Hate is such a strong word, but it’s clear that there are some people out there that receive more than their fair share of ire. Leading off this edition of The Weekender is an article by The Beast that lists the 50 most loathsome people in America last year. Most of the people on the list are to be expected, but there’s an absolutely priceless quote when they write about Eliot Spitzer:

“Governor Spitzer did not remove his mid-calf length black socks during the sex act.”

Hear that boys? Take your socks off, or you too will be one of the most loathsome people in America.

Link Love

Know of anything I should be reading this weekend that’s not mentioned here? Leave a link the comments.

The Weekender is inspired by Michael Surtees’ weekly link drop. Go read his site. It rocks.

David Eaves tagged me in a meme earlier this week.

I love a meme more than most people, but I like this one more than others mainly because it was David that tagged me. David Eaves is perhaps one of the smartest and most articulate people I’ve ever had the chance to meet, and if you don’t already read his blog, leave this site immediately and go there. Now.

For those of you that are still around, it’s time for you to learn seven new things about me.

The Rules

Simple, but important:

• Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post. (see above)
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post. (see below)
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged.

I’m changing things up a bit and not necessarily sharing seven facts about myself, but instead seven facts about people in my life and how they have had an impact on me over the years. It’s always much more fun to talk about other people.

The Seven

The first person of my age that I met when I arrived in Canada over twenty years ago was Elizabeth McDowell. Her dad drove the bus that took me to school on my first day in Toronto, and she ended up being in my class at school for seven straight years. We also, coincidentally, share the same birthday. If I had to quantify things, of all the friends I have now I have known her the longest, and I’m happy to still have her in my life in some small way.

In eighth grade, my friend Claire Denham would always bring the best lunches to school. On top of that, she’d never really want to eat them. Claire kept me well fed all through eighth grade. After learning I wouldn’t be going to the same high school, Claire started her message in my yearbook with: “who’s going to bring you lunch when you go away?”

I had a Colombian roommate in high school, Luis Carlos Moncayo Marquez, who didn’t like coffee. His mother would regularly send fresh Colombian coffee beans to our address, and I would end up drinking all of the coffee. I think my obsession with (addiction to?) caffeinated beverages began that year in high school.

Through high school and some of university, I worked at a local recreation center as a program coordinator running recreation programs for young people. One of my staff members during that time was Alicia Stefanowicz, a young lady with enthusiasm, exuberance, and a huge heart. Alicia helped me keep my head on straight when things weren’t going so well, and we spent a lot of time hanging out together outside of work hours. She’s now a program coordinator at the recreation center, and I couldn’t be happier.

In my final years of high school, I sang baritone and did vocal percussion for an a capella group called Afro & the Desiacs consisting of my friends Ryan Murphy, Peter Seem, Matthew Simon, and Stig Nymo. We performed our own custom arrangements of classic pop hits in front of several large crowds, including once in front of a distinguished audience including Queen Noor of Jordan. They all continue to be some of my closest friends.

I once met a young woman on the Toronto subway named Melissa. She got on at the same stop and we became so engrossed in our conversation that we both not only missed our stops, but we stayed on that subway car for three hours as it looped from end of the line to end of the line. It was one of the best conversations I have ever had. I never heard from her ever again.

It’s hard to measure the impact someone like Rachel Sainsbury can have on your life. I met Rachel in Mauritius a few months ago — we were both staff at the same conference — and I immediately knew that she someone I had to get to know better. She was running the storytelling workshop (nice!) while I ran the blogging workshops, so we worked together very closely. Through that, I learned of her passion, dedication, and intensity for everything she does. Her passion and joie de vivre is infectious, and I feel blessed that she’s a part of my life.

The Tags

Not all these people will appreciate being tagged in a meme, but hey, I’m giving it a try.

• Darren, the best work colleague ever and a great friend.
• Jen, the person that keeps me sane and smiling every day.
• Amir, my funny and motivated and smart brother across the ocean.
• Maria, one of the most insightful women I have ever met.
• Tabish, an astute observer of the world and an all-round fun guy.
• Indriana, a high school friend I’m really glad to still be in touch with now.
• Melissa, my go-to girl for all things fashion and PR and fun.

Go forth and share. I’m done around here.

It’s no surprise that I like food and all things related to eating. So it should be no surprise that this edition of The Weekender kicks off with a few articles about food and feeding. Whether it’s questioning the validity of nut allergies to pondering upon the best places to eat in Toronto to critically examining breastfeeding trends, the first three links below all have something to do with eating.

And while the rest of them don’t, they’re still great articles to chew on.

Link Love

Know of anything I should be reading this weekend that’s not mentioned here? Leave a link the comments.

The Weekender is inspired by Michael Surtees’ weekly link drop. Go read his site. It rocks.

I don’t break promises.

Sure, I may have to cancel appointments from time to time, or postpone some commitments, but when I say “I promise,” I mean it.

On the 18th of March, 2008, I made a promise that if Barack Obama won the presidency, I would move to the United States of America. At that point, Obama was still an underdog in the Democratic primary race and the presidency seemed a long way away.

Yesterday, Barack Obama took his place in the White House as the 44th President of the United States of America.

Tomorrow, I keep my promise and move into a new apartment in Washington DC.

I’m starting a new contract with the World Bank here this week, and will be in the District for at least the next few months. If you’re ever in the area, be sure to drop me a line and say hullo over coffee.

I deactivated my Facebook account almost four weeks ago. With over 2000 friends, the volume of messages I was receiving on Facebook was unmanageable, and I didn’t want to keep the account open and give people the false impression that they would receive a response to their messages.

