and all the time that' s passed me by
it hardly seems to matter now
-Genesis
It's a new month. August. Hot and steamy.
I am weary of travel and am happy to be in one place for a few days. Pete, from the new band was shocked I quit Summer in Raincoats, but psyched i would be with them full time. So a new era dawns.
And a new blog layout as i gear up for season six of THE SPANISH EXILE.
I am weary of so much travel. And i'd love to know what is up with my ear. It's great to see friends, but i miss home. I miss having my own place and always feel like i'm imposing when i stay in someone else's house, no matter home welcome i know i am.
My home is everywhere and nowhere. I often feel like i don't really have a family anymore. That i am just a drifter. I go from here to there. And i love it. But here in the northeast there's no routine. I sometimes think it would have been easier if i had just died in the Madrid mugging. Sometimes i think "i fought to live for this?"
But it's just normal depression after something so serious. You say, "is this all? Is this really it?" But you keep going. You just have to face the fear and the uncertainty. I don't really wish i had died. I fought with everything in my core to stay alive.
Everything can change in a matter or moments. Life is always reminding us of that.
I will be whole again, with or without my left ear.
I'm just tired. And it's been a hell of a year. But everything is changing. New days are upon me. And i'm never going to be able to go back. Nor should i want to.
Doors shut. Windows open. Life is a contact sport.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Summer without Raincoats
I am in NJ with the Seester, going to Mike's tonight.
I also quit the band. Our bassist was an epsilon minus semi-moron, and they actually recorded in June while i was recovering from my skull, and my mugging happened at the gig. Nice people! And we were about as progressive sounding as a jug band, so i told them to play with themselves.
Tamara and Pete and I will continue the band with no name when i get back. It'll be a better band than the old one, i truly believe. Yeah!
One ear closes, another opens.
I also quit the band. Our bassist was an epsilon minus semi-moron, and they actually recorded in June while i was recovering from my skull, and my mugging happened at the gig. Nice people! And we were about as progressive sounding as a jug band, so i told them to play with themselves.
Tamara and Pete and I will continue the band with no name when i get back. It'll be a better band than the old one, i truly believe. Yeah!
One ear closes, another opens.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
back in the neighborhood
Went to Nationals Park tonight and saw the Mets and their paltry offense lose to the Nats 3-1. But the ballpark is sweet. Bryan and i went to Georgetown beforehand. It was so trippy to be in a place i worked in for a year and half. It's been a long time. It was fun.
DC. You're not a state. You're a half-assed city. Our founding fathers indeed were wise!
Hot and humid. Oh brave new country that has such swamps in it!
DC. You're not a state. You're a half-assed city. Our founding fathers indeed were wise!
Hot and humid. Oh brave new country that has such swamps in it!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
same as it ever was
I'm in DC. Rockville, MD actually, with my good friends Bryan and Rebecca. Just like old times. Same as it ever was.
I have driven over 750 miles in my first week in the US. Damn, I love this country.
listening to EXIT..STAGE LEFT by Rush
I have driven over 750 miles in my first week in the US. Damn, I love this country.
listening to EXIT..STAGE LEFT by Rush
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Ansonia
The Rage was great. I saw many old friends who were all very happy i am still alive. Me too! It was great to jam with those guys.
Spent tonite with the Mum and tomorrow i head to DC. It's a long 350 mile trip. I have already driven over 400 miles and been in NY, CT, MA, and VT.
By the time i return from DC at the end of the week, i will have tripped 1000 miles already.
I drive, therefore i am.
Spent tonite with the Mum and tomorrow i head to DC. It's a long 350 mile trip. I have already driven over 400 miles and been in NY, CT, MA, and VT.
By the time i return from DC at the end of the week, i will have tripped 1000 miles already.
I drive, therefore i am.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
life in Vermont
- The Mets are winning. I am not confident that will continue, 2-1, top of the 9th
- It's cool today, which is lovely. Tomorrow back to Ansonia. Monday down to DC. I'll see my boy Frippy and little Annie!
