Moving…
Posted by dianagalligan · 1 Comment
…should be a four-letter word.
…is best done with boxes from the liquor store.
…is a great workout.
…is a gauge of where you are at in life.
…is a new beginning.
Curious
East End Love
Posted by dianagalligan · Leave a Comment
For the last bunch of years, a key element to my identity has been the neighbourhood I chose to live in. Hip, downtown, cool. Right in the heart of everything. Literally. Busy, noisy, restaurants open until 5 am, streetcars zipping 24 hours a day. Everyone knows the corner.
My boyfriend and I are now moving in together and decided to live in a neighbourhood that neither of us have lived in. Which eliminated most of downtown. That and we want to save money – which means as creative people, we’re kinda edged out of downtown for a while.
So we’re moving to Toronto’s east end – across the “psychological barrier of downtown” as my friend Andy puts it. The Bloor Viaduct in Toronto seems to be the outskirts of “downtown” proper that always separated the downtown cool from the east end cool.
This choice seemed monumental – like when I was a teenager trying to decide whether to be a hippie or a punk. Talking to both groups and trying to figure out which was cooler. A ridiculous quest really – since cool is relative. But, it was a choice to make. A direction to go. A fork in the road of life. I chose punk, by the way, which lead me downtown in the first place. To the cool clubs, bands and underground hangouts. Passing by and through a lot of different people.
And now I’m moving out of the last hip place into a new place. Sure, it’s still in Toronto. In a cool neighbourhood. It’s just that it’s a smidge off what I consider cool.
Chrysallis.
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A Room with a View
Posted by dianagalligan · 2 Comments
Moving is a strange, painful, happy, strange process.
From one location, from friends, neighbourhoods, rituals to another. Favourite haunts, the best places to buy falafel, chinese food, vietnamese sandwiches, health food, cheese, coffee. From the sound of garbage trucks at 12:02 pm to what? Maybe it’s because I haven’t found a place yet. Or I can’t figure out where I was supposed to be at this point in my life.
I have a nagging feeling that while things are supposed to get better with a move, they could get worse. Maybe there will be a little dog that barks all day. Or a drunken neighbour that spits on me when he talks and smokes cigarettes.
Or no view. At all. Right now, I have the best view of the city from my window. I love it. I sit on the couch and watch it for hours.
What if all I see is brick, a garbage can or people’s feet like on Laverne and Shirley. They had it okay. They had each other.
Right now, the future is uncertain.