track 011 - bits and pieces

So, I said there wouldn't be any more mail pictures unless I received something awesome... well, I did receive something awesome! I tend to order quite a lot of stuff from Etsy and eBay, and it's always lovely to see an envelope from a person whose name you recognize but don't remember what you ordered! So, today I received my sticker order from Hong Kong and an ephemera kit and lovely extra goodies (a post card and some cute stickers) from Wreckthisgirl (that was fast! I ordered it last Saturday!).

Fun fact: I was actually going to enclose a sheet or two in Satu's envelope (she's my partner in a swap at the moment), but then saw on her blog that she just received the same stickers this week... so I didn't. :D

Now, I still have a ton of stuff to so before taking off tomorrow around midday. So, packing and organizing, laundry and sending some mail awaits!

track 010 - post office accident

I believe this is going to be the last post showing my in- and outcoming mail for a while. Our flight to Amsterdam (via Stockholm) leaves on Thursday morning, so unless I receive something really interesting tomorrow, no mail pictures for at least a week! However, I'm already looking forward to returning home and seeing the pile of mail that will (hopefully) be waiting!

I got a letter from Bee - it seems that either the Irish or the Finnish post office did something really interesting with it. It arrived wrapped in plastic, which I wondered but didn't really think too much about, until opening the envelope!

I wonder what happened! Luckily all the writing was still mainly untouched. The envelope was even covered with tape to begin with, and the dirt still got inside, so I wonder what would've happened to a letter in a normal, thin paper envelope!

I'll try and answer Bee before taking off, but if I don't have the time, I might just pack the letter with me and reply from the Netherlands.

The outcoming mail for yesterday was a letter I sent to my newest pen pal to USA. I happened to have an envelope made of very good quality paper, almost like watercolour paper, so watercolour is what I did with it! I finished it off with some rubber stamps - on the left you can see I used a plain stamp (handcarved by my pen pal Mickey, who's actually in New Zealand on her honeymoon now!), my goal was to take off some colour instead of adding it. The envelope stamp I made myself (and I'm very proud of it)!

The font I used on the envelope is called BlackChancery, I really enjoy writing with that one! Does anyone else use different fonts when you address your envelopes?

track 009 - an organized mess

First, I have an announcement to make. Due to personal family reasons, me and my boyfriend are flying to the Netherlands next Thursday for an unknown amount of time - no less than a week in any case. This means that I won't be home for at least a part of the Month of Letters - however, I'm not planning to give up on it. I will start as soon as I get back home and go on for 28 days. So, all of you who wish to receive something from me, drop me a line at biograffitist@mail.com and I'll get to you eventually! I'm really bummed out, since this is my first Month of Letters, and I was really looking forward to February, but something more important has come up so I'll just have to do it my way.

On another note, I hope everyone's having a great weekend! We're having pizza, and while there was still light outside I took quite a few photos so I can finally show you all how I keep my letter-writing stuff in order (or try to) as promised.

I usually write my letters on the couch, very rarely on the proper desk we have here in the living room. I like to watch TV while I write... This is how the sofa table looks like:

As you can see, it's far from tidy... but I have a system! On the tray with candles, I also store my outgoing letters. You can see Romy's letter there, waiting to be mailed. The plastic box under the table has rolls under it for easy rolling out and in. And once you roll it out, this is what you see:

Most of my letter-writing supplies! Since it is a bit chaotic to look at like this (but let me assure you, it's all logically piled up), we'll start breaking it down from the bottom. The bottom layer has three boxes in it:

The boxes on the left store my unwritten post cards and cardboard, and pen pal letters.

We'll elaborate the rightmost one a bit more, since that's the one I use every single time I write a letter. It's a woven box with layers of stuff in it - if you were to take the box away and leave the stuff as it is, it would look like something like this.

This box works as a home for my lettersets (bottom box with flowers on it), pencil case, scissors, pens and glue. There are also two bags - one plastic one and one paper one - and a mysterious white box, all pictured below with their contents. The paper bag has my stamps and priority -stickers, the plastic bag my envelopes and loose lettersheets and the mystery box has everything random that I use fairly often - stickers, memo sheets, deco tape, extra glue, carved stamps...

Now, onto the next layer of stuff! It begins with two folders that have magazine pages and clippings in them. The black one only has a4 sized magazine pages (that could be turned into envelopes) and the red one has various sized clippings.