- My ear is ringing a bit today. Could be the music and the jamming. But i have an appointment to see a great neurologist in Baltimore on August 10.
- I have never been hugged so much in my life! People are happy i am doing so well after the incident of last May.
- Mets are leading 4-1!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
RAGE
I am at Rage X in Vermont. I jammed a lot today and feel pretty good. This is great news.
The weather has been fine. The mosquitos are voracious.
The weather has been fine. The mosquitos are voracious.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Los Estados Unidos
My mother said to get things done
Youd better not mess with major tom
-David Bowie
After a year, i am home.
The plane ride was long and annoying. Iberia Airlines, trusty as ever.
Here at casa de mama. It's 6:00am, Madrid time. It's 00:00 here.
I am body tired, but not sleep tired. All in good time.
American TV. Nachos and buffalo wings for dinner. Yeah!
Tomorrow: Wilton, CT
Wed - Sat; South Londonderry VT
Sunday: Ansonia, CT
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Going Home
Domingo 17:45
Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? Remember how she said that we would meet again, some sunny day?
-Pink Floyd
Music to leave Madrid by:
Big country - Come up screaming
Mark Knopfler - All the Road Running
Tommy Bolin - Mind fusion jam
Rush - Maple leaf Gardens '94
Joe Satriani - Surfing with the Alien
it's 34 - that's like 97! I have finish the initial packing. It's very surreal. I'm going to be gone for two months? Back the other home, with all those old friends. All those children growing - some of them speaking now, whereas last year they did not. It's enought to make you feel old! And lucky. extremely lucky.
The Mets actually won last night. But so did the f*^king Phils in the bottom of the 9th! One kilometer forward, one back.
Why is Anahiem always a house of horrors for the Yankees?
On to final room cleaning! But i don't even feel like moving.
rock bottom, hotter than hell
-Kiss
18:22
No real cleaning done to report. Couple things broken, though.
18:52
Some cleaning accomplished, por fin. Chema will drive me to the airport which rocks! Mum will pick me up.
20:36
Computer keeps overheating when Mets are on. Bugger! Now i have an ice pack on it. That's helping. Damned infernal heat.
23:20
On the terrace. Cooler put here . The stars are out. And I am outta here tomorrow.
0:30
I can see the moon.
Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? Remember how she said that we would meet again, some sunny day?
-Pink Floyd
Music to leave Madrid by:
Big country - Come up screaming
Mark Knopfler - All the Road Running
Tommy Bolin - Mind fusion jam
Rush - Maple leaf Gardens '94
Joe Satriani - Surfing with the Alien
it's 34 - that's like 97! I have finish the initial packing. It's very surreal. I'm going to be gone for two months? Back the other home, with all those old friends. All those children growing - some of them speaking now, whereas last year they did not. It's enought to make you feel old! And lucky. extremely lucky.
The Mets actually won last night. But so did the f*^king Phils in the bottom of the 9th! One kilometer forward, one back.
Why is Anahiem always a house of horrors for the Yankees?
On to final room cleaning! But i don't even feel like moving.
rock bottom, hotter than hell
-Kiss
18:22
No real cleaning done to report. Couple things broken, though.
18:52
Some cleaning accomplished, por fin. Chema will drive me to the airport which rocks! Mum will pick me up.
20:36
Computer keeps overheating when Mets are on. Bugger! Now i have an ice pack on it. That's helping. Damned infernal heat.
23:20
On the terrace. Cooler put here . The stars are out. And I am outta here tomorrow.
0:30
I can see the moon.
Soon
Soon oh soon the light
Ours to shape for all time, ours the right
The sun will lead us
Our reason to be here
-Yes
Season 5 of the Spanish Exile i over as i prepare to begin summer hiatus in the USA. There's been ups and downs, lots of laughs, summer in raincoats and a fractured kull. What a season!
Home. It's the USA. It's here in Madrid. It's a tricky word.
Salamanca with Maria was great fun. It's a very old city. Lat night Cara and i had a few beers and went for Indian food, so all the loose ends are tied up.
