Hello friends,
Isn’t this the best time of year? The weather is dropping, leaves have changed, and hockey is back. Although fall is very short in Canada, this is definitely my favourite season. Can you believe November is tomorrow? I remember when the year just started and thinking about what 2022 was going to be like. For a long time, I’ve always been looking ahead, what movies are coming out, what trips I should plan, and what concerts I want to go to. Since graduating last year, I’ve found myself being more obsessed with the present. Maybe it’s because I genuinely love everything I get to do now, but the process for me was once a means to an end. I did the work so I could get out as fast as possible to do the things I actually wanted to do. But now I find myself back in school loving the work and not being too concerned with what’s next after this chapter. Funny how things work out.
As life gets busier the time I once had for friends seems to diminish. So, October for me was all about making that up and hanging out. The passage of time may relocate us, change us, distract us, and even make us lose track of one another (at least in the daily life kind of way). But there is no denying the special bond between close friends. In a mere moment back together, the intervening months just fall away, and it seems like no time has passed at all. And at the risk of sounding even more cliché, I’ve just gotta say – there is no friend like an old friend.
The first stop of October was Niagara Falls for my buddy Noah’s birthday. We spent most of the time at the casino and surprisingly a majority of us walked out up.
Next on the list, one of the JTTB boys Matt had a wedding. Now, one thing everyone should know is that Matt is a really good dude. When I got fired this past summer in Minden, he drove all the way up, at night, during tornado warnings, to make sure I didn’t get stranded in the middle of nowhere. I am truly thankful to have been invited to such an important day in his life and wish him and Carly a long and happy marriage. Congrats!
On to the actual wedding, this one was a mission. We had to get our friend Jesse from Muskoka to Hamilton to Toronto to Collingwood, then back to Muskoka in time for Thanksgiving. Our timeline was a bit hectic, but thanks to Alex we made it to the wedding and back all in one piece and on time. The wedding itself was beautiful, such a blast, and had a cool/diverse group in attendance (shoutout Chase and Sebastian).
I also ended up heading to Guelph for the first time since graduating. The feeling of being back and seeing everyone is hard to describe. On one side it was awesome. It was great to see people, catch up, and do all the things we used to do. On the other side, it felt very weird, as though the past few months of my life didn’t exist.
I’m not sure if everyone experiences this, but as I grow older, I feel my body changing but my brain still feels like I’m 20. So naturally, when I’m put back into a setting of seeing the same people, eating at the same restaurants, and going to the same bars when I was 20, I really felt 20 again. I’m having a hard time articulating the experience, but it felt like a dream.
Without getting too existential, the time overall was great. I got free tickets to a Storm game, partied at Franks, and visited the old stomping grounds.
Before the degenerate activities of the Halloween weekend, I got to link up with some old high school friends to just chill and catch up over shooting some pool.
For music this month I’ve been really into the new Alvvays album. It’s nostalgic, it’s noisy, it’s fuzzy, it’s catchy, it’s dreamy, and someone rhymes “pomeranian spinster” with “presbyterian minister”. It’s the perfect amalgamation of the sounds of their two previous albums, but definitely a step forward. It’s both more melodic and less immediate than their last two if that makes sense. I adore that they got louder, looser, and more shoegaze. Everything I could have asked for. Standout tracks for me have been Velveteen and Tile By Tile.
I’ve also been messing around a bit with Samplebrain, a sample masher that Aphex twin dropped recently. To my friends with actual musical talent, I highly suggest checking it out.
Music rotation is still weird:
Best Kept Secret – case/lang/veirs
Weak Teeth – gglum
Snake Ice – Jonatanleondoer96
Wooden Girl – jonatanleondoer96
I AM SLOWLY BUT SURELY LOSING HOPE – Bladee
360 – BFRND
OKAY! – KayCyy (prod. Gesaffelstein) (more specifically this edit)
No Stress – Skepta, L3 & Michael Phantom
Seoul – AJ Tracey
Nervous Breakdown – Black Flag
October was nonstop and with few plans for November so far I hope the reconnects continue (hit my line if you want to link up). And for everyone who’s headed back out tonight for actual Halloween, have fun and stay safe!
Until next time,
Miguel
Miguel Mabalay 