After that, in comes a mystery bag with random embellishments and goodies in it, and a box with paper goods. Scrapbooking paper, illustrations, ephemera etc.

Almost done! The second-last layer includes a box with small paper ephemera, and other random flat things. In addition to that, there is another mystery bag - with sticker sheets that are too big for the rightmost box, some ribbons and so on - and a sheet that shows how much postage I have to pay when I send stuff. It's covered in plastic because I have a tendency to spill things. (That's why it looks a bit strange in the picture.)

And last but not least, in goes some wrapping paper I have no better place for, and my loyal sketchbook. I use it as a writing pad, I make letter paper out of its pages, I store letters in progress inbetween it... I don't know what I would do without it!

In addition to my plastic box, I have a couple of more places left. I store my swap envelopes and notes, Christmas cards etc. in a separate box on the bottom level of the sofa table. You can see where in the very first picture (go on, scroll up!).

And I also have a corner bookshelf in the living room that holds my artsy stuff (charcoals, pastels, watercolour pencils and watercolours), a box with some more paper and cardboard and wrapping paper that will be turned into for example envelopes!

So, that is the controlled chaos known as my letter-writing and craft supplies. Let me tell you, it took a long time to find a way that works! For ages my papers etc. were just two overflowing boxes on the floor next to the desk. I still haven't rounded up everything - my watercolour papers, brushes, canvases and oil colours are scattered around the bookshelf area.

Does everyone have fun plans for the weekend? If you're bored, I would love to see how you keep your supplies in order - pictures please!

track 008 - doodles

Happy Friday!

Since I got a couple of comments on my last entry about doodling being hard, I thought I'd let you see how I do it. It's easier when you focus on small steps instead of aiming for the ready drawing right away! So, these are my steps to the vine doodles featured in the envelope in my previous post - feel free to draw along or adjust them to your needs.

1. Make some swirls by pencil. I like to start them from the corners, because then I don't have to worry about what the other end looks like - just the swirl end. Make sure they're nice and loose - there's no need to try and get them symmetrical or perfectly shaped! Draw them fast and then adjust later if need be. I always start from the biggest swirl and add smaller ones around it, making sure they curve in different direction, start in different places and are different length.

2. Ink them in! Make sure you use a pen that doesn't smudge or fade too much when you erase the pencil marks from under it. I ended up smudging with my hand, try to avoid that. ;) At this point you can make adjustments or additions - you can see I haven't followed the pencil marks 100%.

3. Erase the pencil marks. Add details! Below are some examples on what kinds of patterns you can use to fill in your doodle. Combine them, add other shapes and patterns, have fun!

After you have your details in place, have fun with your swirls. Make their thickness vary, add more branches, see what looks good to you. When you make them thicker, do it gradually - you can always add more, but it's hard to make them thinner if you accidentally go too far from the original line! This is one example on how your doodle can look after some flesh:

Finish the other side as well! After that, you can add more swirls, details and other things you deem appropriate. Remember, the most important thing is to have fun - so relax, let your creativity take over and try out things! If you're not sure how something is going to look like, sketch it with a pencil first and ink it in when you're happy with it.

Ta-dah! You have one incredible doodle - be proud of yourself and reward yourself with a nice cup of tea while admiring your handiwork!

Some detail shots below.

Happy doodling, everyone! Remember, these are just guidelines. There is no one way of doing things, so experiment and see what works out for you! This is only meant as a rough guide if you really don't have any idea where you should start - or if you want to try out something new just for fun.

track 007 - catching up

Good evening / morning / midday / whatever time it is in your area!

Today I sat down and replied a couple of letters, and I'm still in the middle of writing 2 and haven't even started one. So, I know what I'll be doing with my long weekend (no school tomorrow)!

Romy had sent me a post card through Sendsomething. She ended up writing it so full that she had to continue it on a piece of paper... that's exactly what happens to me! Also why I tend to prefer sending letters to post cards... (: This teeny envelope (you can't properly see the size, but it is about 2/3 of a normal card-sized envelope) holds my reply to her - it's one of the sets I showed earlier on the blog. I realized that I had written in the wrong side of the letter paper! I thought you were supposed to write on the patterned side, but turns out the other one has lines (although they, just like the envelope, are minuscule! Maybe the South Koreans have really petite handwriting or they just like tiny things?).

