Leaderboard

July 23 1901 - October 14 1996 Today would have been my grandfather's 110th birthday. He made it 95 wonderful years, and I can honestly say that barely a day goes by that I don't think of the man. There are people that make you a better person just because they are or in this case, were, in your life. The man was special. There was a warmth to his character, a genuine charisma that drew people. If you knew him, you loved him. He had that small town charm - the kind of charm that made you want to stop and say hello, maybe exchange a few stories. All of his life and wherever he went, people wanted to know my grandpa. He wasn't a particularly physically affectionate, he wasn't all huggy or kissy - but you could tell by the look in his eyes that he cared deeply for the people in his life. He wasn't rich. He wasn't particularly handsome nor did he hold any position of power in his community. He was just "Bill." He understood what it meant to be a man and what it meant to be human. He saw alcoholism and spousal abuse in his family; he took steps to protect the ones he loved from both. He understood that both his son and his daughter would need an education and he made provisions to make sure that both of them would succeed. He loved his wife, his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and never have any of us doubted the depth of his feelings. It was truly reciprocal. That man has left a legacy of character to each and every person whom he met. If I could be even 1/10th the man he was, I would feel that as an accomplishment. So here's to Bill, my grandpa and my personal mentor. I miss you. I love you. I think of you every day. Is there/was there someone in your life that made that profound difference?

WrinkledInTime recently posted an article in the "News" section of this board about Melissa Farley's recent so-called research, published as "The John Next Door" in the latest edition of Newsweek magazine. Berlin pointed us to an article at the Good Vibrations Magazine site, "Melissa Farley and the US Government Want You to Stop Buying Sex" written by Laura Agustin. This article centers on the idea promoted by Farley and others that the best way to end human trafficking is to end the demand for prostitution. Of course the "End the Demand" group never mentions, let alone comes to terms with, the fact that most human trafficking has nothing to do with the sex trade but has lots to do with domestic labour, industrial labour, farm labour and construction. The "End the Demand" folks really want everyone to stop having non-marital sex. The thing I find striking is that Farley and the US government think that society needs to deliver a much stronger message to men--young men, in particular, for some reason--that it's just wrong to pay for sex. Period. Gosh. I thought that society was already pretty clear about that. Most of the clients I've discussed this with have told me that it was one of the hurdles they had to get over: the idea that there's something wrong with paying for sex. I sure grew up thinking that there was something wrong with selling it! Is there anyone here who was raised to think that it isn't wrong to pay for sex? That is, that you get sex by marrying someone, or maybe by having committed relationship that includes sex, or maybe by being lucky enough to be offered sex in some other way, but not by paying for it? My impression has been that many men have been encouraged to believe that only "losers" (defined in various ways) pay for sex and that no one else should. Thoughts?

Communication, communication, communication. When I am getting to know a new guest it is a process. There are many detailed emails exchanged before the appointment is set up to ensure we have the same expectations. I will not give a list of services provided...ever. But I can tell from dialogue whether or not I'm interested in entertaining someone. For me, it is all about the mind. If the mental aspects are there 99.99% of the time the physical is a given. Spend some time and read post history on someone you are interested in, perhaps spend a little time in chat. Invest some time getting clear in your head what it is about the Montreal provider that has you hooked. Is it simply a service or perhaps an attitude or life perspective? You need to know what it is if you are going to quest after if you are to find it again. "The One" will present when you least expect her to. cat

My Father had a huge impact on who I am today. Ever since I was a child I was a daddy's girl. I followed him around incessantly wanting to help fix the car, build what he was building; and when I got older I still enjoyed the company of him by doing volunteer work together, going to his baseball and hockey games and him telling stories of my ancestral relatives. When I got older, we would go out for breakfast every few weeks or so, just him and I. For reasons I didn't see then but do now, I could talk to my Father in a way that no one else could or dared. Not my Mother and certainly not my sister or even his own brothers. We always had a special relationship that I have taken so much away from. He taught me what unconditional love is, and to just be myself and good to people. This is not always me, but he most certainly gave me the tools to do so. He was an ordinary military man. A family man with a backbone and values. I miss him. He died 6 months ago yesterday.

Agreed! I haven't a facebook account either as I like to keep my life to myself. As far as Twitter goes I thought that was some sort of medical condition and MySpace is the immediate area around my body in which I can reach with my arms extended. Frankly if life didn't necessitate it I wouldn't even have a cell phone. God I sound like a senior citizen...

