I've heard this passed off as a punch line in jokes all the time - and generally I like to go off on some sort of rant - usually asking if anyone has any diabetic friends/family and pointing out how without Canadians they would be dead, or asking if anyone knows that Canadians are the reason the White House is called the White House.

I know that deep down, this whole thing stems from a universal desire to be Canadian, but it seems I just can't get away from it being used this way...


(from DieselSweeties.com)

I ran into an opinion article today that goes along nicely with my previous quasi-joking post about becoming an adult.

Kay Hymowitz: The child-man

The basic jist of the piece is that men (of the ages that define my peer group and I) are aimless "child-men" who are putting off "real life" in lieu of other activities. The author cites statistics about how the average marrying age is getting older, how men tend to live in communal settings longer, how we are poorly read because the only books we'll read are Maxim magazine, and how video games are the defining mark of this group stuck "in limbo".

Single women in their 20s and early 30s are joining an international New Girl Order, hyper-achieving in both school and an increasingly female-friendly workplace, while packing leisure hours with shopping, traveling and dining with friends. Single young males, or SYMs, by contrast, often seem to hang out in a playground of drinking, hooking up, playing Halo 3 and, in many cases, underachieving. With them, adulthood looks as though it's receding.

I'm kind of having a crap day here, so you'll have to pardon my cynicism, but this article is some serious BULLSHIT and I find it sexist and condescending.

Yes, I play video games. As do most of my friends. However, most of us eschew traditional entertainment (i.e. i only have a few friends who actually have cable tv) in lieu of video games. So the shocking 2 hours a night we spend playing games we are socializing, improving hand-eye-coordination, and not just sitting there being spoon fed information.

And I have a subscription to Maxim.However, I also spend about an hour a day reading on the bus (Currently "The Secret River" by Kate Grenville).

And I don't watch the news. Well, I don't have cable TV. However, I read the PI in the morning at work with my coffee. Or I get various news podcasts on my Zune to listen to on the bus on the way home.

And yes, I do like to go out drinking and living like a 'Frat Boy'. Except for the fact that I have a very serious full time job and a couple of hobbies that I work very seriously at.

And all of these things apply to the large majority of my "child-man" friends.

I find it especially amusing how in the article the author point out how a few decades ago the typical situation would be people of my age marrying someone they went to highschool (or even college) with and settling down right away. Well, maybe the problem isn't 100% on the guys here. Maybe these hyper-achieving women are interested in seeing the world and finding their own way rather than just settling down simply to be married and have a few kids. From my own experiences and those of close friends, I know for a fact that this has been the failing point of many relationships.

Anyways, I'm done bitching about this. Maybe the author has simply had an unforunate string of luck with 20 to 30 something "child-men". Or maybe she's right and my entire generation of men are just useless slobs who are drifting along and we might get lucky enough to mate with some hyper-achiever woman.

Either way, when i get home tonight, i'm going to read some Maxim and play some Halo 3.

I can now officially mark in the calendar one of those "it happened then" moments. In tonight's case, that "it" would be "Really Really Really Realizing that I'm supposed to be an adult now."

The setting: Erik and I were walking back to my house after our Brasilian Dance Fight training class. It's a cold and wet night. We walk into the door of my house and I exclaim:

Oh good... my W2 is here. I wanted to get an early start on my taxes this year.

Is this finally the end???


Editors Note: Cam is not actually showing any signs of adultness yet. His last weekend consisted of goofing off for hours at his various martial arts classes, snowboarding, partying and "hanging out" with friends. In fact, prior to this mantastic entry, he was playing video games.

Console.Writeline("Hello World. Remember Me?")

Yes, yes, I have, as of late fallen off the blogging bandwagon. While I hate to make excuses, I do like to make lists. So, this is my list of, while not "excuses" per se, but "reasons" for not having written much lately.

Cam's List of "Reasons" for not blogging.
- The Holiday Season
- Work
- Too tired most nights from Judo/Capoeira/Snowboarding
- Work
- A lack of blogging friends (Tom...Erik...Dan...Gil... Get back on it!)
- Facebook
- Work.

