Jim Morrison said "this is the strangest life I have ever had". He knew a lot about strange.

I woke up this morning at 7:30 and needed to pee. As I came towards the kitchen I could
hear water running. Bigtime panic to discover that my own hot water heater had blown
and was leaking. The carpet around the heater was wet but not saturated. I was no
longer sleepy.

I shut off all the water in my shack, and turned off the breaker that feeds the electricity to it.
So far I have not heard how much water leaked into the first floor. Hopefully not that much.
I think that I discovered the problem early enough.

But to have 2 hot water heaters blow out within 3 weeks is pretty strange. The Christmas
Eve event was more spectacular, for sure.

The landlord called the plumber and two guys came in the noon hour and did an ace job.
Nice people, and very efficient and fast.

Lordymama! I think I need a little nap now. I was planning to walk on the mountain of
love despite the cold weather, but I can do that another day.

Lordymama! What a night! I was awoken by somebody in our building on the ground
floor. My shack is on the second floor. Water was leaking from somewhere. In a half-
sleep stupor I said no everything okay here. Then I took a look into my bathroom
and sure enough there was a steady drip drip drip. We checked with neighbour who
resides above me. They said no plumbing problems that they knew of.

I was emptying out pails and soup pots all night long, but it just kept going. I layed
myself down to rest at 3:45 a.m. and fell deeply asleep for 4 hours. When I woke I
found the quantity of water dripping from bathroom ceiling to be much greater,
like a steady stream.

Now noon, and we finally found out that the hot water tank in the 3rd floor had a
badly corroded valve. Lordymama! What a big deal. The drip is just residual now,
but I have a hunch that my ceiling in bathroom is gonna get ripped out just to
make sure. Christmas Eve waiting for the plumber to arrive.

I love this old building, but it constantly needs work.

There are many, many people from France who have immigrated to Montreal, and they live in this neighbourhood. A large video screen was set up in the park near my shack. I could hear them during the game, and now they are in full-blast party mode. Lots of car horns blaring, people laughing and screaming. It is going to be a long day of chaos.

I will just remain indoors, thank you.

I was in a store not long ago, and people were talking politics and race. A few of the folks from France were saying that Justin Trudeau was wrong to invite so many people from North Africa and the Middle East. They said that Canada should close the door on dark-skinned people.

So now I am scratching my head, looking at the variety of races who play soccer for France. This is not easy to understand. It is okay for dark-skinned athletes (beautiful, too) to play for your soccer team, but not to have them as next door neighbours. What’s wrong with this picture?

Stupidity is abundant since DT arrived on the scene. Look at all the racism that pretends to be based on knowledge.

Lordymama! It has not been easy, but I have a new iPad. It means that I will be eating a lot of rice & beans for the next few weeks.

I bought my first iPad 5 years ago, almost. It is a mini. To tell the truth I was very skeptical about it, but now I look at it as the most fascinating machine I have ever had. The battery is still pretty good if I just want to walk around here in my shack with my headphones on, iPad in a little shoulder bag. But if I want to watch concert videos in YT, or watch porn videos, the battery depletes quickly. So I will keep the little one just for music.

Much has changed in the past five years. I am learning new tricks. This iPad is a full size, and it feels so huge. Such clarity and richness! I can see all the lovely naked bums so clearly.

April 1, 2018. Wow! Big hairy deal!!!

I first paid rent on this shack 16 years ago. My funny little mind is blown. Hard to believe. When I first brought my stuff here I was telling myself that it would be just a toehold, a brief pause. I had been homeless, couch-surfding, house-sitting for people who were travelling in Europe, etc.

The street out my window is a major commuting artery, rush hour is deafening, two times a day. It was just so completely different from everything I had known, I thought it was a temporary toehold.

It was just happenstance when someone overheard me saying that I was looking for an apartment. Suddenly I had the keys in my hand, with no clue how it would work. I gave money to the caretaker and hoped for the best. A few days later, a young Chinese woman knocked on the door. Her father owned the building, and she was threatening to call police and have me thrown out.

She suddenly stopped and looked into the kitchen where I was cooking the Chinese medicinal mushroom known as ling zhi. The smell is quite unique. I said that my herbalist in Chinatown had been encouraging me to try it. She walked over to the stove and said "You are cooking it exactly the right way!"

