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  • A Quick One For Right Now: AA Wrapped Up

    A Quick One For Right Now: AA Wrapped Up

    Please enjoy my extremely professional, surreptitiously-taken photo of this stunning embodiment of Generation Zed.  Even during the sloppy early 90s when we were all draped in baggy, layered, grunge-inspired Value Village gear, this whole look would have been very worthy of the timeless Point-And-Laugh. I can’t write at length here since things have been somewhat…

  • Further Grand Misconceptions of Alcoholics Anonymous (second verse)

    Further Grand Misconceptions of Alcoholics Anonymous (second verse)

    As a modest tribute to one of the most intriguing filmmakers of the last few decades who would have turned 78 today–with a terrific blast of thick hair that even I envied, and an odd Midwestern sexiness that will always give me thigh cramps–I want to share one of my favourite quotes from David Lynch:…

  • The Grand Misconceptions of Alcoholics Anonymous

    The Grand Misconceptions of Alcoholics Anonymous

    Happy New Year!   (Obligatory Justin Trudeau grumblings ahead…I must get them out of the way) 2025 sure has gotten out of the gate with an attention-seeking ruckus.  Apart from horrible plane crashes and terrifying natural disasters, the nelly little prisspot we call a Prime Minister has finally decided to step down as leader of Canada’s…

  • To a Beauteous 2025!

    To a Beauteous 2025!

    …and I’ve already begun the process with a Korean clay mask. Also, I’m not sure what filters on my Samsung phone have made all of my beleaguered recent selfies appear somewhat convex, resulting in an alarming egghead and as though I have a hairline like Queen Elizabeth 1; but no matter how much I fiddle…

  • When you keep forgetting you’re almost 50…it means you’re almost 50.

    When you keep forgetting you’re almost 50…it means you’re almost 50.

    That, friends, is a picture from nearly 13 years ago.  I was in the best shape of my life, having worked very hard on sobriety and my physical / mental health for an entire year, and wanted to photo document the outcome with the help of a friend in Victoria who was also an aspiring…

  • The Bastardly Broth of the West End

    The Bastardly Broth of the West End

    I don’t ask for much in this world.   I really don’t.  I’m accustomed to living on very little money, so pricey material possessions have never factored into my life.  I’ve known how it feels to completely bottom out on alcohol abuse–right down to having the shakes so badly, I rummage through my bag of empties…

  • My First MRA.

    My First MRA.

    No, not Magnetic Resonance Angiography. I’ve actually had an MRI, done a few years ago when I collapsed in my bathroom and thought I may have sustained a concussion. It was a pretty uneventful experience, if not entirely peaceful. I’m talking about a Men’s Rights Activist. I know they’re out there. It’s well-known that they’re…

  • THE FINALE: Tap-tap-tapping on heaven’s floor (I finish what I start, I really do)

    THE FINALE: Tap-tap-tapping on heaven’s floor (I finish what I start, I really do)

    My second year of being in tap lessons. There we were. The “Tap” promotional campaign that involved–oddly enough–tap, and I had made it to the Saturday finals. My rivals were many; their talents were intimidating. I had only been slapping my shoes against hardwood for three years; they had been doing this since they were…

  • The Great Grime of Granville Strip [UPDATED ONE DAY LATER…]

    The Great Grime of Granville Strip [UPDATED ONE DAY LATER…]

    I’ve been immersing myself in all sorts of things Vancouver-related, largely because I’m stuck here.  I know, I know: there are worse places to be stuck, and no matter the myriad challenges that life can throw at you (my second cousin, a Saskatchewan boy and therefore one of the most down-to-earth people I know, listened…

  • The Ongoing Ennui of Davie Village.

    The Ongoing Ennui of Davie Village.

    The West End of Vancouver isn’t huge at all.  It’s a neighbourhood consisting of a handful of blocks in a grid, the furthest area west of downtown you can go, mere steps from English Bay and Stanley Park.  It is not to be confused with West Vancouver or the West Side of Vancouver, which I…