Entries tagged as ‘home’
… for my wall!
And by ‘fresh,’ I mean ‘terribly similar to painter’s tape green.’
underneath it all is 'my little pony purple'. the left is the terrible colour that made me cry. the right is the new 'spruce green' which was given to me in pity.
Despite the fact that I painted so impulsively, it feels good to be a part of the history of this apartment. Last night I was noticing a long bump in the wall that is only about 3mm wide but about 8 feet long. I think it’s because of excess paint on the outer rim of my paint roll. I examined all the other bumps and crevices on the wall and thought about how some of them were hidden and some were exaggerated by my recent 3 coats of paint.
I think it’s kind of neat to live in places that have housed a lot of people. Places that are in neighbourhoods that are notoriously cheap and/or transient, and that allow people a really comfortable resting place without having to relinquish their entire credit capability to the buyer’s market.
It’s fun to imagine who’s lived there before, why they chose such a location, and WHY they’d have the guts to choose my little pony purple as a colour to paint a whole hallway with.
I’ve added to the great list of ‘Why’s’ in this place, and it makes me feel at home.
Categories: i do · i see · random
Tagged: apartment, green, home, neighbourhood, paint, people, picture, purple
…I’m part of you now. It’s officially offical.
Today, I woke up feeling like I’d been run over by a team of horses. Not a herd; a team. Because only a team could work together, rallying up the effort and efficiency to run me over with such an unrelentingly brutal force. My nose won’t stop running. I can’t stop sneezing, and my body temperature is fluctuating faster than I can take off my sweater or put on my COAT.
I walked home from dropping off a vehicle early this morning wearing four layers of clothing, topped with a fleece. Others around me were wearing tanks and shorts. They looked a bit chilly, but I still looked rather ridiculous. The point is that I walked home. It took me almost 45 minutes. I wanted to ensure that by the time I got home I’d be so exhausted, there’d be no way I’d be able to stay up to endure the terrible cold that had struck me overnight. In my cold-ey haze, I walked, and walked, and I really saw my neighbourhood. I saw it in a way that you can’t quite grasp when you’re whipping by on a bike. I saw the little stores I wanted to explore. I saw the little bars I wanted to ignore. I saw the bakeries and took note of their opening times. I noted which cafes looked like they’d have free wi-fi. I noted which coin laundries had tempting food options near by. I walked along the bike path and noticed the meticulous planting methods of those who had filled the formerly drab, chain-link fence with creeping vines of Virginia Creeper. I arrived home and promptly passed out in bed for nearly four hours. Had I had the energy to resist the sleep at all, I would have noticed the sound of more than one rush-hour GO-Train going by less than 100 meters away.
I awoke to the sound of my own sneeze. I sneezed IN my sleep. This is a terrible feeling that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. I endured the fit of sounds that would be emitted from my nose and throat over the following fifteen minutes. Once it passed, I worked up the energy to make myself some eggs and toast. I thought about adding kielbasa and tomatoes, or making a sandwich, but I decided that simple was what my system needed. I realized I hadn’t made myself breakfast in nearly two weeks. It was then that I decided to make the time in the mornings to give myself some sustenance before embarking upon physically taxing days of labour.
I puttered. I put away clothes. I moved my mattress to the other side of the room. I rested on said mattress for nearly fifteen minutes because the act of moving it nearly knocked my entire bank of energy out of me. Finally, I mustered up enough energy to pack all my dirty clothes into a suitcase and make my way to the laundromat. I passed the closest one. It was so close it didn’t feel worth the effort of having to pack for a laundering adventure. I found the one I was looking for, and realized it was right next door to an amazing little coffee shop. Today marks the very first day of their liquor licensicng, and had I felt up to it, I’d have raised a glass to them. They have local art on the walls. They serve real coffee. They offer more than just danishes, donuts, and muffins to snack on. They’re amazing.
Clean clothes, fully belly, I walked home. I passed another team of animals, waiting outside a sports bar. The least pleasant of my neighbourhood experiences, I was asked by more than one of them to come away with them on vacation with my big suitcase. I literally felt leered at. But I walked past and stopped at a little 24hr convencience store to pick up a little milk for my morning tea. He had something that smelt WAY too good not to look at underneath a papertowel. “Columbian empanadas.” Yes please. And yes, I will tell my friends. Tender beef and perfectly mushed potatoes, encrusted by a batter that can only be described as perfectly fried. I will have to prevent myself from eating these every day. They’re that good.
I’m home now. I feel really at home.
Categories: i do · i eat · random
Tagged: art, cafe, coffee, coin laundry, empanada, home, laundry, local, neighbourhood, sick, snacks, team, tired, walk
I’m seriously considering moving into a very cool loft.
There are no kitchen cupboards. There is no bathtub. There are no windows other than the sky light. There’s no outdoor space. It is kind of echoey. It would be a lot of work to make it look like my space. It would be completely different from how I live now.
It has tall ceilings and a sky light, and space above the bathroom or the closet for a bed. There are two other storage-like spaces up and away. Plants would trive in the crazy light. There is plenty of space for entertaining. It’s in the same building as a yoga studio. There is hardwood flooring. It’s a five-minute walk to the subway, and a ten minute walk from Roncesvalles. It would be a lot of fun to make it look like my space. It would be completely different from how I live now.
I think I just convinced myself.
Categories: i do · i see · random
Tagged: apartment, home, loft, new, rent, space
I’ve been a bit overstimulated lately, I think.
I think I may have lost my ability to sit and think, and think about what I think, and think about my reactions to those reactions and so on and on…
I am an only child, and a good portion of my childhood was consumed by these moments. Whether I was colouring with crayons, walking through the forest, capturing grasshoppers, playing my trumpet, swimming in a lake, or staring at my ceiling, I was frequently lost in my own thoughts.
My partner and roommate has left the city the same day that our dear friend has gone back to his home city. I have the house to myself for 3 days.
The first thing I did was to rearrange a room. It is my favourite room, but I can never quite figure out what to do with it. I think that might be what I love about it so much. It’s versatile and malleable. It’s bright with natural light.. It’s filled with plants. There are 83-year-old hardwood floors. It is stuffed to the brim with books, games, craft suppplies, and collections. The door has been taken off, yet it feels like a separate world from the rest of the house.
I just ate my dinner in here by myself. I’m sitting on my one-person futon, with a glass of white wine. The Room is softly lit, and I have been listening to Regina Spektor for the last 2.5 hours. Her voice is rich. The piano notes are full. She reminds me of Tori Amos. She makes me miss Ani Difranco. This reminds me of Tegan and Sara. This music is undoubtably mine.
I just briefly looked away from the screen and looked straight into the depths of a ‘ripely’ blossomed white easter lily. The yellow pollen is fuzzy and looks like it’s so ready to be polinated it could literally drip off the stamen. Instead, it is stuck in my Room. It was once a dining room, then a spare bedroom, now it’s just a Room.
A Room where I feel calm.
A Room where I can read this line
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”
- Philip K. Dick, 1978: How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later
from a piece I stumbled upon, and feel inspired to write a post for the first time since the beginning of April.
A Room where I will continue to read…
Categories: Food · i eat · i hear · i read · i see · random
Tagged: drink, eat, flower, home, lily, listen, music, read, regina spektor, room, write
