30 in 30: Day 9

I got my HST rebate yesterday. After paying a bill I decided my big "splurge" would be to order something in, although now I've got that morning-after regret where I didn't use the money to do something a little more fun and social. Coffee. A beer at the Company House, Charlie's or Lion & Bright. For some reason I always prefer to drink in the North End...maybe it's because it's the closest thing in the city that replicates the spaces of my university days in Sackville, NB over a decade ago. 

I have Van Morrison's Veedon Fleece album playing right now; it's been a long time since I've put that one on. The way the sun is coming in through the dirty windows and curtains creates an interesting effect when combines with the song that's currently playing ("You Don't Pull No Punches But You Don't Push The River").

The city beckons, but I have to do laundry yet again. That's always the way. I had my fun already on Friday night. I'm thinking of going out to Nocturne, but maybe I need to budget my money and sociability to the point where I'm going out for coffee with the people I need to catch up with more often, rather than waiting until I can put a big enough gamble on whether the vibe is right, I'm outside of my own head enough, and my wallet can absorb the cost. 

30 in 30: Day 1

I feel awful about not updating this thing more regularly, so I'm forcing myself to come up with a new post every day for the next month (thanks for the inspiration, Daisy).

I have a pile of photos to edit but I never get around to working on them; part of the issue is that I have a desktop computer, and time spent editing is time that I have to commit myself to staying in the apartment. I'm still working on my post about New York three months after the trip, but I've already touched on that in my last post. I don't want to repeat myself.  Maybe that will be one of my 30 in 30 posts, although part of me feels like that would be cheating since I've been working on the draft for ages.

Canada's currently in the middle of a federal election campaign; the big issue isn't so much who will be our next prime minister so much as whether enough people in the country want to get rid of Stephen Harper and the Conservatives on October 19. I definitely intend to vote, but I'm just as ready for the campaign to end. I can't really say I'm overly impressed by either of the three front-runners, but at this point I know what I believe in, and have a good idea where my vote will go in a little more than three weeks time. Four years ago, I was more inclined to get confrontational every time I saw something I didn't agree with politically online, but I now tend to keep my mouth shut. I don't know if this is more a sign of maturity or a growing cynicism. Maybe I'm just self-censoring.

Summer's over. I did manage to go to New York, I went to a few events here in Halifax, and I even went to the beach once, but a lot of it seemed to blend together. I still don't feel like I force myself to go out enough; part of it is because I live on the outskirts of Fairview and Clayton Park in Halifax: it's not a particularly walkable area, and the bus rides are pretty long and convoluted if I want to head downtown or to the North End (usually about 35-45 minutes). There's also the issue of the bus service ending around midnight, and I generally don't want to spend an extra $15-20 in cab fare on top of the cost of cover and drinks.

Next week will be my three year anniversary of living in Halifax; the last two years I've gone out, but I don't really want to spend that much money for food and drinks with a couple of friends, but I'm thinking of doing something lower-key this year. I'm debating whether to just have people over at my place, but that involves cleaning and a conscious effort to entertain. I did have a friend over on Wednesday, but I'm hesitant to try to bring a larger and more disparate group into my space. That feels more like something you do when you've bought a house rather than just rent an apartment.