This is making me really uncomfortable…my former spouse and I had a fairly amicable divorce, and both of us moved on with new partners. We share children and as a result we occasionally find ourselves in the same place during special celebrations for birthdays, etc. The thing is that I’ve caught them staring at me several times, almost oblivious to the fact that their new partner is right there and it’s in full view of everyone else. It’s almost like they don’t know they’re doing it or something, and they’ll stare for an extended period of time, like much longer than just a glance. There’s no real expression on their face, just this intense stare. It’s weird because we’ve been apart for about 10 years already and when we split up it was a mutual agreement. I feel like if I say something they’ll just deny it or I’ll be accused of imagining it (a lot of that behaviour during our marriage), but I know what I’ve seen and it’s really weirding me out. My own partner hasn’t mentioned anything so I don’t know if they just haven’t noticed, and I’m not going to say anything about it to them because I don’t want to start anything. I just don’t understand why they’re doing it.

Years after online movements, and a bazillion posters on my post secondary referring to positive spaces and feminism have done jack shit. Even white knighting/faux feminists have learned it takes less effort to pretend you're a progressive male than actually being one.

Watching old reruns of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I couldn’t decide whether I liked the red ranger or the green ranger. They were both some of the coolest superheroes I grew up with. Zoran was this year big weird assed giant floating head. The series could be so hokey yet so funny I loved it.

Full disclosure, I’ve been guilty of doing this myself before I saw the error of my ways. But when it happens now I see the motive behind it so clearly. When you don’t know all the circumstances of someone else’s life or especially, their medical situation, you’re not in any position to judge what they can or cannot do. Telling me about someone else that you think has the same medical condition as I do but is capable of doing “so much more” is just cruel. If you think it’s going to inspire the person you’re speaking to, think again. It’s not. It’s going to make them even more convinced that you have no idea of what they’re dealing with. No two people are alike. Especially when it comes to medical situations. Unless they have exactly the same physiological makeup and medical history, they are NOT the same. Even if they have the same diagnosis, they don’t share the same body! Please stop doing this to people, even if you think you’re being helpful or especially if you’re trying to do the “tough love” approach. What people who are trying to cope with difficult medical issues need the most is compassion and empathy, not judgment and condescension. Take your own ego out of the equation and stop assuming that you have all the answers.

I confess that the biggest reason that I’ve lost respect for partners in my past is entirely due to courage. If they showed it, to be precise. So many of them believed that all they had to do was be physically strong or have money and that was enough to earn my respect. But all of them failed when it came to the courage it takes to be real. To be vulnerable and honest about your feelings and who you truly are. All the rest of it means nothing if you can’t do that. So I don’t care if you can lift the biggest log in the forest if you don’t have the courage to be real.

I have this friend who was never religious and believed in freedom of choice for women. Over the past several years she’s changed because her son and daughter in law apparently became evangelicals and when their daughter got pregnant really young she had to get married, and now she’s got 3 kids and she’s not even 21. I can’t pretend to be happy for them, I just can’t. This kid doesn’t even have a fully grown frontal cortex yet so she has no idea of the impact on her this will have. I can’t celebrate babies raising babies. Of course the kids are cute and yes people can choose what they want to believe, but this kid has been completely indoctrinated so in reality this couldn’t have been an informed decision.

I find that all this negative energy I've had is getting too much. It's alienated me from family members, coworkers and even a few friends. From here on out, I'm going to re-evaluate myself and step back, not make a huge mountain out of a mole. I think it's about time I start working towards a more positive mindset. I need to see the glass half full. Negative is not only mentally and emotionally exhausting, but physically. It's literally draining and can really suck the life out of you.

The most prevalent theme for me this past year: Love or Death. But death seems to be winning out for it's realistic and appealing quality. I don't see it as negative. The prospect of finding, acquiring, keeping, and nurturing love not just for another person but also myself? Daunting. 0+

It starts out very typically, but ends a bit oddly. Like many folks, I'll step out of the shower and towel myself dry, but before I start blow-drying my hair, I'll turn off the bathroom lights so that I can dry my hair in complete darkness. I think this started as a way to save on my hydro bill and turned into therapy of a sort. There's something about the combination of the white noise from the hair dryer, warm air on the skin and hair, and the darkness that is very soothing. You do need to have good spatial awareness and coordination, so I don't recommend to all. It's not entirely without risk of injury. You can't see what you're doing in the dark and could potentially wack yourself in the head with the hairdryer.

I was scrolling through my camera roll of an old phone from 5 years ago and I found a photo I had taken of someone's dildo that had been dropped on the bus. I've since transferred the photo to more permanent storage. People would never believe the things I find on transit.