Update from The Junction

Yesterday I walked in the front door, home from teaching my Wednesday afterschool drama class that I enjoy so much, and found my two roomates, Laura & Henry, hangin' out on this red cushion here:
We chatted for a bit as I stood in the doorway taking off my boots, but they just looked so darn cute flopped there over that square red cushion that I had to whip out my camera and take a picture.

Soooooo, things are going well here as we approach the end of my first month of living in The Junction with Laura, Louis & Henry. Teaching my afterschool drama classes three days a week is also keeping me happy and stimulated. Unfortunately, earlier this month I endured a small fiasco with my former boss (the owner of The Bookstore) because she kinda lost it when I gave her my notice (three and a half weeks notice, by the way)! So I ended up terminating my employment immediately. Which certainly hasn't done wonders for my bank account, but it's given me lots of time to spend bonding with my new roomies, looking for exciting new work, volunteering with the teenagers that I used to work with and helping my friend Anthony with his one-man show, Art's Heart. Oh yeah, and unpacking. Little by little...

I woke up strangely early this morning, gripped with the sudden motivation to unpack and organise my boxes of books... Maybe this had something to do with the fact that Robin is coming in to town today, so that we can go see her cousin's band (AMOS THE TRANSPARENT) tonight at The Drake (yes, ugh, I know) and then she is staying over... Or maybe I've just reached the breaking point of staring at unpacked boxes...

In any case, books are finally unpacked and arranged on my new Ikea bookshelf (that I painstakingly assembled by myself last week!), and some are neatly re-packed and stored away in boxes in the basement, for the future... And my bedroom is one step closer to feeling settled into... My desk still needs to be organised, a couple shelves still need to be mounted on the wall, and then one day... I will even decorate and put my photos and posters up again...

One day...

Things That Break My Heart:

1. Goodbyes
2. Fires that destroy things
3. When death takes our loved ones
4. Lack of communication (also, Miscommunications)
5. War, and its impacts
6. When bad things happen to good people

----------------------------------------------------

Unless you live in a cave, or maybe a country other than Canada, you heard about the massive 6 alarm fire that destroyed practically an entire block of Toronto's famous Queen West last week. It was so surreal, and confusing - incomprehensible even - for me to wake up on Wednesday morning and hear on the radio that Queen Street was closed between Bathurst & Augusta because of a huge fire... WHAT?!?

This is the neighbourhood that I just moved from. (I lived maybe ten blocks or so west from where this fire began) These buildings had been a part of my daily landscape for the last two years, and prior to living in this neighbourhood, I spent a lot of time in this area... Because it was, in many ways, the heart of one of Toronto's hippest 'hoods, and very near to a few theatres that I try to frequent.

So on Thursday, on my way to rehearse his one-man show with my friend Anthony, of course I had to stop by, and pay my respects to these buildings... and the lost livelihood of so many...

B R E A K. M Y. H E A R T.

Ugh, my home burning down is one of my worst nightmares! It is one of only two recurring nightmares that I have ever had in my life. (The other is me drowning in a pit of snakes & spiders - thanks so much for that image Indiana Jones!) I can remember sitting in the backseat of our family car with my fingers crossed each time we returned home after being away for more than a few hours, silently praying as we approached our street, "please let the house not be on fire, please let the house not be on fire, please ..." I'm not sure where that fear comes from, but I was afraid of any kind of fire for a very, very long time. Funnily enough, my brother was afraid of water for a very, very long time. Conundrums.

Well, on a slightly more selfishly heart-breaking note (because it's actually a GREAT thing for my BFF, Alison), check out these pics from Saturday night, which was the Goodbye Party for my Best Friend Alison, who left on Sunday to move to Bathurst, New Brunswick to work for the CBC...

Sad Faces.
Toronto won't be the same without her.

I really don't think that I am exagerrating when I say that the last five years of my life in Toronto have been pretty much defined by my friendship with Alison. We lived together, on good ol' Vermont Avenue in The Annex from Sept '04 to Jan '06 - those were the magical, fantastic, super-fun, memorable, and some might even say infamous 'Sex and the Annex' years! (Some of you may remember that, slightly less mature but definitely juicy and exciting, blog of ours!) Winter '06 was tough when Ali spent the semester at journalism school in DENMARK(!), but upon her return in June '06 we resumed the excellentness of our inseperable friendship. We jokingly call each other "Life Partners."

