Life Updates

1. I started a new job about a month ago. It's part time. I wake up around 5:30AM Monday to Friday. It can get exhausting, but a job is a job is a job. I'm a barista. It's OK. 
2. I was seeing a guy for a bit back in August. We're not seeing each other anymore. Instead, I text one of my best girlfriends every day and I tell her two days ago that she's basically my pseudo-boyfriend. 
3. My student loans officially start requiring repayment on November 30th, 2015.
4. I've almost begun the process to begin applications for graduate programs (and others). Yesterday, I met with an old high school advisor and we talked about school and life. She graduated out of Queen's University too, and she told me that when she first moved to Toronto after her undergraduate degree, she was pretty lonely in the city. Fast forward a couple of years, everyone ended up moving to Toronto. That's my hope too.
5. Two Saturdays ago, I had a job interview. I have a second interview this Friday. 
6. Over the last month or so, I've been to this one sushi shop at Dundas & University far too often. They have this great take-out special. It's $4.99 (excluding tax) for 16 pieces of sushi and a can of pop/water/juice. I think the girls might recognize me. I usually get 16 pieces of spicy salmon sushi and a can of ginger ale. 
7. I haven't been making a lot of art, but I'm picking it back up. I started a new journal and I've done quite a few small watercolours. One hungover Saturday after Halloween, I pack my journal and some pens and go to sketch the skyline at Sunnyside Beach. It was windy, I was all alone, and it was divine.
8. I'm still slowly settling back into my life, back into myself. Things are progressing. 

Behind Closed Doors, Looking Back

Photographer Rob Meyers has a book called Behind Closed Doors that captures "the private homes of 25 of the world's most creative people". Some of these people include Courtney Love, Jeremy Scott, Martha Stewart and Tavi Gevinson. The premise of the project is that Meyers asks people to photograph their home using a disposable camera and then to mail in the results that they liked. This means that they can mail in a single photo or the entire roll, and of course any amount in between.

I bought this book because it was on sale at Urban Outfitters for $5. 

I was out shopping with one of my old roommates when I bought it. My old roommate and I went out for dinner after shopping, and then I ended up at the apartment of the guy I was seeing at the time. He's a photographer - both professionally and I imagine at the very nature of his soul. After explaining the project and flipping through the book, I asked him to take some photos of his apartment. How he saw it, how he wanted to show it. 

Phil's Place, Toronto, August 2014

He lived in this single room in what was a rooming house. It was a small place, but it was good I think. It was in the hub of downtown, close to some notorious bars in Toronto, across the street from old remnants of my childhood. We spent a lot of time in this little place while we were dating.

I've been looking at old photos from the past year. I count a lot of dates; events that I consider to be beginnings and ends that may not matter very much in the grand scheme of things, but I remember regardless. This weekend marks the anniversary of the last time I spent any time with this guy. I ran into him once when I moved back into the city but I haven't seen him since.

There aren't any leftover feelings.

Philip, August 2014

It's weird looking at these photos and remembering. I'm not sure he even lives in this apartment anymore. 

Recently, I've been busy with work and thinking about applying for grad school. I spend quite a bit of time thinking about where I am now versus where I was last fall. It's striking how quickly things change and how we adapt to new changes. I'm not in school anymore, I'm currently working a retail job. I don't see the same friends as often. I'm dating (but not quite - it's nothing serious and sometimes, hardly anything at all). I'm trying to be more responsible in my adult choices. For example, I started the process for repaying my student loans and I'm looking into better banking options. I also try not to go to sleep at 3AM. 

I think I'm finally getting a hang of how to move forward from last fall and being a student. Cheers.