March

1:30

It's March. And we have been warm like spring all week. Maybe we'll finally get some much needed rain the next few days. This is the driest winter in 40 years. I remember winters here that were so wet it was insane. I slept without the heater on at all last night.And it was a fun Bender Tuesday, as always.


I curl up in my blanket. My eyes shut. Adios baby.  

Leap Day

It's done. Just shoot me an email about what format you want; MOBI (for Kindle), Epub, PDF, HTML or whatever your device supports (Mum, i already sent you a MOBI file). I can convert it with a program called Calibre. I am so happy it's done!  I'm supposing that from now on i will release a novel every Feb. 29th because it takes at least 3 years to write the f^*king thing. 

Buying New Soul

A Novel

by

Jay Greco

photo: Jay Greco, 335 pages, © Amphibian Publishing and Joseph Robert Greco, 2012

You can listen to the song that inspired the title from by clicking on the image at the top right.

So, if you are game, i shall send it to you and then i'd like your most precise criticism. And if you're apprehensive about giving me criticism, please remember

• I was in sales 15 years and have gotten my teeth kicked in endless times by customers.
• When i was 14, my sister and i told our father that if he couldn't call once a month, that maybe he shouldn't bother. We never heard from him again.
• I am a teacher and lots of students hate me
• The last two women i tried to kiss; one said 'thankyou' and the the pushed me in the chest and screamed "No!"
• My wife got pregnant with another man's child, while we were still married, hid it, lied about it and put in a position where i had to what 5 months to find out if the child was mine or not

So criticism is kid stuff to me. Bring it on baby!

La Fuente Del Angel Caido

Statue of the Fallen Angel, Retiro Park, Madrid. Something like this will be the book cover to BUYING NEW SOUL.


I added one short scene since i got back from lunch. I think it works. It marks a subtle turning point. The statue of Angel Caido features in this scene. I like the way it fit with some of the other imagery throughout the book.


Well, things didn't work out with the Welsh Witch in the romantic way. But I think we're cool. I'm like, "Hey, just take it as a compliment and we'll just be friends." We're very good friends, already pretty close. So we'll just keep it that way. But at least i gave it a shot, so now i know.


We hung out for a while afterwards and then i got her into a cab. It'll be fine, i think.

My love life will sort itself out. It always does. I'm actually in a pretty good place right now. 

Right now, the thing that's got me all geeked up is that i am looking at the my new novel, BUYING NEW SOUL on my Kindle! How sweet is that?


Answer; Pretty goddamned sweet!


21:13


Off to watch Atletico Madrid play Barcelona.


LUNES


Atleti lost to Barca 2-1. Oh well.


 Life flies on. Busy day today. Manana is very light - one class at 3:30. Lotsa cancels and people out of town. I'll go to Retiro manana. It will be 65F and i'll shoot some picks of The Fallen Angel for the book cover.

Postcard

14:33

I think it's time that I got off the kitchen floor
But is there really any point at all?
Waking up this morning felt the same
I better sleep while life is so mundane

It could have been yesterday that I locked the door
I blocked the windows up so I can't be sure
Now I haven't even got the will to Wii
I'm lame and self-obsessed
That I will concede

I'd like to light a cigarette but I cannot
The light is dead and the gas has been cut off

I'm the one you always seem to read about
The light inside my eyes has long gone out
There's nothing left for me to say or do'Cause all that matters disappeared when I lost you
-Steven Wilson 'Postcard'


These are the lyrics to the link on the right, performed live last year in London. This songs sends chills up my spine. Beautiful. Heart breaking.


82% of the story editted. About 62 pages to go!


I'm tired of editting, but excited. I have been working on this book, on and off, for five years. I guess you have to be compulsive to be a writer. You have to be to finish the damn thing. All the research; all the history and science i read during the writing of a novel; prep and during, is incredible. But, 'tis surely a labor of love. 


16:52


It's done. The novel is done. 


For those of you with e-readers, let me know what file your device supports. 


Done. Done. Done. 


Alright. i haven't eaten all day. I should eat some food. Maybe run to Sol and take shots for the front cover. I know exactly what i'm going shoot.