Anyways, enough excuses. Back to the task at hand.

Honestly, I wish that I had some great incredible stories for you as of late. But really, it's just been busy across the board. Work has been hectic. I've been training a lot (and it's going to be a lot more since i'm officially signed up to do the STP again this year with my brother), and just haven't been taking many pictures.

But, to help fill your thirst for insight into my life, I do have some pictures from a little cross country ski trip I did last weekend. Headed up to Winthrop and did a ski in to a nice little cabin, spent the night, and skiied out. Bit of a bitch to get there (climbs pretty much the whole way for the first 12 km of the ski)... but incredible view and a super fast ski home.

Pics are In the Gallery!.

It's good to be back!

Well it's officially been 2 months now since any sort of update. There's been a fair bit of activity though, much of which has gotten in the way of my usual bloggering. So, here's the quick activity re-cap.

The last 2 Major events that have occurred:

#1: Moving

As of the end of September, our time at the Juanita Manor officially came to a close. We celebrated our time there with a crazy disco party, where we had storytelling, a final dock mission, and one last hot-tub cram session. The house has since been handed off to another group of young men who are about to embark on the start of their Juanita Manor time... hopefully they treat her well.

For a new beginning though, many of us original Manorites have made the transition in to the city. I found a nice old (circa 1890) house that Brian and I found, and we have (with much thanks to his girlfriend Miriam) painted, organized and mostly decorated now. The place is quite awesome - close to everything, not too bad of a commute, and close to lots of friends.

#2: Halloween

Months ago, after our San Francisco trip, we decided to step up to a more challenging group costume. After much debate, we came to a great idea... The Thundercats.

For those of you unfamiliar with this classic Saturday morning cartoon... here's who they are..



And our version:



We hit up a few house parties, and ended up back at the SPH (Summit Private House - working title of our new house) for some after hours ridiculousness.

For all the pics, check out the gallery!

Anyways, hopefully i'll get back to posting more stuff up here now that my life is a little more settled again.

Thundercats, Hooooooooo!

Sportbike Northwest 2007 was nothing short of a rousing success.

On thursday, Brad, Lars, Erik and myself (on our RC51, GSXR600 and 2x GSXR 750's respectively) packed some bags, strapped 'em to our bikes, got ourselves wrapped in some protective gear and headed out for some riding adventure.

We had one crash on the way to Stevenson when Lars took a corner a bit hot and couldn't pull it out in the end. Ended up dumping his GSXR (which took some damage - mostly cosmetic) but was okay other than some bruised ribs and wounded pride.

Other than that though, the weekend went off without a hitch. We got to Stevenson, the weather held out great all weekend (we got a little bit of rain and wind on the way home) and the rides were just incredible. Also got to enjoy some quality Mexican food at Joe's, drank some fine domestic beer and enjoyed some great realaxing time with the boys.

Just the Numbers:

Miles covered: 1000
Legal Incidents: 0
Chipmunk Incidents: 2 - one tried to run under my tires. Another one just followed us from the first poker run stop for the rest of the day.

Pics are up in the gallery as always.

Tomorrow is the launch party for our new web portal, badfastdanger.com

We will be having a bbq, lake missions, motorcycle rides, a clown.... all primed for some good times. So, if you're around, you should come by.

Not too much news to report otherwise, except that i might have had one of the best weekends in Seattle yet this past weekend (wait, no, the weekend before that). In a mere 48 hours we managed to:
- import some fantastic canadian girls to come and hang out with us
- have a crazy party night on friday in belltown
- have Juanita-Manor-rific breakfast on saturday
- spend a couple hours lounging out on a 45' sailboat in Juanita bay
- go see our friend Ian do a live show with his 80's cover band
- have a late night jam session at the house
- go for a group motorcycle ride
- go sailing on the 45' sailboat for a sunset cruise
- have a test run of the new home entertainment system, with every seat in the living room occupied.

Needless to say, that's a tough one to top. There are pics somewhere... but i don't have them right now.