I just loved reading this, it brought tears to my eyes! Thank you for sharing that. I would say my father has made a profound impact of the kind of person I have become. He can leave a room and no one could ever say anything behind his back, cause well there is nothing to be said! He is kind, giving, and he too has stuggeled through a very difficult past. He is not an educated man, had to work on a farm after failing grade 3( that is what happened in thoes days if you failed 2times!), but with no education, he raised 3 girls and always provided for us:) He says he is not smart, but I think he certainly is!! He can precieve things so clearly, catching things most of us would miss! He is not rich, but says he is the riches man alive for the love he has for his family, hold not a great job, but does his job great! The kind of man who says" when I pass away, I better not have one damn flower at my funeral, cause I want that money to go to charity!" I love my dad:)

Shortly after joining an escort service more than 20 years ago.. the owner of the service asked me if I'd mind going blond after the only one she had on staff left the agency. I got my first set of highlights and was a blond for the next 10 years. I took a very long time to get my natural hair color back while I dyed it brown and let it grow out.. and it dried out my hair. I can't say I had ''more fun'' as a blond because I have just as much fun as a brunette but boy did I stand out more! It was easier for friends to find me when searching for me in a crowd or at the mall because blond is easier to spot. Also.. I looked more ''dutch'' which is my natural heritage. Being a brunette which is my natural color is easier.. but sometimes I wistfully think I'd like to go blond again.. and then I remember the maintenance of having to dye my roots every couple weeks but worse than that.. how long it takes to get my natural color back if I decide it wasn't what I really wanted. UGH. Red is even harder to maintain.

You know you're old when you can remember that none of the toys you had as a kid used batteries.

Cerb newbie Erotic Emily has a great hard body. Here's a view I like: Thank you, Emily.

Great post Old Dog. Nice and refreshing to see someone express feelings and appreciation for people who do make a difference when it is so much easier to critisize and be sinical. Must admit my parents were there for me and did teach a lot. My dad taught me discipline, the importance of sharing our talents, keeping my word, a sense of duty and doing the right thing. So did my mom but she also had this enormous gift of building relationships. She would observe people and only talk to complement them on their particular strength even someone who would seam reprehensible to most. She would never condemn or criticize but would rather encourage and show her love and affection. Everyone loved her. I still miss her very much. Also still remember a favorite uncle who knew how to work hard but mostly when to stop and switch on to having a good time... quite a caracter. Congratulation on your post. I find it quite inspiring.

Great post old dog! Unfortunately long distances and death kind of made it so I never had the relationships with my grandparents that are described in this thread. But as far as having a huge impact on my life, My parents fit the bill nicely! My father instilled his insane work ethic in me and to this day, nothing short of a hospital visit or advice from a physician keeps me from missing work. Plus, he taught me how to tie a proper windsor knot for the RARE occasions I wear a tie :) My Mom, I'm not going to say much on this one... A wonderful, amazing person, whom I think about every day. I would be a much worse person if she wasn't in my life and I would probably either be dead or in jail if it wasn't for her love, compassion and understanding. Here's to all the people we were lucky enough to have in our lives who affected us so greatly. Be they family by blood, or family by choice, thank goodness for all of them and the gifts they've given us.

I'd like to meet a lady who rocks these:

Innovations in airline safety briefings Actually, I have to say I think this is pretty cool. Anything that gets people to actually pay attention to the safety briefing has to be worth trying...

You have been justifiably dissected enough that I don't think anyone needs to add to it further, so I won't. But you need to ask yourself, do you think that publically trampling on her memory and her dignity, no matter what you thought of her as a person or an artist, was a decent thing to do? The mistake many of us have made (myself included) was in trying to compare the loss of Miss Whinehouse and the mass murder of those in Norway, only because they both captured the world's attention and they happened so close together. And the simple fact of the matter is that a murderous gunman's act of evil does not reduce the loss of Amy Whinehouse any more than her death should reduce the enormity of what happened in Norway. There is no way to reconcile or compare these two events, period. Perhaps there are lessons that can be learned and definitely grief to be suffered, but the best the living can do now is light a solemn candle in memory of all the lives lost.

I'm a little disturbed by how quickly a number of you are happily writing off Amy Winehouse because "she was a junkie." You sound an awful lot like the same people who didn't do fuck all when Robert Pickton was murdering my sisters because, oh, well, they're just crackwhores. People are people and you have no idea what brought them to the point where they thought drugs were a solution. Who are you to judge them? I went to rehab myself, and I can tell you from experience, that every single one of the people in there had underlying mental health issues and didn't know how to cope with said issues and thus did drugs to try to cope. And they were men and women just like you or I, with families, with feelings and with hopes and dreams. Reading some of the responses in this thread today made me a little sad to have to associate myself with you.