So yeah, it's tough that she's moving away. I'm so, so, so, so, sooooooo happy for her though! It has been her dream since before she even went to journalism school (at Ryerson) to work for the CBC, and there was never a doubt in my mind that she could do it. So, those of you who are CBC radio listeners, keep an ear out on the national news reports for "Alison Northcott reporting for CBC News, Bathurst."

Well, since this post has been mostly such a downer, here's pic for y'all that should break your heart in the good way, with it's adorableness:

My roomies: Henry & SnoBear, dancing in my room last weekend.
Awwwwwww!

love (and chocolate)

I must say, I had such a very lovely Valentines Day (or "Aphrodite Day" as my friend Deirdre prefers to call it, on the basis that apparently there never was a saint called 'Valentine', so if we're gonna have a day that celebrates love, it should be named after the goddess Aphrodite! Works for me.) So anyways, I had an appointment with my therapist, Julia, on the afternoon of the 14th - a "therapy valentine" as she called it in an email to me, adorably. After which I decided to go out into the world and do a little valentines day photo shoot mission... "interrupted" by a delectable sushi dinner for one (that would be Me) followed by a workshop called "Love and Chocolate" hosted by my friend Deirdre in the backspace of my former workplace, The Bookstore.

Deirdre sent a follow up email to the workshop which included "the poem we wrote together." When I read that, I remember thinking, what poem?!? But then what followed was actually a poem formed from each of our answers to the first question of the workshop, which was "What is the one thing you know about love?"

So, here is our "poem":

What do I know about love?
by Adriana, Daniela, Diana, Holly, Nicole, Erinn, Meghan, Angela, Deirdre

I know...
I'm in love right now
it's a transcendental bond
love is a gift
I know...
love is the greatest healer
love is everywhere
love transcends everything
I know...
love is powerful
love is painful
that we can't choose what is love is but we can be what love is

And here, is my "Valentines Day Photo Project":

Post-Therapy Valentine: Snow Heart

Vespa Love

Love is in the Air

The Glow of Love in The Junction

And it all comes full circle, with yet another self-created
Snow Valentine.
But this time, by the end of the night, the glow seems warmer...

7 Things About Me

If you've ever been curious about the link over to the right of this screen here, that is named "We met on the streets of NYC", you should check it out. It is the blog of a lovely and interesting and entertaining woman that I randomly met one afternoon in New York City, about a year ago. I was trying on a hat and she was walking her dog (or maybe her boss' dog?). She took the time to stop and tell me that she thought the hat I was trying on looked good on me. We ended up chatting, I gave her a flyer for the show I was production managing, and we've stayed in touch... And it's been lovely.

So, today she sent me an email inviting me to complete this little quizz-ish thingy that some man in her life had "tagged" her to do on her blog... All you had to do was list 7 Random Habits/Quirks/Facts about yourself. I fulfilled her request in the 'Comment' section of her blog, but then thought, might as well post mine here too!

And thus we have...

7 Things, About Me:

1. I still sleep with my teddy bear. His name is SnoBear, and he has travelled throughout Europe, Hawaii, California, NYC, Las Vegas, all across Canada and even into the wilderness of Algonquin Park with me.

2. I have been dying my hair since I was 11 years old.

3. I am really excellent at moving. Some would say "freakishly organized." Incredibly detailed labels on meticulously sorted boxes, color-coded and such.

4. I have a really poor sense of direction. Many will vouch for this. If I have a strong feeling we should go this way, go in the direct opposite direction and you'll likely end up where we want to be.

5. As a child I could spend 6-10 hours a day in the pacific ocean, pretending to be The Little Mermaid. (If given the opportunity, I'm pretty sure I could do the same these days...)

6. My favorite "guilty pleasure food" is pizza. I once spent an entire year eating pretty much nothing but pizza. The delivery guy knew me by name.

