On scorpions in shoes: When I was about 8 my dad, who is from Cuba, told me the story of his one teenaged morning being lazy about checking his shoes, and forgetting to shake out his pants, and discovering, once dressed, that there were angry, skittering creatures in both. The story was illustrated with the hilarious and terrifying Horror Dance of Scorpions-In-My-Clothes. Since the story, though I’ve not once lived in a place with scorpions, black widows or other harbingers of ohmygod it’sONme hell (like tarantulas! How do people live in places where there are TARANTULAS? Just crawling around?) I’ve shaken out both my shoes and pants before donning.

You shake em out, Twisty. Death by insect is a really inglorious way to go.

Always nice to meet a fellow Canadian! :) Our MP is Scott Brison, who I like personally but just can’t bring myself to vote for since he is a Liberal and was once a PC. I can’t help it, I just gotta vote NDP! In Halifax, an NDP win is practically guaranteed, but out here in the sticks, they are not quite ready. Sigh!

But I admire Scott, and the locals love him as the son of a well-respected and hardworking family, and an MP who really works for his constituents. No one cares that he is gay. Seriously, even the old gaffers just chuckle about it. I asked one guy whether he thought Scott’s influence had gotten the new road and high-speed for us, and he said, “Well, he’s always had a lot of pull” while making a hand gesture best left to the imagination. But he laughed quite good-naturedly while saying it – I think the locals like giving him some friendly ribbing, but they really do like him.

My MP in East Vancouver is Libby Davies – Deputy Leader of the NDP, champion for social justice to such an extent that people move into her riding to get her help, and out lesbian in Parliament.

I campaigned with her this year. She’s a gem.

Reading this was the highlight of my day.

Subtype b: Heterosexual homo hating honkies who would be godbags if there wasn’t so damn much pressure to tithe all the time. The economy, you know.

Subtype c: Heterosexual homo hating honkies who are liberal and have a lot of gay friends. In fact, Tony and Jim make their bridge foursome. Those guys are hysterical! They really liven up the joint. But, really it’s kind of a shame about all the kids at school making fun of their daughter for having two daddies, so for the best interests of the kids, maybe it would be best if they just pretended to be best buds instead of telling so much of the truth.

Subtype d: Heterosexual homo hating honkies whose main thoughts about homos are “they put what where?” and “How do *girls* do it?” In this PC world, they wouldn’t admit to these thoughts under torture, but in the voting booth no one else knows. There’s the little closet-like curtain setup for voting privacy. Only their backsides are frighteningly exposed, which once again prompts the unbidden and horrifying thought “they put what where?” Then they vote.

Interestingly enough, all this happened in in a big rush, just in time for our MP to be married to his same-sex partner in a lovely ceremony last summer – attended by family, the villagers and many highly-placed Canadian politicians, including at least 2 former Prime Ministers.

Here is a news clip from one of our major tv news networks about the event:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070818/brison_wedding_070818/20070818

So while you all to the South might have a warmer climate meteorologically-speaking, I think we definitely have a warmer climate in other ways up here. And nary a scorpion to be found. Come on up north!