Always running, never looking back.

It's been a while, and I don't feel like doing work.

Sarah came to visit in february, we basically hung out and drank a lot of coffee and did school work, and I learnt about the hamilton scene drama. we went to shows. one night we did an acoustic show at a coffee shop followed by a metal show, it was epic. we also went to a dance party. and jake got dressed up to:

new roommate, old roommate.

the last month has really just been doing work, going to shows and hanging out with jake.
I've felt less social and have been staying in more, or just avoiding super social shit. Small gatherings, such as playing catan with folks from school, have been a pleasant alternative.

and I want to post more pictures... so:

jake with PB on his face. pretty adorable.

a cute penpal from the states sent me this! cutest bat! <3

jake and I hit up the market every saturday, and it's usually followed by running along the boardwalk, luckily he stopped for a moment to pose for me:)

 he puts up with a lot.

 I really dig my room and new place, but may be moving? we'll see. 

the weather has been beautiful. spending a lot of time reading outside, and we've been biking around, went to long lake the other day. of course I always forget to grab my camera, so from the photos it looks like the only thing jake does is sleep.

in terms of school, 
I'm going to newfoundland for 2 months, and as it stands, it looks like I can't bring jake. this is breaking my heart, I don't know how I'll do two months without him. I've contacted the only person I know who may be able to help me out with having him there, so we'll see. but I don't have much hope.

last week I worked a lot on this poster to present my research. it's pretty silly but I got really into it, and it pushed me to do some data analysis so I was pretty stoked. also was able to actually create something which was nice - I haven't used illustrator or photoshop in a while.

and beyond the poster, there have been presentations keeping me busy:

outside of school I did a presentation at rat skool:

I've been going to rat skool since it started last summer, and basically they pick a name and a topic and you have a month to prepare. I finally put my name in and of course it got picked (ahhh!). the presentation went okay but I didn't feel great about it. I did a powerpoint because I was too nervous not to, and I kinda stared at the screen the whole time because I was too scared to look at people. ughhh.

animals,

with this passing holiday, and on a daily basis, I'm reminded of how animals are being abused and tortured, and ultimately slaughtered. it's heartbreaking. I feel like I can't take it.
I feel like a lot of information about the exploitation of animals is passed around those who give a fuck (veg*ns), but it somehow misses those causing the suffering. why do I have to look at photos and videos of animals being tortured and abused, and others can just sit down at a plate full of dead flesh and not care at all?
how can you say you are against oppressive systems and yet still consume animal products? I seem to know people who care a lot about certain kinds of oppression but blatantly ignore or yet engage in the oppression of other groups of living beings.

personal,
feeling stoked on halifax and the music scene here. at the same time, I feel it challenging to fit into new social groups. I guess in sudbury it was different, since I grew up there, did shows for a few years, knew everyone there and it was good.
here, I feel like I'm constantly being judged, am I "punk" enough? fuck, I hate meeting standards. it's nice to have no history here, no baggage, but at the same time, I've got nothing. I have big ears. that's it. I don't play music, I don't make art. I do science, no one really wants to hear about that. and it sucks to love a scene and not be able to really participate in it.