Twilight

jueves jul 19

I could drink a case of you
and I would still be on my feet
I would still be on my feet
-Joni Mitchell
The only bad thing about starting the new novel is that it has been a detriment to the blog. It's now called "Breathe" by the way.
But I shall not forsake thee, dear loyal reader. My spanish is getting better by the fucking day. I have two new private students for the Fall. And Maria, well, she's just awesome. We talk every day and are looking forward to us both having the week off next week for some quality time - ooh la la! I'll let u know how that works out. But I can't get too graphic for all you horndogs out there, my mom reads this (Que disturbing!).
I am like that piece of paper blowing in the wind in a back alley in AMERICAN BEAUTY. I don't know exactly what it means, but it's good.
I am all alone in the flat now. We are in high summer and Madrid comes to a grinding halt because of the heat and their own natural lethargy. The Metro is uncrowded. The heat is astounding yet bareable. The humidity in DC in August is going to be like a forearm to the huevos (balls).
It's 21:30. I will miss the sunsets at the back of our house. The entire penalty box is bathed in red light as the sun slips behind the mountains. I love Madrid. I feel like she's a puta and I'm a john, but i love her anyway!
Listening to "Seconds Out - side 4" with Supper's Ready and Cinema Show. How I look forward to a few good prog rock sing-a-longs with my loved ones; Kevin, Jim and the Seester all come to mind. And I may have told you all, but we are all going to see Rush at the Garden in NYC on Sept 17th. Woo hoo! Rush shows are like religion in my family. even mum saw one in 1984 and dug, though she was bent they didn't play Limelight (it was one of the odder setlists).
Long time since i've seen a rush show with any of these folks. Also the first Rush I haven't seen with Darth since 1991 for Presto. Fucking Hell! I will continue to love her for many reasons, not the least of which is that she loved Rush.

1990:
DARTH: Hey, I picked up two Rush cassetes for like $9.99! (she only knew Presto at this time).
EL DUDE: Really? Nice! Which ones?
DARTH: Permanent Waves and Hemispheres.(Now Permanent Waves is brilliant but accessible. Hemispheres is brilliant and in the deep end of the progressive pool).
EL DUDE: How do you like Permanent Waves?
DARTH: It's excellent!
EL DUDE: And how do you find Hemispheres?
DARTH: You know, I like it even better!
And that was the first time I thought "I could marry this women." True story. Es verdad. Hey, all told, we were together about 15 years. 11 of them were good. That's 73.3%. What more could you ask for? You'd be a god as a baseball player if you hit .730 and marriage is at least as hard as baseball.

I have seen Rush in so many places: NY, NJ, CT, VA, NM and at countless venues. I first saw them at the Garden on Dec 2nd in 1982 for Signals. It changed my life. Saw them at the Garden in '82, '84, '85, and '94. I apologize.I am a geek.
I sit on the front patio and wax poetic, or so i hope. It is the end of an era, dear bleader (blog reader), and heavy petting is such sweet sorrow. I go to see what i hope is my new flat tomorrow. I will be WAY more south. Miss this area, I shall. But I'll always come back to see the folks at the Mural Bar. And I shall be close to Athletic Madrid's stadium.
Okay. 9:40. No work tomorrow. Time to eat and then head to the local to see my mental Spanish family members.
The sky over the mountains is pink like cotton candy. Dulce (sweet)!
Hasta Luego!

PS
Who am I? Who are you? Come over here and say that, you bologney!

viernes Jul 20
I am caught in the wake of cleaning - never be the last one to leave the flat. I don't even give a damn if the place is clean, god knows daft old Diego won't notice. How can you with the paint peeling and the refrigerator oozing an indeterminable brown fluid.
But I think I have a place for Sept, closer to the center for less. Ye hoo! It's with this girl Sarah, friend of a friend from Maine. Only met her few times but she's easy to get along with and i like her. So i'm going to see that place tonight before Maria and I go for Thai food and then dancing (hee hee). Just the mention of her and I'm like a lovesick puppy. I got to pull myself together.
Better give my self a talking toBetter work out what I'm going to doBetter get myself a lifeMaybe get myself a wifeInstead of the these post-nuclear talking blues.-Big Country
There'll be no wives in my future. Been there, but it's a great quote. Such a shame that Stuart Adamson, who wrote it, hung himself years ago in Hawaii. So it goes. The world lost a great artist.
Speaking of which, I must have mentioned that Annie was born on April 11th, the same day that Kurt Vonnegut died earlier that day. UFO: Unlimited Freak Out. What are the odds that's my wife's baby (don't hear that expression very often) would be born on the same day that my favorite author dies? Astrofuckingnomical- that's what they are. Random chance? I think not. What does it mean?
What do you call a dear with no eyes?No eye dear.What do you call a dear with no eyes and no genitals?No fucking eye dear.
What does it mean? I have no fucking idea. But I'm dying to find out!
I am on the porch, blogging in full shade. It's only 27 C today. Hooray!

Sabado Jul 21
Times like these
Any fool can see
Any fool can see
your love inside me
-Marillion

Oh man. I have picked the wrong time to be love struck, with me leaving in 6 days.
We went for thai food. We danced til 4 am. We laughed and laughed. Time stops when I'm with her. Light and dark hold no reference. And she's just gorgeous.
I put here in a cab at 4:30 am, back to Getafe which is 15 minutes away. I realize I need to exercise some caution here (Yeah, I'm just fucking GREAT at do that!) but she is special. And I'm a writer, so I could go on like this for hours.
But that warm feeling in my belly? Hunger? No, hunger hurts. Alcohol? Nope, haven't had any, and that only lasts a little while. Thai food? That was 16 hours ago (and if anyone is keeping score out there- NEVER order transparent noodles on a date! The fuckers are impossible to get on a tenedor (fork).Well, I don't know what it is, but it sure feels good I can hear you groaning from here, Seester- be careful- its so soon. Good advice, pero mi corazon tiene un cerebro todo su propio! (my heart has a mind all its own). Besides, life without love is just existence. And so I take that lover's leap of faith.
I had to look up 'propio' in the dictionary and i found a new word: ninfomana - nymphomaniac. God, I love learning Spanish.
We talked for the first two hours in Spanish, then my cerebro relented. Maria has really helped mySpanish.
Lastly, little Annie Greco is being christened today in the Motherland (NJ). I believe she is going to go through at least the first part of her amazing life with my name. This makes me happy.
Okay! Time to get my lazy ass to the locotorio and post this bitch.
See you all in about 2 weeks! Besides seeing friends, cats, and children, I can't wait to:

- Go to a baseball game
- Kayak
- Barbecue steaks, lamb, buffalo burgers, swordfish, salmon, brie and asparagus. Not sure what I'll have the second night.

and in the end
the love you take
is equal tothe love you make.
-the Beatles

Domingo Jul 22
Happy Birthday Darth! It didn't end so pretty, but life isn't always very pretty.
Okay- I am going to the locotorio right now to post this thing. I am dressed in a an orange polo shirt, khaki shorts and a straw hat cousin Sydney got in Pamplona when she saw the bulls run. Why? I don't know. I just like it. The Spanish will look at me with curious ojos (eyes) but i care not. You get nowhere in life without being saucy sometimes. And I am a bucket of sauce, I suppose. Get ye to a locotorio!

Jul 24

Sorry it´s been so long and there are so many typos but this fucking control panel won´t save and the Internet has been hell all week. Talk to you from London.