This doodled envelope is on its way to Russia by now. I participated in a mail art tag, and this is my contribution! I doodle things like that very often, it's calming and if you just have the time and patience, can look very intriguing when you fill areas with different branches, vines and patterns.

In addition to outgoing, I was pampered with incoming mail as well!

The second package in Surprise in an envelope was also definitely more than three items! It included a diary/daily planner for 2013 in a cute cupcake design - something that will come in handy, actually! I bought myself a perfect a5 diary from London last October, but my boyfriend bought me a new handbag for Christmas and it doesn't properly fit in there. This way I can still carry a small diary with me and then copy the stuff in the bigger one if I deem it necessary! Also included were notecards, envelopes and letter papers, a couple of postcards and a stack of pencils.

Tomorrow me and my boyfriend will be having some Mexican food with my family - my mum and brother as well as my aunt are coming over and we're all going to grandma's place, which is about 20 minutes from here. I'm getting hungry just by thinking about it! Mmm. I wish you all a great Friday - and weekend!

P.S. Remember when I told you about the puzzle we were working on? Turns out all our tables are too small for it! We're trying to figure out something now - maybe we'll do it on the floor and hope the cat doesn't eat too many pieces...

P.P.S. The Month of Letters is coming up! Drop me a line in my e-mail (biograffitist@mail.com) if you'd like to receive something in the mail from me in February! I could still use many new people to send something to!

P.P.P.S. Remind me to tell you about how we got locked in the sauna and my boyfriend had to climb out of the window. Next time. I'm going to bed now!

track 006 - mailbox happiness

Yesterday I had three lovely thick envelopes waiting for me at home!

The one on the top was a letter from U.S.A. - Erica wrote to me via Sendsomething. I love it when I receive something I haven't been expecting!

The one in the middle is a very thick envelope from Canada - I finally received the letter papers and airmail stickers I ordered from Julie! I'm always low on letter paper, so I opted for a stationery grab pack. I like surprises and it included several random letter paper designs, a fair amount of each - 50 altogether. That should be good for a few letters! I may have let out a little squeal when I realized what the envelope was - the anticipation between seeing it and opening it is just delicious, don't you think?

I also got an envelope from Germany, one that included tag items. It was a tag where you were supposed to send 3 items in an envelope without checking your partner's profile. It was great to receive something completely surprising! My partner sent me more than 3 items - I feel spoiled now - and they included a beautiful postcard with dunes and a lighthouse, and a big flat felt reindeer! I really loved that one, since I sent some reindeer / elk felt stickers to my pen pals around Christmas (even saved a couple for myself because I liked how they looked) and it looks exactly like them!

Since I'm in the process of talking about stuff I've received, here's some more goodies I ordered online:

So cute lettersets! I ordered them on eBay from DreamingiDesign. Since I couldn't decide which set I liked the best, I ordered the pack that included one of each. The time between ordering them and receiving them was 9 days and they shipped from South Korea - fast!

I think the beige one might be my favourite.

On another note... I discovered a genious game the other day! Challenge Accepted is a game where you play as a role playing character, completing tasks, quests and odysseias - that are your life! Since I'm so hooked on RPG's, I discovered this is a great way to achieve things - I add things I need to do on my list, and when I don't feel like doing them, just the thought of the +50xp gives me some sort of motivation! It's in beta still, so if you do try it out and find bugs, do report them so the game can keep on developing. Oh, and it's made by two American women, Amy and Daisy - girl power all the way.

So, at the moment there are quite a few things on my to-do list. I'm quite busy with school at the moment, since we're doing a project that involves a customer, and those always take time and require loads of meetings. But I won't be forgetting leisure either - me and my boyfriend are working on a 3000-piece puzzle of Picasso's Guernica! That might not sound like fun to everyone, but I happen to thoroughly enjoy puzzles, and when you combine it with us planning our summer (touring around France, anyone?), it is very relaxing AND productive!

photo from pablopicasso.org

Next time I'll try and finally show you how I store my letter-writing stuff and hopefully I'll have some pretty outgoing mail to document as well as incoming! Now I'm off to see if we can make any sense of the puzzle yet...

track 005 - paris letters

This week I received something fabulous in the mail!

I stumbled upon Janice MacLeod's Paris Letters sometime in December 2012. It took me a while to understand what the project was about, and when I did understand, I fell in love! It combines so many of my favourite things in this world:

•  Paris
•  Watercolour paintings
•  Snail mail
•  Did I mention Paris?

