far too much writing, far too many photos

runswithscissors


Thursday, May 06, 2004

I've found myself in recent days experiencing a mix of feelings I would be hard-pressed to describe. Reflecting things happening in my little life and in the world at large, both micro and macro, both wacky and worrying (that last the legacy of a family-of-origin method of dealing with life, something I'm long into the process of freeing myself from). A kind of emotional brew that would have had me feeling mighty low in earlier years. Now I'm mostly grateful to be alive, processing it all. I'd much rather be awake -- wading through this world of ours in all its gorgeous pomp and squalor, my nervous system firing away on all cylinders -- than numb.

Because it's a hell of a show, you know? An impressive array of the wild, the bizarre, the savage, the tender, the hopeful, the mundane, the sometimes quietly/sometimes thrillingly, extravagantly beautiful.

Spring has put on the brakes a bit here, resulting in days that are the spitting image of September/October -- cool, fresh, the sky a dramatic blend of clouds and light. So that cold weather gear -- never completely discarded by the more cautious locals -- has become normal once again. And life goes on, to the accompaniment of occasional bitching about the discrepancy between the calendar and the actual conditions outdoors.

Introversion/extroversion -- la Plaza de Santa Barbara, Madrid:





Meanwhile, the new Spanish government has been quietly busy, producing a noticeably different atmosphere in the process. Less rancorous, more focused on simply doing the work, less on producing discord. A major change from the previous administration, a marked easing of a kind of tension that had become normal during the last two, three years.

As promised during the campaign, half the cabinet-level posts are now held by women, including the active, influential post of vice president. Also as promised, a law pushed through by the previous administration re-imposing mandatory classes in Catholicism or religion in public schools has been reversed. Channel 1, the more high-profile of the two government television stations, has been undergoing a makeover, become less partisan, more balanced in its news broadcasts, its programming changing to reverse a major drop in ratings experienced during the last couple of years. (Hallelujah to that, say I, the channel 1 I knew having become more or less unwatchable.) The administration is now actively working with the French and German governments to ratify a European constitution.

All, on the face of it, major changes in direction, all apparently more in tune with the wants of the pueblo. Absent in this are the chronically ugly parliamentary confrontations that had become the norm during the last couple of years, the result of the 180 degree turnabout in the composition of el Congreso de los Diputados. Not that the parliamentary chamber doesn't produce plenty of noise, just that the PP does not now have the position or power to impose their will on everyone else, a drastic change in situation.

One of the hallmarks of the previous administration was its tendency to stonewall and block investigations into various incendiary happenings (i.e., the sinking of the Prestige, the lack of evidence to support justifications given for participating in the incursion into Iraq, numerous scandals around the country involving PP officeholders). The last of those happenings was the government's handling of the three days between the Madrid bombings and the national elections. The country's two largest daily newspapers have been running stories detailing how the administration continued to insist on the involvement of ETA in the bombings despite all investigations clearly pointing to Islamic extremists, contradicting the PP's post-election PR offensive, revelations that resulted yesterday in the PP doing a 180 to support calls for an investigation into what exactly happened during those three days. (El País, the lefty daily and largest selling national paper, says that "The secretary general of the PP, [defeated presidential candidate] Mariano Rajoy, accepted yesterday that a parliamentary commission would investigate the events of 11-M, as demanded by other political groups." El Mundo, the center-right daily and second-largest national paper, portrays it differently, stating that "Mariano Rajoy... took the political iniciative to demand a parliamentary commission into 11-M.")

The current government has taken pains to assure everyone that the purpose of the investigation is not to pin blame on any individuals, and while that may be a bit ingenuous, their general way of working since taking power has been conciliatory, not vengeful. Which raises the hope that though the results of the investigation may portray the PP unfavorably, the Socialist administration may walk softly through it all, actually working to reduce the sting of it rather than twist the knife.

Time will tell. But the simple possibility of less abrasive, less mean-spirited outcomes in the political world comes as soothing relief to me.


Madrid, te quiero.

rws 6:21 AM [+]

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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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