Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Crossed the land / Cruzado la tierra

Well, I have come a long way. Literally. Physically. Metaphysically.

A few days ago, Cassidy R. Berk and I courageously completed our journey across these United States in his trusty, and now dusty, charcoal-colored Honda Civic. We saw sights and heard sounds emblematic of so many facets of this great country of ours, details from which I will go into further on down the line. Promise.

But now I find myself standing on the deck of a veritable castle in the Hendricks Park section of Eugene, Oregon, a town I have come to know and love so dearly over the years. It's a place I will always hold in my heart for the times, both terrifically terrible and terribly terrific, that I've had within its municipal limits. And in other municipalities nearby.

Oregon, it's good to be back. Oregon people - you are much loved, family and friends alike.

View from the hilly heavens, looking down upon the masses

In many ways, this, and not the East, feels like home. And in many other ways, this is still part of my journey, being here, seeing what there is to be seen. I originally created this blog so people could keep track of me (and I could try and keep track of myself) while I was in Spain, but I realized that "journey" - viaje - means a lot more than just when you check bags and pack toiletry kits. A journey is where you see things you haven't seen before, even if it's in the same places as always.

There are many kinds of journeys, and everywhere can be a new place.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Gibraltar Has a Burger King. / Gibraltar tiene Burger King.

If you don't like watching baby monkeys at play, and are therefore a total douchebag, do not watch the following astonishingly precious videoclip, narrated by me. Also, if your heart is made of pure stone and you have a vacuous, gray soul, please do not watch the following video as you may find yourself feeling inklings of real human emotion. 



***


I guess, in the end, I was never really given any pumpkins. Nor any other type of squash for that matter. Sort of a let down when you think about it. But I did get this Gojira album. In their hometown. In France.
How metal is France? Very. What does this picture have to do with anything? Nothing.

I'm back in the United States now. Do I feel different? Yes. How exactly? I need more time to think about it.

Would I have done it again? Definitely.


In fact, tomorrow I'm going to ride the Metro down to D.C. to take my new visa application in. I'll let you know how it goes, blog. I'm talking to the blog like it's a person. Yes. I am.

And let's be clear that yes, I do feel like a slacking reprobate for not writing more. Then again, I was never known for my ability to turn in homework assignments in a timely fashion, and of late it's dawned on me that maybe failing to update my travel blog is a manifestation of this same complex.

Sometimes, I guess, I just feel like I ain't got nothin' to write good about.

So to calm the clamoring-for-pitchfork uprising, I give you a picture of Granada at sunset. Print it out, use it as a post card. Postcard. Is there a space?



Oh yeah, Gibraltar has a Burger King.


What does that have to do with anything? Nothing.



More coming soon.