IF YOUR GARBAGE STINKS, YOU'RE DOING JUST FINE

Did you ever grow up in Mississauga?

I did once.

As a middle class family growing up in the shadow of the SkyDome to the east, Copps Coliseum to the west, and the Barrie Molson Centre to the north, we didn't live a very extravagant lifestyle. This suited me just fine and I think the fact that I wasn't spoiled rotten like a regular Rory Culkin allowed me to become the ultra dude you know today.

Most of our vacations were a lot like The Great Outdoors but with more historical plaques. My dad was also very fond of pointing out landmarks, including ones found in our own backyard. Probably our favourite of all-time is a legendary Mississauga intersection that my dad would take us to if our day needed a bit of sprucing up -- the most hideous intersection of all time -- the place where Marf meets Revus.

Those two streets conjure up images of browns and yellows, puke and crud, strip malls, grey skies and sticky things. I hope you get as much joy as I have my whole life knowing that somewhere in this world a person named a street Marf and another Revus, and put them together to form an intersection that no self-respecting family would be proud to call home. Then again, if my sister called me up and said she bought a place at Marf and Revus I'd beam for sure.

In other words, it's my birthday tomorrow! 28 and still eating!