g o g g l e s

I have a carefully (aka randomly) curated personal repertoire of quotes that I sound off to myself at poignant points in my life. The above gem is from Ned Kelly (Naomi Watts : "Don't make me mourn you"; Heath Ledger : "I ain't dead yet"); excellent movie, check it out.

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I've been a little absent from cyber-land lately, mainly because real-life has been extra-hectic. I'd kept it under my hat, but I did a big thing: my lovely man Josh and I have made the big leap and moved back to our hometown of Kitchener-Waterloo from Toronto. It's been a crazy and frustrating past few months; all of my things have been in storage since mid-September and I spent a few weeks drifting between friend's couches and living out of suitcases. That being said, I'm beyond excited to finally be moving into our new place on the first.

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A few weeks ago I spent a night out with my two favourite people: Josh and Marta. We saw Thor (shirtless sponge-bath wishes granted), hung out at a great little turkish-cafe on the Danforth and then had excellent midnight-snacks at Square Boy (most amazing little burgers and fries). While waiting in line for our food I tried on Marta's new glasses and pulled a Sam-face; they look excellent on her, like swim-goggles on me.

s u n l i g h t

t a n k

Do you ever feel like you spend so much time studying and emulating others that you forget how to be yourself? That's my creative trap — I look around and wonder how other (successful looking) people thrive and then a) berate myself for not being like them and b) try to mimic them and feel deflated when I can't. I've gone and done it again, hence the sparsity around here. Oops.

I'll tell you what snapped me out of it (a little): Lori Petty as Tank Girl.

I bought the VHS in high school for three dollars, based solely on the wacky appeal of its cover (bright yellow! goggles! pouting red lips!); the clerk who cashed me out said something like "oh, wow, that movie eh?" and I remember asking if that meant it was horrible. He laughed and said that I'd see for myself when I watched it...and once I watched — nay, experienced — Tank Girl for the first time, I was in awe of Lori's easy laugh and relaxed coolness; she was silly and strong and full of cleverness and I LOVED her. I vowed  to be just as unafraid and nonchalant in my own life, to be unapologetically real and enjoy everything.

Somehow, I'd forgotten how inspiring Tank's half-shaved rainbow hair and sassy quips were in the years since then. Her jubilant exclamation of "Aw, man!" drifted into my daydreams recently, and, happily, all the aforementioned came back to me. Lesson learned: calm down, loosen up and be yourself!

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The other morning on my walk to work, I passed a woman while crossing the street and did a long double take. She was wearing the most perfect shades of peach and pea green together (blouse and cardigan). I felt like a bit of a creep leering at a stranger; I wish it was socially acceptable to congratulate passers by on their sartorial choices.

h i g h . h o p e s

g o o d . a d v i c e

Good advice from the most handsome existentialist.