Elba

I started out on burgundy
But soon hit the harder stuff
everybody said they'd stand behind me
When the game got rough
But the joke was on me
There was nobody even there to call my bluff
I'm going back to New York City
I do believe I've had enough

-Bob Dylan

I did not go to Galicia. My wallet was stolen on the metro on Sunday morning so i decided to cancel it.

Never fall asleep on the Metro! Stupid of me. Oh well, live and learn. American Laura was a wreck with her boyfriend leaving – hysterical. And we had been out all night at bars as a going away party for Mark so she was a mess. So i was with her til 7am, exhausted. I took the Metro, fell asleep and they cut my phone and wallet right out of my pockets.

But they missed me! Ha ha! I was not cut! So there!

This happens to everyone eventually (Irlanda habitually!). But it could have been much worse. I am safe and unharmed. They got very little money. I canceled cards and will get new ones with the help of Super Seester. I've already got a new card from my Spanish bank. So I'll be fine. And the phone was dying anyway. 40 E phones don't last more than a year.

But it worked for the best as it is pissing rain in Galicia right now. And have more time to organize.

So i am in Madrid. Biding my time until I escape from my self-imposed exile and back to the land of milk and cheap oil. No, i haven't lost my mind. Oil is still at least $2.00 more a gallon here.

I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run!

-Soundgarden

Things are changing. I can feel it.

David's last night is tonight. Kristen is leaving in Sept. Mark's gone. Irlanda has come and gone again. American Laura may be back. She doesn't know yet.

But new friends are entering the picture; Alphonso, Cara. And there will be others.

And slowly turns the grinding wheel
In the court of the Crimson King

-King Crimson

So i have been trying to sort out my room. Chema and i cleaned the flat. And i have been writing my balls off. They were rolling all over the floor yesterday.

It's 3pm and only 25 C. yeah!

And then i will leave. Maybe even in Dec. Something is calling me. I just don't know what or where. I have everything I need for this new novel. The fundamental story is mapped out, it's just flushing out characters and adding events. And writing the fucking thing!

I grow weary of no one at a supermarket giving a flying fuck if you got what you need.

And the old people who cut you in line and walk in front of you at .5 Km an hour but purposely won't let you pass. And salute pictures of Franco at home.

But for now, this is home. So i go to take lunch on the terazza (unthinkable during the day last week!).

From life alone to life as one,
Think not now your journeys done
For though your ship be sturdy, no
Mercy has the sea,
Will you survive on the ocean of being?

-Genesis