Canada’s Debate

It’s too fucking early.

That is all.

I’ve been getting increasingly disgruntled recently, so it’s time for a good rant. For quite some time I’ve been a staunch defender of governments, and public services in general among my family and friends. The number of times I’ve stood up for city hall, the TTC, and certain specific politicians and programs defies enumeration.

Recently however, it is getting harder for me to be the “Voice of Reason” (any Salon Tabletalk refugees out there?) when it comes to these things. First, this idea that the city should invest $700,000 in new street-food carts to encourage healthier options. The city has been crying poor (with good reason) for years. Under these circumstances a pilot-project with a cost that can only increase, which will achieve marginal short-term gains to fix a problem which is not urgent is appalling; it defies all logic and reason. It’s exactly the sort of thing that tempts me to run for City Counsellor a little bit more each election cycle… still a longshot mind you; but I’m getting closer.

The TTC on the other hand is rapidly losing both my confidence and support. (Continue reading…)

I wasn’t planning on commenting on my prolonged absence (save the occasional appearance) from the blogging arena, until I read that Catelli (formerly Closet Liberal) had a similar experience.

Quite simply, I’ve been burned out intellectually. To give you some background, I’ve actually made some progress in my life (”Adulthood by 30 or Bust!”) After the Recruitment/headhunting job I was working in the spring petered out I stagnated quite a bit, both professionally and personally. A friend of mine moved back to Canada from a two-year stay overseas and since we had agreed to get an apartment together in Toronto when she returned I was spurred into action. (Continue reading…)

Well I’m settling into my new apartment nicely. I still need a few things (garbage can, clean pants, living room furniture, etc.) but all in all this place is starting to come together. My roommate has a cat named Ovenmitt who is slowly but surely getting used to me, and is not nearly as loud as I was expecting.

I’m still out of work of course, but hey, it wouldn’t be me if there wasn’t something I was failing to move on. I have however been picked up to write for a Toronto-based sports magazine which puts out its first issue on October 3rd (more on that later), and I’ve nabbed a couple of other interesting opportunities.

Just thought I’d leave a status report for now. I’ll get back to the whole politics thing later today or tomorrow. I’ve got some stuff to say about the upcoming provincial election.

I’ve had an interesting month or so, one that you may have noticed has been almost entirely blog-free. The truth of the matter is that my interest in blogging is directly proportional to my own prospects; and I’ve barely had a whisper on the job front in that span. Now, this is not an entirely unexpected development. I have no idea where exactly to look for work, because I have no idea what it is I want to do. I am fairly certain that whatever my future holds I need to get my shit together, but that’s as far as my train of thought leads me at the moment.

I do however have a couple of ideas… world domination is accomplished with baby steps, not grand movements. To that end I am developing a web project with a friend of mine that I hope to unveil September 1st… for now I’ll just say this: if you’re looking to sell stuff on Craigslist, try waiting a couple of weeks.

I am also giving my Surfball project a kick in the pants. I see hundreds of people walking around with downright ridonkulous t-shirts, and I want a piece of that action. Stay tuned there as well…

In the mean-time I continue to look for work that promises a decent return on my investment of time… and I am of course always available for an interview in that regard. I am signing a lease on a new apartment tomorrow, so things are moving forward; but the clock is now ticking much faster on my “you’re out of money, get a fucking job” clock.

Well I got canned yesterday. It’s not an entirely surprising move, and it’s certainly one I can understand. The recruitment market has shifted away from generalists to specialists; and I as general as they come.

Either way, I’m now unemployed… although hopefully not for long. Either way, I find myself with some free time with which to pollute the intarwebs again.

I get to play Doctor Frankenstein at some point in the next two weeks… I bought a new computer; or at least the makings of one. In no particular order this is what I’ve ordered. I didn’t buy them all from NCIX however.

• Intel Core2 Quad 6600 2.40ghz quad core processor
• XFX Nforce 680I SLI, PCI-E, etc… I could list acronyms for hours.
• 2gb Corsair RAM Uh… it’s 4-4-4-12… whatever that means.
• ANTEC Sonata 2 Couldn’t they just say “black” instead of piano?
• BFG GeForce 7900GS Not nearly as shiny as my other components… But I don’t care.

Just tossing my old (since boxing day at least) 500gb HD and optical drive in there. Of course there’s a heatsink going in there too… after I get my rebates back (and I will, come hell or high water) the whole thing will cost approximately $1130.

My grandmother passed away tonight.

She had been suffering from Dementia with Lewy bodies for some time, although it was not diagnosed until the fall of 2005. In fact, until the spring of that year her only symptom was a loss of balance which we ascribed to her recurrent vertigo. By the summer of 2005 her short term memory had completely evaporated, she was prone to sudden (and ocassionally violent) mood swings, was increasingly disoriented (tried to feed her dog a bagel with cream cheese), and suffered some hallucinations. Throughout it all she remained in essence herself… and it stayed that way until last winter when she “succumbed” to the progressive effects of the disease and the lights went out, even while the house still stood.

In reality we have been mourning her since that time, and it has been hard, for my aunt in particular. I remember her not through a series of events or images, but rather as a personality. I knew her, and that knowledge hasn’t changed since my childhood. Even now she looms large in our lives, not as a great mover or doer of deeds, but as a personality that was so strong that she became a part of those who loved her (and sometimes for those that didn’t.) I miss her, but I’m not mourning anymore. I’ve said my goodbyes to her, and I’ve got plenty of her spirit to hold on to between the amazing woman that I knew… and the bottle of Cherry Herring sitting on our liquor cabinet.

Goodbye Buby. I’ll miss your smile, even if I didn’t see it that often.