7. I nurse my hangovers with poutine (that's french fries, gravy & cheese) and a pint of beer.

And in case you're interested,
7 Things About My NYC Friend "Quin":

1. I have great spatial sense...I can usually center pictures on a wall without measuring or center anything on a shelf. I can look at leftovers, and know what size tupperwear to grab, etc.
2. I find great pleasure in lying out under a beautiful clear night sky and watching the stars,
especially Orion. This can make me cry.
3. My guilty food pleasure is either a burrito from Chipolte's or a banana and mayo sandwich or rice pudding.
4. I love to inhale that space between the neck and shoulder of someone I am with.
5. I never go anywhere without my watch on my wrist. I can't imagine doing that, ever.
6. There are entire villages of people I want to write about in my head.
7. There are times I am afraid I will never be kissed with passion again in my life.

I'd love to know 7 Things About YOU...

Post a comment!

Pretty please?

Happy Valentines Day to Me!

Well, I'm sick. But actually, today I seem to be feeling a little better than I felt waking up over the last few days. Maybe that is partly because I don't have to work anywhere today. I'm certainly not feeling any better because of rest! Laura commented to me this morning that I "sure do have a remarkable resistance to sleep; to be able to not sleep despite sickness, exhaustion and neo-citran!" To which I replied, "Yeah, no kidding. Hence the premise of the one-woman show" (For those of you who don't know, I wrote, produced and performed my own one-woman show in 2006, the premise of which was a young woman trying to fall asleep... but it also dealt with some more interesting topics too!)

Okay, so I've been sick. And sleepless. But happy... Mostly.

Part of my happiness has to do with the fact that I have started teaching again!!! Would you believe it? I mean, some of you must be thinking... But she just quit the bookstore last week??? And I thought she had to stay until the end of the month??? Well, yes, you are right. I do have to fulfill my commitment to the bookstore until the end of the month, but I have negotiated some reduced hours, in order to accomodate my new teaching jobs.

You see, just a day before I had planned to give my notice to the bookstore (in order to make space in my life to pursue the things in life that truly inspire me and make me happy - and make me more money too!), I got an email from a company that I used to teach lunchtime and afterschool drama classes for asking me if I wanted to come back and teach some classes this term. Apparently they were really in need of teachers and would be so happy to have me back, they'd take me even if I had limited availability! So, I took on teaching three afterschool drama classes (Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday) and reduced my hours at the bookstore accordingly. I'm still leaving the bookstore though, because I know there are still bigger and better things out there for me!

I've also agreed to volunteer, with my friend Mark, to meet once a week with the teenagers that we worked with a few years ago (we helped them to create a memorial presentation about their friend Drew who was murdered in 2004, and then also a play about violence). I don't think that this time we will do theatre work with them, but rather I think we will meet once a week to hang out, eat, talk about our lives, how we are doing, and maybe start to think about personal goals and values. Mark is doing his Masters in Adult Education so he's a really great resource for these types of activities. And we've both been through so much with these "teenagers" (who are getting older!) that we just really felt like being a part of their lives again... for good times, and to see if we can't do something productive together again!

Oh, did I mention that we had our first meeting with this new "teen group" on Tuesday (after I taught my afterschool kids class)... in the middle of yet another snowstorm!?! Yes. Miraculously, 8 people showed up. And seemed interested in continuing to meet. Yay!!!

Ok, so anyhow, that's been my week so far. I've also had to put in some extra hours at the bookstore (because my boss is away, again) so you can probably understand why I'm underslept, overtired and sick!

But today is Valentines Day. And I decided to start the day off by writing a love letter to myself! Cheesy? Perhaps. But useful in bolstering one's sense of self and self-love? Absolutely! So I have no shame.

So far, it's been a lovely Valentines Day morning, just hangin' out with me, myself & I, and also my dear roomies Laura & Henry. I plan to just relax, take care of my still-sick self and take the day as it comes...

WITH LOVE!

X's & O's

Embracing My Uncoolness

Okay, so believe it or not, I do actually have some rules for myself and this blog. These somewhat random (and often made up as I go along) rules include, but are not limited to: Being only as honest in writing here as I could bear to be in speech in real life. This means I don't intend to use this space as a place to whine and complain and criticise specific people in my life. (Because I have a telephone and the trusted ears of my best friends for that kind of stuff, thankyouverymuch). I'm pretty sure that I've also never mentioned any place where I work by name, which has been intentional. Furthermore, when I do venture in to "complaining" territory, especially about work, I attempt to accept ownership for my feelings of frustration. Because really, I don't think anyone really does anything to us that we don't let them do... to a certain extent. (You gotta take that one with a grain of salt, because there ARE manipulative people out there to whom some of us really are powerless and susceptible. Okay, moving on.)

