Short weird story...

One thing I hate is that I often find myself with no time to write a decent post... I mean reasonably long, well thought-out and one which could result of a certain interest to anyone dropping by this blog... Today, unluckily, it's no exception... But so that you don't think I'm lazy bum - well, yeah, I am sometimes, and I quite enjoy it too ;) - I'll share with you the very brief story of how the book "The confederacy of dunces" came to my hands... People like reading and writing about books... And people usually get books because they buy them, they steal them from libraries, they borrowed them or if they've got someone who loves them they might get them as a gift... Well, of course, I've gotten books in several ways... But I consider the way I got (and read for the first time) The confederacy of dunces somehow particular... This happened like a decade ago, on the year I arrived to Spain... It had been a night of wild party and I ended very happy and drunk in Catalunya Square (Barcelona's heart spot) to get some rest lying on a bench... After a few minutes I saw a figure coming my way from all they way across the square... As the figure approached I realised it was a very old bum, all rags and dirt, walking decidedly toward my bench... The place was not really crowded that late at night, so it was obvious he was coming to meet me... Once he got next to the place I was sitting, he saluted very politely and said something like this: " excuse me, I don't mean to bother you, but I just found this book over there (pointing behind his back with his thumb) and thought that you might like to read it".... What???? I answered not very clearly and a bit confused (Id had a few drinks, remember)... "Looks like a good book... But I can't read and I think you might like to read it", he added.... Well, Thankyouverymuch!, really, thanksalot!, have a good night!, that's very kind of you, I replied very impressed and happy for that unexpected gift... And then the old man just turned and went his own way... The book, of course, as you can all figure out, was "The confederacy of dunces"...
I had no previous idea about it, nor what it was about...
If you have read it, you must know then that it's quite a weird, original and interesting piece of writing...
Getting it the strange way I got it seems just like if it all were part of the novel itself...
If you haven't read, I do recommend you do it (and you'll probably have to, to understand the real meaning of this short post).

That's all,
HASTA LA VISTA!

Back to work... and OFF to have more FUN!!!

when night turns into day...


Sant Joan's Night has arrived!


Yep, folks, that's the way it is. Tonight is Sant Joan's night, this meaning summer is officially here, kids start their holidays, the summer solstice brings the shorter night of the year, crowds of people will be hitting the streets once the sun sets today and no one is gonna be able to close their lids and get some sleep tonight (pretty heavy fireworks will be flying over the city all night long). As you can see from these pics from last year, the beach will be quite a lively place to stop by and catch a glimpse of this festivity's spirit... You can obviously guess there'll be herds of drunk guys and gals sleeping there tomorrow morning... Most probably, city authorities will just have to sweep them up and only god knows how the hell they are gonna be able to get back home...
The city of course, of course, has taken measures to face this night of happy souls wandering everywhere in such a crazy mood... For example:
- All subway lines and commuter's trains will be running until dusk, with a frequency of 10-20 minutes or so.
-Beach bars will be allowed to open until 5am.
-People celebrating have until 6am to sleep at the beach... And by 10am, a massive task force of garbage men should have the shores clean and ready for anyone wanting to dip their toes in the Meditarrenean.
- Live music shows will only be tolerated where officially scheduled (HA, HA, HA!!!!...)
- Bonfires will also only be tolerated where officially scheduled (Double HA, HA, HA!!!...)
- People are asked not to store firecrackers in their pockets (Triple HA, HA, HA!!!...)
- People are also asked to drink and celebrate in a responsible manner (any comments needed???)

1 thousand tons of different fireworks have already been sold already to celebrate this night (start imagining the noise)...
A similar amount of Cava (catalan champagne) is also waiting in mostly everybody's house to start blowing their corks once the night gets here...
Once I finish work today, I'll be off to have a great time!!!
BTW, I'm back to work... (and therefore blogging)
For a week at least...
KISSES TO EVERYONE!!!!
HAPPY SANT JOAN!!!
I'll make a toast to all of you out there

:)

Dichotomies... and off we go!

off to see the tree...

OK, two faced, ying-yanged, good side of the force/dark side of the force (yes, I'm on Lucas payroll too), life pretty much goes like this...

1) I have just been offered an undefined contract in the place I'm working at, so this means...

