If you are talking to somebody who is looking around the entire conversation, they are probably eager to escape that conversation. Girls who are interested in you, act interested in you. Status exists in every social circle. There are “cool” nerds, and there are “loser” jocks. We create our own hierarchies. Sometimes, it’s way funnier…
Ten things I’ve learned from wearing contact lenses
Poking your eye gets less gross over time…but it’s still always a bit gross. At some point in time, there was a revolution in the contact lens solution world, and the tyranny of rubbing was overthrown. Since then, it is heresy to even think of rubbing your lenses. The king is dead, long live the…
Ten things I've learned from my mom (repost)
In honour of Mother’s Day: http://wp.me/p1dBHZ-2q Thanks mom!
Ten things I've learned from watching Nigerian (Nollywood) movies
Note: Nollywood is the second-largest film industry in the world. Bigger than Hollywood (at least in terms of volume of movies, if not gross revenue). Movie titles are great places to give potential viewers a heads up on what they are about to see. If the movie is about love, for instance, how about “Feelings”,…
Ten things I’ve learned from taking showers
I used to hate showering when I was young. I think it’s because my parents used to run the shower at a really high temperature when I was sick, and force me to sit in the bathroom and breathe in the steam. Showering with another person is like being in a clown car. Somehow it…
Ten things I've learned from the 2011 Canadian election
Note: my very smart friend Sean challenges me in the comments below, and makes some excellent points. Toronto’s last municipal election where we elected Rob Ford is an excellent example of the cult of personality and the power of the suburban vote. Thanks Sean. Canada has become a polarized nation, like never before. I feel…
Ten things I've learned from being broken up with at the end of high school
Adolescence is generally solipsistic and hyperbolic. Being broken up with, then, feels like the worst thing in the world, and everybody cares about it. It’s not, and they don’t. I know of people who dated in high school, got married, and are living happily ever after. Had I done so, I would have forfeited over…
Guestpost #52: Yu Murai – Representative of Kaimaku Pennant race (a theater company) – Ten things I've learned from being a stage director (after the devastating earthquake and tsunami 3.11 in Japan)
I met Yu first when I worked in Vancouver for the PuSh Festival, and later in New York City, where I was witness to one of the most bizarre, funny, unique, and inspired pieces of contemporary performance I have ever seen: “Romeo and Toilet“. Yu is the artistic director of Kaimaku Pennant Race, and I…
Ten things I've learned from voting
Voting is an inherently altruistic act, because while your actual vote generally makes absolutely no difference (at least within a large population), the principle of an individual act of voting, writ large, determines the government. So, voting is like Kant’s categorical imperative…would society fall apart if everybody voted? No. What if everybody did not vote?…
Guestpost #51: JP Davidson – Ten things I’ve learned from being a moderately successful podcaster
For over a year, JP Davidson has been creating I Like You (http://ilikeyoupodcast.com), a weekly podcast about love, like, dating, and the opposites of those things with his partner Elah Feder in Toronto. Bringing together true stories full of depth, humour, and heart, JP and Elah don’t just study love – they snuggle it into…
Guestpost #50: M – Ten things I've learned from my first year of working at UVic
Note: My name is M, and I’ve worked at the University of Victoria for almost a year. I got my BA for History In Art here, and have learned just how different it is to work here than be a student. Not better, not worse, just different. A lot of people in Victoria (and elsewhere,…
Guestpost #49: Caitlin Kelly – Ten things I’ve learned from being an author
I don’t know Caitlin personally, but I was honoured when she submitted a guestpost. She is an accomplished author and blogger. Caitlin Kelly’s new memoir, “Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail” (Portfolio/Penguin) was called “excellent” by Entertainment Weekly and compared to “Nickeled and Dimed.” Her first book is, “Blown Away: American Women and Guns” (Pocket Books, 2004). A Toronto…
Ten things I've learned from having "queer" friends
Note: in university, I was taught that the word “queer” has been re-appropriated as a sort of catch-all for any sexuality that is not “heteronormative”. But since normal doesn’t really exist (it has to do with Derrida, or something), then we’re all a bit queer! I guess you can also use LGBTTTQ, if you want to…
Guestpost #48: Sally Smallwood – Ten things I’ve learned from studying comedy
Sally Smallwood is a gifted comedian, a talented improviser, a writer, and a very smart and funny woman. Here is her website: http://www.sallysmallwood.com/ Here is her blog: https://cameronandsally.com/ Laughter truly is the best medicine. It’s a physical and emotional release, like crying. Laughing every day helped my husband overcome chronic anxiety, and become the Sexiest…
Guestpost #47: Courtney Walker – Ten things I've learned from sitting in the courts at Old City Hall
Courtney is a writer, director and improvisor. Her very clever blog is here: http://cjwalker.wordpress.com/ Her ITC bio is here: http://www.impatient.ca/people/courtney-jane-walker/ Preface: the summer after my second year of university I got my first job in TV as a researcher for the CBC show “This is Wonderland.” This required me to sit in the courtrooms in…
Guestpost #46: Elizabeth Black – Ten things I've learned from being a game show contestant
Liz Black is a writer. She writes a little of everything (a comedy website, a blog, thank you notes to loved ones), but she has also been a game show contestant on the Game Show Network’s program Chain Reaction. Chain Reaction is a word game where teams of three compete against each other for very,…