The loss of a father

The father of a high school friend passed away unexpectedly recently. Today was his funeral. As I followed the service seated next to good friends, a number of memories, thoughts, emotions, and questions came to mind. From what I knew of him and what I know of my friend, I could clearly see where my friend got his knack for making people feel at ease and his generous, sociable manner. Like his dad, though, he's tough in character and was stoic and strong at the wake and service today except for one moment. He delivered a wonderful ending line in his eulogy which went something like this: "In the end, the doctors said it was his heart that failed. From what I know and what we've seen and heard here today, they were clearly wrong." His voice cracked at the end of this line and with it, the hearts of everyone at the service. Even one of the priests on the altar wiped away a tear.

Despite my faith in this life leading to another in Heaven, there is still sadness and sympathy for the regret for things which my friend and his father won't be able to share now. My thoughts and prayers are with you, friend, as the weight of these thoughts sink in over the coming days. Don't be afraid to let us carry them with you.

Pimp my handle

Just for fun, I tried Googling my handle (chub-pronounced choob) to see if the blog would come up. It doesn't (unless it's further along than I tried checking), but some other interesting stuff does:

• a fish
• a US-brewed Scottish Ale (scroll down)
• a band
• a certain community (Which is funny b/c I'm not either. You'll see.)
• last but not least: hype accessories for your MP3 player

Taking a cue from science fiction

Imagine a story set in the future. Picture a groups of scientists in different locations working to find a way to curb the warming of the planet caused by decades of our own ignorance and resistance to change. Envision ideas as wild as fleets of tiny mirrors suspended in orbit above the planet to deflect harmful rays or a veil of sulfurous dust being used to shield the earth from the sun.

Imagine this happening: geoengineering

From Borat to Bwah-aat: a great week

The past week was as event-filled as summer during festivals season in Montreal. It started last weekend with a convergence of work friends from Waterloo, Toronto, and Montreal (my home base) in Kingston. Ten of us took in a matinee showing of the ridiculous Borat, then headed over to the Kingston Brewing Co. for wings, brews, and rounds of trivia questions and Dragon's Breath Pale Ale. We had a great time and once again lamented the fact that we live 600 km apart. I do feel blessed, though, to live in this time: even 50 years ago, it would not have been easy for all of us to get together as we did.

The fun continued this week with Fel's visit to Montreal. She, MN, and I got to hang out and share meals together, see movies (we recommend Kinky Boots as a feelgood movie), get through a hectic work week, and Fel my brother-in-law and I went to the Joe Sullivan Big Band (scroll down) CD launch (clip) on Thurs. night at the laid back Divan Orange on St. Laurent. The band was fantastic and filled the bar with a wall of swingin' sound - BWAAH-AAAT!!

The week ended with a good, group-cooked BBQ meal on Fri. night with MN's beau as barman. Can you end the week on a better note than with good friends, good food, and good martinis? Not this one.

Santé, merci d'être venue, et au prochain Felstival! - Bises, DC.

The other age old question: what's your perception?

A quick Google search puts the nature-nurture argument at 50-50, but sometimes it's difficult to see the line. Consider Person A who goes to a gym, drops a little weight, gets in shape, and in time feels better about themselves. Why do they? Well, there is a physical response to exercise and the release of endorphins which leaves a positive feeling. There is also a change in self-perception and self-esteem, but distinction is more blurred here: does the person feel better because they are physically more fit (yes) or because they are likely perceived to be more attractive to other people (also yes). This change has both internal and external influences and it's difficult to determine the overriding factor: the absence of one would still lead to an improved feeling of well being. What about more subtle factors, like one's voice, height, coordination or state of health? People can be quick to judge someone else by these factors and others which do or don't appeal to them. We know that. But how do these things shape someone, shape you? Would you act differently if you had straight hair and were four inchers taller? If you were 4'10"? Just as one guitar is unlike another and can make you want to play a country lick if it twangs or a jazzy chord if it sounds mellow, I would guess a body would shape a personality, both in how someone responds to their instrument and how others react to it. Whatever kind of instrument you've been given, part of life is figuring how to make it rock.

An age old question: what's your reception?

One interesting aspect of trying online dating is see how different sites go about the process. Some have long, detailed surveys to fill out, some are quick to set up but difficult to filter people well (which means that time saved filling out a profile is later spent browing ads that are too generic), etc. One that I've tried has an interesting feature which lets you see who's browsed your ad. This is great in some ways as it let's you target emails or notes to people who may already have some interest in you. For me, it's confirmed something I've already known: I'm apparently the wrong age.

About 40% of the women who browse my profile are older than I am by up to four years. I'm not superhot or ultrahip by any standards, but simply find that I get along better with people younger than I am. I think it's natural, therefore, that I'm attracted to people with whom I seem to click better. I had thought this would somehow come across in the profiles I've posted, but perhaps not. This notion leads to another interesting question, however: how do our physical selves shape our personalities?

Songs to wear pants to

Somewhere an English teacher just cringed at the subject line ending in a preposition, but there's good reason: it's the title of an unusual site someone pointed out to me: www.songstowearpantsto.com. The author takes requests for songs on any subject and then writes and posts the ditty. Someone's cousin likes the words muffin and puffin, among others, and asked that it be done in Beatles style. OK.