Sorry for the lack of posting frequency.  Once again, I find myself extremely busy.  Between work and my social schedule I don’t get home until around midnight every night.  Tough life, I know.  This Saturday was an event so amazing that I really felt was something to blog about.  An old friend of mine threw up a party invite on Facebook that caught me off guard.  It turns out this was his going-away party as he is headed from Toronto to Vancouver.  He is part of a group of friends I have from way back in elementary school.  Seriously, I remember being out for recess with this gang!  We somehow stayed close through our teens and even into our 20’s.  We were even groomsmen at one of the guys weddings.  As the years went on, we drifted.  It isn’t like we had a problem with each other - we just seemed to fade.  The phone calls dropped off.  We stopped trying to make plans.  Our own lives just kept us busy.  It’s amazing how life can come around through the strangest of events though.  Late in 2009 we lost one of our friends to an illness.  That was a serious slap to all of us.  Life can happen without any warning.  It’s important to make time.  Last night was just such an opportunity.  A party to celebrate a friend and wish him well in his new adventure!  Walking through the door of the apartment was a shocking experience.  A blast from the past.  Faces that got older but still looked so familiar.  Things got a little emotional as the hugs went around.  I won’t admit that men were crying, that would be a violation of the bro code.  I will say that I noticed some clear, non-alcoholic fluid flowing from some of our eyes.  The best part about the whole night was that we all just picked up right where we left off.  We had a quick little catch up session and then got right back into complaining about our favorite sports teams and making fun of each other.  I couldn’t have designed a more perfect evening.  We all have very different lives and are in very different places.  But once in a while we can have a beer and be exactly the same as when we were young.  We just get to enjoy timeless friendships.  Awesome!

This pic is from about 10 years ago.  George is on the left and is headed to Vancouver.  James is in the red shirt and lives in Brampton.  Big John in back is living in Kitchener with his wife and kid.  Ben is on the right and is no longer with us.  Yours truly is in the middle.  Hopefully I can get some pics from last night and show you all of us in 2010.

I have blogged a lot about the differences between men and women.  Usually I keep the discussion about boobs but every rare once in a while I go a little deeper.  I think women get bad advice when it comes to guys.  The main problem is they usually rely on other women to feed them info.  That’s like the blind leading the blind!  Women can’t tell you how a man thinks.  I read some of the advice given and it makes me cringe.  There is so much subtlety in the way women think and act that we, as men, really have no idea what’s going on.  Women - you operate on some deep levels.  We are impressed.  You have so many layers that it’s amazing you actually want to spend your time with us.  I once actually read a column that suggested a woman ask her man what’s going through his mind when he is gazing dreamily into the distance.  Are you fucking insane!?  Let me tell you what we are thinking: Nothing!  Seriously, we have absolutely nothing going on at this time and we enjoy that.  It’s why we are looking at the wall.  When a woman asks us about our feelings at this time we panic.  CRAP!  What am I supposed to say?  If I tell the truth and admit to thinking about nothing then she won’t believe it and assume I am breaking up with her.  If I come up with something quickly then I wouldn’t have scanned it for any chance it can be related to her weight.  Fuck!  The clock is ticking and she is still waiting for an answer!  Maybe if I jump out off the balcony then it will cause a change in subject.  Hopefully, I proved my point there.  Not all the advice you get about how to deal with men is quality.  If you want to know how a guy would react then just go out and ask a dude.  Although, make sure it is a guy you know.  If you ask some random guy then he will instantly assume you want to have sex with him and he will tell you whatever he thinks is the fastest route to your vagina.  I got the below images from CoolMaterial.  It’s an awesome site geared towards dudes.  These are what women’s magazines would look like if a guy wrote them.  Funny, but very true!

Alright, I know I am extremely late to wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day.  I figure that if you have someone you love then you were probably busy spending time with them, so you really shouldn’t have been checking out my blog.  If you were alone then you probably didn’t want me reminding your lonely ass about the empty life you live.  I spent Valentine’s evening drinking with some friends at a bar downtown Toronto.  Things got a little hazy and I ended up in some persons living room wearing pants that didn’t belong to me.  Weird.  Well, weird for anyone but me.  Sadly, this kind of thing seems to happen fairly often for me!  I spent all of the holiday Monday recovering from the damage I did to my liver.  This week is all about trying to get back into some form of routine.  School is done.  My vacation is over.  It is time to get back to reality.  I recently accepted a job offer with a tech company in Toronto.  I start my job on Monday.  This will be my career until I get on with a fire department in the area.  I am pretty excited about making money again.  I haven’t done that since 2008!  That pretty much gets you up to date on my world.  Here are two Valentine’s Day related funnies that I think you will enjoy.  The first is from FailBlog and features a bunch of wedding proposals that are…well…complete fails!  When asking someone to marry you in front of a large group of people I would think you should make sure beforehand that the answer would be a yes.  After that you get the Valentine’s Day comic from XKCD.  God I love geek humor!  Since I am largely abusive to you, my faithful blog readers, I think today I should be nice.  I actually love you all….except Kevin Gray.  I hate you Kevin.  I hate you with every muscle in my elegant, brown body!

