Smile!

"A smile takes but a moment, but the memory of it lasts forever."

"A smile is like looking in a mirror. If you give a smile you're likely to get one back!"

"Don't cry because it's over, SMILE because it happened!"

Smile!

That was all for today folks.

Spam * djangomusic* Spam Spam Spam ;-)

Hi there, how's it going? Another message from the road. Seems like I'm travelling all day now without ever finding a clue that will help me further with this Magical Quest. But in a way that doesn't matter at all, because I like this questing business very much and would hate it if it would already be over.
Today I want to tell you about this wonderful musicstore on the web called djangomusic. I have already ordered many of my favorite cd's of this year here (Jason Mraz, Josh Kelley, Switchfoot, Josh Rouse), but now I found out that they have this sale of second hand cd's that they sent you without any costs for shipping and handling. So today three cd's arrived that had cost me only 13,5 dollars! The best one is that of Joe Firstman, who also cowrote a song on the last Josh Kelley record. I had heard of this man, but I had never heard his music, but it turns out to be very, very good. If you like Counting Crows, Josh Kelley and Dave Matthews you should really check this out! Another cd I bought is the Austin Sessions by Edwin McCain. When I first heard him (the song I'll be), I wasn't really impressed, although I didn't dislike it. However, I knew some of his songs are really great (the ballads) and when I read that this cd is acoustic I decided to give it a try. I have listened to it once and I'm not disappointed.

Well, gotta go again. Want to read a little in the bible and in this wonderful novel I'm reading now: The known world by Edward P. Jones. Bye bye. :-)

Lucky man

Happiness
More or less
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my

Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know just where I am
But how many corners do I have to turn?
How many times do I have to learn
All the love I have is in my mind?
Well, I'm a lucky man
With fire in my hands

Happiness
Something in my own place
I'm standing naked
Smiling, I feel no disgrace
With who I am
Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know just who I am

But how many corners do I have to turn?
How many times do I have to learn
All the love I have is in my mind?
I hope you understand
I hope you understand
Gotta love that'll never die

Happiness
More or less
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty

Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my

Gotta love that'll never die
Gotta love that'll never die
No, no
I'm a lucky man
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my

Music

Listening to these cd's and feeling very happy.

Smiling is contagious!

Today, I noticed that a lot of people were smiling at me when I was travelling on my bike... First I wondered why, but then I realised that I was smiling too and it made me think about my favorite poem:

Smiling is contagious, you catch it like the flu,

When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner, and someone saw my grin -

When he smiled I realized, I'd passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile, then I realized its worth,

A single smile, just like mine, could travel round the earth.

So, if you feel a smile begin, don't leave it undetected -

Let's start an epidemic quick and get the world infected ! ! !

And here's the most recent songs I listened to:

1 matchbox twenty - Push just listened
2 matchbox twenty - 3 A.M. 21:32, 26 October 2005
3 matchbox twenty - Long Day 21:29, 26 October 2005
4 matchbox twenty - Real World 21:24, 26 October 2005
5 Rob Thomas - Something to Be 21:18, 26 October 2005
6 Robbie Williams - Something Beautiful 21:13, 26 October 2005
7 The Rolling Stones - Love in Vain 20:54, 26 October 2005
8 Red House Painters - I Feel the Rain Fall 20:50, 26 October 2005
9 Ben Folds - Trusted 20:47, 26 October 2005
10 Maroon 5 - That's Not Enough 20:44, 26 October 2005

See ya!

Silly

Okay, okay, I know, this weblog is not yet what I promised it would be. One reason for that is that I don't post enough. Therefore, I have decided to post more regularly even when I don't have much to say.
The thing I wanted to tell you today is that I think 'silly' is the nicest word in the English language! I don't mean silly as in stupid, but silly as in fun :-) Like the book I'm reading is silly but also very much fun. And I would think this weblog is silly too or do you disagree on that?
Oh, and right now I'm listening to this wonderful record by three Belgian ladies who name themselves Lais! If you like traditional folkmusic with an attitude you should really check this out! They sing in Dutch and French (sometimes even Finnish) and they have already made three records.
And now I gotta go on with my quest again. By the way, if you have any advice to give, don't hesitate!

:)

There's never been a dance that's so easy to do!

