Ola

Hello from Mallorca...El Arenal, to be exact. Fifty meters to the beach, mid 70´s...life´s good. Especially considering the beautiful sun, and the great Spanish beer.

Today I went into Palma, the main city on Mallorca, and watched a festival dedicated to World Folk Dances. Basically, a reason for people to get together, dress in REALLY interesting costumes and dance in odd and unusual ways. It was quite entertaining to watch each country´s group walk (or dance) by. Most surprising, it would appear that lots of countries, apparently, dance exclusively to accordian and/bagpipes. I didn´t think it was possible...

Also, I saw a Canadian group...they didn´t seem to want to dance.

Pictures will be coming, once I get them digitized.

The Oddest Experience

Well...not actually "the oddest," but pretty odd anyway. I've been re-reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (actually the whole series) in honor of the upcoming movie. This is perhaps one of my favorite books, mostly because my eldest sister "let me in on the secret" when I was about 10 or 11...she and I didn't have much in common at the time, considering she's 6 years older than me. Not much of a difference when you're both in your 30's, but when one of you is 10 and the other is 16, there's not a lot of room for common interests.

Anyway, one day, I heard her laughing in her room, so I knocked and asked what was so funny - probably in the tone of a smart-alecky little brother. She showed me the book she was reading and said it was the funniest thing she'd ever read. I asked if I could borrow it after she was done, to which she agreed. Mostly, I asked to read the book because I wanted to be in on the secret, but also because I wanted to be closer to my sister - I looked up to her then like any 10 year old looks up to older siblings.

I remember reading the book, and laughing at a particular section. If you're not familiar with the storyline, here's the intro: Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect are friends on Earth, only Ford is not human, he is an alien who has been stranded on Earth for 15 years while doing research for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Ford lets Arthur in on the secret because the Earth is about to be demolished by the Vogons to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Ford and Arthur hitch a ride on the Vogon's ship as they blow up the Earth. The Vogons capture the stowaways, and being unfriendly chaps, they decide to blow them out of the airlock into space. There's lots more funny happenings, but this brings us to the scene which I vividly remember reading when I was younger.

As I don't have the book directly in front of me, I can't quote this scene, so I will simply paraphrase. As they are waiting in the airlock to be ejected into space, they are not so calmly discussing their options, most of the better of which involve being on the opposite side of the airlock door. They have no chance of survival after 30 seconds in space, so they, obviously see certain death in their immediate future. At this point, Arthur is exasperated, considering he has been saved from the destruction of the Earth only to die 30 minutes later, and Ford is pretty much thinking the same thing. You can imagine the conversation that takes place...only...at one point during the conversation, Ford says something like "We'll die, unless this button does something...," to which, Arthur asks incredulously, "What button?" as he frantically looks around. Ford responds, "There's no button, I was just messing with you."

Of course, Douglas Adams delivery is much better than mine, so this is a bit funnier in the book. All told, the kind of line that will draw a chuckle if you're in a silly mood. As I was reading this section again, though, I didn't laugh. Instead, I remembered vividly how I had laughed at that "button" line 20 years ago. At the time, it was the funniest thing I had ever read...I distinctly remember being in my bedroom, reading this book, and nearly falling out of my bed laughing. I was, quite literally, nearly rolling on the floor laughing. As this line didn't make me even snicker during my current reading, it got me thinking about how I was 20 years ago...it's an extremely odd catalyst for reflective thought, but any stimuli that works, right...

I've changed in innumerable ways since that day and in most of these changes I am extremely proud. I would like to have that experience again though...utter release and satisfaction...my eyes were opened that day 20 years ago, and having them opened a little bit further just isn't the same thing.

Here's the thing

My wife and son have now officially gone back to the States, and I've moved into a dorm room on campus. This, needless to say (but I will anyway), has been a tough week. Not only did we have to deal with the actually packing of household goods - something that was done wonderfully and skillfully by the good people at Robinson's - but I've also had to deal with dropping them off at the airport.

Knowing that it would be tough, I took the opportunity last Monday to stock up on a little good luck. As anyone who has read this blog even cursorily will know, I used to ride the bus to work. For the last three weeks there had been 8 pence scattered on the ground in the street near the stop where I catch the bus. I know this because every day I would count it...not really for any reason other than to pass time...it's always interested me to try and notice how small details change in our daily lives, and the movements of these coins was no different. Buses running over them, heavy rain or wind, cars passing by...all of these things would move these coins around from day to day. Every day I would arrive at the bus stop and try to find where they were and how they were different from the day before...all the while trying to figure out what forces had moved them, and in almost every case being amazed at the fact that the coins were still there - I was sure that some student would have picked them up at some time or another. Anyway, on Monday of last week, the last day I would ride the bus to work, I found the coins and picked them up myself - like I said, I was trying to stock up on a little good luck. It may be superstitious, but if there was ever a week when I knew I would need all of the luck I could get, it was this one...

A Confession

Here's something I'm not too proud of...

Excluding family members and my wife, I've been told "I love you" by seven women in my life. Five of these women, I was dating at the time, so it was fairly natural to say that I loved them as well, and with some of them I might actually have meant it. The part that I'm not too proud of deals with the other two women. I was friendly with both of these ladies, but not romantic, and I laughed at both of them when they said it. Imagine how hurtful that must be to lay yourself out with that kind of honest and have it kicked back at you with a smug laugh.

Partly, my laugh was a nervous response to not knowing what else to do, but partly it was out of genuine bemusement...I didn't have a very high self-opinion when I was younger, and it was funny that anyone would say what they said to me, let alone someone who didn't "have" to because we were dating. This, of course, is not an attempt to minimize my role in the outcomes, but rather to add some perspective...after all, in both these cases, I was in my late teens early twenties when it happened - not a time known for boys to be very grown up. Regardless, I feel bad to this day for laughing at these two ladies when they opened themselves up to me.

The oddest part of this whole situation, however, is that I'm still friends with both of them (and, yes, before anyone gets righteously indignant, I've apologized to both of them on numerous occasions). The other five women I don't keep in touch with...