La Bonne Vivante

4:27pm: March of the Librarians
This is very important and moving - I teared up several times:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td922l0NoDQ

8:41am: i'm so proud...
from today's olympian:

"An open microphone caught a chat in which he seemed embarrassingly subservient to Bush, who greeted him by shouting "Yo, Blair!""

12:13pm: Brooklyn bound
Heading out to NY tonight; staying at the LOFTSTEL in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, "a predominantly Caribbean neighborhood". Which would explain why there is to be a CARIBBEAN CARNIVAL (on Labor Day) right near by. I'm fer carnival. decidedly not agin it.
other notes. I checked the TSA website to find out the lastest on what I can and cannot bring aboard. for the record, i am already annoyed because this implies that i cannot bring all of my luggage on the plane which is what i normally do. i am agin checking baggage. but then, to my utter horror and dismay, i saw this list of what must be carried v. checked:

Gel-filled bras and similar prosthetics - Gel-filled bras may be worn through security screening and aboard aircraft.
Carry-on:Yes
Checked: Yes

Yeah, okay, phew. but read on.

Sabers
Carry-on: No
Checked: Yes

Swords
Carry-on: No
Checked: Yes

crap! what am i going to do with my saber and sword?? but then maybe that is a good thing. then i won't poke my gel bra. that would just be embarrassing.

8:06am: busy bee.
so many projects going on at the moment... it's exciting to finally begin finding a way to get involved in the work i want to be doing. although still unpaid, i am sure it will get me there.... eventually.
currently on the table:

volunteering with Village Volunteers to create an online tutorial for villages in Kenya that want to create a library (thinking Wiki and any words of wisdom thrown my non-tech way is greatly appreciated!)

volunteering with Jifunza as the Assistant Manager to establish a collection development policy for village libraries in Ghana, establish donor relations, and train volunteers

heading off to Guatemala for a few weeks in November to learn Spanish and volunteer with PROBIGUA on their library project

besos y abrazos, mis corazones!
viva la biblioteca!

5:39pm: bienvenido
livejournal is in español! and i´m excited because i get to use letters like Ç and ñ, and check this €. i like it. well, we´ve been here a few days and managed to not get a whole lot accomplished. our apartment is quite loud with all the windows open, but as they have the huge old beautiful shutters (no glass, just the wood `doors´), it is very dark with them closed ... VERY dark. like we keep waking up around noon thinking ¿what the hell? yesterday was fantastico - went up to montjuïc, beautiful day, found G someone to play tennis with (which is where he is now), we walked and walked around the city - different less touristy areas. went to parc miro to see the huge statue which is so freaking cool and in this totally urban plaza with tons of graffitti. on the back side of it is a park, more like what we would think of as being park-y, but perhaps in LA due to all the palm trees and lack of grass. we sat and watched a game of boules played by a hilarious group of old men who were quite animated - throwing things at one another, and getting their big dog very excited. later that evening we went to this restaurant we have passed a couple of times, and been intrigued by the menu, then i found something in my guide book about its sister restaurant PLA (we went to the "little brother" RE-Pla, as our waiter described it), and i honestly don´t know how to describe this food other than this: it was fucking ridiculous. what i mean is, it was so good, it was ridiculous. that anything should be that good. first they brought us out these little tiny glasses filled with a warm white bean puree with red pepper oil on the top. hello, that was freaking amazing. then came our salad (which may have seemed extra good because we haven´t eaten very many veggies...) and this esparagus dish that had layers of puff pastry, and some garlicy aoli... for dinner we shared a duck dish that had a polynesian influence - stacked duck slices on a bed of bananas and coconut with a bit of chocolate. and then a seared tuna which was much like what one would get in seattle, but definitely excellently prepared, melt in your mouth tuna. finally a sponge cake with pear sorbet (¿perhaps with verbena?)and ganache. it was heavenly food. AND i got to watch the couple behind us snorting coke off the table. now before you get the wrong idea about the place, i should say that we were sitting in the back and they were the only other ones back there with us. i wouldn´t say that this sort of behavior was condoned by re-pla. however i quite enjoy watching people do stupid stuff like this. i can´t quite say why¿ maybe it gives me the sense of being something of an accomplice in their crime?with none of the nasty coke hangovers - er. not that i know what that feels like.) and its just funny to watch. alot more fun to watch than the dude i saw having a wank at the easy internet cafe on the ramblas. sheesh. the nerve of some people. anyway, we topped off the evening in search of a place called London that Pablo told us of, but could never find. instead ended our night at Ambra, a groovy little bar with relaxed cool kids, nice dj tunes, and lots of cuba libres! now lets see if i can figure out which button will make this thing active. oh - "actualizar diario" sounds promising...