In a nutshell: Every month, Janice paints something. You can see examples of her beautiful aquarelles above (If only I could paint that beautifully... I would never ask for anything else again!) She writes a letter on it, copies this painting to all her subscribers, adds each of the subscriber's names on them to personalize it and mails it with a pretty stamp.

If you, like me, would love to receive a breathtaking piece of art from Paris (oh, how I love Paris), you can subscribe at Janice's Etsy page. You can subscribe for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months, and the prices vary from 7,70€ to bit under 60 € for the whole year (that's less than 5 euros per month!). There's also a special subscription called Paris Love Stories, which offers a year-long glimpse to the tragic, beautiful or scandalous happenings of the City of Love.

track 004 - dance till you're dead

This song always makes me want to dance! I love it.

Yesterday I started my dance lessons! They started at 19:30 and I thought I'd try and be there around fifteen minutes before the start, because even though they're held at my school, I don't know where all the dance halls are and I didn't want to be the one wandering around and knocking on every door. So, I took the car (to a 700 metre trip, yes, I'm lazy - I figured I'd be sweaty after the lesson and wouldn't want to walk home in minus degrees) and arrived at the school at 19:18, which wasn't that bad. Until... I realized I left my wallet at home and the receipt for paying for the lessons was in there! So I had to call my boyfriend to bring my wallet outside (so I wouldn't have to park the car, walk up to our apartment, search for the wallet and so on) and, yes, drive back. Because of that, I arrived to the dance department at exactly 19:30 and was so afraid I'd be late! I hovered around a bit until I saw a sign pointing to dance halls 3&4 - the one I had to find was 3. However, there was only one door - and when I walked through it, I ended up looking at a group of people making guttural sounds and banging each others in the back with their fists. (I later found out it was called 'experimental theatre'.) "I assume this isn't the dance hall 3?", I asked the only person who wasn't busy shouting, and she said that ballroom 3 is just on the other side of the wall, there's just no door inbetween them. (Why on earth are they both on the sign?) So, the dance hall 3 was the one I had earlier passed and not paid any more attention to because it had no number or sign on it (why on earth not?). In hindsight, all those people sitting outside of it should've been a hint. Well, all's well when the end's well, and I found the hall and wasn't even late (well, I was, but so was the teacher). 

Now, for the actual lesson. It's called MTV Style and it consists of three different parts: warming up, long choreography and short 'fashion' choreography. I really liked the fact that the warming up part actually made me pant and sweat - it wasn't just, you know, jumping up and down but also crunches, push ups and stretching. The long choreography is something we work on for 4 lessons at a time and then switch to another one - the first one is to a Jennifer Lopez song which I've never heard before, but I'll take the teacher's word for it. Honestly, it's a bit annoying because the song is all whiney and I prefer something a bit more 'pumped up', but the actual choreography isn't that easy so if it was to something faster, I'd be in deep sh*t. I'm having a hard time coordinating my hands and feet at the same time as it is... The third part, 'fashion dance' is something short and easy that's been all the rave at some point, so it's more for the fun part than actually learning something! This time we did Saturday Night Fever - yes, with the Travolta move - and it was a blast. A bit shorter than what I would've liked, but hey, we only had 10 minutes left anyway! It was a great way to end the lesson, although my hand-feet coordination still isn't quite working. There was a place where you're supposed to put your left hand behind your head, lift your left foot and smack it with your right hand. Well, I took the 'smack' part very seriously, it made a very convincing sound - if only I hadn't gotten my hands mixed up and ended up smacking myself in the head. Several times. How come that is so hard to me?

I also got mail yesterday! Eva J. via Sendsomething sent me a post card (in German! I was thrilled to notice I could still understand it, even though the speaking/writing part has completely escaped me) and two tea bags. I'm looking forward to trying them! I haven't gotten mail in ages (really! Since December!) so it was so nice to have an envelope waiting for me. Eva also recommended me to try a site called DaWanda and I've been drooling over everything there, trying to restrain myself. Recently I've ordered TONS of things from Etsy and other similar sites, and I can't wait to receive them and show you all the prettiness!

How was everyone else's Tuesday? I hope you avoided the smacking yourself in the head -part.

track 003 - a new week

It's the third week of a new year! Let's see what I've planned for this week's posts - I'm really excited! This is going to be a good week.