I showed her all the other herbs that I was using, now that I had a kitchen. After a pause she said, "I am going down to my car to get a lease for you. I'll be right back". So I always say that it was ling zhi that gave me this place to live, right on the northeast flank of Mt. Royal, the mountain of love.

I have just recently said my goodbyes to the street mission where I have been working as a volunteer for the past ten years. It just came to a natural conclusion. I can find other ways to occupy my days. I will soon be 66 years old. As long as I can walk on the mountain of love I want to be here. As the weather warms up my injured hip is less painful, less obstructed, and I am confident that soon I will be out there in the pouring rain, singing my heart out, running on the muddy paths. Hallelujah! In less than 5 minutes I am on the mountain.

Yesterday while walking on Mt. Royal I found the first signs of photosynthesis! Let's hear it for photosynthesis! A stream of water came down a rocky slope on a south-facing hill, and there was an electric shock of living green moss right there, smiling at me. So vibrant! So insistent! My eyes filled up with tears. This is my favourite season. I love to see the first signs of photosynthesis.

I first joined this website in August of 2005. It has been a very big pleasure and privilege to hang out here with all of youse, so naked and so free! I want to be in this same shack 16 years hence. Look at all these lovely naked bums!

I have been on welfare for 10.5 years. I have been living in this
apartment for 15.5 years. Now a new threshold has been reached.
I have begun to receive old age security $$$. No more welfare.

I have been waiting for this time. I desperately need acupuncture
and herbs for my sleep problem. I got addicted to the sleeping
pill called Zopiclone. I had no idea how bad it would get. I use
strong beer to fall asleep. Anti-histamines in alternation with beer.

Now I can afford acupuncture. I have already had two sessions.
I went looking in Chinatown for the man that I had gone to a
long time ago. The new occupants in that office took me back
down to the street, and walked me to a new place.

I had confidence in this woman just as soon as she started the
interview and did blood pressure test and the pulse diagnosis.
My eyes filled up with tears as she started to place the needles
into my scalp. I do love to receive acupuncture.

I will get the results slowly. My hip/thigh pain is already changing.
I walked in the rain yesterday, probably 5-6 km in total. Not
yet ready to run for long stretches. 5-6 minutes at a time.

I have accepted the aging process, but I do not accept failure.

Just back from wonderful visit to Vancouver. The weather was not hot, but I absolutely had to pay my respects to Wreck Beach. The long, steep trail down to the beach has been completely rebuilt by the city. It used to be pretty scary, especially after a rain. About 475 steps back up to the road.

My schedule did not allow a long visit, so I did not walk down to the homo, bi- or pansexual exhibitionist areas. I remember one couple who were frequently there. The woman enjoyed sucking and jerking multiple cocks, sometimes selecting one to fuck her hubby. She squealed with delight.

My focus this time was to swim naked & free, and see all the naked people. Between 2-3,000 people there altogether, more than half were naked.

The thing that stunned me completely was how much racial diversity there was. I saw people fom Asia who were stark naked and free! Never seen so many folks from India, China, Malaysia, Japan. In those cultures, traditionally you are not supposed to draw attention to yourself, or be so immodest.

One very lovely, kind, warm & sensual woman paid attention to me. So I sat down nearby. She is the one who used this iPad to take photos. We had a most enlightened conversation about the freedom to see and be seen. I hope that I get the chance to meet her again. Younger than me by at least 14-15 years. She thoroughly enjoyed being looked at. Respectfully.

I feel reborn, renewed. Thank you, Vancouver.

The other day I was walking in Parc du Mont Royal, the
huge, big wooded rockpile that is just outside the door
of my shack. I walk and run there all the time.

I was going out the door of the big, majestic chalet which
is open to the public. Suddenly I was face to face with a
fellow mountain runner, I don't know his name, but I know
that he is an medical doctor. One time we were stranded
together during a terrific, hairy thunderstorm. The lightning,
rain & wind was spectacular. We huddled on the quiet side
of an old stone pump house.

I said that I had not seen him running for a long time. He told
me that he had had some collateral ligament surgery done
on his knee, and was taking a long time to regain strength
and function. With a painfully sad expression he said that
his running days might be over.

I said that if I was him I would give acupuncture and Chinese
herbs a chance to prove him wrong. He surprised me and
said, "no, there is nothing there but placebo and suggestion".


