A Favourite.

As I pack up my apartment today, and close this chapter of my life, I am reminded of the good times had here (yes there were good times!).  This is one of my all time favourites and I'm sure you all know the lyrics.  It definitely is helping with passing the time and  getting me through this wistful time.

Now sing along...


Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world

She took the midnight train goin' anywhere

Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit

He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

A singer in a smokey room

A smell of wine and cheap perfume

For a smile they can share the night

It goes on and on and on and on

Stranger waiting, up and down the boulevard

Their shadows searching in the night

Streetlights people, living just to find emotion

Hiding, somewhere in the night.

Working hard to get my fill,

Everybody wants a thrill 

Payin' anything to roll the dice,

Just one more time

Some will win, some will lose

Some were born to sing the blues

Oh, the move never ends

It goes on and on and on and on

Don't stop believin'

Hold on to the feelin'

Streetlights people

And repeat.

The Plan.

I have always been inspired by people that have traveled the world and seen all that they can see.  As long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be one of these individuals.  I want to experience something different, see the world through someone else's eyes and just be consumed by everything that is wonderful.

Tonight at work, I said goodbye to a friend who is setting out on yet another journey around the world.  He has had the opportunity to see and touch corners of the earth that I have only dreamed of.  On this trip, he will be backpacking through South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and California.  His trip will commence in September and he will not return to Canada until January 2011.  Even though he has travelled before, and is returning to some of his favourite places, he is excited and full of life as if it were his very first trip.  I feel inspired after chatting with him about his detailed itinerary, as I am planning my very first Solo-European adventure in 2011.  I have always talked about taking off and seeing different parts of the world, but have never actually had the chance.  Maybe it was bad timing or it just wasn't meant to be at that particular moment in time.  I find myself even more inspired and determined to accomplish this dream this time around, because of the several chapters in my life that have closed in the recent months.  With this, I know, that only more doors will open with new and exciting adventures to experience.

With my passion to travel and also a love for photography, I hope to document and share, the days leading up to my departure, and share with you what I hope to accomplish from my travels and also what will inspire me to continue to explore this beautiful world.  Starting in September I am starting a new journal, one that will be solely dedicated to my plans, contain maps, photos and lists of my future endeavours while abroad.  Like my other journals, I'm positive this one will end up being tied together, in the end, with a string or ribbon to help contain the loose sheets of unimportant tips and tidbits of information from flying away.  And while I am travelling I will be sure to be caring this journal in my backpack so that I may cross off sights that I  planned to see, the best cafes to eat lunch, and types of beer and wines to try, along with purchasing a fresh new journal to document my day to day activities while falling in love with another part of the world, and also with a new me.

Let the planning begin.

The Beginning.

I am new to this blogging thing.  I'm actually not even sure what I am to "blog" about or what I want to share with you, to be completely honest.

I have always been the type of person to carry a notebook or journal around with me; constantly adding to the pages with tidbits of information, doodles or of epic fantasies that come to mind.  My journals were, and still are, my way of escaping reality for even just a moment.  

Most people, even my closest friends, have never seen the contents inside these covers.  Honestly, a lot of it is unimportant, little life details:  appointments, bills to pay, what will be in my basket on my next trip to the farmers market kind of stuff.  Some of my journals, on the very back pages, I have created lists of different things - books I've read (with the start and finish dates), books I want to read, movies to watch, potential travel destinations and monthly budgets.  There are pages and pages of "randomness".  Some of these pages, when I look back in past journals, even make me think "what the heck is this about?", proof that a night out on the town with good friends, make the best memories, even when you can't remember them clearly.  Or perhaps at all!  

Almost every one of my journals contains many single sheets stuffed between the pages - some which needed to be held together with a elastic band or ribbon.  Otherwise my "unimportant-important" tidbits would spread wings and fly away.  These loose sheets are just as important, if not more, than the ones still bound together.  Everything from project deadlines at work, 'to do' lists, bills to be paid and even letters to friends far away.  My journals are a way to record my life, according to me.  

Everyone keeps little important keepsakes from special times in their lives.  I happen to also keep, closed up in my journals, all of the 'unimportant' times in my life.  We will only be in this life once, and all these unimportant parts are what make up the majority of our lives.  So why do people only keep a minority of their memories?

I guess I have started this blog as a way to make parts of my journal, and therefore life, more accessible, for the ever curious public that I never knew I had.  Here you will find notes on pretty much everything and anything, from the latest inspiration for a new article or photo series, to some of my favourite lists.

I hope you all enjoy my canvas.