day 1 - february 1, 2007
it's my last day living in philadelphia. three and a half years of a love/hate relationship. moved here a month out of college with no job, only a place to live. my sister found me a job teaching pre-school which i loved but it didn't pay the bills. finally landed a job with center city district, a position which was created specifically for me, a job that was perfect at the time. the work experience was unbelievable and i loved the organization. but after some shake-ups that started to change. my role was changed and i found myself being taken off of most of the projects that i was working on and given work that should have been done by an intern. i was miserable. i hated getting up in the morning and going to work. i had to force myself to make that walk.
that all changed in september when i was let go. it wasn't my fault but that's not a discussion for here. at first i was upset but then later that day i found myself smiling. i couldn't be happier. i was no longer stuck at a dead-end job living paycheck to paycheck. i soon found myself collecting unemployment and doing freelance graphic design, somehow making more money in 5 hours of work a week than i did when i was working 65. more importantly i was enjoying life.
sadly though my lease was up at the end of january and due to a long unpleasant history with the place wasn't renewing it. i couldn't/wouldn't sign a new lease unless i had a job so i interviewed with a couple of promising companies. still waiting to hear from them but i had to move out. so i now find myself "homeless", living out of my car, all of my possessions in a 10'x10' storage locker.
i have two months of unemployment left. two months to travel and find myself. two months of crashing on couches. two months to decide if i'm going to return to philadelphia or return to my parents place in upstate ny, taking a year off and then going back to grad school.
where am i traveling? i have no solid plans right now, if anyone has some good ideas please let me know. festivals, museums, events, anything exciting.
the end has become my new beginning, when all is said and done i'll have a clearer idea of myself and where i'm headed. honestly i've always hated photos of myself, especially self-portraits but i thought that this would be a great way to record the next stage of my life.
Tags: philadelphia philly pennsylvania pa old city matt me self-portrait 2007 365 days
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day 2 - february 2, 2007
not having rent to pay means that i could use the next two month's rent for something much more fun. haven't had anytime to play or figure anything out yet. luckily i have plenty of free time after this weekend.
the couch surfing has begun. a night and day at andipantz's, my friend katie's tonight, tom and angie's tomorrow, maybe dimitri's for the super bowl and then to my sister's in maryland for a week.
Tags: 365 philadelphia philly pennsylvania pa loft district matt me self-portrait bathroom shower curtain wide-eyed 2007 canon 20d canon 20d 365 days
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day 3 - february 3, 2007
right now this is much harder than i expected it to be. not knowing where i'm going to be (or all the ins and outs of my new camera) makes it hard to find the time/space to take a new photo. plus it's hard to explain to your friends why you're taking a picture of yourself.
less mirrors soon, i promise.
Tags: 365 philadelphia philly pennsylvania pa center city matt me self-portrait mirror bag 2007 canon 20d canon 20d 365 days
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day 4 - february 4, 2007
off to maryland tomorrow to spend a week with my sister. so it's officially my last day in philly. the only place to go from here is......... anywhere.
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day 5 - february 5, 2007
when i lost my job i told myself that i was going to do so much with my free time. see everything that i hadn't seen yet in philly, start drawing again, get in the best shape of my life.
that mindset lasted for the first month or two. after that boredom and a lack of motivation set in. time to get back to that.
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