One Place - Everything But The Girl

A summer evening; I walk past the window,
Baby's crying; Someone's cooking dinner;
There's laughter on the TV
Someone's learning the violin.
How at home, it heals
At times like this, I feel that...



I would like to live like anybody else
In one place
And I could be happy and fulfilled
In one place

So I get the map out
And draw a line of where we've been
It goes thru sea and sky
Twenty-five planes this year
And it's only July...
This is not some Bible, like on the road
It's just a song about coming home
And whether...

I would like to live like anybody else
In one place
And I could be happy and fulfilled
In one place

And you know that I have found
That I'm happiest weaving from town to town
And you know Bruce said
we should keep moving 'round
Maybe we all get too tied down, I don't know
Hell, I don't know
I'm happy to be home (Still alive)
Happy to be home...

In the end, if you take care
You can be happy or unhappy anywhere

And I think we maybe all rely too much
On one place
I know I never would deny the need
For one place

So I get the map out (get the map out)
Yeah I get the map out (get the map out)
C'mon, get the map out (get the map out)
Get the map out (get the map out)


source: http://www.lyricsdownload.com

America's Next Top Exploitation

Putting my hand on my heart I say that I despise reality shows. Ridiculous is the least I could call them. But they are an excellent combination of strong marketing tools, cheap production and pop culture promotion. You have probably recognized some of that behind the immaculate styles of Tyra Banks, Tyson Beckford, Paula Abdul and whoever else you want. No matter how extensively I would like to talk about all that, I should stick to my theme: travel. America's Next Top Model is definitely corrupting my idea of travel.
This evening I was sitting in front of the TV with my two Chinese friends, who decided to take advantage and catch up on the show while VH1 was running an inexhaustible marathon for a couple of days now. As every girl, I immediately chose a favourite but changed my mind at least three times after the beginning of the episode. I also thought it was interesting and new to see that the models were in Thailand. Needless to say, I changed my mind about that, too.
The judges assigned the catwalkers a challenge to learn a Thai dance in one day, and reinterpret the art in front of audience. You can never have an exact idea of how long this process took but, judging from what I saw, it was not more than 4-5 hours. During this short episode, the emphasis was again on the models - their thoughts, personalities and arguments.
"Hey, you are introducing a new culture here! To thousands of young viewers," I wanted to shout out. They could have as well stayed in New York or Los Angeles and hired a Thai choreographer, couldn't they? Yet, they needed the authenticity of the environment and the exotic images your imagination can bring to life. The fashion icons conquer the elegant moves without knowing much about their history and meaning. So, are you familiarizing audiences with Thai culture, or are you presenting them with a distorted and limited perspective of the country's appeal? I think the answer is clear.

So Began My Obsession with Travel

Travel for me used to mean only and entirely fun. I am glad to say that this word does not any more evoke in me images of luxurious hotels, Malibu cocktails and spa centers, decorated with Japanese symbols. It is more of an abstract term - I think of travel as the storm shaking the foundations of my fragile mindset.
And so I like to embark on travel adventures. I like to get on the cheap Chinese bus lines, take pictures of sleeping strangers in the subway, visit friends in new places and return to the secure feeling of my home. I also like to walk the lonely streets without fear of getting lost, to drag my red suitcase around small airports and stare at the unknown distance challengingly. My obsession with travel has expanded to the online world where I like to spend half a day following links, one after the other, to websites with fresh ideas and original design.
I hope that my young vision for travel will be enjoyable to you with discussions of hundreds of real and cyber spaces.

The Child of Eastern Europe

I like to think of myself as the child of Eastern Europe. This thought would not have occurred to me if I hadn't come to the US. After all, my home country, Bulgaria, is the only place in Eastern Europe where I have been. Since my arrival in Western Massachusetts, however, I have never felt so close to the eastern European culture.
Now stored in my mind are the vivid images of techno music, ancient architecture, charming accents, cheap hostels and sophisticated fashion. Almost everyone who left that part of the world has the same images stored in her mind. Something more - these moments are not just silently existing in our subconscious worlds, but they grow and like to laugh provocatively in the face of every present encounter.

Leaving Eastern Europe's quirky appeal, I entered the serious world. And I developed the pleasant distraction, from time to time, to again escape into this expanding mind storage of mine. Have you noticed how your imagination starts playing tricks on you by creating new details to dear past experiences you like to go back to? That is exactly what happened to me - my fantasy still loves to add reminiscent smells, theme music and new conversations to scenes that have already taken place. It is quite amusing when towards the end of the flashback, I start asking myself if this really happened.