Apparently, I deactivated my account a few weeks too early; last week, Burger King announced a promotion where they would give a free Whopper to anyone that would “defriend” ten people on Facebook.

With over 2000 people to choose from, I’m sure I could have easily found ten people to delete. Alas, now with a deactivated account (zero friends), there’s no free Whopper in my future.

Jason Kottke’s been having an interesting discussion on his blog about the value of friendship on Facebook when compared to Whoppers. In his most recent post on the topic, he talks about a full “buyout” on social networks:

You might be able to get someone to part with 10 “junk” friends for $2.40 but could you pay them $22 more to essentially shut down their Facebook account for good? I don’t think so. It’s going to cost much more than that…and for some intense users of the site, the “buyout” amount might be surprisingly high.

Which got me asking: how much money would you need to receive to shut down your account on some major social networks?

I tried coming up with numbers, and it was a harder exercise than I expected. After all, I may have deactivated my Facebook account for free, but that wouldn’t mean I’d go back and delete the account again for the same price.

Social Network Buyout

Here’s what I came up with for now. All numbers subject to change on a hourly basis:

• Dopplr: $100
• Facebook: $500
• Flickr: $500
• GigPark: $100
• Last.fm: $500
• LinkedIn: $50
• Momentile: $20
• Tumblr: $2000
• Twitter: $2000
• Upcoming: $20
• Vimeo: $50
• YouTube: $10

So how about it? What would it cost to “buy you out” of your favorite social networks?

(That awesome photo of Frankenstein eating a Whopper was taken in Niagara Falls by cmiper.)

A few weeks ago, I was reading an advert on the bus which told me that if I didn’t believe in God, my soul would be damned for eternity. A nice old lady next to me saw me reading the ad and had to give me a personal reminder:

Young man, you really should embrace God and all that he stands for. If not, you’ll burn in hell and God will spite you both in life and in the afterlife.

Then she smiled. A cute, non-threatening smile.

Why be scary?

This isn’t a post about believing in God (I do) or about the politicization of religion.

This is a post about threats and living in fear.

I can not, for the life of me, understand why people choose to use fear as a motivating factor for anything at all.

Some people use the fear of hell to instill religious compliance. Some people use the fear of terror to foster xenophobia and hatred. Some people use the fear of failure to legitimize apathy and laziness.

Fear should not be used as a motivating factor.

Want me to believe in God? Tell me about the beautiful things She does.

Want me to endorse your war? Tell me about your drive to bring positive change to a nation.

Want me to understand your impassivity? Tell me about the wonderful stories you dream of when sitting on your couch.

I may not agree with you, but I will listen. Scare me, and I’ll just tune out.

I’m hoping that the man that takes his place in the White House in three days is successful in his campaign to eliminate the rhetoric of fear and replace it with a rhetoric of love and hope. If he manages to do that and only that in the next four years, I’ll count his presidency as a resounding success.

It’s no surprise that I love cupcakes, but Zoe Williams’ article on the rise of the cupcake has me questioning my love of the small treats: do I really just love cupcakes because I’m a horrible individualist and think only of myself?

Today’s edition of the Weekender not only includes articles about cupcakes — who doesn’t love cupcakes? — but also Porsche, whiteness, and a whole lot of other great topics. Check out the links below.

Link Love

Know of anything I should be reading this weekend that’s not mentioned here? Leave a link the comments.

The Weekender is inspired by Michael Surtees’ weekly link drop. Go read his site. It rocks.

I have a friend whose seven-year-old son just finished completing a relatively hard puzzle. It took him three weeks.

Two days ago, in a tantrum, he threw something at the table holding the puzzle and the entire thing fell apart.

He stormed over to his mom (my friend) and demanded that she put the puzzle back together for him. It had, after all, taken him so long to complete and he was entitled to a finished puzzle after all his work.

She declined. Instead, she offered to help him rebuild the puzzle, but still made sure he would be the one picking up the pieces so that he learned a lesson: when things are going bad, don’t take it out on the things that are going well.

I’m no economist, but this seems like a pretty solid way to deal with the current economic crisis.

Instead of bailing out the big banks and auto makers — rebuilding their “puzzles” (see: businesses) they destroyed in times of uncertainty by throwing money instead of good business practice at them — we should perhaps work with them to find innovative ways to reconstruct their businesses through foresight.

You know, help them learn that instead of coming to mommy for a bailout, they should take a bit of pain and fix their problems through innovation, consolidation, and a bit of elbow grease.

Then again, I’m no economist. I just know a lot of good parents.

The English language is much more powerful than people often expect.

Three simple letters — two basic words — have the power to convey one of the most beautiful messages.

I do.

There’s a simple pleasure in hearing the words “I do.” A pleasure rooted in knowing that those two words can describe a feeling of love so great that someone is willing to devote their life to you.

The rings above — the work of Brooklyn-based Japanese artist Sakurako Shimizu — take those two words and make them real, personal, and true. Brilliant.

I do.

I never thought three letters could contain such power, emotion, and meaning.

Photo of rings by Sakurako Shimizu, via Andy Baio.

Jack Cheng’s most excellent article on maxing out your triangle leads off today’s Weekender. In it, Jack argues that instead of trying to do your job to make money and do a hobby to keep happy at the same time, your job and your hobby should both be the same, thus maximizing your balance of money, growth, and love.

Sound advice. Even better when you see it all plotted on 3d triangles.

Link Love

Know of anything I should be reading this weekend that’s not mentioned here? Leave a link the comments.

The Weekender is inspired by Michael Surtees’ weekly link drop. Go read his site. It rocks.