The hellacious terribleness of monkeys "...monkeys may pull down drapes, shred cloth, chew wood, spill drinks, steal food, take possession of articles and refuse to return them*, damage house plants, torment other household pets, soil or stain furniture, tip chairs, break knickknacks, ink pens or dishes, tear books and papers, get into cleaning fluids or baking ingredients, open drawers, cabinets, unlock or open inside and outside house doors, open refrigerators and windows, remove window screens, open baby proof latches and lids, break glass, push large pieces of furniture over, urinate into television sets or other electronic equipment ect." * reason why monkeys are prohibited by law from working in high-end auction houses or jewelry stores.

Curious and Nail-Spitting Furious George...Can the Canadian government arbitrarily assign you an income, and then tax you on it? I got back my tax return, and they'd taken the income I stated, and multiplied it (apparently) by 2.3, and then taxed me on that. Gee whiz...I wonder if that had anything to do with my stating escorting as my profession.

Meet Your Match... If you or a family member needed an organ to stay alive, would you use a service like this? Do you think anyone should? Would you ever pay for an organ for yourself or a family member? Is this automatically wrong?

Dubious George...I have a secret vice: I love reading advertising flyers. I'm actually all happy to see a bunch in my mailbox. What's yours?

Serious George...I often take cabs for my work, as I don't drive, and usually talk with a lot of cabbies if they're the talkative sort. Here's my question; when someone tells you they are from a country pretty much going up in flames at the moment, how does one respond? For example, a cabbie remarked that he was from Sudan, when the news of the crisis in Darfur was all over the news. I think I just said, "ah" as in "ah, I see", and the conversation moved on. I wondered what was better form; responding neutrally as I did, which may have given the impression I either didn't know about the situation in Sudan, or, worse, that I thought it unimportant; or if I should have said something along the lines of, "I'm sorry about what's happening there", and moved on. This happens relatively often, and the awkward pause after someone's announced they're from somewhere you see on the news every night is something I'm interested in hearing how other people handle.

Dangerous George...Why does it seem that the east side of town is the bad side of town? It's like that here in Vancouver (East Van, Downtown Eastside) and I can think of New York's Lower East Side, London's East End, East L.A., Montreal's East End, I can think of a few southerly bad parts; South Philly, and the Southside of Chicago (is it still bad?) but am drawing a blank on north and west. Now that I think of it, west seems to be the posh part in a lot of places - London, Manhattan, and Vancouver. What's the bad part of your town, and what side of town is it on?

Courteous George...I'm wondering about the correct form for linking to another's blog. Does one email first and ask? Or just go ahead and link?

Obnoxious George! What is your most obnoxious public habit? By that I mean, something the public is going to see. And what is your most Awwwwwww! inspiring trait? Something cute, but that other people secretly think you are a nutjob for doing. 1. Yelling out my window at people doing dumb stuff. All I'm missing is the creaky front porch, rocking chair, and gnarled walking stick to shake. 2. Pick up and move to safety virtually any critter in danger of getting squashed on the sidewalk, including slugs. I draw the line at babies.

Behold the fabulousness of the puffling! "...the idea is to cock your arm like a quarterback and throw the bird like a football..."

Uproarious George! What was the last movie you saw in a theatre where the audience applauded and cheered at the end? How is a great movie that gets applause at the end different from a great movie that doesn't? Because I've been to a lot of great movies, but only a few where the audience reacted so spontaneously and with such comraderie. I saw "Shaun of the Dead" last night, and it got a full house applauding as the credits started to roll. With this particular movie my theory is its freshness; an all-English cast essentially unknown over here, and an odd genre - the Slacker/Zombie/Boy in Doghouse with Girl/Comedy/Buddy Movie genre, to be exact. What are your The Audience Clapped at the End movies and theories?

Platitudinous George...what's the most cliche thing you've ever done? I got married in Vegas, and have the tattoo to prove it!

Curious George - Dog = Bob? When somebody says to me "I saw Bob today", I instantly get sort of a mental trading card of 'Bobness' popping up - a simultaneous burst of what Bob looks like, a fleeting impression of the specific traits that most typify 'Bobness' and whether or not I like Bob. I have exactly the same response when an animal I know is mentioned. There is absolutely no difference between person and animal. Is this what makes some people go into a burning building to save their dog? Because I know I'd be thinking, "I've got to get Quinn out of there" because he's Quinn; in my head there's no difference between going in for him or going in after a friend in the building. The question isn't about who would or who wouldn't go in a burning building to save an animal, or if someone should or not - I just really want to know if other people's 'mental trading cards' have people and animals shuffled into the same deck, or are they separate?

Valorous George ...Last night I was tag-teaming a burly and dangerous fly with my cat Kiki until we lost the sucker behind a shelf. I'm on the computer a few hours later, and hear Kiki having a knock-down drag-out bug toss in the kitchen, and assume it to be the fly. Eventually I go in the kitchen, and find that Kiki has, in fact, been bravely fighting a squadron of yellowjackets, with neither reinforcements or air cover! Has your beast done something mildly heroic lately?