I’ve decided to hack my life, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. When I return to Canada next April I will have been gone eighteen months. I will come home having seen a bit of the world, hopefully righted the things that were going wrong for me before I left, and God willing will have a small chunk of money in my savings account.  What this means is that if I am going to make some changes, now is the time.
What is life hacking? According to Wikipedia, it means …

forty-five thoughts for my daughter and my virtual daughters
By Francesca Lia Block.

i always believed if i had blond hair, pixie face
big breasts
everything would be all right
not realizing that culturally idolized beauty
is not only foolproof
but potentially dangerous
if you believe in your own unconventional beauty
when you are young
you will accomplish twice as much and suffer half so
turn off light bulbs and light a candle
walk don’t drive
plant a tree
wear sunscreen
dancing is an antidepressant
kindness is the new status symbol

2008 was definitely a banner year for me. I squeezed my eyes shut real tight and took a giant step off into the unknown (something Im not exactly known for doing!). Knowing that I would be leaving soon, I tried to cram my last year at home with as many laughs, good times and even better friends as possible, and I think I totally succeeded. Some of the photos are less than great, but they capture my friends smiling faces so the blurriness doesnt really matter all that much =)
February …

Toronto has been under almost constant snowfall since last Friday. Ive heard a lot of grumbling about the weather, but Im actually quite pleased that the city has been getting a regular dusting of the cold, white stuff as the lack of snow last year was quite disturbing. Winter+Canada=Snow after all!
On Saturday (or was it Sunday, hrmmm) I went out for a walk through the CNE grounds. The day was really grey, completely overcast. Kind of blah, but good for practicing right? Right.
One thing that I really like about the …

I love the bit of green peeking through the stone arches. Queen’s Park is such a lovely building, too bad it’s contents are less than desirable.

I love secret alleyways, even when they are so only for me. This lovely walkway was behind (in front of?) Hart House at U of T. I especially like the lamp post, which reminds me of the one in Narnia. I’d love to return here in winter and take another look.

November 4, 2007. Hart House, University of Toronto. Canon XTi: ISO 400, 50mm, f/4.0, 1/1500 sec.
After nearly six years of blogging, I’d gotten bored of blogging. Facebook was fulfilling my online social needs and marmalade was falling to the side. When I brought home Chloe, my lovely, shiny, Canon Digital Rebel XTi and her smaller sister, Ickle (a Canon SD850 IS) I knew it was photoblog-time. I moved my domain off of Rick’s server (thanks again for hosting me for so long!), and started fresh with Host Gator. The …