I can hear you now!

WOOHOO, I can hear you now!!! Spending 10 days in the land of the semi hearing is not an enjoyable feeling whatsoever. You see, I've got a mild hearing loss and wear hearing aids to help to get it to full power. Some people confuse having a hearing loss with being deaf. To explain it to children, I say that just like how some people wear glasses, some people wear hearing aids to help them hear better.

The major difference between glasses and hearing aids would be the insane cost for them. Ontario government will pitch in 500/aid every 3 years and your employee might be nice enough to chip in some too. Mine are probably about 5 years old and slowly dying. I had to get them in prior to the warranty running out or else I'd have to buy a new pair sooner than later and be a bit more broke.

Being one hearing aid short was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. For years, I only used one. The last 2 years, I've been using 2 and became quite comfortable with that. Spending 10 days without one, meeting new people, working, etc was not so much fun at all. It was a gentle reminder that I do have a disability and could face a potential future of struggling with it daily. On days when one feels invincible, it was a reminder that one is not.

My other one needs to go in too, but I've got a series of presentations coming up. Hard to be semi deaf when you're presenting to a room of 200 people. Well I could do it, it'd be one damn huge struggle. Two years ago, I went two weeks with nothing and pretty much just faked my way through the experience.

So if you've had the (dis)pleasure of hanging out with me over the last couple of weeks and I seemed a bit off, now you know why. For this week, I can hear you now. Next week, it'll be another week of just smiling and nodding along. :)

Roomies or No Roomies

After 5 months of living alone, I've reached that question that we all come to at some point: Do I want a roomie?

When I moved out, I was leaving my 'rents, where I had been living for almost 14 months. I had done it to save money to buy my own place. I broke up w/ my ex, realized I couldn't afford to own solo, and was going nuts by the 'rents.

To solve this dilemma, I moved out. First, I put to the universe exactly what I wanted. Three bedrooms, 1 for sleep, 2 for yoga, 3 for office. I wanted it close to work and close to downtown. I wanted it to be in a quiet space with no dogs barking. I wanted it for cheap!

Universe delivered, I love Universe and all is well. One of my best girlies then started talking about needing a place and I started thinking...maybe I could deal with a roomie.

Pros and Cons to Roomie-life!

Pros: Companionship
Cons: Can't be naked 24/7
Pros: Roomie can help to keep place tidy
Cons: Can't keep bringing over randoms twice daily
Pros: Monthly expenses sliced in half
Cons: Roomie could be annoying, stupid, ugly, have ugly random encounters, not do dishes, have a loud barky dog, and talk incessantly about rocks.

And you know, the list goes on and such.

So what'd you think? Live a life in solitude or get a roomie? What's your experience with roomies? Would you wanna be my roomie? :P

Naughty Times!

There are quite a few great sites that help me pass through my naughty times!!! But none as great as my recent discovery of cam4.com.

Many many many years ago back when IRC was around, one of my favourite rooms was #teencams and #gayteencams. With the magic of net meeting and an ip address, you could instantly connect with one person and sometimes even a couple. I recall connecting once with a porn star who's videos I had seen and thinking how awesome this device was.

Throughout the years, things have advanced and now you can cam through msn, yahoo, skype, and even ichat.

I've seen many cam sites before; however, usually they want you to pay to view/chat or the shows are quite drab.

Not with cam4.com!!! Literally, you can see just about anything that you would like. This morning, I've seen a girl fuck herself with a vibrator. I've seen 2 guys barebacking. I've seen many a boys jerking and way too many just teasing. A few overweight str8 couples doing it and even a cpl of 3somes. If variety is what you want, it's what you'll get.

The only downside to the site is that you can only view one cam at a time and you never know what you'll miss by switching to another cam. If you need an early morning release and only got 10 minutes, I suggest sticking with your regular porn or else risk being late. Which may or may not be worth it. :)

What sites do you enjoy for your naughty times?

Uncle Jim's Family

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Today, we had a graveside memorial service for my Uncle Jim, Aunty Helen and their daughter Virginia. I wrote this poem for them and read it out to the gathered friends and family. We were all invited to speak. It was a lovely service and the reception, afterwards, was very enjoyable. It was a great chance to see everyone. Jim and Helen's 2 week old great grandchildren (twins) were brought in towards the end of the reception.

