it's that time again...

It's that time...the time where i look back on the past year and reflect on things, and usually end up with a stupid long post and some revelation i didn't know i could have.

This year was interesting to say the least. Not a lot of huge things happened, but enough occurred for me to look back and wonder where i would be if things changed. I guess one of the major things that happened in 2009 for me was leaving my job. For those of you who didn't know, i worked as a customs broker for about 5 years. It began as a quick thing to just get me out of the job i was at, which was working at the XS family fun centre...which made me want to kill myself. I got into it, and well, it stuck. I left my first job as a broker to go to a better broker, and for the first little while, it was actually a good job. It paid well, and it offered me new knowledge, and a feeling of professionalism. That is, until shit hit the fan, and the company started driving itself into the ground. Combining the mounting stress and anxiety of a workplace i hated with an extremely demanding and stressful school schedule was enough to make grown men snap, so i realized this past summer that i had to leave. Fortunately, I had been working on designing a position at a local bar which i frequented, and well, let's just say it worked out for the best...kind of. What i gained in stress-relief and no anxiety, i lost in pay.

Was it the right move? Yes i believe it was. If i stayed at my other company, i would have surely snapped and went on a shooting spree in a local wal mart. I couldn't handle it, and needed to leave. I was grumpy and hated life 24/7. Now, I am a manager/bartender/musician/student, and while the bills are getting paid (barely) and i have maybe $2 breathing room, i am SO much happier, and my anxiety attacks are few and very far between, as opposed to being 4 times a week. So yeah, i'd say it was the right choice.

what else happened this year...well, i suppose i have really fallen into, and taking a huge love to my course. I truly love graphic design, and while i still have much to learn, i like to think i have grasped on to it quite well. There are certain areas i am not the strongest in, but there are other areas i excel in, so i will take the good with the bad. i have always been the artistic kid, and now knowing how to do things properly, i have produced some of the best work i ever have, and it's nice to truly be proud of work you do.

Again, as in every year past, i have shed my skin of certain friends, and discovered new ones along the way. Friends i was glued to last year, i now no longer even say hello to. Not by my doing might i add, but simply because the personalities these friends chose to develop just didn't mix with me. Why did they develop such personalities? Who knows. Did i change? I don't think so....but regardless, nothing can be done now. As always, i prefer the company of myself over constant friends being around, so i guess this doesn't phase me much anymore.

in other 2009 news, i have found my comfort zone in my relationship. not simply with my girlfriend, but with her family. This year has shown me what it is like to actually be comfortable with your loved one's family, and has shown me a lot of different things i never noticed until i was in this relationship.

other things of 2009 -

I have developed a hardcore love of sushi
I fell in love with Nick drake, deathcab for cutie, and other various wacky artists
I still hate sports
I developed a love of Gin as my drink of choice


Anyways, 2009 wasn't as interesting as other years, simply because i am happy. I am not depressed, stressed and there is NO drama in my life, so 2009 was pretty damn good!


happy new year friends!
Justin