Things Have Gone This Far

Consumption, originally uploaded by Fanboy30.

A year ago I had just returned home after a wonderful 14 day trip to Canada. My feelings at that time were extremely mixed, the not knowing when and how I was going to be able to return there was agonizing. My family had been to Ottawa the previous year to visit relatives but I couldn't afford to go with them. Seeing Canada had been a life long dream and now there was the possibility to move there.

I explored many ideas but only found results in the Work Canada program (BUNAC). Initially I was told the program for that year was full which meant I had missed out because by the following year I wouldn't qualify because of my age. When August came along I received an email saying that some places were available so I rushed to get my application submitted.
After a few weeks of worry I was notified of my acceptance into the program. The next month was a whirlwind as I sold nearly all of my possessions on eBay, amazon and at local car boot sales. I left my job at Sainsburys grocery store a month before leaving the country so I had time to visit friends and family to say my goodbyes. It all seemed so easy for me, leaving it all behind at the time didn't really compute until I was sitting in the departures lounge at Heathrow. Overwhelmed with emotions I bordered the plane and took my seat.

A year has passed and I am living/working in Canada, some days I feel like a tourist and then I look at myself and think is this me now? Its scary how comfortable I have become considering a few years ago I had no desire to live abroad. The culture shock has worn off but going to Walmart is still an event to me and I don't think that will ever wear off.

Hello Good Evening & Welcome

It's been A while since I have blogged and that is probably because life has managed to get in the way. For the first time that is something I am not complaining about.

A lot has happened since I closed 'My Stars & Garters' blog over a year ago. My ramblings on there had gotten far too personal and my dirty laundry really didn't need to be aired to every Tom & Dick, and there are far too many Dicks on the Internet so this time around I am using this blog to promote my photography and whatever attracts my attention in the world.

For those of you that have stumbled upon this from Flickr or Facebook then you will already know me pretty well but for any newbies then the short version is that I am an Englishman now living in Canada for a year on a work visa. I am in the process of trying to extend my visa because I feel its not the right time to return to the UK due to the state of the economy. Plus this is the first time for years that I find myself not living from paycheck to paycheck.

My photography is well received here in Canada because there doesn't seem to be as many professional ones in practice compared to Brighton where I lived previously for two years. Everyone was trying to make a go of it especially with digital cameras being so affordable and technically high standard. I think I allowed myself to fade into the crowd and didn't push at all to be noticed and settled for Flickr fame which realistically meant very little in the profit margin.

I manage a funky environmentally friendly store which sells a huge range of products from designer ware like Alessi and Blomus to fun gifts from Fred and Kikkerland. Over the past 5 months I have seen many new products introduced to the store, Lomography cameras and designer vinyl toys from Strangeco are two of my favorites.
There is nothing else like it in the area let alone the Provence which means we are receiving great success and have recently won a design award for our unique style.

Now that you are up to speed I hope I can entertain and inform you over the for seeing future. Who knows how long I can keep this up and be interesting enough to gather any sort of following. So I encourage you as readers to comment on any of my posts just so I know that you are out there. That is the one disadvantage of being a blogger, is all my ramblings falling on deaf ears and yes I know you are all thinking can I really be arsed to bookmark yet another nobody hoping to be a somebody...only time will tell I guess.

Thanks for listening.

Matt