10 Things About Me To Start Off 2020

A Snowy Owl hangs out in the outskirts of Ottawa, Ontario.

I stood around pacing a dirt road on a recent 2020 winter morning for three hours wishing a snowy owl would fly for me. Dude swiveled his head about 430 times but just chilled HARD. So I decided to take a grey-hair selfie instead. It’s a new year. Fuck it.

Hi, my name is Gabe.

I find it challenging to converse, comment or share online. I am going to try and do more with my own life, personally and otherwise, as a method of connection to the world offline. In that spirit of sharing stuff here are 10 things about me: 1. I have two undergraduate degrees 🤷‍♂️: Philosophy and Tourism Management. 2. My first DLSR was a Canon Canada d90 back in 2006. Before that I shot on my dad’s Canon AE-1. It was something I only did for fun until 2017. It’s still fun, just helps to make a little $$$ while doing it. 3. I lived in Europe for 6.5 years, visited 33 countries and have lived in 4 4. I am a member of the Sony Alpha Pro Program and have slowly been picking away at working as a photographer. It’s a small-part time gig but a dedicated work-in-progress 5. I used to speak Italian. In 2011 I moved back from Italy after dropping out of a Masters In Philosophical Anthropology program, studying in Italian and English. Now I get by with the occasional visits to the best place in Ottawa, La Botega Nicastro (seriously it’s what heaven smells like 💥).

Really, I like this photo because I love Smith Optics sunglasses

I do not drink. Since February, 2006 I have not drank any alcohol or done any drugs. This is something ‘in-person’ I am very comfortable talking about. In online spaces, not so much. 6. I dropped out of high school when I was 16. Received my GED from the state of Maine after taking the exam at the University of Zagreb when I was 24. 7. I stopped drinking and doing drugs February 10, 2006. I got hella-wasted in a bus stop in northern Croatia. The last thing I remember was sitting in my bus seat after coming in from the bar and watching two guys beat the shit of a homeless dude, and thinking to myself “I feel nothing.” 8. I have no problem hanging with people who drink- at all. Hot boxing cars and marijuana-infused dinner parties? Ya not my thing. Other than that, I do not care. 9. I started taking anti-anxiety medication (Aventyl) in April, 2017. I could no longer drive on highways. This was the culminating effects of dealing with a nervous/digestive system breakdown in January of 2015. It has helped me so much since then. Baby steps have included being able to drive the 417 all the way downtown again after 1.5 years of taking back roads out of Ottawa. 10. One of my favorite photographers who has been very public about his mental health and alcoholism needs no introduction: Cory Richards. I have followed his journey since before Instagram and it has helped me believe that I too can have a full life. If you want to reach out to shoot photos or have coffee in Ottawa because you too have social anxiety, or not, let me know. I find it hard to reach out most of the time but I am usually always game 🤘