No time for a long update, just some lyrics to let you know in what kind of mood I am. Right now I could listen to this song a million times. ;-)

Little Eva - The loco-motion

Everybody's doin' a brand new dance now
(Come on baby, do the locomotion)
I know you'll get tot like it if you give it a chance now
(Come on baby, do the locomotion)
My little baby sister can do it with ease
It's easier than learning your A B Cs
So come on, come on, do the locomotion with me.
You gotta swing your hips now
Come on baby, jump up, jump back.
Oh well I think you got the knack.
Oh now that you can do it let's make a train now
(Come on baby, do the locomotion)
Chug a chug a motion like a railroad train now
(Come on baby, do the locomotion)
Do it nice and easy now don't lose control
A little bit of rhythm and a lot of soul
So come on, come on, do the locomotion with me.
The locomotion
Come on, come on...
the locomotion
Come on, come on...
the locomotion
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Move around the floor in a locomotion
(Come on baby, do the locomotion)
Do it holdin' hands if you get the notion.
(Come on baby, do the locomotion)
There's never been a dance that's so easy to do
It even makes you happy when you're feelin' blue
So come on, come on, do the locomotion with me.
You gotta swing your hips now
Come on baby, jump up, jump back.
Oh well I think you got the knack.
Do the loc, do the loc, do the loc the locomotion
Do the loc, do the loc, do the loc the locomotion
Do it nice and easy now don't lose control
A little bit of rhythm and a lot of soul
Come on...do the locomotion with me

Why don't you all join me? ;-)

Oh, and I have been watching this movie called Groundhog day yesterday and I don't know why but it just me made me feel so happy!!! :-)

Life is sweet.

A quick update

Hi there! Yeah, I know, it's been quite some time. Well, lately, I have been very busy and I also caught a nasty cold which is what you get when you travel too much ;-) So I didn't have time nor energy to tell you of all my adventures. I don't have now either, but in case anyone was wondering what happened to me, I decided to give you a quick update. However, to be honest, last week I didn't find any clue that helped me with my quest. ;-( I can only tell you that last weekend I saw this wonderful movie:


City of angels has two of my all time favorite songs on it's soundtrack (Iris and I know) so I just had to see it. I didn't really know what to expect, but I loved it! I also rewatched Good Will Hunting which is definitely one of my most favorite movies EVER!

And I got some nice new cd's by Will Hoge, Teitur, Dar Williams, The Doors, Lais, Eliza Carthy, The Innocence Mission, Alicia Keys, The Magic Numbers and Lenny Kravitz. I know what you're thinking, but I didn't not have to pay for all of them ;-) Is anyone familiar with the online store Django music? That's without a doubt the best store on the web. That is, if you're into my kind of music!

Don't forget to check last.fm!

Sorry for not giving you much interesting stuff today, but I guess you already got used to that. Which is a shame, because I know I could have enough interesting things to write if I could only find the time. ;-)

Well, see ya!

The Enchanted Forest that was not enchanted...

Hullo there! It's kind of hard to find an internetcafe along the road, so that's the reason I kept you waiting for so long for an update on my adventures. Sorry!!! But I will make it up to you right now. However, first let me tell you that I have put this wonderful cd by Mark Erelli in my cd-player. Anyone ever heard of this guy? I think this is one of my favorite neo-folk records of all time. I hadn't listened to it for some time, but I'm really glad I decided to bring it with me on my journey!

So what has happened to me lately? As you remember, I walked out of my house last Sunday to embark on a Magical Quest. In my bag some clothes, some books and cd's and some other useful stuff. And off I went. So far, the weather has been really beautiful. It has been sunny all day and a little warmer than is usual in October, which is a good thing when you're travelling! Since my departure I have been rather busy talking to people, reading interesting books and articles, watching movies and studying lots of stuff, hoping to find some answers to the question how to make this weblog the nicest and most interesting on the World Wide Web! So far, I haven't found any. But I did come across some very interesting ideas that. Let me now tell you something about that.


After I had met the people I told you about last Monday, I soon found myself surrounded by trees. I had come upon a forest. It remembered me of the Enchanted Forest that's in the book that I'm reading right now: The Faraway Tree Stories by Enid Blyton. As you remeber, this is a children's book, recommended to me by someone whose advice I value a lot. I was right in following it, because it is a wonderful book! It's about these children that move from a town to the countryside and discover a Magical Forest, almost next to their doorstep. In it, they encounter lots of talking animals, elves, gnomes and other Magical Creatures. Some people might think it silly to read this kind of fantasy stories, but what this book is teaching me is that you should never lose the child in yourself. I think I had almost lost it a few years ago, but I'm glad I found it again. However, I have no clue yet whether this will help to make this weblog more interesting and fun to read. ;-)
In the forest I found myself in, I did not meet any unnatural creatures, but I did marvel at the wonders of nature. I like to be outside and I love to see the seasons change. Although spring and summer are my favorites, I also like autumn a lot: the sunny days when you can watch the leaves turn brown and yellow and the days when it's raining without ever stopping or when the wind is blowing hard around the house. And I'm inside, listening to beautiful music or playing games and talking with friends or reading a wonderful book.

