• Articles,  Year-End Thoughts

    2019: A long walk, and then a run

    This year has been a series of pleasant surprises, which has been a real relief after a couple years with many good things in them but also many painful, unpleasant surprises. It has been disruptive, and healing, and energizing, in ways I could never have expected. A kick in the ass In February, after five incredible, successful, stressful years, the Distillery District eliminated my position. It was initially shocking, and for about an hour after I got the news I was entirely spun. But once the reality set in – five months of severance, and a bit of a rest – it felt a bit like winning the lottery. I’d…

  • 2014 - A new day!
    Articles,  Year-End Thoughts

    Not too shabby, 2014!

    Not a bad year, not an amazing year.  A good, solid year without major setbacks,  2014 has been pretty good to me.   The biggest achievement of my year, without a doubt, was achieving my long-held goal of paying off my student loans.  It happened in October.  After a decade of confusion, ((To this day, I’m not quite certain what my total amount loaned was – the system changed several times during my undergrad, leading to Federal and Provincial  loans all over the place.)) getting the run-around from various banks and student loan services, and low-paying contract work in Peterborough, I finally had the kind of dependable income that allowed me…