision of NAFTA . I had full references and documentation; still, I was nervous clearing U.S. customs at Pearson . Before my car service arrived to take me to the airport, I took an Ativan . I sailed through effortlessly. My Air Canada flight to Sea-Tac will likely remain one of the most pleasurable I've ever taken. Relaxed from the Ativ...

In a graphic display of vulnerability and weakness, I called Stephen on March 10th. In tears. I hadn't heard from him since his expressway breakup phone call , and I lost my shit . He talked me down from my emotional ledge, and we're in occasional contact now. Healthy contact. His perspective: things are parked, but not over. My perspective: I'll probably never forget that he chose career over love . I'm going out on dates with other guys, but it might be too soon. In a rare moment of clarity and focus, I decided on an action plan for returning to school (and ultimately work) — graphic design . I'm working with my Second Career counsellor to get everything in place. With any luck, I'll be starting a 28-week program at a Toronto graphic design school in July. So, despite my unemployed status, my time is taken up with research and prep work.* I'm behind in my blog reading. (Sorry.) * oh, who am I kidding? I'm still addicted to television, In...

I could never remember my Chinese Zodiac sign. A couple of years ago — while engaging in emotional eating at Mandarin ("Gung Hay Fat Choy!") — I looked up my birth year (1970) on the paper placemat. "Neat!" I thought. " Year of the Dog ... I like dogs!" I took the placemat home, clipped out my sign, and put it on my bulletin board. This morning, my friend Penelope sent me a link to a "birthday calculator" website. Just for shits & giggles, I plugged in my d.o.b. SHOCKER! I'm not Year of the Dog after all... I'm Year of the Rooster ! 20 minutes of Internet research confirms that I am, indeed, a cock. I was born in early 1970 — before the switch from Rooster to Dog. I now have to re-evaluate my entire life. All of those failed relationships with Snakes and Dragons ? Bah! Folly. That cool, Aquarian distance I'm sometimes guilty of exhibiting? Replace that Dog trait with the eccentric, loner-ish tendencies of the Roo...

Stephen (the guy I was seeing; the one I so foolishly thought I was going to marry ) ended things this morning. Over the phone. While he was driving to his eighth straight day at work. I've been robbed of the dignity I would've had by ending things first. We've had many problems in our very short time together. From early on, I found it difficult to adjust to his unpredictable and erratic behaviour. On our second date, he said "I already know how I'm going to propose to you." On our third date, he (jokingly) said "I know it's early, but will you marry me?" I laughed it off, but later that evening, I did tell him that I loved him. He responded with "I think I love you too." He had a business trip to the UK after our third date. He called me daily. One evening (while drunk), he said "I do love you, you know that... right?" He was honest from the beginning about his shortcomings: he smoked too much pot, he was terrible...

The guy I'm seeing lent me the first season of Battlestar Galactica (including the four-hour introductory miniseries) on DVD. Last night, I watched the "Six Degrees of Separation" episode, which (according to the DVD) originally aired on February 18, 2005. I'm four years late for the party, but fervently enjoying it. One reason I didn't pay much attention to BSG initially: snobbery. When I surf-landed on it years ago, I picked up on some cheesy Canadian production traits that led me to dismiss it. The series screamed "low budget" to me at the time, due to the prevalence of pegboard in the set construction. Even now that I'm hooked (pardon the pun), the pegboard still makes me cringe. Another minor annoyance: the accents. XO Tigh speaking with an immediately recognizable Canadian accent gives me cognitive dissonance.* No disrespect to Michael Hogan intended; I think he's a fine actor and a total DILF. The same goes for James Callis ...

Good LORD this man is hot (dancing football stud on the left): Sobe - Lizard Lake @ Yahoo! Video Matt Light plays for the New England Patriots . I don't watch football, but I pay attention to the Superbowl ads the next day. I had no idea who Matt Light was until this ad. Damn! He even has his own charitable foundation . HOW HOT IS HE? Jeebus! And he can dance! I wonder if he'll do Dancing with the Stars one day. I am in bear heaven. WHAT. A. MAN !

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission , in an 'effort' to help Canadians avoid unwanted telephone calls from telemarketers, created the National Do Not Call List last year. I am so glad I didn't sign up. Global News is reporting a major flaw with the list: it is ridiculously easy to pretend to be a compliant telemarketer, pay $50, obtain the list, and start bombarding people on the list with calls. What a fucking joke. I've been pissed at the CRTC ever since the early 1980s, when my isolated northwestern Ontario town finally received two extra tv channels from a private company. Granted, the service was outside the law, but when you're a kid and you only get one tv station , you don't care about legality. You're forever scarred because all the cool shows you were watching on WGN Chicago and a major movie network are yanked away from you... and you're back to Three's Company reruns on CBC . Seriously, are monkeys...

A lot has happened in the past month. On December 2, 2008, I suddenly became jobless after my employer of 13.5 years eliminated my position. This is a good thing; I was not at all happy in my job, as indicated by several previous posts on this blog. I'm signed up for Employment Insurance , and registered in a provincial government program called Second Career . I have my first appointment with them in a couple of weeks. It's time to give my career a soft reboot . Or reinstall my career's OS . I travelled a lot in December — trips that were arranged before I got the axe. I was in San Francisco from the 6th to the 11th. I just love it there. The trip was inexpensive, because it was on frequent flyer miles and hotel points. I was in Florida over Christmas, visiting my snowbird parents. They're in central Florida, amid plentiful orange groves, cattle ranches, and surprisingly hilly terrain. The distance from the ocean was more than made up for by the enormous ou...