UNCLE JIM’S FAMILY

By Philip Cairns

Copyright 2009 by Philip Cairns

Helen was always so kind to me, as a child.

I forever enjoyed going over to Uncle Jim and Aunty Helen’s house.

Lots of activity and fun,

With good vibrations emanating from the walls.

Virginia said the funniest things.

I think of pink and dark yellow, when I think of that place.

I recall the antique front parlour furniture that no one ever sat in

And the rough and ready feeling in the basement.

Later in life, Ginny Ann was very generous and lovingly organized family get-togethers.

Now we all only see each other at birthdays or funerals.

May the Goddess bless you Uncle Jim, Aunty Helen and Virginia.

And I was blessed to have them in my life yet I didn’t even know it,

When I was young.

I think of Ginny’s straw-coloured hair.

The weight she put on, later in life.

Jim always seemed to be wheeling and dealing.

A born salesman.

Always the upbeat personality and almost swagger.

Aunty Helen and her nervous breakdown.

Her liberation through taking part time jobs

Just to get her out of the house.

She loved it.

I will miss them.

The quirky, gurgle of a laugh coming out of Virginia’s throat.

We all had big families and there was always someone to play with close to your own age.

Much laughter, tears, loving and drama at Uncle Jim’s house.

Sports on TV in the rec-room.

Secrets to tell the cousins.

A great place to visit.

Helen and Jim had a good marriage.

Virginia lived a fruitful life.

She always had the most beautiful homes.

A smiling face to greet the guests.

I wish all three of them great peace, joy and serenity in the Afterlife.

Thank you for gracing our lives.

Mine was certainly richer because I was your nephew and cousin.

Away to the light blue sky, far, far up out of sight.

Spread your wings and fly away to happiness.

Let the angels sing a soaring, rapturous song.

Goodbye.

I will never forget you three.

I think they would want us not to grieve too wisely.

We’ll see them, again, someday soon.

Who does it best?

One of the cool things about music is watching other artists cover one another. Some make it their own, others do a carbon copy, and some just butcher it to death.

I was listening to a mix cd that a friend had made for a road trip and was happy to listen to 'Crimson & Clover' sung by Dolly Parton. I've recently been playing Prince's cover of the same song on repeat. I took it to youtube to discover who else has laid their hands on this song.

There's Dolly's country-fied rendition:



Here's Prince's version that I find very chilled and funkified




I found one by Joan Jett and it's apparently one of her first videos:



The original was by Tommy James and The Shondelles



Four different artists, but essentially the song is kept true to its essence.

Who does it best???

Frosted Flakes = Good. Social Flakes = Bad!

"Your people call my people"
"We'll do lunch"
"Let's be friends and truly mean it"

These are catch phrases that we all know are ones that are wrapped in falsehood.
You don't assume when your friend tells you...

"No no. I will follow through on my word. Trust me."

...that it too will also be a lie.
But I guess everyone has friends like that...the social flakers. Is there a limit that one can take before you take off the "nice guy" gloves and say I'm done?
I say YES...yes there is.
Mine was hit the other week and with no apologies the flaker wants to pretend nothing's happened. Why not just tell me the truth and say "I can't follow through on anything I say" to which I'd be like "sweet. Let's do lunch sometime then."
Am I being too cold by not socializing with the flaker and waiting for an apology?
Comments? Concerns? I'm all ears.

I need plastic!!!

I've been a good boy and bought the Loblaws cloth bags. In fact, I think I've bought at least 10-15 of them. I've left them at my 'rents, I've left them w/ ex's and some ppl still have them and haven't returned them (looking at u, Jason :P).

I don't mind that many a times, I have to take the elevator all the way back up, when I leave the house without them.

I do mind that now I am sitting in my condo without the ability to throw out any garbage. I have no plastic bags. I rarely shop, so while some may have a wal-mart bag or a winner's bag or a sears' bag (or insert wherever u shop), I have absolutely no plastic bags here. Just garbage sitting on my counter, piling up, which is gross!

How does one solve this dilemma?? Well I believe you can buy garbage bags in mini size, but that just seems silly. I could go and buy stuff from a store and then keep the bag, but return the stuff. That seems like a waste of my time. Actually, I thought about raiding my parents' cupboard for some and walking out w/ them incognito.

Any suggestions? Anybody share my frustration?