Two months

Has it only been two months since I arrived in Montreal? That hardly seems possible. When I think back to August 6, the last day I was in Edmonton, and all the traveling in between in France, it is a fast-paced blur.

I still hardly know myself. In fact, I wonder sometimes if I am unknowing myself. Is that even a verb?

It is remarkable the extent to which I feel a new city shaping me. I think Montreal is radicalizing me. One of the first things I did shortly after arriving here was stop eating meat. I just didn't see the point in meat. I had increasingly lost my taste for it; moreover, I couldn't really justify it. Factory farming is one of North America's biggest environmental blemishes.

Then I started to think of psychogeography in a different way. Not merely a stroll around the city and a reflection on its effect on us, but more importantly, maybe, a rejection of the very economic forces that come to shape cities. I want to push my own wanderings to the point where they no longer become an observation: they become a participation. They become an attempt to live differently. Instead of hurrying around our cities like ants, transporting consumer goods hither and yon, we should be moving about them with creative purpose -- seeking our identities and those of others, trying to make new situations that have maybe not existed before. Let there be more spontaneous gatherings in our cities. The tamtams in Montreal is one such gathering. I so much enjoyed celebrating my birthday that way: sitting in the park with the tamstams' rhythm in the background, eating with friends, basking in the sunlight. Last weekend was one of the best of my life.

What an autumn it has been.

Now it has returned to a more typical autumn grey and grizzle, the streets are slick and sinuous, and everywhere you can hear the hiss and rush of wheels on wet cement. But still I love it. It was perfect weather for a short afternoon nap. Now, slightly re-energized, I hope to be able to accomplish something before a fresh round of celebrations begin: Halloween!