So now- pack. Shouldn't be too bad. My fight is at 13:55 and i arrive in NY at 16:00. Time zones are pretty trippy.
I shall see you soon, dear friends. I shall see you soon.
Ours to shape for all time, ours the right
The sun will lead us
Our reason to be here
-Yes
Season 5 of the Spanish Exile i over as i prepare to begin summer hiatus in the USA. There's been ups and downs, lots of laughs, summer in raincoats and a fractured kull. What a season!
Home. It's the USA. It's here in Madrid. It's a tricky word.
Salamanca with Maria was great fun. It's a very old city. Lat night Cara and i had a few beers and went for Indian food, so all the loose ends are tied up.
So now- pack. Shouldn't be too bad. My fight is at 13:55 and i arrive in NY at 16:00. Time zones are pretty trippy.
I shall see you soon, dear friends. I shall see you soon.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Salamanca
Change of plans and the tour hasn't even started yet. Maria and i will be in Salamanca tomorrow, not Granda. It's close to Portugal and supposed to be a great city. The train tomorrow will take 2 hours and we'll come back on Fri.
They finally painted my closet, so i can put my room back together on Friday.
The heat continues, no shelter from the sun.
Packing for Salamanca will take ten minutes. It's just one night so i'll just throw a bag over my shoulder. But the train station is way up to the north of the city, so i'll have to leave early for our 11:00 train.
I love trains.
I so need to get out of this goddamn house. I feel like Jack Nicholson in the SHINING.
Mere days before we have re-entry into the US.
They finally painted my closet, so i can put my room back together on Friday.
The heat continues, no shelter from the sun.
Packing for Salamanca will take ten minutes. It's just one night so i'll just throw a bag over my shoulder. But the train station is way up to the north of the city, so i'll have to leave early for our 11:00 train.
I love trains.
I so need to get out of this goddamn house. I feel like Jack Nicholson in the SHINING.
Mere days before we have re-entry into the US.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Breeze
Another day. More stuff. Hot, hot, hot. Saw my boss,Velma, at the last academy today to get paid. School is out!
The Mets are atrocious. It pains me to watch yet i cannot look away. Down 3-0 to the Dodgers in the 3rd.
But there is a breeze coming in from the terrace now. It's lovely.
I haven't experienced humidity in about a year. That might just be a bit of an adjustment when i get to the Northeast.
It's July 8th. Time slouches forward. On and on. Sometimes all it takes is a breeze.
The Mets are atrocious. It pains me to watch yet i cannot look away. Down 3-0 to the Dodgers in the 3rd.
But there is a breeze coming in from the terrace now. It's lovely.
I haven't experienced humidity in about a year. That might just be a bit of an adjustment when i get to the Northeast.
It's July 8th. Time slouches forward. On and on. Sometimes all it takes is a breeze.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Summertime Blues
SUMMER SOLO TOUR 2009
jul 8, 9 - Granada, Espana
jul 13 - Ansonia CT
jul 14 - Wilton CT
Jul 15 -18 Rock and Roll Rage X - VT
Jul 19 - Ansonia CT
Jul 20 - 23 Rockville MD
Yes, it's 7 wild weeks with me in the USA. You will all be so happy when i finally leave!
30 C again. That's 90F. Same as it ever was.
I spent all afternoon filling out end of the year school stuff and listening to Joe Satriani. Two more classes to go.
jul 8, 9 - Granada, Espana
jul 13 - Ansonia CT
jul 14 - Wilton CT
Jul 15 -18 Rock and Roll Rage X - VT
Jul 19 - Ansonia CT
Jul 20 - 23 Rockville MD
Yes, it's 7 wild weeks with me in the USA. You will all be so happy when i finally leave!
30 C again. That's 90F. Same as it ever was.
I spent all afternoon filling out end of the year school stuff and listening to Joe Satriani. Two more classes to go.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
A YEAR
O brave new world that has such people in it!
-Shakespeare
I think I need to be reconditioned.
I am watching the 1998 version of Brave New World with Leonard Nimoy as Mustpha Mond as the controller of the Western World.
Unorthodoxy threatens society. Amen to that!
