an old friend messaged me today, commenting on the existence of this blog. a friend from highschool, we lost touch once the whole separate cities, new lives thing that is university happened. but, somehow, it strikes me as wonderful that, now, a few years later, we can chat again. i mean, really, we should have more to say now than then, with more life, more mistakes, more happiness, characterizing us. and yet, this blog seems to bridge the distance. it records, a little tiny bit, of our lives, just enough that that little string stays attached. enough so that familiarity can survive. i am glad that she reads this. i am glad that she messaged me.

in the spirit of old friends reading this new blog, perhaps i should back up a step. the title comes from a) what i like to do and b) what i'd like to be. traveling has always been a bit of a passion, realized first with a trip to greece and then with a year long excursion in western europe. hopefully continuing this summer with a trip to england to visit my expat parents. after that, who knows? africa? literacy programs? something? which brings me to "what i want to be." currently, i am doing my master's in information studies at the university of toronto. its going well, some classes more than others, topped off with a wonderful collaborativ program in book history and print culture that brings me back to my humanities roots.

has anything else changed since i walked the walls of st. stephen's secondary school? i am not sure. many of the friendships that i value most were formed there and they continue in the present. so something must be static. but i think that i was happy then and i know that i am happy now. and a bit healthier. i drink a lot less and i execise a lot more. i read. i write. i download illegal music to my ipod. i lay in bed and eat mcdonald's breakfast with my love, sometimes even with a newspaper. i walk more than i drive. i watch too much crappy tv and i love it. i promise to write emails that never seem to find time to write, i make resolutions to spend more time at school and less in coffee shops looking out the window, and i wish i called my mom more. so yes, life is different and the same, and in many cases new has replaced old. but i suppose that is what is so amazing about memories. they can keep the old new...like covering the windows in the student council room with ryan. or endless coffe trips with steph. endless movies with julia. the endless comedic antics of chris and paul. learning to like myself through the energy that is jeanetta. jacqui, chantal, cassie, brian, russ...names that i think of not as often as i should but ones with whom i associate some of the best experiences of my life. i just haven't figured out how to keep the old as close when time marches on. if someone has that secret, i'll buy it. or maybe trade my book stand for it.