Not So Deep Thoughts

There’s something very special about the San Isidro long weekend.  It’s May.  The weather is just right.  There was another long weekend just two weeks before (The Day of May) when most people took the opportunity to get the heck out of Dodge, and now they’re ready to hang ’round the homefront.  And just the word BBQ makes you salivate.  BBQ.  BbQ. bbQ.

So Vanesa and I marinated a batch of chicken wings, bought a few 6-packs of Bud and headed off to Jacki and Skyler’s lovely terrace for a day in the sun.  Here are some pics.

Spring has Sprung!

Vanesa and I went a little slap-happy at the local greenhouse and brought a little life to our little terrace.  Here are some of the cute little buggers that we’ve brought home… 

Take a gander at our little sanctuary and then go outside and walk barefoot in the morning dew soaked grass, or something equally tree-huggerish.

For my birthday, my friends Jacki and Kelly hooked me up with two tickets to see Andrew Bird in concert last Saturday.  As Vanesa was frolicking around Dublin that weekend, I hit up the concert with Kelly.

I gotta tell you guys, I was a fan of Andrew Bird with or with a concert, but after seeing the guy live, my appreciation for him has skyrocketed.

For those of you who haven’t heard his music yet, he’s a classically trained violinist, an accomplished composer, a verbose lyracist, a good singer and a damn fine whistler to boot.

With all he puts in to each song; wandering harmonic progressions, a varying mixture of random rhythmic structures, layering instruments, etc… that when I saw him amble out onto the stage with just a violin and a guitar on standby, I could only wonder how the hell he was going to pull off getting even half way through one of his songs.

But he showed us.  With the help of various looping pedals, he was able to record one voice at a time, piling voice upon voice, clicking them off and then back on as the song demanded such.  It was really impressive.  And really friggin’ good.

And when in just one concert, you’re reminded at times of the sound of Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Rufus Wainwright and Paul Simon, you know you’re dealing with someone special.

If you’ve never seen him, go see him.   If you haven’t heard of him, buy a CD and then go see him.  Hell, go check him out on YouTube and then go see him, whatever…  Enjoy good music, that’s all.

How cool is this! A year or so ago I was asked by a fellow teacher if I would be interested in doing some voiceover work for a short animated film.  I’d totally forgotten about it until the other day when she sent me an email with this trailer for the finished work.

Even cooler was glancing up to the title of the film after 5 minutes clicking around the website and seeing this:

Hollywood here I come!  Michael, you got room on your couch?

My friend Justin once said of me, “Paul may be slow, but he always manages to get there, even if it takes years.”  As a person who has seen me through most of my major relationships, my journeys from here to there, both emotional and quantifiable by physical distance, I think he’s pretty spot on.

Some people leap blindfolded into the future on the wings of a trust that all will inevitably turn out ok.  Others like to stare at their feet as they shuffle forward baby step by baby step, never risking a misstep that would send them tumbling into “unknown dangerous territory” (aka. New Jersey.)

I think I’ve always bordered on the over-analytical approach to scuttling my way down the yellow-brick road of life.  Often trying to wrap my mind around logic-defying situations (e.g. most relationships) until I eked out a grain of something resembling rationality, immobilized until I managed to do so.

For those who endured this futile praxis, I can assure you that I did it with the best of intentions.  And upon reflection, if any progress was made in forward directions, baby steps or trans-atlantic steps, I’d gamble that it was in spite of this habit not as a result of it.

Well, years have passed since Justin spoke those words, and I think (and hope) that I’ve managed to pick up the pace a bit.  Spending less time stopping to examine the map every time I feel lost (often holding it upside-down) and more time just letting life take me downstream and figuring it out as I go.

Some rather large baby steps have been taken lately and the results have been spectacular.  Vanesa and I are now living together, and we’re doing so swimmingly. Got me an office job and I’ll be finishing up my music studies soon. And after five long years I finally have residency and the card to prove it.

See!

Life is good. Period.

I still got some more grown up stuff to do, like things to do with bank accounts and bills and address changes… or things like updating my blog more often. But I say they can wait, I’m still in my 20s, I’m young and I got some more living to do! I’ll leave those responsibilities for when I’m 30.

Peace.

How you been?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Last weekend Vanesa, Miquel, Skyler and I went to Puerta del Sol to participate in Madrid’s Big Freeze 2009.  You can see the back of my head at 9-11 seconds and then all smiles from Skyler and Miguel.

Here are some other ‘pranks’ that make me giggle.  Wish we did more of these…

When did ‘This year, I’m going to blog more often.’ jump to the top ten of ‘The Most Common New Year’s Resolutions.’?   Was it 5-6 years ago, once the world figured out how easy it was to make one?  Does getting around to not breaking that resolution on January 17th count?  Did we all really think we had something THAT interesting to say to the world?  Or was our message not meant for the world? How many people have blogs they’ve never told anyone about - their own electronic diary hidden under their bed?  And for the others, do we really want the rest of the world reading what’s going on in our heads?  What crosses a toddler’s mind when they discover they’ve had a blog (and that they were remarkably good typers) since before they were born?   How many marriage proposals have taken place over a blog?  At least you can delete it in time the next morning if you drunk-blog.  Am I more myself when I have time to think and type my thoughts?  Funnier?  Wittier?  More cynical?  Will I be fired for something I one day wrote?  I’m pretty sure I can never run for political office now. Is how much you love someone quantifiable by how many posts exist with their name in it?  How many people are even reading this?  Is how much they love me quantifiable by how often they come to my page? What is my Google PageRank?  Oh, I wish I had thought of that blog!  Oh, I have a GREAT idea to write about next time!  What was I going to say again? Ahh, I’ll do it tomorrow.

I’m meming - from my brother Chris

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, (even if we don’t speak often or ever) please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me.

It can be anything you want - good or bad - BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE.

When you’re finished, post this little paragraph in your blog and see what your friends come up with.

(This is also to see if anyone still reads this blog… I sure am curious.)