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runswithscissors


Thursday, November 01, 2001

Autumn returned to Madrid overnight, edging aside yesterday's return to summer. Bright November sunshine, high swirls of cirrus clouds drifting across a blue, blue sky. In fact, weird as it sounds, something about the look of the day reminds me of the light in Vermont during the month of February. Same angle of the sun (equinox seven weeks away); the walls of this flat are white stucco, the way the sunlight strikes them creates something like the intense light of sun on snow.

Last night's cool air brought down sumac leaves in the vacant lot across the way, the trees beginning to appear appropriately skeletal after a chilly Halloween evening. A short time ago a crew of three street cleaners went slowly by, sweeping up fallen leaves, dumping them into wheeled barrels.

I'm in the living room of my piso. No music on, no TV going -- just the ambient sounds of the flat and the world outside. From time to time the windows produce a creaking sound as the sun heats up the building. An occasional murmur of voices from down in the street comes and goes, mingled with the occasional sound of a car's passing. From the kitchen, down the hallway, I can hear the humming of the refrigerator and the water heater.

And there's an item made differently from its counterpart in the States: the water heater. Here they don't use storage tanks, or at least the heater in this piso doesn't. My landlord mentioned that the Spaniards as a whole tend not to use units that hold water and heat it periodically to maintain temperature. Instead, they use units like the one in my kitchen -- when the tap is turned on, water passes through the unit, gas burners heat the liquid as it passes. When the tap gets turned off, the burners shut down. During warm weather, one flips a switch so that the machine will only produce hot running water. During the cold weather, flipping that switch in the opposite direction initiates heat. A primitive thermostat on the unit gets fiddled with until you find the level of comfort you want in the living space. From that point on, it pumps hot water into the radiators when needed.

For some reason, when the switch is turned to cold weather function, the unit produces a humming sound, whether actively heating or not. As if humming to itself while it waits for the piso to cool down.

I can hear that sound drifting down the hallway. Once in a while I hear the sound of water flowing or a toilet flushing from another flat in the building.

Now and then my laptop makes a short, soft chattering sound to itself. My fingers tap on its keys as I write.

And that's it. The sounds come and go, solo or in combination. Writing them down like this, it sounds like a fair amount of noise. In reality, it's quiet, tranquil.

*****************

Has anyone else noticed the uncanny resemblance between Penelope Cruz and Joe Perry of Aerosmith? Should something about that make us nervous?

rws 1:17 PM [+]

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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
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
June 2009
July 2009

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


MORE FOCUSED BLATHERINGS


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

GONE, a novel:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

THE BASTARD CHILDREN OF
JOE ROCCO, a novella:
-- Part 1
-- Part 2
-- Part 3

BURBANK SHRUGGED,
a screenplay:
-- Part 1
-- Part 2
-- Part 3
-- Part 4

Short stories:
Murphy's Wife
Another Autumn
La Queja de Una
  Hermanastra Muy Conocida

Autobiography
-- Personal History
-- Hormones On Parade
-- Accidents, Random Mishaps,
    Personal Problems

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


OTHER SOURCES OF WHOLESOME ENTERTAINMENT

People/Weblogs:
dooce
foxvox
fudge it
fear not
rebekka
bookslut
802online
idle words
madhaiku
wockerjabby
grow-a-brain
rebel market
letting me be
out and about
kung fu grippe
fanatical apathy
baghdad burning
wfuv's music blog
kexp's music blog
mimi smartypants
between the miles
just a hippie gypsy
the impossible cool
tomato can brushes
vermont homestead
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:
last fm
stereo8
pandora
soma fm

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


ABOUT RWS/CONTACT





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runswithscissors would like to thank everyone who's ever lived for everything they've ever done.



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