Later on, I came upon this record store. Well, if you know me, you know that I cannot go by a record store without dropping in to see what they got. And so I did. I looked around a bit and found this lovely cd that might very well turn out to be my favorite cd of this autumn. It's called Bill Withers Live At Carnegie Hall. And although it hasn't got my favorite Bill Withers song (Lovely Day), it has all those other brilliant tunes: Ain't no sunshine, Use me, Lean on me and many others.

Oh, and I also bought the special edition of Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. I missed it when the original version came out in 1994. I already found out that I shouldn't have, because it's a great record and probably another autumnfavorite... By the way, don't forget to take a look at my last.fm page where you can see what music I have been listening to most, during my trip: http://www.last.fm/user/marco78train/

Well, the last thing I want to tell you about is this wonderful movie that I saw last Friday, when I came upon a town where they had a cinema that should classic movies. It's a well known movie called Dead Poets Society that I had not seen before. I loved it instantly. This is really the kind of movie that I like best, because I love inspirational stories that have a certain kind of depth. That's also why Good Will Hunting is one of my favorite movies of all time. I really wanted to see that one again yesterday, but I couldn't find it anywhere... :-( The good thing is that I decided to play this game called Carcassonne with some nice people, so I had a good time after all.
Anyway, I decided to stay in this town a little longer, because it really is a nice place Tonight, I want to watch City of Angels that is playing in that same cinema. I don't know whether I will like it or not, but its soundtrack has to of the most beautiful songs that I know: Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, which is one of my most favorite bands, and I Know by Jude, who is one of my most favorite singers, so I gathered I just had to go and see it. ;-)

Well, that was it for today! See you soon, hopefully with more and better clues!! Don't forget to wave when you see me passing by!

First message from on the road!

Here's a first report from on the road! I'm following the sun (did you notice it disappeared partly behind the moon this morning?) and I'm enjoying myself very much. To me questing seems to be the best thing to do in life! So far everything is going very well. I met some very interesting people today. They make a popular Dutch tv-program and I got to ask them a lot of questions. It was all very nice, but after some time we had to part again. After that I bought some groceries at the Albert Heijn. The best thing of today though happened when the mailman caught up with me and delivered the new SWITCHFOOT-cd!!! Whoohoo! This will make the travelling even more comfortable! It has been in my cd-player ever since and I like it!!! I also got the first John Mayer-cd (Inside wants out), so I've got plenty to listen to. Well, gotta go again! I hope tomorrow I will find some first clues that can help me with my Magical and Exciting Quest! And if you see me passing by, don't forget to wave! Bye!

:wave:

Marco's Magical and Exciting Quest to Make this Blog the Most Interesting Place on the Web!

Hi there everyone! Today is the big day! I slept late today, because I wanted to be well rested, but as you can see below I'm all set to start my Magical and Exciting Quest to Make this Blog the Most Interesting Place on the Web!
After having a good breakfast, I packed my bag with the stuff necassary for my journey like my cd-player, some cd's, my copy of the Holy Bible, some books by Enid Blyton, Willa Cather and Edward P. Jones (I bought The known world just the other day), some fresh toothpaste, a pair of clean socks and clean underwear, and some other things that might come in handy. After that I put on my walking shoes and my overcoat, locked my door and set out on my journey! I hadn't traveled for five minutes when I met this weird guy who said he was a reporter from Life-magazine and wanted to write an article about me...

Here you can read some excerpts from the interview.

Q - Let's start of with the question everybody is most interested in, I guess. Why is it that you set out on this Magical and Exciting Quest?
A - Well, I have been trying to write an interesting blog for some weeks now and it just didn't seem to work. I mean, nobody's reading it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming anyone. I know my blog is rather boring. It's just that I felt I could do better. Then I got this idea that I should set out on a quest. It's that simple.

Q - Why did you bring this Five For Fighting cd with you on your quest?
A - I dunno. I just like it. I also brought the new Jason Mraz, The Juliana Theory and some old favorites by Train, Matchbox Twenty and Lloyd Cole. To keep me company during the lonely hours on the road.

Q - What do you expect to find during your quest?
A - I don't know yet. I hope there will be a lot of Wonderful Surprises and Magical Adventures.

Q - Well, I wish you all the luck in the world.
A - Is that a question?

Q - No.
A - Ok. Well, I gotta be going again! Life doesn't wait you know!
Q - Don't tell me. I know all about that.

And so I started walking again. Towards the horizon. Into the Great Wide Open.
And that was it for today. If you got any ideas or advice that might help me with my quest, don't hesitate to tell me!

:wave: