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Politically incorrect

I confess that in this day and age of hyper political correctness and woke, I frequently find myself watching comedy from the 80s, 70s, 60s, and prior before people got all this sensitive. Mel Brook's "Blazing Saddles," All In the Family, Foster Brooks, George Carlin, Victor Borge, Carol Burnett, Carol Channing, Dean Martin's roast nights, Dame Edna, Sir Les Patterson, Red Skelton... I was raised by that generation and dearly miss how witty, authentic, and creative their English was, and how they knew how to make fun of themselves, and have those they were mocking bust a gut with them. The same goes for reading old comic stips like Mutt & Jeff and the Far Side. For those who didn't grow up around that and folks like them, it's hard to get or may come across as crude. Few knew any different. They were hard times too for most. People were poor as a church mouse. Laughter was the only way to deal with the crap. But you'd howl so hard you'd piss yourself. Today, society makes you feel guilty for finding anything funny at all.

Enough already

Some of you people need to STFU up about Donald Trump. We’re NOT American. Why don’t you start paying more attention to what’s going on in your own community? There’s real issues to worry about. Get a life.

Age of Grey

I got Covid when it first started to pop up and it hit me pretty hard. One of the many side effects was that it caused a very noticeable increase in grey hair. Since then I now get called old, "Sir", grandpa, etc., and am treated quite differently at work, in my social life, and by the opposite sex. Mostly in a derogatory way. It's been an eye opener. I now look at older people in a different way and feel more compassion towards them. Ageism is real of course and stressful like any other form of discrimination. It's one of the last forms of socially accepted prejudice. It's blatant and in your face with no repercussions. It took contracting a virus for me to realize this.

People who don't use head phones are sad...

Every time I'm on the bus & I hear multiple people cranking the volume up on their devices, I don't get mad, I just think you're all sad. When I hear a group of people blasting their blue tooth speakers at the northern end of the Lynn Valley trail, ruining the serene beauty, peace & quite that the rest of us seek in nature, I don't become envious of their high-tech toys that just end up in a dump in two years. I just think to myself: how incredibly sad. I think you all sad. I'm not jealous, not envious, not mad, not angry. No. I just feel sorry for you all. I feel sorry for you because your parents obviously did a very poor job of raising you. I feel sorry for you because you will never know what it's like to switch your disposable toys off, to put them away, & to get to know your fellow human beings while riding transit. It's also particularly sad to think that none of you will ever know what it's like to sit in nature, by yourselves, without any noise to distract you, & to simply enjoy existing. Truly, truly sad.

We are all Ukrainian in the fight for democracy

The real and/or perceived decline in support for Ukraine is dangerous and potentially devastating. The impact on democracy goes beyond Ukraine and Europe. Supporting Ukrainians here and in Europe is the best investment we could make to oppose a ruthless dictator who is hell bent on bringing chaos, death and destruction to the civilized world. Fascism is waging a war against our will to resist it just as it wages a war on the people of Ukraine. Just as thousands of Ukrainians are murdered in arial bombardment, our consciousness (and conscience) is also targeted. We all know or should know that Russia's war of aggression includes much more than mass murder of innocent civilians in its illegal invasion. It includes war crimes: systemic rape, torture, the mass abduction of children. It's been said that "the only thing for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." In America, the inaction in Congress to unlock Ukraine aid is directly linked to current territorial losses and a dire future for Ukraine. The apparent funding blockade by a Trump aligned House speaker seems poised to sacrifice Ukraine just to deny President Biden a military/political victory. In Canada, we also see partisan politics against the interests of Ukraine with divisions about either lack of support or the nature of it and these are amplified by party faithful. Others work to undermine support with fatalism or misguided cost benefit analysis, apathy, and antagonism. Ukraine is the perfect place for the western world to take a stand for life, liberty, democracy and justice. These are the values that Canadians have always fought for whether against Nazis and Fascists of World War 2 or the authoritarian regimes of the cold war. Don't we have a responsibility to assist on a most basic human level if nothing else not just for the Ukrainian or European future but for ours! Isolation is the politics of abandonment. Abandonment has only two conclusions. It either ends when all is lost or when we decide to "abandon the abandonment." I confess that I do not know who what is the precise cause of our current domestic isolationism. However, I am very certain that Ukrainians need and deserve support. On a humanitarian level, in a struggle that is as close to good versus evil that we may ever witness: we are all Ukrainians now whether we know it or not.

Proud

One of the most interesting parts of being a parent is watching your children grow. This doesn’t change as they become adults and parents themselves either. I love watching the way they mature and learn and change. It’s also taught me to be more forgiving of myself as I watch them make some of the same mistakes that I did when I was younger. Now I understand that I was just fumbling along trying to do my best just like everyone else. I’m so proud of the humans I made because each one of them are truly kind and thoughtful people, and to me that’s what really matters in life. How we treat others is how we will be remembered. I hope they will remember me fondly.

Cruel

To pretend to love someone to spare there feelings only makes it worse. Be honest about how you feel. Don't lie,pretend ,or sleep with them. Because in the end you only destroy them completely. And that is cruel. It's confusing and it's honestly f**king evil.

My grandma passed

and does not want her ashes to be in Europe with her husband’s. They were married for over 50 years and he set up a tomb for them in Hungary and everything, but she decided she just wants hers in the ocean with her son here in Vancouver. Imagine staying married to someone for that long and then not wanting to be buried with them. Kind of makes me glad I’m single!!

It won’t change

All my life, I’ve been a lonely person. Even when I’m in the company of some people, whether inside a conference, workshop, gathering or party, I’m always lonely. You could put me in a room full of 10, 20, 30 or maybe even 150 people and I’ll still feel lonely.

I SAW YOU

Happy Day Cafe on Kingsway

You were sitting by yourself & you ordered a few Curry Fish Balls and a few deep-fried Spring...