So I said Wow! You must have a very low opinion of the
Chinese people if you think that they could have a great
civilization for more than four thousand years with great
achievements in engineering, astronomy, agriculture, but
be content with medicine that is no better than chance or
placebo. Does that really make sense?

I told him that in my massage career I saw many, many
runners get a renewal of their running metabolism via
acupuncture and correct use of herbs. I said also that
I would not be capable to run and walk like I do, and
that I have only a very small budget for the herbs. No
acupuncture.

I offered him a business card of a very good practitioner
in Chinatown. Not a New Age huckster who pretends to
know Chinese medicine from a naturopathy school. He
hesitated, but accepted the card. I said, "you got nothing
to lose, man. You might learn something. I might see you
right here come springtime, ready to run in the mud".

We shall see.

I have not had a good strong run in the woods for nearly
3 weeks now. After the resolution of fire ant bite on big
toe I was embracing every chance to get out on the trails
with my shiny new big toe. And regular speedball intervals
on treadmill at gym. I am very grateful to the folks who
work at that hospital.

The conjunction of the US election and the death of Leonard
Cohen on Nov. 7 still making me so dizzy and confused. I
usually rely on a good hard run to help me reclaim some
confidence, but I have to stop now for a few weeks. The
workload of volunteer chores at the street mission is such
that I need to cool it with running. I just go for a long 2-3
hour walk in the woods instead of a 90 minute run.

I will start running on treadmill at gym in January. Need to
stay injury-free in the meantime. Many, many trips up &
down stairs with heavy boxes of canned food, rice, potatoes,
etc. in preparation for our Xmas hampers.

The U.S. has elected a climate science denier and a sexual
offender. He brags about his wealth and how it allows him
to assault women with impunity. This is what television has
done to America. People are frustrated with bureaucracy
and ancillary branches of government, so they bring the
whole thing crashing down to the ground. As if this is the
solution.

Television and Facebook are the reasons that this election
process became so terribly distorted. Facebook takes no
responsibility at all for spreading false information. I have
not had a Facebook account for more than 2 years. I think
that Zuckerberg should be deeply ashamed. Imbecile.

As I have said many times I take all of my spiritual guidance
from trees. Poetic strength of the trees. As a child I did not
ever see oak trees, except on family trips down south.
Now I consider the oak trees on the mountain of love to
be my spiritual advisors. Immersion in the green world is
where it's at. There is no longer any photosynthesis occuring
but tree contemplation now happens on the level of form,
and the tactile feel of the bark, the sound of dry leaves under
my feet.

As long as I have this huge, sprawling wooded rockpile as
my immediate neighbour I will be alright. Even in the coldest,
snowiest, rainiest weather I am out there.

It is hard to understand how this dark time of willful ignorance
will proceed.

I do not know if the bite(s) was from a fire ant. There are 3
spots on top and medial side of toe. It does now look like
multiple bites. I took the last dose of anti-biotic with supper.

I do know well enough to not drink alcohol when taking the
anti-biotic. I have seen bad reactions with other people.
So I have gone already 8 nights without alcohol. It has
been interesting. The anti-histamine medication causes
drowsiness, but I have been able to sleep without taking
any of it. Curious.

6.5 years ago I had a real bad time with scabies, and then
for a while I had scabies and bedbugs at the same time.
I thought that I was ready to go flip city from lack of sleep.
One thing led to another and I got a prescription for a
sleeping pill called Zopiclone. Man, that is wicked stuff!

Got the parasites cleared out, but found it very hard to sleep
without the Z. At least 3 different MDs told me, "Oh, don't try
to taper off Zopiclone. Don't try to go cold turkey, either! Bad
things will happen."

They all said that I should take an anti-depressant for TWO
YEARS and then gradually taper off the anti-depressant. "But
I am not depressed", said I. That did not matter, they said.

This pissed me off so much, unbelievably so.

I discovered that strong beer could help me sleep. I do not
have a general craving for alcohol, but I can drink a lot.
So it has been very interesting to go without strong beer
these past few nights. Tonight is the ninth night without
strong beer, without any alcohol.

I suppose I could say thank you to the fire ant(s) for giving
me this window into my strong beer habit. I think that I will
always enjoy getting drunk with the funky monk, but it is
not as necessary as I had assumed. We shall see.

My cat, Buster, died more than a year ago. He left me all
his stash of catnip. I do enjoy that once in a while. I just
sprinkle some on the carpet and roll around in it.