Tales of North America

Good morning North America, home continent of mine! Yesterday I taught til 21:00. Then i popped by J&J's and saw this wierd but fun couple (he's from Montana, she's from Calgary.) He tells stories about his friends smoking crystal meth in Montana and how they all can't drive because they've all lost their licenses 3 or 4 times. I turned to the gal (I'll be damned if i can ever remember either of their names as i only see them once every six months ) and said "And this is why no matter how much Montana's population grows, we will never give them more than 4 electoral votes in the Presidential Election." She laughed and said, "That's a good decision."


Most of what i know about crystal meth comes from movies or television (Spun , Breaking Bad ) and what i've read. Obviously, it's all bad. I was explaining to them that it doesn't seem to be a North Eastern problem. But other parts of the country, yes. I read that when Mississippi cracked down on crystal meth that people starting smoking and injecting synthetic bath salts, so now they are regulating those as well. What the hell is wrong with all of us?


I went back to my mother
I said, "I'm crazy ma, help me."
She said, "I know how it feels son,
'Cause it runs in the family."
-The Who


Then the place started to fill up with all the already drunk 25 year old Brits for the quiz, so i paid my tab and vanished into the night.


I never said i wasn't a drama queen. 


Later today i'll meet the Welsh Witch. Looking forward to that. Right now i have about 50 pages left in book 3 of Murakami's 1Q84. The three books together are 925 pages, so it's been an odyssey. 


More birthdays - 


Sarah Graves (Madrid)
Meagan McFadden (NJ - my god daughter!)

Primavera?

Baby once in a while
think about me
-Fleetwood Mac


17:44


Friday! One more class at 19:30 and then it is the weekend. I am so tired. The class is in Malasana very close to J&J, so i'm going to meet Amanda for a beer or two - and then bed. 


Is it Spring? Did i read the calendar wrong? It's 64F right now. Most fudged up winter ever. We are going to be in the 60's for the next week.


What the what?


I was freezing my nuggets off last week!

Normal Parameters

Things are more or less fucntioning under normal parameters. Great Bender Tuesday last night. It was Jenna's (a bartender) birthday.

We were much warmer today. It was about 59F. Maybe we are finally starting to thaw. It doesn't get dark until after 19:00 now so we are only a month away from DST. I'll be happy to see winter go. But it's nice while it's here. It's a nice change at first from the brutal summers.

Okay, lots of classes manana. Nighty night.

0:00

Artist's interpretation of me as an 87 year old Muppet




i talked with Mel. All seemed to be well. We talked for about 20 minutes. It was a great time.  She's 42 today. And she's younger than i am!


That's makes me 43. Our birthdays are always on the same day of the week, with the exception of leap year (she is pre-leap, i am post-leap.) It doesn't matter. I still love her during the Leap Years. Mum still loves her during leap years too..., most likely.

Ode to the Seester

Okay - great day with the Welsh Witch and then saw American Laura and Tim for  Valencia vs. Barcelona. 


And now it is time to tell you about a young lady who is my sibling;


It's like i've known her all my life. Sensitive and practical. Sytematic. Likes routine. Thrives on it. Would do anything in her power to help you if she could. We're very different people (as if you hadn't noticed) But she is my Seester.


Happy Birthday Mel!


There can be only one. 
-Highlander

Constant Motion

Draw another goblet
From the cask of '43
Crimson misty memory
Hazy glimpse of me
Give me back my wonder
I've something more to give
I guess it doesn't matter
There's not much more to live

-Rush




Whew! Taught three hours yesterday. Had lunch with sudents. Hung with my friend Kelly, the Alaskan sasquatch, and then saw the crew at J&J's. Now off to shower and then lunch with the Welsh Witch at Acala Fusion in my old stomping grounds. Then see American Laura. So busy. The new novel is 75% final editted!


HAPPY BIRTHDAYS


Kathy Dunn Cornwell
Laura Smith
Melissa the Seester


did everyone's parents vacation at the same time?

