far too much writing, far too many photos Saturday, August 04, 2001 Madrid. My first extended stay in a foreign culture (not counting 16 or 17 months spent in L.A.). Me: ready for change after 40+ years in the States. I'd been to London a few times, been to Ireland twice. Fun, adventure, all that. And for a while I thought I'd like to live in the U.K., but there never seemed to be a way to carry it off. A year and a half ago, sitting at my desk at work one midwinter New England morning, I opened the paper to find air fares on sale to locations all over Europe. Cheap. And in that moment, Madrid caught my eye. Why? A fine question. I'd studied Spanish in 7th and 8th grade -- and to say that I'm using the word 'studied' liberally insults the word 'liberally' -- when it was not cool to pay attention. Learned essentially nothing. And found that, as the years went by, I felt a growing disappointment about that. Found myself wishing I could speak something other than English, think in something other than English. See the world from a foreign perspective, breathe foreign air. Wake up in a flat in a European city, see what that felt like. That's part of why. Another, more important, part: the sister of my best friend's wife lives in Madrid, an American woman married to a Spanish attorney, in Madrid for 17 years. A long time, long enough to see the country go through drastic changes in the wake of Franco's demise, to witness democracy taking root. I had a connection. Hopped an overnight flight via London, reached Madrid on a Thursday in mid-February, around noon. Caught a bus into the city from the airport (local traffic featuring an unbelievable number of motorcycles and motor scooters, their drivers navigating the streets as if convinced they were exampt from traffic laws), then a taxi to the hotel. Dragged my sorry, tired hind section up to my teensy little room. On impulse, turned on the TV -- cable, with channels from around Europe: Germany, France, Italy, and of course Spain. Switched to a Spanish channel. Saw an ad featuring a lovely woman. Naked, swimming gracefully underwater, holding a bottle of drinking water -- apparently oblivious to the redundancy. Shut the TV off, lay down, passed out for a while. I didn't realize it then, but when I woke up I was home. rws 1:38 PM [+] BLATHERINGS August 2001 September 2001 October 2001 November 2001 December 2001 January 2002 February 2002 March 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . MORE FOCUSED BLATHERINGS Personal History Travels: London '01 Pamplona Italy '03 U.K. '03 Sevilla Casablanca Stoke-on-Trent Barcelona Québec/Ottawa Boston/Lisbon/Madrid Italy '04 Montréal La Sierra Events: Madrid -- arrival 9/11 Emergency Room I Holidays 2001 Holidays 2002 Holidays 2003 Holidays 2004 Holidays 2005 A neighbor's passing Madrid -- March 11 bombings   and aftermath Emergency Room II Israeli friend/Madrid Marathon Madrid -- Royal Wedding The DELE exam Excerpts from GONE, a novel: Chapter 1 (complete) Chapter 6 (complete) Chapter 8 (excerpt) Chapter 9 (excerpt) Chapter 9 (excerpt) Screenplay excerpt: BURBANK SHRUGGED Short stories: Murphy's Wife Another Autumn Queja de Una Hermanastra   Muy Conocida .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . OTHER SOURCES OF WHOLESOME ENTERTAINMENT People/Weblogs: dooce foxvox fudge it fear not rebekka bookslut 802online idle words madhaiku wockerjabby grow-a-brain digital camel letting me be kung fu grippe franklin avenue fanatical apathy baghdad burning the happy booker mimi smartypants between the miles just a hippie gypsy tomato can brushes playing with my food sugar mountain farm Good Clean Fun: gizmodo futurismic postsecret dave barry human clock mcsweeney's spaceweather book-a-minute internet archive self-portrait day my cat hates you out of context quotes surrealist compliment   generator strindberg and helium Makin' Musical Whoopee: muxtape soma fm pandora last fm .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . ABOUT RWS/CONTACT This page copyright © 2001-2008 by runswithscissors unless otherwise noted. runswithscissors would like to thank everyone who's ever lived for everything they've ever done. Syndicate This Site Blogarama BlogCatalog technorati profile www.flickr.com More of runswithscissors' photos