Geez, I must confess why I'm upset about the anti trans/gay groups that are only attacking children with their hate. Believe it or not, school can be and should be a safe haven from homophobic and transphobic parents. These goons are only perpetrating hate which seems to be welling up from some of our ignorant neighbours to the south. If you are a child with an abusive home (abusive in all respects) then you need to have a refuge from this hate and should be protected from it without question. Parental rights? I call BS. A very thin disguise of hate, abuse and discrimination masquerading as care and concern. It seems every time these hate groups rear their ugly heads out of the sewer they target the vulnerable and those unable to defend themselves. Cowardice at its worst! Let the children live their lives as they wish. Believe it or not, they can make the right decisions for themselves.

It's been a long time. I wish it hadn't been this long, but time flies. I miss you, Stephen Harper. I didn't know what I had until it was too late. I had to learn the tough way what it means to virtue signal and put the economy completely last for my moral positions.

Not long ago, I had an epiphany that my grandparents', parents', and partially my generation (in the 90s) all lived just hunky dorey without the internet, and actually did real stuff with their/our lives, and not to show off either. Upon remembering this, I immediately deleted all my social media accounts, as well as signed up for calligraphy lessons, took up playing an insturment native to my country of birth, and began reading books galore, in between work that is. And no, I'm far from rich. My mind has finally returned to some sense of normalcy. No longer am I depressed. Nor am I glued to watching clips of utterly shallow people, negative news, vicious comments, and likes. Nor am I trying to label myself and pretend that everyone gives a damn. When I step outside, I actually hear birds, watch sunsets, let myself get soaked by rain, and say hi to random people who appear lonely... I'm not denying that the Internet has connected us and made some aspects of life a wee bit easier, but it's also like this thick green fog blinding and silently killing us. What's worse is that until you step out of the loop, you have no idea you're in the fog. It reminds me of that alien in a tank from Dune who is addicted to "the spice." He/it once started off as human, too. We need to hit re-boot.

I work as a teacher. High school. I am preparing to quit. I loved this job but its worn me down. Sure the admins could be more supportive, yea parents could be less demanding but its the kids. They are becoming worse and worse. They have no respect for adults or anything. They are full of hateful language and basically a bunch of bullies. Before you say it, the girls are as bad if not worse. I swear being a “mean girl” is trending. You should hear how they talk about each other. Its disgusting. The boys are incredibly racist and openly joke about rape and sexual assault. Im so done. I can’t anymore. I feel sorry for future of society. When these kids grow up they will make todays Karens look like angels. Im sorry. I tried I really did. I quit.

I don't mean to sound like a snob but, when you listen to a song from the 80s and 90s, and can proudly say that you lived both decades up close and personal, and the way Vancouver was back then, then even after all these years... they take on a whole other dimension. The concerts, mosh pits, tapes, videos, MS DOS, archades in 7-11s, the distinct street smell of carmelized onions and Players cigarettes, the memories both good and bad, horsing around, prank calls on pay phones, the crude technology that didn't yet run your life, Expo, PNE parades on Hastings, picnics at Second Beach, Duffie's book store... Maybe it's just me but there was a wonderful innocence about it all, even if the drugs and people's woes were just as present then as they are now. Those born after all that sure missed out on one heck of a ride.

But it takes a hell of a lot to impress me these days. I do not care if you have a yacht. I do not care if you travel the world. I do not care if you finished Ironman. That being said, if you’re a firefighter stopping houses and businesses going up in flames, or a grandmother taking care of your grandchild while the parents work, or create music/art/dance/comedy/film/etc. then you are impressive in my books to your service to community and humanity and the next generation. If feeding your ego is your main raison d’etre, you don’t have much purpose in my eyes.

To make ends meet, I’ve stopped going out. Basically, I just buy food now. That’s it. Buy groceries. Work. Buy groceries. Work. I checked out a local new pub that is opening and saw on their menu that Fries are $12. FRIES! Burgers $21. Plus tax plus tip, a basic burger and fries at this pub is close to $45. It used to be fun going out but now it’s fraught with financial consequences for me. I’ve declined social invites. $80 for a few hours at happy hour is not very happy. I miss the hood old days where you could roll in with friends and have a great time without worry. Traveling is the same: hostel private room is $100. Yes I could do the shared dorm but worry about safety and theft. So…. Buying groceries and staying at home for the foreseeable future.

People used to live a life of a magic and lust as they went throughout life. There was always a spiritual possibility. Today, the left just crushes it, and inundates other cultures with its thinking. I notice that they also tell them what to think and how to behave but don't take any of their own medicine. Just putting it out there for feelers. Sure seems like something that's fundamentally wrong.

Is anyone else growing rather… impatient(?), cross(?), while the ruling class of corporations, developers, and politicians reap almost unfathomable wealth at the expense of our ability to barely get by and/or keep a roof over our heads? The thought occurs to me that WE outnumber THEM by at least a thousandfold. We have tremendous amounts of power, if we worked together, instead of letting them divide and conquer us. Christ- in Canada we don’t even have to worry about being arrested and summarily executed if every last one of us didn’t show for work and took to the streets. Seriously. It could be the party of a lifetime. These invisible hands have taken everything from us. Maybe… maybe we take it the fuck back?

Why does it take so long for some people to understand that they need to change and grow? Sometimes a person has to completely lose the one person they thought was a sure thing before they get it. My friend carried on for so long believing that he could just go back whenever he wanted to and start up like the years in between hadn’t happened. I’m watching him fall apart now because he waited too long and now that person has learned to live just fine without him and didn’t tolerate that same behaviour. It’s hard to watch but it’s a lesson he needed to learn.