Every dude has dealt with this before.  I can’t even say too much because the comic does it for me.  Just read and enjoy.  Any guy that has been through the same situation, which is probably all of you, will instantly feel it!  This comes to us courtesy of AbstruseGoose.

wow, it really feels strange to write 2010 on the title of this post.  I am sure it will take me a while to get over the habit of ‘09.  My New Years was a relaxing little gathering at a friends place.  That didn’t stop me from knocking back enough beer and bubbly to kill a horse.  At 3am I took a cab to another location and honestly felt like I was traveling through a post-apocalyptic war zone!  Hoards of people were on the street trying desperately to get into the cab.  Twice we had people jump on the hood of the car trying to get the attention of the driver.  We finally avoided all the zombies and I got to my destination.  New Years day was a day of recovery.  I did manage to get in a weight workout and a run.  Well, it was 3/4 of a run.  I walked the last KM because I was out of gas.  The evening was spent with an amazing dinner of butter chicken and naan.  I tried to have a couple pints but threw in the towel after only one.  I am 31 years old dammit.  I need some downtime!  I think the rest of this weekend is going to be very chill.  I am also fairly confident I am coming down with one helluva cold.  I hope everyone out there is enjoying these last few days before we all go back to reality.  Well…not me…I have never been anywhere close to reality.  Here is a comic that, as usual, has nothing to do with anything!

I posted this video before, but I wanted to throw it back up here.  I forgot how awesome it is.  It’s an entire life all done is flashes.  Hopefully you don’t find it too depressing.  Enjoy!

Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl “Will you marry me?”

The girl said, “NO!” And the guy lived happily ever after and went fishing, hunting and played golf a lot and drank beer and farted whenever he wanted.

Oh, it really sucks to follow up a happy moment with something that is sad.  Unfortunately, that is what has happened to me and I feel a need to share.  As some of you know, I used to have a bulldog named Chubbs with an ex-girlfriend.  The relationship between us didn’t work out and sadly I lost all claim to the dog.  I haven’t posted anything about the guy since because I really have no idea what’s going on with him.  It does make me sad because I loved Chubbs more than anything.  I think about him all the time and it breaks my heart.  At the very least I can take comfort in knowing that he is very well loved and taken care of.  My ex loves him completely and will always provide the best for him.  The sad moment today came when someone contacted me thinking that Chubbs was actually their stolen dog named Chubby.  This person originally posted a comment on a YouTube video of Chubbs.  Then they followed up by emailing me a few times claiming that he is their dog.  After a few ranting emails the person finally sent one last apology email.  They realized that it couldn’t have been their dog.  They got worked up thinking that they finally found Chubby.  They apologized for everything they said.  I wont post the emails on here because they are quite personal and I don’t want to be cruel.  Losing a dog is a heart breaking experience.  I can’t even imagine what having a dog stolen would feel like.  My heart goes out to anyone who has had a dog stolen.  I wish you all the luck in finding your beloved pets.  For the last time - here are some pics of Chubbs.  You can see why losing such a beauty can drive you a little crazy!

Being single, I can appreciate how hard it is to meet people some times.  Let’s face it, there is a lot of competition in the city.  It really can come down to that first impression.  That first pick up line you get out might be a “make or break” moment.  It’s just unfortunate we have to be so crafty with our language in order to get some attention.  I long for simpler times.  Here is a quick look back at early man in the process of a pick up.  They really knew how to rock a pick up line!

Anytime I need anything I turn to Craigslist.  An awesome site where you can find pretty much anything from an apartment to a job.  Hell, you can even find dates and hookers!  Today I clicked on the “missed connections” link and was amazingly shocked at what I found.  This section is a combination of sad and awesome.  Sad because it is about all those little moments between two people that never develop.  What could have happened if maybe one person said something?  Maybe it could have lead to something great.  Even though this whole section can be a little depressing, I also find it a bit poetic and romantic.  Here are a couple of the posts I enjoyed:

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Me – Monochrome. All black, skin-tight jeans and t-shirt. Long, straight black hair and pale skin. Dark, dark eyes like oil.
You – Medium build, regular height, Caucasian, brown eyes, brown hair. You were wearing jeans and a black pea coat.
I caught a glimpse of your big brown eyes. You looked like you could use me.

Stop being so damn cute.
with your glasses,
mouth habit
and blue jean jacket.
Hey, I know nothing will/can ever come out of this,
But I’ve noticed the way you look at me…
Stare at me for a reaction…
You should stop that - people notice.
I secretly have the hots for you - and you won’t ever know

In every glance there you were, smirking something fierce. You must know I’m crushing.
I don’t really know who you are, but I want to hold the glimmer from your eyes in my day dreams in hopes that they can float off into forever, secretly embraced and openly reveled in.
You’re going to be my unspoiled joy for as long as I can have you.
Thanks, cute stuff!

This weird unspoken situation between us has been carrying on for some time now.
It has been weeks since the last time I saw you and I still can’t get you out of my head.
I think about you every day and I’m not even sure if you know my name.
I’m lame and you probably think you’re too old for me or something.
I still think you’re awesome and I hope we meet someday under different circumstances.
I want to make you feel amazing.