New work, new play

I didn't want my last post of November to be an overdone reference to a Guns n' Roses song, so here I am.

I started a new job yesterday. I'm not sure if I'll like it more or about the same as my last one. I should probably know this by now... but I don't think I'll be getting paid as much overall because the lunches are unpaid. But the advantage is that I can walk or bike to work: my commute, whatever I choose, is under a half hour. And I felt like time went pretty fast yesterday, though that might be because it was my first day.

I work at a grocery store. Not a chain, more like a mom & pop. It's not glamorous work, but I long ago decided that it doesn't matter what I do for work as long as I get paid. Okay, it's a little more complicated than that; obviously a bigger paycheck probably leads to a more comfortable or at least convenient life. And I cannot live in Toronto independently on a part-time income. But, it's a step in the right direction now that I've been out of school for a while and my last job was a couple months ago.

So that's a life update in there. Today's shift starts soon, so I can't blabber on forever here. I will say that, on a whim, I was inspired by a graphic novel/journal I borrowed from the library called Emitown. It's beautifully drawn, quirky, and it's like a slice-of-life snapshot of an up-and-coming comic artist living in Portland, OR circa 2009-2010 or so. Every single day during some months, Emi Lenox wrote about her life (and drew it, too) and it was really fascinating seeing life through that lens.

I don't think I could do anything remotely close to what she does. I mean, I don't draw, for starters, and also my life isn't nearly as exciting. I could write/blog every day, and I do with my gratitude journal, but I lead a relatively uneventful life. I play some amount of video games, and I like to cook.

Right, other news is that I got Monster Hunter: Rise for my Switch and that has been a lot of fun. The gameplay loop is addicting: you hunt monsters for parts to build better equipment to fight stronger monsters, and depending on your weapon (I picked longsword but there's over a dozen wildly different ones) there are combos to learn too. And in this version of Monster Hunter, there are tower defence-style scenarios, and I've always been partial to tower defence games.

Okay, I have to wrap things up. I'll try, once again, to post some photos (it would mostly be nature and food photos). It's just I'm not really satisfied with the photo quality on my 5-year old phone. So we'll see.

It's hard to hold a candle

 ... in the cold November Rain.

Yup, still around, I've been busy. Here's the song of the day!

A cute sickness

I think I ate too many cruciferous vegetables; that's my theory. Also, I might have done a little too much twisting at my yoga class. Those, I think, are the 2 likeliest causes of why I was breathless in pain a couple nights ago. At first I thought it might be appendicitis, but with some dutiful checking online, I realized the pain would have been coming from the opposite side of where I was feeling it: all mostly on the left side of my abdomen.

So while the Raptors were busy crushing the Bulls, I was doubled up in pain with some hot packs in bed. The heat helped a lot, but it took a good night's sleep and an Ibuprofen to get over it. I haven't felt that much physical pain in a long, long time. I feel lucky writing about it now, because although it was acute in nature, I can't imagine what it must be like for people who have to deal with pain all the time. It's a good reason to take care of your body, pain avoidance. I am taking a break from my workout regimen for a little bit longer, because again I'm not too sure what caused this flareup - was it something I ate, or because I moved wrongly?

If it's something I ate... well, I ate more than half a giant cauliflower (Buffalo Cauliflower "Wings", if you're wondering why), and then the next day I made a Brussel Sprouts Salad (w/ Kimchi Dressing), so it's possible I just ate too many cruciferous vegetable in too short a time, which isn't surprising given my appetite when I've consumed Cannabis. Maybe a better variety of vegetables next time, and at least I didn't gorge on junk food like I am wont to do!

If it's because of the yoga, well, it was in a class I've taken before, with movements I've done before, but it's possible I over-twisted myself and pushed too hard to get into a pose. So I would have bruised an internal organ, well, probably not bruised, but shifted something to somewhere it shouldn't be. Or, it might have something to do with a new workout move I did for the first time, the hip swing (with a dumbbell). But that was the day before. Hmm.

Either way, I feel okay now and it's good to be back on my feet.

Love is our resistance

Couldn't help it. Heard this song yesterday on the radio. Hadn't heard it in years. It flooded me with emotion.

This morning, I woke up and had to try and nail down the piano intro on my electronic piano. Not sure if I succeeded, but it's about as simple a piano melody as it gets, and I think I came pretty close.

If we live a life in fear
I'll wait a thousand years
Just to see you smile again
Kill your prayers for love and peace
You'll wake the thought police
We can't hide the truth inside

 

-Muse

Short entry for today's Song of the Day.