A. It's good, because if they ever want to fire me, it's gonna take them a lot of thinking to come up with a good excuse... and a susbstantial amount of money to convince me if they want me to go without making a fuss about it.

B. I don't really care that much about this new contract, because I know I would love to move to another european city as soon as I get the chance to do it.

2) Due to the change on my new contract, they tell me I can take a two weeks vacation (correspondant to my previous contract) starting right now, asamatteroffact, if so I want it, so this means...

A. Great. You know I have been quite busy and I can certainly use some time off.

B. Ummm... F**K... My pockets are basically full of bread crumbs in this moment, so it's not like I'm gonna be able to get very far from here.

3) Also due to my new contract, they tell me that I can also take another two weeks break in July, which is part of the summer holidays I'm entitled to on my new arrangement, so this means...

A. Great again... So I'll be off for two weeks now, then I'll come back to work for a week or so by the end of the month, and then I'll have two more weeks to keep relaxing.

B. Ummm... F**K again... I'm not sure I'll have time to save enough money to hit Rome or Berlin with all these days off coming suddenly so soon... August would have been a lot better!.

4) One way or another, I'll end up having like a whole month vacation over the summer, so this means...

A. Not bad at all... Lots of people would kill to have all that free time in a city with the beach right there.

B. Unluckily I'm not one of those "lots of people". I hate CROWDED beaches!... so staying here to go water my feet on the shore is not much of an alternative.

5) Well, I'll have a lots of days off anyway, so this means...

A. I could spend endless time in the kitchen and try out a lot of recipes I've been keeping on my "waiting list".

B. My girlfriend is in one of her "I think we should loose some weight" moods, so it doesn't look like that's gonna be possible.

6) People who complain about all the free time they are gonna have really suck, so this means...

A. Yeah... True... I admit it... I suck, but....

B. Even if I suck, my blogging PC is my working PC, so all these days off mean that probably I'm not gonna be much around here and I'll miss you all and all your wonderful posts...

Mais, ces't la vie... as egyptians used to say.

I'll probably have more reading/commenting time than posting time... but I'll try to visit as much as possible...

Take care everyone!

I'll be back ASAP

:)

PS: For those wondering about the Koala pic... well... he's a cute guy, isn't he?... More than enough reason...

What are your favorites animals BTW????

Summer prelude...

So here I was the other day, having a drink with my girl at Plaza Real...

The place was full of people and the evening was just beginning... So I started thinking and said to my girl: "OK, fine, I know this place is lively and hip late at night, but what the hell is all this people doing here now and where the hell do they all come from???"...

Summer night at Plaza Real...

You may say what's to worry about and there isn't really anything to worry about... Plaza Real is a cool place to hang around and if you are ever in Barcelona I certainly recommend you have a few beers here... You've got plenty of bars and restaurants, a young and happy athmosphere from all the guys staying at the budget hostals located in the square, one of the best jazz clubs in town and a couple of dancing clubs where you can prolong your night frenzy... Of course, you've also got a lot of beggars, small hash dealers, pickpocketers, drunk guys and street musicians/jugglers/artists all out to work and get some tourists' money... (ocasionally you see some police officers too, but they just walk around, letting the breeze come into their lungs and not doing much else really)...
The thing is, as I was originally saying, it was probably no even 6 pm, in the middle of the week on a working day, and the place was CROWDED. Aside from that, most of the people enjoying the moments seemed to be locals and not the herds of tourists that bring Barcelona to a boil once the summer season opens. Put all of this together and then you won't be that surprised over the fact the I was seriously wondering who was really working at that moment in the city, if everyone seemed to be on the streets, their faces all happily looking to the sun, and having a great time... My girl, wiser than I, as girls usually are in relation to their men, just said to me: "It's the summer mood. It's already here"... And yes, I realized it was true... The heat, the humidity and the sun are already here... So, no wonder people just want to skip their duties and go out to enjoy the city...

A bit later I got even happier at the idea that summer is finally approaching... May has been an exhausting month for me in terms of work and I really need a few days to pick my batteries... The marriage of two friends and the birthdays of four others has also left my pockets empty, but my stomach full with enough food and alcohol as to avoid starvation at least for a couple of weeks, even if I didn't had anything to eat in the time being...
There is chance I can take a few days of vacation pretty soon...
I'll start checking the web for some cool destinations I can afford with a very limited budget...

Enjoy the weekend everybody!
:)
A bit la