It’s been a full year since I did one of these update entries. It’s interesting to read the last one. Addressing the subjects I wrote about: I’ve changed layouts three times, I’ve received over 2000 comments, Balls of Fury was hilarious, and my trip to New Hampshire changed my life.

The Car

I finally, finally, finally got a car.

For years I took the bus, just so I could put the money — otherwise spent on a loan, insurance, gas, or maintenance — towards my mortgage or photo gear. Things like heavy groceries, purchases of large or bulk items, and trips to remote areas with no bus service would leave me dependent on the favours of friends with automobiles. No more.

It’s black 2008 Honda Civic Coupe, like the one above without the tinting. At first, I wanted it in grey metallic but it looked rather blah in the showroom.

I should have it next week. Trips to Montreal (for photography and food) and Toronto (to visit John and Darren) have already been planned, as well as the surrounding areas during the springtime. And if Bronwen and I were still on speaking terms, I’d drive her to the Casino du Lac-Leamy to gamble on the horses.

The Temporary Housemate

Alex is staying with me for two weeks while he does a medical internship at CHEO. The company will be a welcome change. It’ll be nice to have a roommate for a bit and give me an excuse to watch movies that I don’t otherwise make time to watch.

The Photo Gear

Fed up with the deep red of my studio and taping black construction paper to the walls, I bought a black muslin backdrop.

Dolly, being a cat who must sleep on anything new in the house to mark her territory, promptly settled herself on the backdrop as soon as I had finished ironing it.

I also got a Chimera XXS softbox for one of my next projects, which will heavily use macro shots. The softbox will allow me better control of light, as well as more even distribution of light than an umbrella.

Next on the list is a second flash and stand, but it’ll be some time before I can afford that.

My Moo Minicards are in! I wanted a set to hand out at art shows and to people I ask to model for me. I also throw a few in with each print I sell. People have really enjoyed them; many have a hard time deciding which one they want to take. The great thing about the Minicards is that you can order up to 100 different pictures on the front, so that people get a sense of the range of photography you do.

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Trolley’s Homestar Runner figures came in the mail a little while ago. They Rock.

And little Lego stormtroopers rock too.

The first, and hopefully only thing, I bought to celebrate my new job was a Canon Powershot S410, in the digital Elph series. It’s small enough for me to carry around in my pocket, unlike my old camera, and is capable of taking 4.0 megapixel pictures. It has a long exposure mode of up to 15 seconds, and custom white balancing. It can also take movies up to 320×240 resolution at 15 fps, which I’ve already had fun with at the Highlander Pub two weekends ago. I decided to go with something compact for candid snaps, instead of an SLR where I’d have to carry around an extra case/bag.

I’ve been dreaming of getting a Mont Blanc for years, ever since I tried one out at a jewellery store back home before I bought it for my boss. I loved the way it felt in my hand, the perfect weight, the balance, the shine, the smoothness of the nib, the effortlessness of the writing, the click of the cap, the elegant but timeless design. A few years later, I went for a surprise visit to my old workplace, and when my boss went to sign something he pulled out the Mont Blanc, my Mont Blanc, from his blazer pocket. That made me happy.

The thing is, I could never justify buying one for myself; I would always tell myself to wait until I could celebrate my graduation or marriage. My boss was a businessman, so he could use a nice pen to sign his contracts. Every time I’d pass the Mont Blanc display in the mall I’d check out what the most current series was.

While I was in Hong Kong, I found a little shop selling them at very low prices.

Then I realized that I had already graduated.

I bought a jet-black Meisterstück Classique Rollerball with platinum finish right then and there, and my god how sweet it is. I can’t imagine using another pen for the rest of my life. Sometimes I put my hand in my pocket and then realize, “Holy shit, I have a Mont Blanc in my pocket”. So far, this is the only thing that I can think of putting in my will.

Sometimes I’d walk the streets of Hong Kong and see a guy selling fake Mont Blanc’s, a bunch of them clipped to a cheap felt board. It’s as easy to spot a fake Mont Blanc as it is to spot a fake Rolex. The price I got mine for in the little shop was cheaper by more than $150 CAD than the price in stores here. I want to get it engraved with my signature but it costs $120 to send to the Mont Blanc main headquarters, which is fucking insane (it’s a cool process though, where they take four of my signatures, then mix and match the best parts of each to come up with the engraving). I suppose that for someone who’s buying a pen from the Meisterstück Solitaire Platinum line, $120 is almost nothing. I’m considering my next Mont Blanc purchase as a fountain pen from the new super sweet Starwalker series Resin Line, but that’ll be sometime far into the future.