So, I guess that's the bottom line of my rules really: whatever I write on here, it is about me - the events of my life and my thoughts and feelings about them. And a very big part of this blog is me sharing these anecdotes with the intention of accepting total responsibility for the shape and feel of my own life, when it is awesome as well as when it is not so awesome.

But I have to say I think my life is pretty awesome right now. I'm love, love, LOVING my new living sitch. "Baby" Henry and I are definitely becoming buddies, and I'm also totally loving my adult roomies. (After I typed that sentence I just took a sip of the hot chocolate with Khalua that my roomie Laura just made me. Yes folks, I have moved to heaven. It's in The Junction. On Vine Avenue. Sigh.) I've also been spending quite a bit of time lately enjoying the company of many of my super fantastic friends, with whom I'd fallen out of touch over the past few months/years/etc (for some reason or another).

In fact, just last night, I went out with some girls I used to work with at The Restaurant. It has been months since I've seen most of them! It was soooo great! It was the lovely Beverly's birthday, and my friend Laura (not roomie Laura) had a group of us over to her place before we hit the bar. Now, another one of my rules for this here blog is not to record anything to "incriminating" about myself, or to make myself seem like some great big out-of-control party girl. Which I am not. Really and truly. So far from it. However, I do know how to have a good time, and sometimes a little gin helps the fun move along... ya know what I mean? Anyhow, so here I am, throwing caution to wind, and about to tell you about some of the ridiculousness that I perpetrated last night...

Originally, I didn't intend to join the girls at the bar, but of course, after a few "pre-drinks" at Laura's I was easily coerced into joining the bar festivities. And I brought the fun. Big time. Somehow I also brought the drunkeness. Alas, also big time. Now, I wasn't such a mess that I don't remember what a dancing fool I made of myself, so I guess that's a good sign.

Anyhow, once the night at the bar ended, Laura and Beverly decided to put me in a cab and send me on my merry way home. But just before they did that, the noticed that I had pulled my phone out of my pocket...

"Meghan, who are you calling? Meghan? Meghan? What are you doing?!?!"

Imagine them reaching towards me in slow motion to grab the phone from my hands, in a last-ditch, good friend attempt at preventing a drunk dial.

"Meghan - Nooooooooooo!"

They were too late. I made the call. I totally called the boy that I like right now. Oh. My. Gawd.
(Yep, here's another blog rule-breaker - making reference to my romantic life, which yes my dear readers, I do have! I've just made a pointed effort up until now not to write about it here on the interweb for everyone and their dog to read about. Ugh, as if.)

Ok, so I drunk dialed the boy that I like. (Um, actually I called him twice. Oh my, oh my, oh my...) And then I got home. Finally. Unfortunately, I had told Laura & Louis that I would be staying at friend Laura's place, so they had put this security latch thingy on the door (my friend Kevin called it "the old lady door lock" when I told him the story today). Being the drunken genius that I am, I tried sticking my hand through the door to unlock it... Obviously, if it were actually possible to unlock the door that way, there would be no market for these latches and no one would have them. Duh.

The next thing I know, my hand is stuck.

My hand is stuck in the front door of my house, where my roomates are sleeping (one of whom is under the age of two years) and it's after 3:00am. OH MY.

I ended up having to call the house and thank god Louis had fallen asleep on the couch and so was downstairs to hear the phone ring and let me in.

Yes, it was hilarity. And yes, oh yes, I am so un-cool!
But at least I'm entertaining, no?

Big Moves, Big News, Intense Days...

Well, I did it. I moved. And I did it the day after the biggest snowstorm of the year, driving a cube van (aka a small TRUCK) and with the generously free labour of my very bestest friends ever!

But I'm not even sure if that is the most intense/exciting/noteworthy event of the last few days...

The last few days have definitely been jam-packed with intensity... From lovely reunions with very old friends, to packing stress, to work stress, to snowstorm stress, and moving stress (which includes but is not limited to anxiety, excitement, grief, optimism, exhaustion and the giddyness that comes beyond exhaustion)... and beyond!

