My Favourite Blog Entries

Last updated April 3, 2007.

Favourite Entries for 2006

Belfast Travel Diary

A couple of funny things happened to me on the way to Belfast...

The Dangers of "World of Warcraft"

Seriously, kids, stay away from this game.

Remembering Dad

An elegy for my father, who passed away in February 2006.

Favourite Entries for 2005

Archie Goes Goth

An actual Archie comic in which Betty decides to go "goth" after being ignored by her friends. Surprisingly, it doesn't portray goths as devil-worshipping Columbine-esque killers, but just kids who like their coffee, Rice Krispies squares, block clothes and "totally dismal and excellent" music. Still, when a subculture becomes fodder for Archie, it's time to declare it "over".

Pop Quiz, Hotshot...

In the wake of all the tut-tutting over how ill-prepared both government and citizenry were for Katrina, I came up with a list of questions that ask if you're ready for life's emergencies, both big and small. My father-in-law was so impressed by this entry, he made mention of it during his speech at my wedding.

At Last, My Blog Lands Me in Hot Water!

In response to an entry titled Anyone know any good Toronto movers?, one commenter recommended that I avoid Quick Boys Moving. Quick Boys saw this post and made a threatening phone call to me, demanding that I take down the post. Here's what happened.

When Craigslist Beat the Toronto Star Classifieds

When my UK-based landlord asked me to help him find a new tenant for my old place, I placed ads in both Craiglist (for free) and the Toronto Star classifieds (for CDN$520.66 for a week). The ad in the Star got 55 responses, while the Craigslist ad got 85 responses when I stopped counting. Good reading if you're looking for tenants in the Toronto area.

Movin' Out

After 6 years in a gorgeous house in the very hip and central Queen and Spadina area of Toronto, it was time to move out (I was getting married in a couple of months). This is my ode to my former abode.

One Letter Can Make a Big Difference

In which our hero helps a couple of young street musicians with some Indigo Girls lyrics.

Relics

While packing up for a move, I found all kinds of things in the storage room in the basement, including mementoes from past girlfriends and uhm...shall we call them "dalliances"?

Favourite Entries for 2004

The Breakup Style of PowerPoint

Edward Tufte argues that PowerPoint has degraded the way we communicate in business meetings. I suggest that this degradation in communication has spilled over into romance.

Almost 30 Years Later, And I Still Don't Belong

When an article in Enter Stage Right suggests that Canadian soliders from the wars of old (the Boer War, the two World Wars, Korea) fought for white English and French Canadians (and hey, maybe not the French eaither) and not the multi-coloured new Canadians who came in the '60's and later, I counter by explaining just how Canadian I am. I posted a "My Canada Includes Accordion Guy" banner, which appeared on a number of supportive blogs.

Favourite Entries for 2003

Worst Date Ever

She was a pretty blonde waitress with an English accent who worked at the cafe I frequented. I had a crush on her from the first moment I laid eyes on her, and it turns out that she had a thing for me, too. Unfortunately, that's one of the few things that went right during the relationship. This funny story contains scenes with adult situations, violence, strong language and ABBA.

The New Girl Story

This is the blog entry that got me nominated for a bloggie and landed me a chapter in the book Never Threaten to Eat Your Co-Workers: Best of Blogs.

The short version: I gush about my new girlfriend in a blog entry, someone reads that entry and sends me an email warning me that the girlfriend is not whom she says she is. Creepiness ensues.

Last Night

In a single night, I face romantic disappointment, thwart a pickpocket, endure bad poetry, entertain a crowd, aid and abet underage drinking, come between a small-town girl and two Gap ninjas, entertain another crowd and get complimented on my hat.

Favourite Entries for 2002

The Best Christmas Present Ever

Christmas meets crablice (no, not mine!). A heart- and crotch-warming story of the true meaning of Christmas that's not likely to be turned into a television special anytime soon.

Adventures in Banking

You wouldn't believe the bureaucratic gymnastics I had to go through back when my housemate gave me rent cheques drawn from an American bank.

Not-So-Smart Mobs

Conversations and observations from the 2002 Reclaim the Streets party in Toronto. Their hearts are in the right place, but their heads might need a little work.

The World Youth Day Piece

I take the "unpopular" side in the debate over World Youth Day.

The accidental go-go dancer

The last thing I expected was to end up being hired as a go-go dancer for a downtown club. That accordion gets me into some odd situations, I tell you.

Now it can be told

I went on the date, brought the accordion, got a job.

The Star Spangled Banner and Anal Sovereignty

The accordion saves my ass from US Customs...literally.

That Syd, what a mensch!

He's been our family's accountant for over twenty years because he's not afraid to get into shouting matching with Revenue Canada or suggest roughing up my deadbeat housemate.

Stagette

The last thing I expected to do at a hacker conference in San Francisco was to end up joining a bunch of girls in a limo on a stagette.

Konichiwa, 2002!

In which I recount what happened to me on fourteen New Year's Eves, in reverse order, from 2002 to 1988.

Favourite Entries for 2001

Breach of Security

Back in August, a new neighbour came to our house and asked to borrow some money for a tow truck. He turned out not to be a neighbour, but a con man who'd rooked me and my housemate Dan out of forty bucks each. Months later, in what seems to have been a mistake, he visited our house again. Dan failed the "fool me one, shame on you; fool me twice shame on me" test.

This is the first entry of mine that was showcased on Boing Boing.