Fairness in Negative Stereotypes is Important

The North American vernacular has been graced with the slang word "cougar" for some time now. At its best it is used to describe beautiful women over 35. At its worst a cougar is a cross between Mrs. Roper from Three's Company and Edie Britt from Desperate Housewives:

It is the most common of knowledge that ladies aren't the only ones sleazing around the bars in your town. There's another kind of creepy character out there that can even be found hanging out in the same establishments as young people. Where, I ask, is the slang term for the aging man on the prowl? I present as a candidate the word "Bougar". In written form it is just "Boy" and "Cougar" mashed together into one word, but I think how it sounds adds just the right amount negative connotation, similar to how Cougar was originally used as a put-down. I suspect that the word Bougar may never grow into a near-compliment the way Cougar is seeming to, but that's OK with me.

The Bougar can be defined using the same model as above, this time using (for fairness) Mr. Roper from Three's Company and Judge #3 from American Idol.

As you can see, the Bougar is much scarier than the Cougar. Perhaps this is why up until now we have been afraid to utter its name, kind of like he-who-shall-not-be-named in the Harry Potter books. Like young Harry, my fear is overcome by my mix of curiosity and revulsion, and to everyone's dismay I proclaim this name aloud: Bougar! Let us fear no more.

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Epilogue: In composing this entry I was torn between two graphical formulas defining "Bougar", and indeed originally had a different one posted and took it down, thinking it a little too weird. My daughter was not happy with me, saying the first one was much better. Since I would do anything for my daughter:

Bicycle Commuting in London Ontario Canada

When it comes to cycling, I'm pretty antisocial. A great many cyclists enjoy organized rides, training with others and being part of one club or another and even racing sometimes. I think that's great, and who knows? Maybe someday I too will find some like-minded riders and start hanging out, like these guys:

For now though, I focus mainly on commuting quickly and effectively in every season. Despite the popular opinion of my co-workers that I am a hardcore cyclist, I don't ride far or fast enough to consider myself one. I do, however pass bikesnobnyc's definition of a cyclist, since I meet both of his criteria. I am a bicycle commuter, which, unless you happen to work with a bunch of other bike commuters (and what are the odds of that? This is London, not Portland), kind of makes you a loner by definition. That is, unless you are a regular group riding roadie or mountain biker who daily commutes by bike too. If that describes you, you've got my admiration; I have a perhaps misconceived notion that you are a rare bird indeed.

One of the big benefits of falling into a cycling group so varied in its approaches that calling it a group at all might be a mistake is that there is no wrong answer to how one should commute by bike. What works for you is the right answer, whether it's this:

or this:

or this:

I'm always curious about what's working for my fellow commuters; what's ticking them off about riding in London; what and where they ride... if you've stumbled upon this blog and you commute on a bike, especially in London Ontario, your comments are always welcome. Ride Safe everyone.

Coffee is Incidental, not Sentimental

Have any of you fine Canadians out there seen the Tim Hortons commercial that shows all kinds of moving scenes from the lives of a wide variety of people in many different ages and stages and sweet situations? Many of the images are uplifting and make you remember some of your own precious moments. It's nice, if you're into nice things. This is a coffee/donut shop commercial, and the angle is that "every cup" (prominently featured in each image) "tells a story". We are invited to share our Tim Hortons coffee-related cherished moments on a web site at the end of the ad. You can see more at the Tim Hortons web site. There's a great big banner ad that will give you a good idea what the TV ads are like, and of course a link to everycup.ca so you can get in on the story sharing action.

I, for one, don't want to try to link the meaningful moments of my life with paper cups of coffee from a donut shop. I drink those cups of coffee all the time, as do many Canadian people. When I think about it, it is way more likely that I am doing something boring or arduous when one of those cups is around than when I'm watching a sunset or kissing my new baby or wrestling a puppy.

Those cups of coffee are almost always around. I might as well celebrate chairs; a great many of my most touching memories thus far have happened while I was seated on one, or standing near one. As you might have inferred by now, I just don't see a connection, and kind of resent anybody trying to create one for me. Just sayin'.