And you may want to try Brasserie T! near Place des Arts... http://www.brasserie-t.com/index-en.php

Old Dog, This is indeed touching and moving and inspiraional. Thanks for doing this and making people reflect on those that have made a difference in their lives.

I don't know Amy Winehouse. I know what I heard: she was a woman with an extraordinary talent the likes of which we rarely see. I've read a lot of the things about her that many others here have read and I don't know how much, if any, of it is true. I can see from her photos and from accounts of her behaviour that she was a deeply troubled woman. I'm sure that, as an addict, she was battling demons that I can't even imagine and that she was contending with them by herself. She made the choices it takes to become addicted; I'm pretty sure about that because that's how it is with most people. What drove her to consider such choices to be reasonable, appropriate or inevitable I don't know. I doubt that many people do. What I am sure of is that no one is ever prepared for the meteoric rise from nobody to mega-star that Amy Winehouse and some others have experienced. I'm also sure that few people realize how someone's fame affects others in their lives--how fame can distort their relationships and create malignant dependencies in their friends and family members. Those very things can feed an addiction like kindling feeds a fire. Addiction always involves many people other than the addict. Some celebrities' family and friends actively encourage the star's addictions because they can profit from the manipulation and control they can exert over the addict. This kind of fame is a hideous toxin. It took everyone in the so-called "27 club." It took Michael Jackson and many others, too. I'm very sorry that Amy Winehouse has died today, whether by accident or by her own hand. I'm sorry that the demons in her head were too much for her to overcome. I'm sorry if she was unable to get true help or if she was surrounded by people who had complex needs and hopes of their own and who could not be good for her, or with her. I'm sorry that we have lost that amazing voice, that staggering talent. I am just as sorry for the families and friends of the people who were murdered in Norway today. I don't know any of them, of course, and I can't really imagine what they must be going through other than that it probably seems like a nightmare that doesn't stop in the clear light of day. I wish I could do something for the victims' families. If there is something that can be done, I will try because I have no tolerance for the slaughter of innocent people. I am also sorry for the family and friends of the man who killed all these people in Norway. A lonelier, more desperate and lost group of people is hard to imagine tonight. I hope that, in time, they may find some kind of peace and understanding, that they may find ways to make sense of what this man has done and that they may not be unjustly tormented by ignorant outsiders who may try to hold them responsible in some way for this man's choices. I have to say that I am sorry for the man who committed these monstrous acts. The demons besetting him have won today. That is a genuine tragedy. Whether he or any of us will ever understand what drove him to do what he did, I don't know, nor do I know if understanding would help any of us become more compassionate people, such that no one we know will ever be in danger of being so dangerous to anyone else. Finally, I want to say that we do not live in a world of competing sorrows. Experiences of pain and loss are individual: there is no hierarchy or scale of values. The grief one person carries gracefully might easily be impossible for another to shoulder. In the end, pain is pain, grief is grief, loss is loss. All are real.

Comparing how someone dies is like comparing apples to oranges but nonetheless she was a human being and deserves some respect regardless of if she took her own life through drugs or any other way. What if someone here from cerb took their own life god forbid or an SP was murdered? Would we say "Oh well she was just a whore or he was just another trick so it doesn't really matter." Maybe some people would feel that way but if you knew them personally or knew of them from this site you would feel some sort of impact. Imagine how her family feels. Lets remember that she was someone's daughter. Yes, it could be debated that she had the world at her fingertips and that she brought this on herself and in the end her addiction won. It doesn't matter if she was leading a rock star lifestyle. No one deserves to die whether it is through drugs, a natural disaster or at the hands of a mad man. IMO, the way someone dies or its significance bears no relevance in my mind because death to me is a tragic thing overall. It is sad when anyone dies and they should be given the respect and dignity that they deserve whether it Amy Winehouse or those 92 people in Norway.

This is ridiculous! While I deeply empathize with the lives lost in Norway and I in no way condone what happened, I don't think we should let our anger towards the mainstream media about covering the Amy story more than the Norway story justify our awful feelings about people with mental health issues and addictions. There is something to be said about your comments above: how she was at fault for her own demise. Yes, while there is some choice involved in terms of recovery and getting your life in order, not just anyone contemplates suicide. There has to be some serious shit going on for someone to actually go through with taking away their own lives especially when they've been suffering as harshly as Amy was from her addiction. There should be no hierarchy of who's life was more important and which sentiments will be stronger. Murder and suicide are both awful and neither are the fault of the victims. It seems like as a society we will just take every opportunity to blame and further stigmatize people with mental health issues and addictions. We really need to be critical of how we think about people we place in these categories and how are words resemble how we truly feel about the worth of their lives!

