Rebels

Welcome to 2014,

The calendar changes and so for some reason the arctic winds decided to come down and celebrate? I can't remember the last time it dropped to -20 C in Toronto. Biking to work was a little bit frosty, but wrapped up properly it actually wasn't that bad. My heart went out to all those people on the fringes though, it was not a good stretch to be living in poverty.

Paradise?

I think that Canadian high schools should teach a how to live in Canada course: how to dress properly for cold weather, why winter tires will probably save your life, samples of balanced diets, etiquette for interacting with strangers, where garbage goes (hint: not the floor), the benefits to covering your mouth when you cough and/or staying home to rest when sick, etc... It never ceases to amaze me how many people don't know the basics of living here.

My friend sold me an old film camera and some lenses that also fit my digital camera, and I love the image quality they produce. Having a prime lens is awesome for super shallow depth of field (f-stop 1.8!) and also for forcing me to move around to really think about composing the shot. He also lent me a book called 'Under The Wire' about a war correspondent photojournalist that has helped open my eyes to the reality of situations far away that I'd let myself stay distant from (the recent Syrian and Libyan civil wars).

I recorded a new song and posted it here: http://willmills.bandcamp.com/  I'm very happy with the result, and mic'ing the drums wasn't as hard as I'd anticipated. The mixing is improving, and I'm happy with the progression in my songwriting. I'm aiming to release a full album late this year. It's not a new year's resolution, it's a goal that I've had for a long time but until now haven't felt good enough.