Between the Wheels

It slips between your hands like water

This living in real time

A dizzying lifetime

Reeling by on celluloid

Struck between the eyes

By the big-time world

Walking uneasy streets

Hiding beneath the sheets

Got to try and fill the void

-Rush

Hello! All is well - this week has just been fucking mental. So many cancellations that i'm actually going to work three hours manana just to try and recoup some of it. The editting of the novel goes well and i am 75% done. I like it, which is a damn good thing. Man, it is sick and twisted, but that's me. I was supposed to meet Maria but she called to say she wasn't feeling well so i just decided to stay in. I work from 12:00 - 14:00 and then 17:00 - 18:00. Well, i don't have much else to say. A wee bit warmer today. My brain is all wrapped around this novel and now it's 23:08 and i am exhausted. Have a great weekend. I miss all of ye!

control

 Attention all planets of the Solar Federation
 Attention all planets of the solar Federation
 Attention all planets of the solar Federation
We have assumed control
We have assumed control
We have assumed control
-Rush

Okay - Music to edit by, in order as listened to, picked randomly by iTunes;


Rush:


Vapor Trails
2112
Roll the Bones
Snakes and Arrows
Caravan/BU2B
Hemispheres
Caress of Steel
Feedback
Moving Pictures
Hold Your Fire
Permanent Waves
Power Windows
A Farewell to Kings
Rush
Fly By Night
Counterparts
Signals
Presto


Halfway done with this 'final' edit. I say 'final' because i know there will be a dozen more. It never ends. But i have the fever to do it, so that's when you bear down and get it done. I suppose you need that to write. You need to be a bit obsessive. Which obviously i am. 


Otherwise it's been a whoor of a week. At least it's Jueves!

Bender Valentine's Tuesday

14:04

Just another winner, pours his life down the drain
Just another island in a hurricane
Just another loser, like a cat in the rain
Just another day -- in the path of a speeding train

The odds get even; you name the game
The odds get even; the stakes are the same
You bet your life...
-Rush


Okay, 3 classes cancelled today. Some will be made up, some not. So... it means i get to sit down with my MacBook and edit. Hooray! i have no class til 13:30 manana. But i never had much class.


So, i've loaded every Rush studio album into a playlist, all 18 which is over 14 hours of music, and will shuffle them by album. 


Edit boy, edit!




It's quite odd to go back over and read soemthing that was 'finished' two years ago. There are some things make me think i'm very talented. Some things that make me think i'm insane. In the end, i have every reason to belive that i am both.


Why don't i just write poems? It'd be so much quicker. Okay- back to factory floor.


The story is half editted. Huzah! Time to eat a late lunch. Then clean and do some billing. And then it's Bender Tuesday.

Lunes

Teach me to hear the mermaid's song 
then tell me where it all went wrong
go and catch a falling star
then tell me not how things are
-Frequency drift




Fucking Lunes.


There was a problem with the Cercanias train and everything to Pozuelo was cancelled. So, we'll have to make it up on Thursday morning, maybe. A real pain in the ass.


And my 14 year old, Javi, who has some kind of medical condition wound up in the hospital. His mom called me on Sat. to say he okay and resting, but that he won't have class for a while.


And it's cold. We were so mild in Dec and Jan, but Feb has been a beast. Cold and windy- a bad combo.


But, i am editting / reading my last novel, Buying New Soul. When it's ready i can email you a PDF version to all of you Kindle, E Book readers.

Houston.... we have a problem.

O God of Earth and Altar,
Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,
Our people drift and die,
The walls of gold entomb us,
The swords of scorn divide,
Take not thy thunder from us,
But take away our pride."
(G. K. Chesterton; English Hymnal)


Sabado! Hooray!


I took the Welsh Witch out for sushi last night. We had a great time. I put her in a cab at 1:00 cuz she has to work every sabado at 10:00. 


I still don't know what the hell is happening between us. SOMETHING is happening. That much is obvious. We have become good friends. We are kindred spirits. We both love to write and have a wanderlust in our blood. But it's good whatever it is. I guess i'll just leave it at that.

No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
-Whitney Houston


No. Only you can do that. 


Whitney Houston dead at 48. Horribly sad. A cautionary tale for drug abuse and marrying Bobby Brown. i can't help but think of Amy Winehouse and all her troubles with substances. Tragic. 


My flatmate, Marcondes loves her. He is probably going to go into a month of mourning. 


Sad. Sad. Sad.

that's Mr. to you...

There are things. And then there are things. I sometimes confuse the two. But i always try to remember that the most important things are tangible - one way or another. I'm not sure which one i am. Or was. But the most most important thing is that something matters. 

PS

Bite my starchy ass. 

Miscellaneous Debris

+Winter Report; I lost my wool hat today. That makes two for this winter. That's about by for Feb. But so far i have lost no scarves which is a minor miracle.

+Rush and Kiss are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. That's idiotic.

