carvoeiro

Well, we found the place Canadians meet on Thursday, weirdly, on Thursday, without even trying. Good for us.

Plus, I found a super cool looking abandoned restaurant (marine shop? garden?) and it was incredible.

What a beautiful goddamn country.

Target: 1500 words
Written: 1133 words, short story: Ultra Mundane

Read: Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Comics: Fables 152-155
Music: 4:13 Dream, The Cure

one more street

Ha! Another lesson learned!

Or rather, the same lesson, two days apart.

We parked on the boardwalk of Ayamonte, Spain, and while it’s a nice boardwalk, it’s not exactly appealing, one street in, gorgeous.

Of course, I wasn’t really feeling that great still, but man, what a beautiful place.

Oh, and it’s flu, because now my wife is sick, and she didn’t have the shrimp yesterday.

Target: 1500 words
Written: 2036 words, short story: Ultra Mundane

Read: Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Comics: Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf In Gotham 4-6, Fables 151
Music: 45 Or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough To Go On Our Other Records, NOFX

food poisoning

Fucking shrimp. Or it could be the flu. Or something in the water?

I’ve shit a bunch, dry heaved once (I don’t actually puke – I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve thrown up since the ninth grade), and slept the rest of the day.

What a shame.

Target: 1500 words
Written: 989 words, short story: Ultra Mundane

Read: Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Comics: Everafter: From The Pages Of Fables 12, Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf In Gotham 1-3
Music: 420station.com, Bill Hicks (I don't know, man, that's what it's listed as on my iPod, and yes, I still have one of those)

olhao

One street further on. Always go one street further than you think you should.

That’s the lesson I learned today, on a rainy day when I thought I’d brought us on a wild goose chase and we were stuck at a bird sanctuary with no birds (there were supposed to be flamingos).

What we found, one street further down was this beautiful waterfront, and the most amazing bakery I’ve ever seen.

Usually, in the displays, there are a few things I don’t care for, that don’t appeal to me. I’m not big on fruit or honey.

But this?

Jesus, works of art. I wanted it all.

And I would have had it too, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids.

Target: 1500 words
Written: 1264 words, short story: Never Worked That Hard

Read: Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Comics: Everafter: From The Pages Of Fables 8-11
Music: 40 Oz To Freedom, Sublime

lagos

What a beautiful boardwalk.

What I wouldn’t give to live somewhere like here and not the plain, everyday southwestern Canadian town I do. Like, it’s not horrible, but man, the majesty that some people are able see, every day.

I hope they appreciate it.

One thing I will give Chatham-Kent is that the world over, and I’ve been a reasonably large number of places, is that there are very, very places that get sunsets like ours.

The colours are so vivid, it’s what everyone always wants them to be setting over a Caribbean sea, or a quaint European villa, but they’re right here, in cornfields and flat ground.

Target: 1500 words
Written: 534 words, short story: Never Worked That Hard

Read: The Last Day Of A Condemned Man, Victor Hugo
Comics: Everafter: From The Pages Of Fables 4-7
Music: 4-Track Demos, PJ Harvey (so underrated)

the best pizza i’ve ever had

You’ve been beaten, Chicago deep dish (and New Yorkers, shut the fuck up, your flat, sad pizza is like most things big city – monstrously overhyped).

Thank you, Da Michele. Pizza Tedesca. Fucking brilliant.

Target: 1500 words
Written: 1470 words, short story: Never Worked That Hard

Read: The Last Day Of A Condemned Man, Victor Hugo
Comics: Fables: The Wolf Among Us 48, Everafter: From The Pages Of Fables 1-3
Music: 4 Nights At The Palais Royale, Discs 1-2, Sloan

albufeira

Nice place. Affogato and ice cream on the best, which is a crazy orange. Pretty cool.

We’re getting around okay, even with the cobblestones. Great dinner, watched the opening ceremonies of Milano Cortina, which was amazing, because I didn’t realize the room was filled with almost entirely Canadians until we were introduced and the place blew up.

I’m not particularly patriotic, but I’ll admit.

It choked me up. I’m kind of proud.

Target: 1500 words
Written: 1097 words, short story: Never Worked That Hard

Read: The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
Comics: Fables: The Wolf Among Us 44-47
Music: 4 Future Tracks, Spacehog

welcome to portugal

Where I’ve been awake for roughly thirty-six hours, rented a van too big for the small European streets, and immediately scraped the back right passenger side on the ramp out of the airport parking lot, to which I thought, “thank goodness for insurance”, before being thrust into a five lane roundabout (with stoplights! In the middle!) outside the airport, and we could get out of Lisbon fast enough.

We are Algarve bound, and thankful for it. The scenery is lush and green, with the terrible rainfall they’ve gotten, and distracts us from the fact that everything north of Porto is without power, for the better part of a week.

It soon turns to Sergio Leone territory, before becoming the land of roundabouts, and the taste of a shitty Portuguese beer down by the water and its washed out beach.

There are statues made of washers which are surprising lifelife (and kinda sexy, which is probably a weird thing to admit), but still, pretty darn cool.

And cats. Lots of cats.

So, you know, good.

Target: 1500 words
Written: 3524 words, short story: Never Worked That Hard

Read: The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
Comics: Fables: The Wolf Among Us 40-43
Music: 39/Smooth, Green Day

portugal bound

We are on our way to the land of sardines and pastels.

My vet tech sister is watching my recovering pup, and I can only pray it doesn’t get any worse.

How could hell get any worse?

As a wise man once said.

Target: 1500 words
Written: 1680 words, short story: Never Worked That Hard

Read: The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
Comics: Fables: The Wolf Among Us 36-39
Music: 30 Years Live, Bad Religion

have you consider shooting yourself today?

Because I have.

I won’t (and you shouldn’t either).

I don’t own a gun, and never will. Personally, I don’t think we should shoot anyone. I think guns should disappear into quaint relics of a dark past.

But I’ve still thought about it.

Anyway, don’t.

Release the Epstein files instead.

I’ve been thinking too much about loss and dead people.

Thank Tao my dog is going to be okay.

Target: 1500 words
Written: 1476 words, short story: Skeleton Park

Read: The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
Comics: Fables 150, Fables: The Wolf Among Us 33-35
Music: 3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days..., Arrested Development