Presto, Chango, 2007
A new year, a new routine. A lot has changed for me this January. First big thing, I'm not in school!! And thank the fucking lord. And in closing that door, I've opened another one: namely, a new cool job that I managed to stumble into, that's proving rather fun. In short, I'm working for an ESL-product company in Vancouver, creating TOEFL exams. You know those standardized tests where you listen to two people talk for five minutes, or you read some short essay on the Navajo tribe or the tectonic plates? Well, my job's to write that material. It's interesting, creative, and relatively easy, and it's something new every day.
The fun part is that I get to work from home, which means that I spend a lot of time in hip cafés pretending to be Carrie Bradshaw. And since I'm spending all day writing anyways, I've started pitching articles to magazines and papers, just to see how far I can stretch this working-as-a-writer thing. I've joined a yoga studio, which keeps me interacting with humans and from not sinking too deep into my cerebral wordscape. And then choir, also, keeps me happy, sane and surrounded by love.
The work is flexible enough that I have time for a whole bunch of other things like...sleeping. And watching Season 1 of the American Queer as Folk with Debbie. And reading "The Way the Crow Flies." And making bean-stews with my new slow cooker. All in all, a picturesque hibernation season.
I had a realization the other day about my whole random living-in-Montreal thing. When I was in Montreal last Passover, I remember saying to myself that I would love to test out living in MTL for a chunk of time. Not to relocate permanently, nor to sever any ties with Toronto, but just to plant some seeds here too and explore the city from whence I sprung. I imagined that I'd have some glamourous freelance jobs that would allow me to move effortlessly from one city to the next. Debbie had even mentioned at the time that I could squat with her for a few months, if I was gonna be in town. I pictured that I'd come to Montreal, maybe get involved in a play or in a choir, make some new friends, and then take it from there.
Even though this whole living-in-montreal thing seems like it happened by fluke, and in its initial stages proved to be the ringer-of-all-ringers to put myself through, it's actually materializing near-perfectly according to that vision. Especially now, as I look into getting summer contract work in Toronto, just to keep my toes in both ponds, it all seems like everything's working out as it should. Cuz, realistically, few things don't.
The fun part is that I get to work from home, which means that I spend a lot of time in hip cafés pretending to be Carrie Bradshaw. And since I'm spending all day writing anyways, I've started pitching articles to magazines and papers, just to see how far I can stretch this working-as-a-writer thing. I've joined a yoga studio, which keeps me interacting with humans and from not sinking too deep into my cerebral wordscape. And then choir, also, keeps me happy, sane and surrounded by love.
The work is flexible enough that I have time for a whole bunch of other things like...sleeping. And watching Season 1 of the American Queer as Folk with Debbie. And reading "The Way the Crow Flies." And making bean-stews with my new slow cooker. All in all, a picturesque hibernation season.
I had a realization the other day about my whole random living-in-Montreal thing. When I was in Montreal last Passover, I remember saying to myself that I would love to test out living in MTL for a chunk of time. Not to relocate permanently, nor to sever any ties with Toronto, but just to plant some seeds here too and explore the city from whence I sprung. I imagined that I'd have some glamourous freelance jobs that would allow me to move effortlessly from one city to the next. Debbie had even mentioned at the time that I could squat with her for a few months, if I was gonna be in town. I pictured that I'd come to Montreal, maybe get involved in a play or in a choir, make some new friends, and then take it from there.
Even though this whole living-in-montreal thing seems like it happened by fluke, and in its initial stages proved to be the ringer-of-all-ringers to put myself through, it's actually materializing near-perfectly according to that vision. Especially now, as I look into getting summer contract work in Toronto, just to keep my toes in both ponds, it all seems like everything's working out as it should. Cuz, realistically, few things don't.