Category: travel

one more street

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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: 17 Song Demo, Anti-Flag

olhao

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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 visited.

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 friggin’ art. I wanted all of it.

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: 15 Big Ones, The Beach Boys

lagos

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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 to 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: 13 Voices, Sum 41

the best pizza i’ve ever had

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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: 13 Songs, Fugazi

albufeira

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Nice place. Affogato and ice cream on the beach, 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.

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: 13 Fluid Ounces, Sublime

welcome to portugal

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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 couldn’t 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 surprisingly lifelike (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: 13, Blur (Coffee & TV is a total earworm)

portugal bound

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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?

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: 12x5, The Rolling Stones

regular programming

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Whatever that is, we’re back to it. It’s weird how the kid lashes out a bit when we’re leaving. We have such a good time, and then, when it’s time for it to be over, the big feelings come and since we’re not quite old enough to know how to deal with that yet, we get a little passive-aggressive (or aggressive-aggressive) and push away.

Do we ever get old enough to know how to deal with people letting us down?

I wish I could be there forever, but alas, there are jobs and money and houses and pets and parents who would lose their shit if we were around twenty-four-seven.

We might lose our shit a little as well.

In any case, it has been a blessing to be around this kid, and I’m so glad we get that opportunity, even if it doesn’t come up for nearly long enough.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 634 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: The Faded Sun: Kesrith, C.J. Cherryh
Comics: Violator Vs. Badrock 4, Bloodstrike Assassin 3, Bloodpool 1, Chapel v2 2
Music: Weird Tales Of The Ramones (Discs 1-3), The Ramones

downtown trick-or-treating

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That’s actually a really cool idea. Kids going store to store. The stores get good PR and publicity and karma (and maybe sales) by doing it. I wonder why we don’t do that here? It was a real hit in Belleville.

Plus, they had Burger Revolution, which somehow equated Che Guevara with dead cow.

I’m torn on Guevara. I know he’s an icon for t-shirts and all, but he wasn’t exactly a great guy. I mean, he was Castro’s right hand man, and Castro was a piece of shit. Death squads by both and the whole bit.

Sort of a nice in theory, terrible in execution icon, like communism or vegans.

Anyway, fun day. Good burger. I love me some caramelized onions.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 697 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: The Faded Sun: Kesrith, C.J. Cherryh
Comics: Brigade v2 25, Violator Vs. Badrock 3, Bloodstrike Assassin 2, Chapel v2 1
Music: Weighting, Rollins Band

grandchild-bound

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This should be fun. It’s not quite Hallowe’en, but it’ll be close enough. We’re doing some Hallowe’en related stuff.

Cannot wait. Drive faster, people.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 2627 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: The Faded Sun: Kesrith, C.J. Cherryh
Comics: Violator Vs. Badrock 2, Bloodstrike Assassin 1, Team Youngblood 20, Brigade v2 22
Music: Weight, Rollins Band