But let's just start "at the beginning" (aka a mere 5 days ago) shall we?

So this is what the day looked like last Saturday morning - my moving day!

And these are pictures of the best moving team, ever!

Above: The Team (0n the load-in end of things); From L to R we have: Devon in front, Alison and Mark in the truck, Thea & Brandon. At my new place, Alison and Brandon were replaced by the amazing Johnny Hall (who can always be counted on to be there for me when I need him!) and my new roomies Laura and Louis.

Above: My Bestest Friends; Mark, Dev & Ali

Would you believe me if I told you that my move, from start to finish, took a mere 2 hours? Well, it did. Thanks to the above pictured (and some not pictured) SUPERSTARS! Sure, I got stuck a few times in the snow driving the cube van, but with what my friends like to call my "freakishly organised" packing style, and the hardest working, most generous and dedicated friends (and new roomies) a girl could wish for, it was all over in just two hours!

And did I mention that I did all this on just two hours of sleep because I stayed up until 5:30am the night before hanging out with an old friend from my Vancouver Youth Theatre days that I hadn't seen for 10 years? 'Cause yeah, that's what happened.

So, once I had returned the cube van (small TRUCK) and the lovely Devon had dropped me off back at home, I unpacked my bedding. Made my first bed in my new home. Took these photos...

My New Room!!!

First Dinner with the new roomies - they treated me to the freshest, tastiest indian food and champagne to celebrate! Yay!!! Below: Louis, Laura & Henry - LOVE!

And then, later that night, after my crazy intense move (and having had just 2 hours of sleep) I went to my long-lost friend David's band's show...

And here he is (below, with me), all growed up... after 10 years... And the totally dynamic and talented bassist of the Vancouver-based band 'Hey Ocean' - they rocked the party big time at The El Mocambo in Toronto on Saturday night!

Of course, all my super fantastic friends were too exhausted after helping me move, so none of them joined me at the Hey Ocean show on Saturday night. So I made some new, super fun (and uh, did I mention YOUNG) friends... We danced up a storm front and centre during the totally energetic and upbeat Hey Ocean show. Good times. Love, love, LOVED IT!

Below: Me and the gorgeous and fun Mor

Below: The Super Fun Girls: Piper, Catherine & Mor!

The following day, February 3rd, was the one year anniversary of my friend Emily's death. So Thea had the really lovely idea of gathering just a few of us together to honour that... I'm really glad that she did. Below: Jenn, Thea & I (Naz was taking the photo). I'll say it again: I'm really thankful that I had the opportunity to gather with other loved ones and think of Emily with love and remember her and laugh and smile and mourn...

On Monday night, Hey Ocean was playing in Hamilton. And it just so happens that my "faux cousin" (aka Holly's neice/Robin's cousin) Lindsay, goes to school there. She's a fun girl whom I figured would be up for a crazy fun adventure so I called her on Monday morning and proposed that I drive out to Hamilton, pick her up from her rehearsal at McMaster University and then take her out to see the amazing Hey Ocean at The PepperJack Cafe in dreary, awful, armpit-of-Ontario, Hamilton. She was in. It was fun. Here we are, with the fun-having:

And the last little bit of exciting news that I have to share is that I have decided that my future holds more exciting, challenging, stimulating and lucrative opportunities for me than working at a bookstore... So, today I gave my notice. As of the end of this month, I will no longer be working for practically no money, doing practically nothing. Hopefully by then some totally fantastically exciting new opportunity will have arisen for me... And if anyone out there has any great offers for me... Be in touch!

From Within The Storm

Okay, I'm trying just to keep breathing... In... And Out... In...

Okay, it's snowing here. A LOT.

And yes, I'm moving tomorrow.
And yes, I've rented a small truck that I have to drive.
And yes, I'm hoping my friends love me enough to still show up and help me move, even if it means trudging through the snow.

And yes, I still have more packing to do tonight!

And yes, I am stuck sitting here at work, in a bookstore (who goes to a friggin bookstore in the middle of a snow-storm?!?!) even though it's a Friday and I don't ususally work on Fridays, and it's the day before I move, because my boss had to fly to Winnipeg at the beginning of this week to see a sick relative.

And all I can do is stare out the window at the snow...

I am SO bored!!!