Yes I was looking for a possible date this morning and suddenly came across an ad who was looking for someone to explore the jungle (her jungle). Most would know me as a natural kitty lover so as soon as I read the ad I became a Tarzan LOL. I started screaming like Tarzan and feeling that I would like to climb a tree lol (or in this case to dine in a jungle). I didn't wish to exclude the cerb friends who equally love natural kitties. So first I sent a PM to sexy Eva (whom I had the pleasure of meeting just last year) for a possible date for this afternoon and then I started PMing a few of my cerb friends whom I knew would be equally interested in a natural kitty. I was planning on going to Barbs all week but I said to myself that there is no way in hell that I am going to miss out on this golden princess and very rare opportunity lol. I went to extraordinary measures to see this lady the detail of which would remain between us. Yes I had a second pleasure this afternoon with this lovely very pretty young natural blue eyed blonde lady. She has a very cute face and those beautiful short hair looking like a golden crown on a princess (and lovely sky blue eyes) would allow easy access to all of her beautiful face to kiss and taste. DFK was absolutely great and it was mutual. Then gradually I moved down to the golden jungle and it was absolutety so very sexy and beautiful and sweet. I made it a rainy forest lol (if you know what I mean LOL). By the time I got there I was about to explode and demonstrate a real case of instantaneous human combustion lol. When sweet daty was over I moved back to her face which was so very cute and sweet (because of her short hair) and those very sexy pink boobs. We kissed very intensively all over each other's faces. The experience was unique in a sense that it was so so intense and the pleasure was mutual as I could feel heat emanating too from her body and also the very rainy forest LOL. The end was explosive for me as the feel of a natural kitty made me so excited that I came to the end within half hour. In summary it was a typical intensive experience in which sexy Eva made me feel very desired and like I was the best and only guy in her entire life and that is called a true GirlFriend Experience (GFE) lol. She is here for another 18 hours so if you wish to have a similar intensive true GFE experience (especially if you are a natural kitty lover but as usual YMMV) hurry up before the angle flies away LOL. Funny thing is that I was planning to go to Barbs all week but after my time with sexy Eva I realized that there no one in there that can even closely match the experience I just had. So I changed my mind lol at least for another 7 days. Thank you so much Eva for the great experience. I hope you visit us more often. Eva's Secret Admirer.

I've met men who see nothing wrong with paying me for sex, except they have made it quite clear they wouldn't want their wife, sister or daughter doing it. (To which I laugh, because they "don't get" that perhaps they just hurled a slur at me). My dad is 78 and reminds us he's "old school". When discussing a sibling who was (is) still a virgin now in his 40s, I quite shocked to hear my father say, "When I was young growing up in Montreal, the father would bring the son to the "cat house" and get it over with" (expression followed by some French expletives). I asked him if my grandfather did that for him to which he replied of course not, that he was working at 14 and managed quite well with the ladies. This I believe because my grandmother confirmed that because he had a paycheck, the taverns would serve alcohol to him even at that age. He didn't come right out and admit visiting prostitutes when he was single and in the Air Force and stationed overseas in the 1950s. However, I did hear a conversation about the military boys being issued condoms and how they were as thick as kitchen catchers. He also told me when he was in France he had different girlfriends he would actually "live with" for weeks at time (rather than go home to the barracks on the base). He described how beautiful they were and how they would cook for him, do his laundry, pressed his uniforms. I presume for a fee of course. There were many young women after the war who had no other way of supporting themselves but to offer to be a soldier's "girlfriend". This is how some of them met their spouses, but I'm sure those stories are never told openly at a dinner party. This was happening all over Europe, in France, Germany, Holland, etc. We have never spoken of my involvement in prostitution. It has never come up and I doubt it will because we are like two ships passing in the night. I'm sure my dad would have to look up my home phone before. I think me might have suspected I have done it, but has never called me out on it. I am not sure what his reaction would be, but like everything, some people will justify why it's okay to do something at certain time of their life. I know my father did not cheat on my mother once they got married, but I know he sure had a good time before that, and not without paying for it sometimes along the way. I don't think he'd have any qualms now about admitting his visiting prostitutes, but he downplayed when mom was alive, I believe out of respect for her.