hope it stays solid, & well, & the very best of luck to you.
But,
as you brought it up, and as it remains one o' my very favorites . . .

He was . . . deeply, and painfully flawed, rather brilliant, depressed, loving, aloof, selfish and self absorbed yet incredibly generous and helpful.
He was a shitty person, many times.
He was a good father, most times. And he always tried.
He was a living, breathing contradiction.
In short, he was human.

Thank you, though, for asking.
I've been wrestling with these thoughts, and how to truly describe him, and my feelings for him, all day.

A couple of years ago Canada got it's 'Romney' Federal Government. (Partly because there was nothing coming close to a Obama-esque alternative). The HarperGovernment had a huge unforseen ally: The Poor.

Many saw the upswing in the Canuck Democrat party as a huge policy shift only to be left scratching their heads at the sweeping majority the Cons got in Parliament. A few years on now, enough Poly-Sci students have looked at the numbers and their meanings and blogged about it.

So in a post 2009-crash world the traditional thinking said with the high unemployment rate, The Poor would vote socialist. But they didn't and some of the theories postulated in Canuckistan were...

"People in low-income neighborhoods are the biggest victims of the drug dealers and violent young offenders Harper was promising to lock up. They want relief from the violence they cant escape. They want to rid their communities of the gangs that lure their children into gun-and-gang culture. Crime crackdowns make sense to them."

Pride. Most anti-poverty activists... are not poor. Those who are poor don't have time to fight poverty. They are too busy trying to survive it. So, when the educated middle class come calling with plans to make their lives better, well... they might as well be asking them if they have Heard The Good News.

Low-income voters who have to work dead end jobs resent middle-class (or upper-class) politicians who collect salaries far beyond what they can hope for often find solace in the thought of fewer politicians in the world with a smaller government. Philosophically it appeals to low income workers, more so than the thought of a tax cut (which usually never comes anyways).

The conservative leanings of the lower class have always confused me. I used to just blame that on religion but it really is more than that. The wife is an avid NPR listener and a few months back she heard a story about how the average family of four making $60,000 dollars a year has less disposable income than the average family of the same size that has tapped into all the available welfare programs ie food stamps, housing assistance, free lunch at school etc. As close to home as that hit to me (since we are a family of four making around 60,000 a year) I do not begrudge welfare recipients their "lavish" life style. As far as I'm concerned I would rather be doing my job than have to stand in all the lines and deal with all the government employees to have to go through to get that assistance which is essentially a job unto itself. Part of our problem is that we are jaded as a country and we hate to see anyone getting a "free ride" especially those of us that work our asses off just to be broke. Another problem is the American Dream which is that everyone has the ability to bring themselves up out of poverty and be a millionaire and god forbid if we make it to rich the government is going to take our money and give it to the poor. It is not a very humanitarian outlook but it is a pretty common one I have found. Greed and ignorance will prevail sometimes I suppose.

not questioning your motives at all just intrigued at the thought of the arm pit controlling reproduction in some way. I hope you achieve 100% satisfaction.

High five!

Congrats!

Hell yeah, good for you.

fingers crossed on the medical stuff;
I've had a couple people close to me go through some rather scary issues recently. Stay diligent!
&
don't worry about the house.
I'm way "adult,"
and haven't properly maintained mine for the past twelve years.

good luck with the doctor things. don't be scared of owning your house, it is definitely a good thing.

uhm . . . I was gonna say that you have a long way to go before reaching "geezer" status,
but
then you had to go and buy an antique.
I'm surprised someone your age even knows what a typewriter is

yesterday my daughter was laughing at a girl on tv using a typewriter. "Why is she using that thing? Where is her computer?" I said this particular episode of Full House is from a time when everyone didn't have a computer at their house. She was appalled. Enjoy 23, you are far from a geezer though I suspect you are an old soul.

happy birthday!!!

hope it's a great one!

always wondered why people insist that to be "normal" or "healthy" you need to be happy. feelings are there, period....so wish the "experts" would accept this.

and good news on the streak....its always a good thing to see what kind of record you can set.

Good job ceasing your cutting, self destructive compulsion can be hard to resist. You are still and always one of my favorite people on SG.

Can't complain...much.

That cake was a raspberry almond cake and in the middle was a layer of custard.

ha, and no one knows that better the xbradx

Sounds tasty.

p.s. - You're cute