- I'm starting my dance classes tomorrow - I'm both a bit nervous and really looking forward to them! Let's see if I feel like going again after the first class... I haven't done any organized hobbies since I was 17, I think! Gosh!

- Tomorrow, 15.1.2013  is the day I've been looking forward to for pretty much the whole time I've been in this school (since September 2011, that is). What happens then? The application period for abroad exchange starts! I'm planning on following my application process and exchange period from choosing a school to filing in the final report after returning.

Here we go!

- I cleaned up my stationery and supplies, so one day this week I'll be showing how I store my letter-writing stuff. It took a long time to find a system that works, but I think I'm on the right track now!

- And, of course, I plan on tracking my in- and outcoming mail. Before going to school today I'm sending off two envelopes - one to Germany and one to Japan - with tag stuff in them. They're not specifically pretty or fascinating envelopes, and it didn't occur to me to photograph them before sealing the envelopes, so you're not getting any pictures, sorry! If I send or receive anything more exciting, pictures will follow.

I hope you will all have a great week!

track 002 - League of Extraordinary Penpals

The League of Extraordinary Penpals is a project by two bloggers/snail mail enthusiasts: Julie from Penpal of the Week and Laura of Please Deliver to... . As I follow both these blogs regularly, I was so excited to hear about this project when it broadcasted to my Google Reader! The League is a club where, in exchange for a membership fee, you get cool stuff related to letter-writing: including but not limited to printables, organized swaps, pen pal challenges and interviews with other League members.

Since the membership fee was more than affordable (my three-month subscription only cost 8 Canadian dollars, which is a bit over 6 euros), I obviously couldn't resist joining. I would've joined for the whole year, but as I'm known for getting bored with things quickly, I thought I'll try the three months first and then extend my membership if I'm still excited about it.

As superheroes are usually supposed to stay anonymous, I won't reveal much of my alter ego here... suffice to say my awesome superhero name is Arctic Comet and I am obviously damn near omnipotent.

If there are people out there who'd like to be a member of an awesome club like this, do join. The membership fees go to the two coordinators, and from what I've read about them (for example this post by Julie), they really deserve it. I'm happy to sponsor them both even if only with my measly 8 CAD. Another way to show your support is to for example purchase things from their Etsy shops - I recently ordered items from Julie's La Papierre and will report back here when they arrive from Canada. I haven't tried Laura's Please Deliver To shop, but will do in the future as it's packed with wacky envelopes and other things!

I think it's great that there are still people out there who don't think snail mail is dead, and these two ladies have a big following that will hopefully keep on growing. Kudos to them both!

track 001 - me

Hello again!

So, in my first post I explained a bit why I'm writing this blog. In this post I will tell you who the person writing this blog is! I find it annoying when I read a blog where the writer never really introduces themselves, or does it very briefly. I'm a voyeur by nature, and to satisfy my curiosity, I want to know! Everything and anything! So, here goes my attempt to satisfy my readers' (a bit optimistic now, since nobody reads it yet, but I plan to get readers!) curiosity.

At the moment of writing, I am 21 years, 7 months and almost 3 days old. In other words, I was born in June 8th, 1991. In Finland. I lived the first 19 years of my live above the Arctic Circle, then I moved to Belgium to work as an au pair. After a few months, I moved to the Netherlands and lived with my boyfriend's family - I loved it in the Netherlands. The atmosphere and the people were so different from the reserved Finns, and I felt like the Dutch are more open to different kinds of people, whereas the Finns tend to judge everything that isn't the norm. Obviously there are exceptions, but that's the overall impression I got. I lived in the Netherlands for two months, and then moved back to Finland in January 2011. In June 2011, my boyfriend moved in with me and we've been living together in Oulu ever since.

So, that's my life story very briefly... since nobody really ever cares what has happened to the person before they start writing the blog, eh? It's the events that happen during the blog-writing that really matter, because then you get almost a live commentary on the writer's life. So, let me tell you what's happening in my life and what I'm planning for the future!

Right now, my life is in a bit of lull. I study media production, and I do like it, I'm just not too keen on the courses we're having right now, haha. Next autumn I'm planning to go on an exchange period, and I'm really excited about that, though! Any guesses where I want to go? (drum roll) The Netherlands! On the other hand, it's going to be a lot of work with all the stuff we have here in Finland, but hey, if other exchange students have managed to do something about their stuff, I'm sure I can do something, too.