Everybody got to deviate to the norm
-Rush
If you want it you can have it.
Promiscuity is a citizen's duty. I love this book!
*
Another scorcher of a day spent doing laundry and packing up my room since i'll be gone 7 weeks. It will be cooler when i return. I am really looking forward to my time back home. Because a year away is a long time.
My third Fourth in Spain
Happy 4th of July People! I celebrated wuth Jesisca and Angel at the enormous Gay Pride Parade on Gran Via. The costumes were outrageous and fun. It was a great time.
So i support my seester by going to the gay pride parade. But does she go to progressive rock festivals for me?
Maybe she does.
The heat is here. Ever present. Yesterday there was a breeze. Today none. I've been here for a full year. What the hell? I need a change of pace. I need a lover that won't drive me crazy. I need a new left ear.
Change. It's always there. Embrace it. Catch it. Fondle it.
To the future! While we have it, we have hope.
It's still too fucking hot, though.
Things end and things begin, simultaneously. A light goes out somewhere and another goes on. A child is born and a brightly colored bird, some twenty years old, lies down in the jungle halfway around the world and dies. It's the way of things.
MAN! Maybe I need to go get my head checked again.
So i support my seester by going to the gay pride parade. But does she go to progressive rock festivals for me?
Maybe she does.
The heat is here. Ever present. Yesterday there was a breeze. Today none. I've been here for a full year. What the hell? I need a change of pace. I need a lover that won't drive me crazy. I need a new left ear.
Change. It's always there. Embrace it. Catch it. Fondle it.
To the future! While we have it, we have hope.
It's still too fucking hot, though.
Things end and things begin, simultaneously. A light goes out somewhere and another goes on. A child is born and a brightly colored bird, some twenty years old, lies down in the jungle halfway around the world and dies. It's the way of things.
MAN! Maybe I need to go get my head checked again.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Beginngs and Endings
Going Home
-Yes
It's Friday. Work is over. It is still HOT. So i continue the cleaning of my room to be gone for 7 weeks. Laundry. Try and stay cool.
It'll be nice to be home for a while. It will be good to see you all. It's been a rough 6 weeks or so. I am exhausted.
Long hours waiting for doctors. That hospital is a madhouse. I had to wait four hours wed and four hours yesterday. Yesterday Maria came with me to help translate because no one there seems to understand that the problem isn't that i don't speak Spanish, but that it's difficult to speak a second language when you can't hear out of your left ear!
They are all geniuses.
Susan will set up some good ENT's and Neurologists for me to see in July in DC. So it comes full circle. Who knew?
Easy come, easy go. At least this trip home was planned. And i have 7 weeks. US TOUR, jul 13 - sept 4, 2009.
No plans for 4th of July. I have really been laying low. Recovering. Regenerating. Re-energizing.
i have to go some place cooler when i leave Madrid for good. This has been the hottest summer of my life, which is something for a man who's lived in the swamps of Jersey, the swamps of DC and Jamaica.
-Yes
It's Friday. Work is over. It is still HOT. So i continue the cleaning of my room to be gone for 7 weeks. Laundry. Try and stay cool.
It'll be nice to be home for a while. It will be good to see you all. It's been a rough 6 weeks or so. I am exhausted.
Long hours waiting for doctors. That hospital is a madhouse. I had to wait four hours wed and four hours yesterday. Yesterday Maria came with me to help translate because no one there seems to understand that the problem isn't that i don't speak Spanish, but that it's difficult to speak a second language when you can't hear out of your left ear!
They are all geniuses.
Susan will set up some good ENT's and Neurologists for me to see in July in DC. So it comes full circle. Who knew?
Easy come, easy go. At least this trip home was planned. And i have 7 weeks. US TOUR, jul 13 - sept 4, 2009.
No plans for 4th of July. I have really been laying low. Recovering. Regenerating. Re-energizing.
i have to go some place cooler when i leave Madrid for good. This has been the hottest summer of my life, which is something for a man who's lived in the swamps of Jersey, the swamps of DC and Jamaica.
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