8:26am: le Mot to your mother
I just got an email from our friend Pablo in Barcelona and am getting very excited. We met Pablo last year after the mudhonies had played at a big festival in Barcelona. Pablo & his buddy Jose run a really slick fanzine called Riff . Can't read Spanish for shit but it looks fantastic, and I know I like a lot of the bands they interview. So they interviewed the mudhonies last year, and G mentioned we'd be coming back, and they offered to take us out & about. Had a fantastic day with them - they introduced us to the Borne (where we're staying this year) - a groovy little neighborhood behind the Barri Gotica; beer with...um.. almost like lemonade? but its delish & I can't for the life of me remember the name; and many strange and mostly delicious tapas. i wasn't a huge fan of the pig's ears, but there's no accounting for taste. The craziest thing of all is that Pablo is A LIBRARIAN. He just finished his, as he put it "f**** degree" (which is about how I'm feeling, and that the thing is not worth the two pieces of cardboard its smashed between), and has also been having a rough go of finding steady work. However, he seems to have a sweet temporary gig as a documentarian and webmaster for the University of Barcelona, which he promised to tell me all about when we get there.

The other great thing about this is that we are going to be there for Festes de la Merce. so excited.

10:50am: news from Africa
I just got a letter from a couple of friends in Phalaubeni! It was so good to hear from both Abbey & Felix. Felix was a student at Makheto High, and is getting ready to go to University. I absolutely adored him & expect to see him do amazing things with his life. He is incredibly smart & driven, yet at the same time, completely charming, fun & unassuming. He says he would like to study in America at some point... I need to look into programs that might offer him a scholarship to do so...Abbey is the teacher/librarian I worked with in the village - and as anyone who has talked with me about this knows, he is a huge inspiration to me.

They are both well, and I am so happy to know that the package I sent ages ago actually arrived! I had thought for sure it didn't make it. It had presents for a few people - thesauri, dictionaries, UW hats, clothes for prizes etc; but the thing that really bummed me out was that I had sent a framed picture of myself & Mrs. Mabunda for her - as I can't VERBALLY communicate with Mrs. Mabunda, I wanted her to have the picture because ... well, I just *loved* her & had such fun with her. so it makes me very happy to know that she got the pic, and knows I'm thinking of her.

Abbey also asked if I could send more things... as soon as i get back I'm going to start getting another package together.

12:39pm: vive catalunya
In an effort to quelch the despair and anxiety of not getting "my job" at Room to Read, I have decided to go to meet Guy in Barcelona for a little over a week. poor me, i know. He took off this a.m. with the mudhonies for a couple of shows in Dublin & London, so essentially has a free ticket to Europe anyway - we decided to make it an official vacation. I'll leave on Sunday and am really looking forward to this - it's such a fantastic city. I think I really need to
just spend some time with my favorite artists (Miro y Picasso), exploring the Barri Gotica, going to the beach, and consuming copious amounts of vino fresca and pig... hoping that it will give me a chance to *not* think about my ambiguous future for a while, and perhaps - in doing so - give me a new perspective, or clarity, or christ, just something different.

and so I'm trying out this "livejournal" thing - I've kept a journal on & off for years, and don't know how keen I am on this "public" forum? it is slightly creepy to me. but I've enjoyed reading about what some of my friends are up, and figure I can... uh... i don't know... fill the emptiness of my life by spending time writing about the emptiness of my life? or spain.