+My consulting gig is over for the Forest Europe thing is done. I will bill them this weekend. Hooray!

+Today is Friday. it couldn't come soon enough.

+Over 11,000 page views. Woo hoo!

post Robanukah

Robanukah was a huge success. It was a huge turnout. Everyone had- fun. No one was maimed. Now it's teach, teach and more teaching. I am exhausted. Susana leaves for New Orleans manana, which is sad, but i'll see her in the summer for Laura's wedding. And the Welsh Witch and i are going for sushi manana. And we are still freezing. The Black Sea froze over off of the coast of Odessa. The last time that happened Jimmy Carter was president!

Robanukah will be a tough act to follow. Enter Bender Valentine's Tuesday.

Robanukah

At 9 - 7 the Giants become the team with the worst record to ever win a Stupor Bowl. The Pats were 13-3 but only beat one or two teams with a winning record during the regular season.

Football is over so hockey takes the stage. And then baseball. Except that i am a Met fan so there may be nothing to watch for. The Nationals should be better, at least.

I am so tired i am hallucinating. Class manana at 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:30. Then it's Robanukah, the one year anniversary of Bender Tuesday.

Good night.

4:20

The Giants win the Stupor Bowl! Tom Brady is my bitch and i get a full 25 cl vial of Giselle's tears! It's 4:20 so i need to go to bed just in case i actually go to my 13:00 class.

Stupor Bowl

Prediction: 27 - 17 NYG. The Giants lift their 4th Lombardi Trophy.

Tom Brady cries. Giselle files for divorce in June, admitting that she and Danny Devito have been having an affair for the past 3 months. Rhea Perlman is indifferent to the whole thing.

Robert Kraft is sued when a report emerges that a Kraft Single actually has has -1.4% cheese, baffling dairy scientists around the world and sparking threat of war from France. Kraft goes bankrupt and the Patriots are sold to Giselle, who promptly trades Tom Brady to the Cleveland Browns for a keg of beer and a lifetime supply of beef jerky.

Nit Romney wins the Republican nomination and it's a dark day for Massachusetts. 2 weeks before the Republican National Convention, the people of Mass. agree to sell it back to the Wampanoag Indians for a dollar. The Wampanoag Indians sell it to Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon a few weeks later. Wahlberg and Damon agree that the Commnwealth will continue to opperate as before except that all citizens must change their middle name to 'Red Sox' and that Ben Affleck must sell all ownings in Mass. and never return.

Just call me Nostra-dude-imus.

The Purge, Part II

16:22

The first one didn't really take. So part dos begins ahora.


Music to Purge, Two


Kid A - Radiohead
Heard of Instinct - Herd of Instinct

18:57

Making much more headway this time with the room. I was going to do this yesterday (i got home at 16:00) but my idiot roomamtes never told me the day before that they were changing the pipes to PVC,  so i arrived to a note that said we couldn't use the bathroom, kitchen or any water for three hours. All i wanted to do was take a f^*king shower and eat ( I hadn't done either yet since i had left the house at 8:30. So there was nothing to do but go to J&J's. I had a few beers with Carla, Morad, Gøran, Dave, etc. I left at 8:15 went home and then fell asleep well before 00:00.

Now time to go to Susana's going away party. Music to Binge to, anyone?

Well, it's Vicente's bar so he'll pick the music. Purge, binge? Binge, purge? These verbs evoke worrisome thoughts.  Am i Bolemic? Did i finally get that famous Jersey Girl disorder? What if i wind up like Snooki?

Bad News From Siberia

Wow. That last post was garbage. You people read this thing? All the time? How much does the Mum pay you?

But thanks for reading. Seriously.

I am so very tired. The Welsh Witch was sick, so we took a raincheck for dinner.

- - -

I was asleep by 23:00.

I woke up at 3:00 and had a sandwich and watched 30 Rock. And then back to sleep.

We have been bitter cold. It's -4C with the windchill at 12:00. All of Europe has been throttled by a blast of Siberian air.

Here is a sampling of low temperatures Friday morning, in degrees C and degrees F:

Location	Low temperature
Klichev, Belarus	-35C/-31F
Bialystok, Poland	-30C/-22F
Kiev, Ukraine	-27C/-17F
Riga, Latvia	-25C/-13F
Warsaw, Poland	-23C/-9F
Ezurum, Turkey	-20C/-4F
Prague, Czech Rep.	-19C/-2F
Milan, Italy	-6C/21F

It's the wind chill that makes it killer because we are at a high altitude. Two bad things about Madrid;
Winter: Cold Air from Russia
Summer: Hot air from Africa

5 years ago i was in CT for Xmas and it was -20 C. My balls have never recovered to their original size. Sad but true.

