Thru the Lense

21 / 2 / 07


Thru the Lense

When a man lies he murders some part of the world.
-Merlin
"Excaliber"

Well, I finally have enough hours to keep myself afloat. 23 hours a week is a lot for a teacher because you travel like a nomad. And I have an intensive course next week from 8:30 to 12:30 M – F or L – J (Lunes – Jueves), so that's 16 extra hours. So I am psyched. And I'm substituting next week as well.

Let me tell you about my friend Laura that I met a few weeks ago at one of my favorite bars in Chueca, a section of Madrid. She's 25 and has a law degree. She's over here taking Spanish courses because she wanted to coast for a while before she becomes an a junior lawyer and starts putting in 14 hours a day. She talks a mile a minute and chain smokes like Joni Mitchell ( I can't stay away from these chain smokers). She's smart as a NASA scientist, is from Houston and a left wing liberal. She loves porn. "I was kind of addicted to it," she says, half smiling half embarrassed. "Even gay porn, and I'm straight….-ish." I never got to press her further on this.

She's got a great body and she's really petite. I'm always tempted to pick her up and toss her in the air, but we don't quite have that kind of relationship yet.

She's a complete lunatic.

And a very dangerous women.

I really like her.

So yet another interesting character. Madrid has no shortage of them. What I love about Laura is that she's so honest. It's just so refreshing. She is what she is and she makes no apologies. She gives no quarter and asks none. You got to love it.

IN PHASE

The moon is back, praise Jah. It's just a sliver, but soon I'll be here two moons. Tempus Fugit.

I go to bed at 2AM normally and get up at 10AM. Pretty cool, I suppose. Some weeks I'll be working til 9:30 PM. Not a big deal since dinner is at 10 PM. I seem to have no trouble adjusting to the Spanish schedule.

The weather has been lovely. I walk 25 minutes to and from work everyday. I wear a light-ish rain jacket with a fleece underneath. It's cool cause I wear the hood when it's cold and it doesn't really mess up my curly locks. Plus I look like a Jedi with my hood up, which is kind of cool. I always pull my hood back when someone asks me a question or I need to cross one of these insane Spanish roads. It's a great effect. Very dramatic.

So truly I am in exile, like Yoda or Obi Wan. But enjoying my solitude, I am.


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Take what I say in a different way
And it's easy to see that this is all confusion
-Yes



The cherry blossoms are actually starting to bud here. Sweet. March will bring the Seester and Janet. And the bulls. And spring.

The customs people called me at 9:30 AM the next morning after my tirade. I need to send them a fax of my passport and letter stating everything in the package is for personal use and not for commercial purposes. Socks? A pot and a pan? What am I going to do, open a podiatrist clinic and a small restaurant?

I'm learning that there has been an enormous push back against religion here, since Franco died. Franco had forced Catholicism on them, along with so much else. So even though today is Ash Wednesday, my two college student girls are going home to the south east for carnival this week. Kind of heretical when you really think about it. They used to put people in thumb screws for that 600 years ago. What progress!!!

I think I'm finally out of things to say. Still trying to getting my jeans out of the tree. Goddammit.

Yeah. I'm done. Time to read my mindless spy thriller and off to slumberville.

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We are extraordinarily adaptable creatures. I believe I have almost adapted to Madrid . I like teaching a lot so far. Things are kind of lazy and slow here. Everything takes a long time to get done. I float through the day like a dish towel broken free of the wash line and drifting on the air pockets.

We need to do something with the living room. There's a lot of space, but the furniture is left over from the time of Columbus and about as comfortable as the cold hard earth. We need a cheap solution to hold us over a few months. Maybe inflatable furniture? Time to consult the Internet.

I wonder what ever happened to Molly Ringwald?
And that note I buried to myself in the backyard of our apartment when I was eleven?
Was the Loch Ness Monster real?

These and other great mysteries unlocked in the next installment. Lastly, any comments may be directed to krcfjg333@gmail.com and I'll have my people contact your people. Lastly, per my attorney's advice, I should say that everything that in this blog, both past, present and future, is fiction and bears no resemblance to people living or dead. That being said, it's all true. Now Brian, you can get off my back.

And finally much thanks to the Voice of America, who now is not just my executor for my North American affairs, but also posts the blog for me from email. Keep up the good work, and please liquidate all of my holdings in Tasty Edible Toilet Paper. I have a distinct feeling it's going to go down the shitter.


OBI WAN: I've failed you Anakin. I have failed you!
ANAKIN: I should have known the Jedi were plotting to take over.
OBI WAN: Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!!
ANAKIN: From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!
OBI WAN: Then truly you are lost!!!
- The light saber duel on Mustafar
'Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith'