One vista of Madrid's skyline.

Lovely... nostalgic???(I got my hair cut once on Avenue A)... so true, so real, so real life, no matter your sexuality...

Do see the film - SHORTBUS. You know, the yellow bus picks up kids for school, and the short yellow bus picks up the SPECIAL people (you know who you are!!!)


YouTube - Soda Shop
Shortbus (trailer)

Jay Brannan's song has been with me all week.
The sidewalk is rushing at my head again
I’m lying on the street in the rain and wind
From doing forward rolls down avenue A
With my guitar on my back, don’t let it end this way

Somehow I dialed my cell
I didn’t know I could get service in hell
How quickly can you get here, don’t know where I am dear
Finally the world actually seems to be revolving around me

*chorus*
Shoo-be-doo-be-doo-wop
I overdid it at the soda shop
Thanks for being my girl at the
I-don’t-know-when-to-stop sock hop
*chorus end*

You held my head over the edge of the bed
I remember it now, but at the time I thought I was dead
You put a pan there, and held back my hair
How can I repay you for saving me and my hardwood floor?

chorus

And when the world stopped spinning ’round
I picked the pan up off the ground
I read my upheaves, much like tea leaves
They said it’s over, so get sober, or you’ll die again

chorus

First, the week has been strangly calm.

Second, and who says life isn't like Sex & The City?

Bastards.

I can't belive I did it. Yes, I gave into cleaver marketing.... inspired by the king himself, Flat Eric, which was never meant to become what he did.

The first commercials I watched when I moved here. The jazzy theme. I'd looked into the plushes, but they did not exisit in usable form. Now, they are here, everytime I walk into my local upmarket convience store, Vips.

The whole collection? Don't be silly. This one is enough.

Silly silly girl.

Cool frijoles. I met a friend for a walk today, and joined him to cast his ballot in today's local elections. We stopped in the school were Zapatero votes. Cool beans, because as you may know, I'm into politics, and also happen to have a soft spot for this principled Socialist. (who doesn not look anything like Mr. Bean, I'm sorry!)
EiTB24::Portada

oh my....

I've been recognized! On one of the internet dating sites here.... a very creepy ex...

Yuck. I really didn't want to talk to him again, much less meet (he lives here in Madrid), but after a few days of thought I figured what the harm. Of course, I made it completely clear that it was only coffee (one could say I was quite harsh and rude). And you know, it turned out OK. He's still creepy. He wouldn't speak in English, so I blab for three hours straight in Spanish!

I guess it wouldn't be fair to judge someone on who they were 12 years ago. Still kinda creepy though.

(Oh, and did I mention, "creepy!")

yep, still awake. Rum non-withstanding.

One of my favorite pics of me.

And, this one... could my eyes be more GREEN!!! Honesty. (the girl with the "golden eyes")

I dreamt about my truck last night. My old giant b&w checkered one. This is suppose to stand as symbol of strength and power in my dreams, and I was driving it. However... some 20 hours later, I feel defeated. Defeated about what? I suppose whatever I was feeling powerful about before - whatever that was!! I'm not sure. I think it's just the monthly hypocamus alter - PMS. I know, nobody knows what I'm talking about - good, I guess:-@

I've come home, I'm tired, I'm so ready for bed, when...!... forgot I need to hang the laundry. That coupled with the fighting, loud mouthed, music blasting Romanians downstairs... I'm totally irritated, and no way can I sleep. I'm here for loud mouthed Spaniards talking over late dinner and keeping me awake at night... not to feel like I'm back in Eastern Europe.

On the +++ front, sorta... talked with Cindy this morning, and she remembered not making many friends out here either. Also, the weird atmosphere at the school. That makes her, me, Nancy, Isabell, at first mention, comrades in arms... having a shitty time making friends when once it seemed so easy.

How weird... trying not to make my blog "too personal." Right, it's a blog, not a diary. However, I am finding posts like this therapeutic... and it is only my friends... people who know me well, who have been steered here.

Sigh.

alamedadosoulna

Finally! An evening out the way I'm used to!

Pedro called at 19:30, asked if I wanted to see and Rock and Roll band. I, without much enthusiasm said yes. I had just woken up, and assumed this was some Yoga thing. "Be there in 15." Ya, it takes me 15 to walk there. Just as I was leaving the flat, Pedro, knowing, had just pulled up in the car with Elizabeth and was ringing the bell. He knew.

We were with his dance teacher, who was so excited to speak English! Of course I was totally into speaking Spanish. Anyway... we met her daughter there, but the concert was sold out. Pedro, of course, convinced us to try to sneak in. This did not work, as Tony Soprano walked us out. Later though, dance teacher's son, a flamenco dancer who performs there regularly, got us all in.. early, and without paying. This is more what I'm used to. The daughter and I had a good talk, in Spanish, about what I needed to do to teach in Spain, at a Spanish school.

When the band started, I couldn't believe it. It was SKA. Fantastic and fun. A great time. Now, that's more like it.

Chatted with Cindy this morning. I'd just got up, and she was just going to bed. I promised to take some neighborhood photos. I got kinda upset when I found my camera not functioning... the zoom. But I've calmed down now and have decided it must be the spring in the zoom.... one comment on the internet said Panasonic Espana was cool.... so, another adventure to look forward to.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jhjenn/HereYouGoCindy

The Blog | Chris Kelly: S/W FI "Freedom" Index Hits 51-Year Low | The Huffington Post

This is so cool. Take the minimum wage at the time, then use it to buy a gallon of gas, at the time, and drive around.... maybe donuts in the parking lot. Anyway.... as the article points out... check out the difference from the end of the Clinton years, to the bankrupt years of the Bush reign.

...... S/W FI -- or Springsteen/Wilson Freedom Index -- is a pretty good measure of quality of life. Which is why I named it after Bruce Springsteen and Brian Wilson. In America, your freedom can be measured by how much leisure (driving around) you earn from how much labor (working a crappy job).

If you don't believe me, ask every rock song ever written.

--

The Springsteen/Wilson Index
Minimum Wage (in miles)

2007 33.6 miles
2004 53.6 miles
2000 66 miles
1996 69.2 miles
1992 71.4 miles
1988 69.6 miles
1984 51.6 miles
1980 50.8 miles
1976 77.8 miles
1972 88.8 miles
1968 94 miles
1964 83.2 miles
1960 64.4 miles
1956 66.6 miles

Sources: Energy Information Administration / US Department of Labor

Your mileage may vary.

I had such a nice phone call tonight..... it's amazing how crazy our brains get... but just a sweet call can make it alright.... xox

Hippocampusintact. Feeling a bit blue.... so I won't share now.... as thoughts can still be tainted with PMS. But as I said, hippocampus intact! Worlds away from two months ago.

This weekends grocery list... jealous?

• red wine, organically produced in Spain
• strawberries
• walnuts
• salad
• chicken breast
• 80% dark chocolate
• mayonnaise (for fresh chicken salad, with apple and walnuts)
• crusty rustic bread - two giant loafs
• mushrooms (to saute with olive oil and garlic)
• fresh marinated anchovies (boquerones)
  

Along with my lovely dark esspresso... it should be a lovely weekend.

5 Days....
Yes, 5 days... probably the best long weekend I've spent in Madrid, or most productive and relaxing.

Again, I did not travel anywhere. I don't think it's just the money... but the enthusiasm. I've been on this continent a good part of the last decade. I'll live not seeing Paris or Berlin just now.

Five days of suprising energy. I believe the Wllbtrn has kicked in nicely. No need for siestas, or even sleeping too late. Was up at 8 am yesterdsay!

Finally got my CV revised, and emailed out to a few places. Feel rather pesimistic, though, I must say.

Other good things to remember, before I head back to the ungrateful jungle tomorrow.

Realized the value of quiet;of AM/FM radi; of quiet reading; organizing (but no obsessively); of turning off the computer. Enjoying my time alone, and not chastizing it.

Found myself talking for hours in Espanol! Old friend found me on the internet. I wasn't keen to see him, and told him so, however, I suppose it's good not to judge a person by who they were more than a decade ago.

Again, the Wllbtrn... the vivid dreams are back... fun, intimate, adventures, and what I want to make come true... perhaps if I were Desmond on LOST I could. One night Flat Eric was alive and real, and I didn't think anything of it, other than he was special. Then, the next night, a kidnapped Dakota Fanning, but a sympathetic kidnapper in Cillian Murphy. Last night, father and son, both played by Armand Assante. One with salt and pepper hair, the other with auburn highlights. A real man, a passionate man.....

I found the benefits of counting calories, and was disappointed to find out just how many calories alcohol contains.

It will be surreal tomorrow morning.... up with the radio... mystified at the prospect of work...

I'd stay in my dreams..... just need a little encouragement, hombre.