I've never been much of a hobby type, or rather, I have, just not the organized ones. I like to do things when I feel like doing them, not when I'm told to do them. (This has caused some problems with school deadlines over the years... I'm a huge procrastinator.) However, this spring I've enrolled myself on a dance course that begins next Tuesday, and I'm actually really looking forward to it! Other hobbies I have are pen palling (I have such amazing pen pals! Expect to have a lot of mail-related entries.) and making my own stationery (if I ever take pictures, I'll put them on here), reading (you can see my Goodreads profile in the sidebar - I like to track my process in different things, also reading), spending time on the computer and trying out different things. I have these urges to do something every now and then - sometimes I'll feel like cooking something really elaborate, sometimes I feel like drawing, sometimes I even feel like going out for a run. I've never actually been crazy enough to do the latter one - the thought is ridiculous since I loathe running, but I have gotten the urge to do so! I think it was right after I found about Zombies, Run!. Then I realized I don't own a smartphone and was sort of bummed, but mainly just relieved because I had passed the moment of craziness and remembered that I hate running.

So, like the previous incident proves, I like games as well. I'll admit that any day, but I'll also admit I'm a very casual gamer, the type that all 'serious' gamers frown upon. Well, too bad. I believe games were invented for fun and for fun I shall use them. I very rarely finish games (the only ones I can remember finishing lately were Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, which are just PERFECT. I think I had a little crush on Alistair in Origins, shhh.), but I do like to try out different types. Right now I'm in the middle of Mass Effect (the first one), Black and White II, and I also sometimes play The Sims 3, World of Warcraft (since I got a free month because I bought Diablo 3), Dofus (that's a small MMORPG that I have a long history with, since 2005, and it's actually how I met my boyfriend so it'll always have a special place in my heart) and other games I don't remember right now. I get bored easily, so a game has to offer something special to keep me entertained.

And the last thing you should know about me is that all the things I've listed here are by no means the only ones I enjoy. Like I mentioned before, I have urges. Because of that, I'm interested in zillions of subject and I know about a lot of things - just not very much about anything specific. I'm very good at trivias, haha, because my head is filled with useless information. I'm the kind of person you want to play team up with to play Charades, or Alias, or... well, you get the point. So, yes I like the things I mentioned so far, but I also like a variety of other things. And that will probably be showcased here in the blog as well, since I like to talk about things I like. So, expect the unexpected.

Pictures in this post: letter papers by me. Last image from Mickey's blog.

intro

I’M THE OUTSIDER, THE OBSERVER 

THE OUTCAST, THE WORD CONSERVER 
I’M INSPIRED BY THE STREETS 
SOME DAY IT WILL BE IN MY BIOGRAFFITI 

(Hanoi Rocks - Street Poetry)

I've always wanted to keep a blog. In fact, I have, many times. The longest one was when I spent a few months in Belgium as an au pair - it was a way to tell the people back at home what I's been up to and to let them in my life.

Ever since I returned to Finland, I've had the urge to keep log of what happens to me, but the reality is that not a lot happens. That's why I tried to start a blog about my field of study and what happens in the world of media and events. However, that was very short-lived, since I just didn't have the energy to do research for school AND for a blog. Then I tried to start a blog about what I receive and send in the mail, but usually I'm too excited when I receive a letter to first photograph it - and I also didn't want to be labeled solely as a 'mail blog'. And then I went through my Google Reader (all 149 of the blogs I have listed there) and tried to figure out what kinds of blogs I like to read. Why? Well, because I have impeccable taste, of course! So, if I could figure out what makes me reads the blogs I do, I could incorporate that into my own blog and then everybody would like to read my blog because it would be awesome. 

source: google.com

How disappointed I was when I realized there was no single 'thing' that stood out. I follow a lot of different blogs. The only thing they seemed to have in common was that I liked the person who wrote it (their style of writing, the contents of the blog, what they share with their readers). Most of the blogs I read are very normal blogs where people document their everyday life. So be it! From now on, I will document my everyday life... maybe knowing that I have to write about it will make it more interesting?

Because I'm always a bit late from everything, I did not start this blog the first of January, which would be the OCD way to do this - neat and organized. Since I'm neither of those, I guess 10th is as good a day as any!

I look forward to finding out which direction this blog will go to - hopefully there's someone out there reading that does, too!