STUPOR BOWL

I say the Giants win by 10. It won't be as close as everyone thinks. The Giants are clicking and the Pats got thru an AFC that was weaker than Gary Glitter's ability to resist kiddie porn. Disgusting but true. If Billy Cundiff hadn't botched a 32 yd field goal it may have been a Balt/NY rematch. I'm also going to throw this out to all the NE fans (and luckily i think i've driven them all away from this blog); the Pats have not won a championship since Spygate, when world reknowned cheater, Bill Belichek, was caught taping the other team's signals by the Jets. The Giants peed on their undefeated season by winning the Super Bowl and NE has been mediocre at best since then, The upshot? No more Super Bowls for you!


From Wikipedia;

Illegal sideline videotaping

Main article: 2007 National Football League videotaping controversy

In an incident dubbed "Spygate,"^[16] on September 9, 2007, NFL security caught a Patriots video assistant taping the New York Jets' defensive signals from an on-field location. Jets coach Eric Mangini, a former Patriots assistant, tipped off league officials that the Patriots might have been filming their signals. After the game, the Jets formally complained to the league.

On September 13, the NFL fined Belichick $500,000—the largest fine ever imposed on a coach in the league's 87-year history,^[17] and fined the Patriots $250,000. Additionally, the Patriots forfeited their first round draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Goodell said that he fined the Patriots as a team because Belichick exercises so much control over the Patriots' on-field operations that "his actions and decisions are properly attributed to the club." Goodell considered suspending Belichick, but decided that taking away draft picks would be more severe in the long run.^[18]

I'm looking forward to licking Giselle's tears, and to their age-reversing properties. 

Mailed it in

Friday.

So tired.

There was lots of stuff that happened.

Nothing extraordinary. Just stuff.

Because stuff happens.

"i speak for the trees,"

Whew, i had to do a lot of fiddling about to get the picture in the masthead to not be enormous. But trial and error between iPhoto and the Google interface and it's a decent size now.

It is soooo cold here. With the windchill it'll be 22F tonight. Brutally cold. i am not used to it (ie, my muscles cramping up in Praha after a few days walking in the cold.) Class at 9:00. Then the consulting gig for that marketing/liason company at 13:00. That has been really fun. Back into marketing mode. They are working with the European Forestry Commission on a joint venture between Russia, Spain, some other countries. They gave me a synopsis to read. Where the hell is it? Hang on.

Okay, it's Forest Europe. They met in Oslo in June 2011 and agreed on these environmental limits that they will adhere to. The conference on the 15th of Feb. will be interpreted into English and Russian from Spanish. I'm doing a lot with rephrasing things they'll say at the conference because you always have to be careful not to step on anyone's toes at these things (i learned that from Sue and DRF.)

Needless to say, i'm exhausted. But work is work. It's cool. I'll take it. It was really sweet of Carla to recommend me for this job.  And interesting how my two years teaching at 9Ren helped to learn about solar power and EU Environmental Law. American Laura's taught me a lot about the laws too. And the hundreds of things i learned from Sue.

And it's Viernes in a few hours.

New Look

• Pic; playing cribbage with Mum in Praha, drinking the original Budweiser
• About the new masthead - much thanks to Mel for thinking to take this pic of me in the Jewish Museum in Berlin. If ever there was a place i belong, it is the Garden of Exile. And the theme is black now. But you probably already noticed that. 
• Manana is the Welsh Witch's birthday. I'm taking her out for Sushi on Friday. Saturday is Susana's going away party as she is moving to New Orleans. And Monday is the Stupor Bowl! And Tuesday is Robanukah, the 1 year anniversary of Bender Tuesday. What a freaking weekend!
• When i was in grammar scvhool i was voted most likely to create my own religious holiday and most likely to be charged with manslaughter. And now i have created my own religious holiday! And i have never been charged with manslaughter (to date.)
• Almost done doing the Facturas (bills) to the academies. I hate doing that. But i will start to get paid manana. Getting paid once a month is idiotic.