I think I’ve figured out the reason why, for all my love of pretty things and for all my care of aesthetics, I’ve never been able to fully get into what I would consider “high” fashion.

I’ve written before about how I think much of the disdain directed at fashion is unwarranted. Fashion is, at its core, a form of self-expression, and I don’t begrudge anyone the choice to spend money on something that makes them feel at home with their identity.

But my identity is shaped by the drive to do things. Anything. I feel most like myself when I’m putting out fires or cycling through seventeen windows to formulate a blog post or running around directing a legion of minions to do my bidding. I can’t run around in heels. I can’t immerse myself in code when I’m wearing a blazer or a jacket, because the presence of that piece of clothing is noticeable against my arms in the way it pulls when I’m typing.

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I’ve had more time to draw recently, which is awesome.

This is what Hermione would be like if she were a dude.

Me? Arrogant? No way.

One of my coworkers.

Some more sketches while I was really bored.

I had some time free for the first time in a while, so my friend and I decided to walk around downtown Toronto.

I had to get the internet installed in my place recently. It was a surprisingly difficult process, primarily because my place had no phone hookup.

I talked to several of my neighbours who knew the previous tenants, and they confirmed that my place was, indeed, capable of supporting a phone. I looked on the wall where they thought the phone might have been, and discovered the remnants of a phone cable, and a notch in the paint that looks like it might’ve once supported a phone jack. Read full post…

A lot of things are changing. It’s not just because I’m moving and starting a new job; I’ve also been finding that this blog doesn’t fill the role in my life that I want it to fulfill anymore.

I started this blog because I wanted to get back in the habit of writing regularly, but lately it’s become more of an obligation than anything else. I still want to write, but now I want to write for myself: the long-form fiction that I started out with twelve years ago, and more of the vignettes I already post here.

Furthermore, I want my writing to be more than just an exercise in self-indulgence. Former NDP leader Jack Layton’s passing has made me realize that just shouting into the ether isn’t enough for me anymore. I want to start doing something with my opinion.

I still want to blog. Anyone who follows me on Google+ or Mlkshk or Twitter knows that I repost a lot of articles. But I no longer have time for the thousand-word-essays that used to occupy this space. I’ll be emulating the Daring Fireball blog in future posts: a link, a quote, and a single line with my thoughts. Occasionally I’ll still write an opinion piece, but by and large a shorter format will allow me to update more frequently, and be a bit less constrained in what I write about. Sometimes I just don’t have that much to say, you know?

As for the mailing list, don’t worry. I’m not going to send out an email every time I post a link; instead, you’ll only get notices for long posts and a weekly round-up of the highlights.

Hope you guys stick around.

I had a totally unexpected chance to go on a day-trip in New York City last week. Since the only time I’d been there was about 9 years ago on one of those sketchy Chinatown four-cities-in-three-days tours, I was pretty psyched to see as much as I could.

I was staying in Long Island, so I took the fantastic LIRR into town and walked basically all over Manhattan. I hit as far north as 76th and as far south as the WTC memorial, with lots of subway-ing in between. (Totally jealous of the NY subway, for what it’s worth.) I’m not totally sure how far I walked, but I do know that I was on my feet non-stop for about 9 hours, so…

I only had a cellphone camera with me, but I think these turned out alright for what they were.

The site is done! Hurray! Hurrah!

That only took me four solid days of coding, no big deal. At least I learned a bunch about how to use WordPress.

I still need to slowly add art to the ‘et cetera’ section over the next little while, but by and large it’s ready to face the world.